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diff --git a/6094.txt b/6094.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9aff71d --- /dev/null +++ b/6094.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10783 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Scouts of Stonewall, by Joseph A. Altsheler + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Scouts of Stonewall + +Author: Joseph A. Altsheler + +Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6094] +Posting Date: June 2, 2009 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL *** + + + + +Produced by Ken Reeder + + + + + + + + + +THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL + +THE STORY OF THE GREAT VALLEY CAMPAIGN + +By Joseph A. Altsheler + + + + +FOREWORD + + +"The Scouts of Stonewall," while an independent story, is in effect a +continuation of the series which began with "The Guns of Bull Run" +and which was carried on in "The Guns of Shiloh." The present romance +reverts to the Southern side, and is concerned with the fortunes of +Harry Kenton and his friends. + + +THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + + + VOLUMES IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + + THE GUNS OF BULL RUN. + THE GUNS OF SHILOH. + THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL. + THE SWORD OF ANTIETAM. + THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG. + THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA. + THE SHADES OF THE WILDERNESS. + THE TREE OF APPOMATTOX. + + + PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + + HARRY KENTON, A Lad Who Fights on the Southern Side. + DICK MASON, Cousin of Harry Kenton, Who Fights on the Northern Side. + COLONEL GEORGE KENTON, Father of Harry Kenton. + MRS. MASON, Mother of Dick Mason. + JULIANA, Mrs. Mason's Devoted Colored Servant. + COLONEL ARTHUR WINCHESTER, Dick Mason's Regimental Commander. + COLONEL LEONIDAS TALBOT, Commander of the Invincibles, + a Southern Regiment. + LIEUTENANT COLONEL HECTOR ST. HILAIRE, Second in Command of the + Invincibles. + ALAN HERTFORD, A Northern Cavalry Leader. + PHILIP SHERBURNE, A Southern Cavalry Leader. + WILLIAM J. SHEPARD, A Northern Spy. + DANIEL WHITLEY, A Northern Sergeant and Veteran of the Plains. + GEORGE WARNER, A Vermont Youth Who Loves Mathematics. + FRANK PENNINGTON, A Nebraska Youth, Friend of Dick Mason. + ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, A Native of Charleston, Friend of Harry Kenton. + TOM LANGDON, Friend of Harry Kenton. + GEORGE DALTON, Friend of Harry Kenton. + BILL SKELLY, Mountaineer and Guerrilla. + TOM SLADE, A Guerrilla Chief. + SAM JARVIS, The Singing Mountaineer. + IKE SIMMONS, Jarvis' Nephew. + AUNT "SUSE," A Centenarian and Prophetess. + BILL PETTY, A Mountaineer and Guide. + JULIEN DE LANGEAIS, A Musician and Soldier from Louisiana. + JOHN CARRINGTON, Famous Northern Artillery Officer. + DR. RUSSELL, Principal of the Pendleton School. + ARTHUR TRAVERS, A Lawyer. + JAMES BERTRAND, A Messenger from the South. + JOHN NEWCOMB, A Pennsylvania Colonel. + JOHN MARKHAM, A Northern Officer. + JOHN WATSON, A Northern Contractor. + WILLIAM CURTIS, A Southern Merchant and Blockade Runner. + MRS. CURTIS, Wife of William Curtis. + HENRIETTA CARDEN, A Seamstress in Richmond. + DICK JONES, A North Carolina Mountaineer. + VICTOR WOODVILLE, A Young Mississippi Officer. + JOHN WOODVILLE, Father of Victor Woodville. + CHARLES WOODVILLE, Uncle of Victor Woodville. + COLONEL BEDFORD, A Northern Officer. + CHARLES GORDON, A Southern Staff Officer. + JOHN LANHAM, An Editor. + JUDGE KENDRICK, A Lawyer. + MR. CULVER, A State Senator. + MR. BRACKEN, A Tobacco Grower. + ARTHUR WHITRIDGE, A State Senator. + + + HISTORICAL CHARACTERS + + ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States. + JEFFERSON DAVIS, President of the Southern Confederacy. + JUDAH P. BENJAMIN, Member of the Confederate Cabinet. + U. S. GRANT, Northern Commander. + ROBERT E. LEE, Southern Commander. + STONEWALL JACKSON, Southern General. + PHILIP H. SHERIDAN, Northern General. + GEORGE H. THOMAS, "The Rock of Chickamauga." + ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, Southern General. + A. P. HILL, Southern General. + W. S. HANCOCK, Northern General. + GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, Northern General. + AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE, Northern General. + TURNER ASHBY, Southern Cavalry Leader. + J. E. B. STUART, Southern Cavalry Leader. + JOSEPH HOOKER, Northern General. + RICHARD S. EWELL, Southern General. + JUBAL EARLY, Southern General. + WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS, Northern General. + SIMON BOLIVAR BUCKNER, Southern General. + LEONIDAS POLK, Southern General and Bishop. + BRAXTON BRAGG, Southern General. + NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST, Southern Cavalry Leader. + JOHN MORGAN, Southern Cavalry Leader. + GEORGE J. MEADE, Northern General. + DON CARLOS BUELL, Northern General. + W. T. SHERMAN, Northern General. + JAMES LONGSTREET, Southern General. + P. G. T. BEAUREGARD, Southern General. + WILLIAM L. YANCEY, Alabama Orator. + JAMES A. GARFIELD, Northern General, afterwards President of + the United States. + + And many others + + + IMPORTANT BATTLES DESCRIBED IN THE CIVIL WAR SERIES + + BULL RUN + KERNSTOWN + CROSS KEYS + WINCHESTER + PORT REPUBLIC + THE SEVEN DAYS + MILL SPRING + FORT DONELSON + SHILOH + PERRYVILLE + STONE RIVER + THE SECOND MANASSAS + ANTIETAM + FREDERICKSBURG + CHANCELLORSVILLE + GETTYSBURG + CHAMPION HILL + VICKSBURG + CHICKAMAUGA + MISSIONARY RIDGE + THE WILDERNESS + SPOTTSYLVANIA + COLD HARBOR + FISHER'S HILL + CEDAR CREEK + APPOMATTOX + + + +CONTENTS + + I. IN THE VALLEY + + II. THE FOOT CAVALRY + + III. STONEWALL JACKSON'S MARCH + + IV. WAR AND WAITING + + V. THE NORTHERN ADVANCE + + VI. KERNSTOWN + + VII. ON THE RIDGES + + VIII. THE MOUNTAIN BATTLE + + IX. TURNING ON THE FOE + + X. WINCHESTER + + XI. THE NIGHT RIDE + + XII. THE CLOSING CIRCLE + + XIII. THE SULLEN RETREAT + + XIV. THE DOUBLE BATTLE + + XV. THE SEVEN DAYS + + + + + +THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL + + + +CHAPTER I. IN THE VALLEY + + +A young officer in dingy Confederate gray rode slowly on a powerful +bay horse through a forest of oak. It was a noble woodland, clear of +undergrowth, the fine trees standing in rows, like those of a park. They +were bare of leaves but the winter had been mild so far, and a carpet of +short grass, yet green, covered the ground. To the rider's right flowed +a small river of clear water, one of the beautiful streams of the great +Virginia valleys. + +Harry Kenton threw his head back a little and drew deep breaths of the +cool, crisp air. The light wind had the touch of life in it. As the +cool puffs blew upon him and filled his lungs his chest expanded and +his strong pulses beat more strongly. But a boy in years, he had already +done a man's work, and he had been through those deeps of passion and +despair which war alone brings. + +A year spent in the open and with few nights under roof had enlarged +Harry Kenton's frame and had colored his face a deep red. His great +ancestor, Henry Ware, had been very fair, and Harry, like him, became +scarlet of cheek under the beat of wind and rain. + +Had anyone with a discerning eye been there, to see, he would have +called this youth one of the finest types of the South that rode forth +so boldly to war. He sat his saddle with the ease and grace that come +only of long practice, and he controlled his horse with the slightest +touch of the rein. The open, frank face showed hate of nobody, although +the soul behind it was devoted without any reserve to the cause for +which he fought. + +Harry was on scout duty. Although an officer on the staff of Colonel +Talbot, commander of the Invincibles, originally a South Carolina +regiment, he had developed so much skill in forest and field, he had +such acuteness of eye and ear, that he was sent often to seek the camps +of the enemy or to discover his plans. His friends said that these +forest powers were inherited, that they came from some far-away ancestor +who had spent his life in the wilderness, and Harry knew that what they +said was true. + +Despite the peaceful aspect of the forest and the lack of human presence +save his own, he rode now on an errand that was full of danger. The +Union camp must lie on the other side of that little river, not many +miles farther on, and he might meet, at any moment, the pickets of the +foe. He meant to take the uttermost risk, but he had no notion of being +captured. He would suffer anything, any chance, rather than that. He had +lately come into contact with a man who had breathed into him the fire +and spirit belonging to legendary heroes. To this man, short of words +and plain of dress, nothing was impossible, and Harry caught from him +not merely the belief, but the conviction also. + +Late in the autumn the Invincibles, who had suffered severely at Bull +Run and afterward had been cut down greatly in several small actions in +the mountains, had been transferred to the command of Stonewall Jackson +in the Shenandoah Valley. Disease and the hospital had reduced the +regiment to less than three hundred, but their spirits were as high as +ever. Their ranks were renewed partly with Virginians. Colonel Talbot +and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire had recovered from small wounds, and +St. Clair and Langdon were whole and as hard as iron. After a period of +waiting they were now longing for action. + +There was some complaint among the Invincibles when they were detached +from the main army to the service of Jackson, but Harry did not share +in it. When he heard of the order he remembered that dread afternoon at +Bull Run, when all seemed lost, and the most vivid of his memories was +the calm figure riding back and forth just beyond the pines among which +he stood, and gathering for a fresh charge the stern ranks of his men +who were to turn almost sure defeat into absolutely sure victory. The +picture of the man in the heart of that red glare among the showers of +bullets had been burned so deeply into Harry's memory that he could call +it up, almost as vivid as life itself at any time. Surely that was a +leader to follow, and he, at least, would wish to ride where Stonewall +led. + +But action did not come as soon as he had expected. Jackson was held by +commands from Richmond. The great army of the South waited, because the +great army of the North, under McClellan, also waited and temporized +while the autumn was passing fast. + +But Jackson, while held in the bonds of orders, did not sleep. The most +active youth of his command rode day and night toward the northern +end of the valley, where the forces of the Union were gathering. The +movements of Banks and Kelly and the other Northern commanders were +watched continually by keen eyes trained in the southern forests. Slim +striplings passed in the night through the little towns, and the people, +intensely loyal to the South, gave them the news of everything. + +Harry had seen the whole autumn pass and winter come, and the war, save +for a fitful skirmish now and then, stood at a pause in the valley. Yet +he rode incessantly, both with the others and alone, on scouting duty. +He knew every square mile of the country over a wide range, and he had +passed whole nights in the forest, when hail or snow was whistling by. +But these had been few. Mostly mild winds blew and the hoofs of his +horse fell on green turf. + +Harry was intensely alert now. He was far from his command, and he knew +that he must see and hear everything or he would soon be in the hands of +the enemy. He rode on rather slowly, and amid continued silence. He saw +on his left a white house with green shutters and a portico. But the +shutters were closed tightly and no smoke rose from the chimneys. +Although house and grounds showed no touch of harm, they seemed to bear +the brand of desolation. The owners had fled, knowing that the sinister +march of war would pass here. + +Harry's mood changed suddenly from gladness to depression. The +desolate house brought home to him the terrible nature of war. It meant +destruction, wounds and death, and they were all the worse because it +was a nation divided against itself, people of the same blood and the +same traditions fighting one another. + +But youth cannot stay gloomy long, and his spirits presently flowed +back. There was too much tang and life in that crisp wind from the west +for his body to droop, and a lad could not be sad long, with brilliant +sunshine around him and that shining little river before him. + +The thrill of high adventure shot up from his soul. He had ceased to +hate the Northern soldiers, if he had ever hated them at all. Now +they were merely brave opponents, with whom he contended, and success +demanded of either skill, daring and energy to the utmost degree. He was +resolved not to fail in any of these qualities. + +He left the desolate house a mile behind, and then the river curved a +little. The woods on the farther shore came down in dense masses to the +edge of the stream, and despite the lack of foliage Harry could not see +far into them. The strong, inherited instincts leaped up. His nostrils +expanded and a warning note was sounded somewhere in the back of his +brain. + +He turned his horse to the left and entered the forest on his own side +of the river. They were ancient trees that he rode among, with many +drooping and twisted boughs, and he was concealed well, although he +could yet see from his covert the river and the forest on the other +shore. + +The song of a trumpet suddenly came from the deep woodland across the +shining stream. It was a musical song, mellow and triumphant on every +key, and the forest and hills on either shore gave it back, soft and +beautiful on its dying echoes. It seemed to Harry that the volume of +sound, rounded and full, must come from a trumpet of pure gold. He had +read the old romances of the Round Table, and for the moment his +head was full of them. Some knight in the thicket was sending forth a +challenge to him. + +But Harry gave no answering defiance. Now the medieval glow was gone, +and he was modern and watchful to the core. He had felt instinctively +that it was a trumpet of the foe, and the Northern trumpets were not +likely to sing there in Virginia unless many Northern horsemen rode +together. + +Then he saw their arms glinting among the trees, the brilliant beams of +the sun dancing on the polished steel of saber hilt and rifle barrel. +A minute more, and three hundred Union horsemen emerged from the forest +and rode, in beautiful order, down to the edge of the stream. + +Harry regarded them with an admiration which was touched by no hate. +They were heavily built, strong young men, riding powerful horses, and +it was easy for anyone to see that they had been drilled long and well. +Their clothes and arms were in perfect order, every horse had been +tended as if it were to be entered in a ring for a prize. It was his +thought that they were not really enemies, but worthy foes. That ancient +spirit of the tournament, where men strove for the sake of striving, +came to him again. + +The Union horsemen rode along the edge of the stream a little space, +and then plunged into a ford. The water rose to their saddle skirts, but +they preserved their even line and Harry still admired. When all were on +his own shore the golden trumpet sang merrily again, and they turned the +heads of their horses southward. + +Harry rode deeper into the ancient wood. They might throw out scouts or +skirmishers and he had no mind to be taken. It was his belief that they +came from Romney, where a Northern army had gathered in great force and +would eventually march toward Jackson at Winchester. But whatever their +errand, here was something for him to watch, and he meant to know what +they intended. + +The Northern troop, youths also, the average of their age not much more +than twenty, rode briskly along the edge of the little river, which was +a shining one for them, too, as well as Harry. They knew that no enemy +in force was near, and they did not suspect that a single horseman +followed, keeping in the edge of the woods, his eyes missing nothing +that they did. + +As for themselves, they were in the open now and the brilliant sunshine +quickened their blood. Some of them had been at Bull Run, but the sting +of that day was going with time. They were now in powerful force at the +head of the great Virginia valleys, and they would sweep down them with +such impact that nothing could stand before them. The trumpet sang its +mellow triumphant note again, and from across a far range of hills came +its like, a low mellow note, faint, almost an echo, but a certain reply. +It was the answer from another troop of their men who rode on a parallel +line several miles away. + +The lone lad in the edge of the forest heard the distant note also, but +he gave it no heed. His eyes were always for the troop before him. He +had already learned from Stonewall Jackson that you cannot do two things +at once, but the one thing that you do you must do with all your might. + +The troop presently left the river and entered the fields from which +the crops had been reaped long since. When the horsemen came to a fence +twelve men dismounted and threw down enough panels for the others to +ride through without breaking their formation. Everything was done with +order and precision. Harry could not keep from admiring. It was not +often that he saw so early in the war troops who were drilled so +beautifully, and who marched so well together. + +Harry always kept on the far side of the fields, and as the fences were +of rails with stakes and riders he was able by bending very low in the +saddle to keep hidden behind them. Nevertheless it was delicate work. He +was sure that if seen he could escape to the forest through the speed +of his horse. But he did not want to be driven off. He wished to follow +that troop to its ultimate destination. + +Another mile or two and the Union force bore away to the right, entering +the forest and following a road, where the men rode in files, six +abreast. They did not make much noise, beyond the steady beating of the +hoofs, but they did not seem to seek concealment. Harry made the obvious +deduction that they thought themselves too far beyond the range of the +Southern scouts to be noticed. He felt a thrill of satisfaction, because +he was there and he had seen them. + +He rode in the forest parallel with the troop and at a distance of about +four hundred yards. There was scattered undergrowth, enough to hide +him, but not enough to conceal those three hundred men who rode in close +files along a well-used road. + +Harry soon saw the forest thinning ahead of him and then the trumpet +sang its mellow, golden note again. From a point perhaps a mile ahead +came a reply, also the musical call of the trumpet. Not an echo, but +the voice of a second trumpet, and now Harry knew that another force was +coming to join the first. All his pulses began to beat hard, not +with nervousness, but with intense eagerness to know what was afoot. +Evidently it must be something of importance or strong bodies of Union +cavalry would not be meeting in the woods in this manner. + +After the reply neither trumpet sounded again, and the troop that Harry +was following stopped while yet in the woods. He rode his horse behind a +tall and dense clump of bushes, where, well hidden, he could yet see all +that might happen, and waited. + +He heard in a few minutes the beat of many hoofs upon the hard road, +advancing with the precision and regularity of trained cavalry. He saw +the head of a column emerge upon the road and an officer ride forward +to meet the commander of the first troop. They exchanged a few words and +then the united force rode southward through the open woods, with the +watchful lad always hanging on their rear. + +Harry judged that the new troop numbered about five hundred men, and +eight hundred cavalry would not march on any mere scouting expedition. +His opinion that this was a ride of importance now became a conviction, +and he hardened his purpose to follow them to the end, no matter what +the risk. + +It was now about noon, and the sun became warm despite the December day. +The turf softened under the rays and the Union cavalry left an immense +wide trail through the forest. It was impossible to miss it, and Harry, +careful not to ride into an ambush of rear guard pickets, dropped back a +little, and also kept slightly to the left of the great trail. He could +not see the soldiers now, but occasionally he heard the deep sound of so +many hoofs sinking into the soft turf. Beyond that turfy sigh no sound +from the marching men came to him. + +The Union troop halted about two o'clock in the afternoon, and the men +ate cold food from the knapsacks. They also rested a full hour, and +Harry, watching from a distance, felt sure that their lack of hurry +indicated a night attack of some kind. They had altered their course +slightly, twice, and when they started anew they did so a third time. + +Now their purpose occurred suddenly to Harry. It came in a flash of +intuition, and he did not again doubt it for a moment. The head of the +column was pointed straight toward a tiny village in which food and +ammunition for Stonewall Jackson were stored. The place did not have +more than a dozen houses, but one of them was a huge tobacco barn +stuffed with powder, lead, medicines, which were already worth their +weight in gold in the Confederacy, and other invaluable supplies. It had +been planned to begin their removal on the morrow to the Southern camp +at Winchester, but it would be too late unless he intervened. + +If he did not intervene! He, a boy, riding alone through the forest, to +defeat the energies of so many men, equipped splendidly! The Confederacy +was almost wholly agricultural, and was able to produce few such +supplies of its own. Nor could it obtain them in great quantities from +Europe as the Northern navy was drawing its belt of steel about the +Southern coasts. That huge tobacco barn contained a treasure beyond +price, and Harry was resolved to save it. + +He did not yet know how he would save it, but he felt that he would. All +the courage of those border ancestors who won every new day of life +as the prize of skill and courage sprang up in him. It was no vain +heritage. Happy chance must aid those who trusted, and, taking a +deep curve to the left, he galloped through the woods. His horse +comparatively fresh after easy riding, went many miles without showing +any signs of weariness. + +The boy knew the country well, and it was the object of his circuit to +take him ahead of the Union troop and to the village which held a +small guard of perhaps two hundred men. If the happy chance in which he +trusted should fail him after all, these men could carry off a part of +the supplies, and the rest could be destroyed to keep them from falling +into Northern hands. + +He gave his horse a little breathing space and then galloped harder +than ever, reckoning that he would reach the village in another hour. He +turned from the woods into one of the narrow roads between farms, just +wide enough for wagons, and increased his speed. + +The afternoon sun was declining, filling the west with dusky gold, and +Harry still rode at a great pace along the rough road, wondering all +the while what would be the nature of the lucky chance, in which he was +trusting so firmly. Lower sank the sun and the broad band of dusky gold +was narrowing before the advance of the twilight. The village was not +now more than two miles away, and the road dipped down before him. +Sounds like that made by the force behind him, the rattle of arms, the +creak of leather and the beat of hoofs, came suddenly to his ears. + +Harry halted abruptly and reined his horse into some bushes beside the +road. Then he heard the sounds more plainly. They were made by cavalry, +riding slowly. The great pulses in his throat leaped in quick alarm. +Was it possible that they had sent a portion of their force swiftly by +another route, and that it was now between him and the village? + +He listened again and with every faculty strained. The cavalrymen were +riding toward him and they could not be a part of the Union force. Then +they must be of his own South. Surely this was the happy chance of which +he had dreamed! Again the great pulses leaped, but with a different +emotion. + +Scorning every risk, he reined his horse back into the road and rode +straight forward. The heads of men were just topping the rise, and a few +moments later they and the horses they bestrode came into full view. It +was a thankful thrill that shot through him now. The sun, almost sunk, +sent a last golden shower across them and disclosed the dingy gray of +their uniforms and the lean, tanned faces. + +Uttering a shout of joy and holding up a hand to show that he was a +friend, Harry galloped forward. A young man at the head of the troop, a +captain by his uniform, and evidently the leader, gave the signal to his +men to stop, and received the boy who came alone. + +"Who are you?" he asked. + +"I'm Harry Kenton, a lieutenant in the army of Stonewall Jackson, and +an aide on the staff of Colonel Leonidas Talbot, colonel of the regiment +known as the Invincibles." + +"I've heard of that regiment. South Carolinians at first, but now mostly +Virginians." + +"The Virginians filled up the gaps that were made on the battlefield." + +Harry spoke proudly, and the young captain smiled. The boy regarded +him with increasing interest. Somehow he was reminded of Jeb Stuart, +although this man was younger, not having passed his boyhood long. + +It was evident that he was tall. Thick, yellow curls showed from under +the edge of his cap. His face, like Harry's, had turned red before wind +and rain. His dress was a marvel, made of the finest gray without a spot +or stain. A sash of light blue silk encircled his waist, and the costly +gray cloak thrown back a little from his shoulders revealed a silk +lining of the same delicate blue tint. His gauntlets were made of the +finest buckskin, and a gold-hilted small sword swung from his sash. + +"A dandy," thought Harry, "but the bravest of the brave, for all that." + +"My name's Sherburne, Captain Philip Sherburne," said the young leader. +"I'm from the Valley of Virginia, and so are my men. We belong to +Stonewall Jackson's army, too, but we've been away most of the time on +scouting duty. That's the reason you don't know us. We're going toward +Winchester, after another of our fruitless rides." + +"But it won't be fruitless this time!" exclaimed Harry, eagerly. "A +Union force of nearly a thousand men is on its way to destroy the +stores at the village, the stores that were to be moved to a safer place +to-morrow!" + +"How do you know?" + +"I've seen 'em. I was behind 'em at first and followed 'em for a long +time before I guessed their purpose. Then I curved about 'em, galloped +through the woods, and rode on here, hoping for the lucky chance that +has come with you." + +Harry, as he spoke, saw the eyes of the young captain leap and flame, +and he knew he was in the presence of one of those knightly souls, +thrown up so often in the war, most often by the border States. They +were youths who rode forth to battle in the spirit of high romance. + +"You ask us to go back to the village and help defend the stores?" said +Philip Sherburne. + +"That's just what I do ask--and expect." + +"Of course. We'd have done it without the asking, and glad of it. What a +chance for us, as well as for you!" + +He turned and faced his men. The golden glow of the sun was gone now, +but a silver tint from the twilight touched his face. Harry saw there +the blaze of the knightly spirit that craved adventure. + +"Men," he said in clear, happy tones, "we've ridden for days and days in +quests that brought nothing. Now the enemy is at hand, nearly a thousand +strong, and means to destroy our stores. There are two hundred of you +and there are two hundred more guarding the stores. If there's a single +one among you who says he must ride on to Winchester, let him hold up +his hand." + +Not a hand was raised, and the bold young captain laughed. + +"I don't need to put the other side of the question," he said to Harry. +"They're as eager as I am to scorch the faces of the Yankees." + +The order was given to turn and ride. The "men," not one of whom was +over twenty-five, obeyed it eagerly, and galloped for the village, every +heart throbbing with the desire for action. They were all from the rich +farms in the valleys. Splendid horsemen, fine marksmen, and alive with +youth and courage, no deed was too great for them. Harry was proud +to ride with them, and he told more of the story to Sherburne as they +covered the short distance to the village. + +"Old Jack would order us to do just what we're doing," said Sherburne. +"He wants his officers to obey orders, but he wants them to think, too." + +Harry saw his eyes flash again, and something in his own mind answered +to the spirit of adventure which burned so brightly in this young man. +He looked over the troop, and as far as he could see the faces of all +were flushed with the same hope. He knew with sudden certainty that the +Union forces would never take that warehouse and its precious contents. +These were the very flower of that cavalry of the South destined to +become so famous. + +"You know the village?" said Sherburne to Harry. + +"Yes, I passed there last night." + +"What defense has it?" + +"About two hundred men. They are strangers to the region, drawn from the +Tidewater country, and I don't think they're as good as most of General +Jackson's men." + +"Lack of discipline, you think?" + +"Yes, but the material is fine." + +"All right. Then we'll see that they acquire discipline. Nothing like +the enemy's fire to teach men what war is." + +They were riding at good speed toward the village, while they talked, +and Harry had become at once the friend and lieutenant of young Captain +Sherburne. His manner was so pleasant, so intimate, so full of charm, +that he did not have the power or the will to resist it. + +They soon saw Hertford, a village so little that it was not able to put +itself on the map. It stood on the crest of a low hill, and the tobacco +barn was about as large as all the other buildings combined. The +twilight had now merged into night, but there was a bright sky and +plenty of stars, and they saw well. + +Captain Sherburne stopped his troop at a distance of three or four +hundred yards, while they were still under cover of the forest. + +"What's the name of the commander there?" he asked. + +"McGee," Harry replied. "Means well, but rather obstinate." + +"That's the way with most of these untrained men. We mustn't risk being +shot up by those whom we've come to help. Lasley, give them a call from +the bugle. Make it low and soft though. We don't want those behind us to +hear it." + +Lasley, a boy no older than Harry, rode forward a dozen yards in front +of the troop, put his bugle to his lips and blew a soft, warning call. +Harry had been stirred by the first sound of a hostile trumpet hours +before, and now this, the note of a friend, thrilled him again. He gazed +intently at the village, knowing that the pickets would be on watch, and +presently he saw men appear at the edge of the hill just in front of +the great warehouse. They were the pickets, beyond a doubt, because the +silver starshine glinted along the blades of their bayonets. + +The bugler gave one more call. It was a soft and pleasing sound. It said +very plainly that the one who blew and those with him were friends. +Two men in uniform joined the pickets beside the warehouse, and looked +toward the point whence the note of the bugle came. + +"Forward!" said Captain Philip Sherburne, himself leading the way, Harry +by his side. The troops, wheeling back into the road and marching by +fours in perfect order, rode straight toward the village. + +"Who comes?" was the stern hail. + +"A troop of Stonewall Jackson's cavalry to help you," replied Sherburne. +"You are about to be attacked by a Northern division eight hundred +strong." + +"Who says so?" came the question in a tone tinged with unbelief, and +Harry knew that it was the stubborn and dogmatic McGee who spoke. + +"Lieutenant Harry Kenton of the Invincibles, one of Stonewall Jackson's +best regiments, has seen them. You know him; he was here yesterday." + +As he spoke, Captain Sherburne sprang from his horse and pointed to +Harry. + +"You remember me, Captain McGee," said Harry. "I stopped with you a +minute yesterday. I rode on a scouting expedition, and I have seen the +Union force myself. It outnumbers us at least two to one, but we'll have +the advantage of the defense." + +"Yes, I know you," said McGee, his heavy and strong, but not very +intelligent face, brightening a little. "But it's a great responsibility +I've got here. We ought to have had more troops to defend such valuable +stores. I've got two hundred men, captain, and I should say that you've +about the same." + +It was then that Captain Philip Sherburne showed his knightly character, +speaking words that made Harry's admiration of him immense. + +"I haven't any men, Captain McGee," he said, "but you have four hundred, +and I'll help my commander as much as I can." + +McGee's eyes gleamed. Harry saw that while not of alert mind he was +nevertheless a gentleman. + +"We work together, Captain Sherburne," he said gratefully, "and I thank +God you've come. What splendid men you have!" + +Captain Sherburne's eyes gleamed also. This troop of his was his pride, +and he sought always to keep it bright and sharp like a polished sword +blade. + +"Whatever you wish, Captain McGee. But it will take us all to repel +the enemy. Kenton here, who saw them well, says they have a fine, +disciplined force." + +The men now dismounted and led their horses to a little grove just in +the rear of the warehouse, where they were tethered under the guard of +the villagers, all red-hot partisans of the South. Then the four hundred +men, armed with rifles and carbines, disposed themselves about the +warehouse, the bulk of them watching the road along which the attacking +force was almost sure to come. + +Harry took his place with Sherburne, and once more he was compelled +to admire the young captain's tact and charm of manner. He directed +everything by example and suggestion, but all the while he made the +heavy Captain McGee think that he himself was doing it. + +Sherburne and Harry walked down the road a little distance. + +"Aren't you glad to be here, Kenton?" asked the captain in a somewhat +whimsical tone. + +"I'm glad to help, of course." + +"Yes, but there's more. When I came to war I came to fight. And if we +save the stores look how we'll stand in Old Jack's mind. Lord, Kenton, +but he's a queer man! You'd never take any notice of him, if you didn't +know who he was, but I'd rather have one flash of approval from those +solemn eyes of his than whole dictionaries of praise from all the other +generals I know." + +"I saw him at Bull Run, when he saved the day." + +"So did I. The regiment that I was with didn't come up until near the +close, but our baptism of battle was pretty thorough, all the same. +Hark! did you think you heard anything, Kenton?" + +Harry listened attentively. + +"Yes, I hear something," he replied. "It's very soft, but I should say +that it's the distant beat of hoofs." + +"And of many hoofs." + +"So I think." + +"Then it's our friends of the North, coming to take what we want to +keep. A few minutes more, Kenton, and they'll be here." + +They slipped back toward the warehouse, and Harry's heart began to throb +heavily. He knew that Sherburne's words would soon come true. + + + + +CHAPTER II. THE FOOT CAVALRY + + +Captain Sherburne told Captain McGee that the invaders were coming, +and there was a stir in the ranks of the defenders. The cavalrymen, +disciplined and eager, said nothing, but merely moved a little in order +to see better along the road over which the enemy was advancing. The +original defenders, who were infantry, talked in whispers, despite +commands, and exchanged doubts and apprehensions. + +Harry walked up and down in front of the warehouse with Captain +Sherburne, and both watched the road. + +"If we only had a little artillery, just a light gun or two," said +Sherburne, "we'd give 'em such a surprise that they'd never get over +it." + +"But we haven't got it." + +"No, we haven't, but maybe rifles and carbines will serve." + +The hoofbeats were fast growing louder, and Harry knew that the head of +the Northern column would appear in a minute or two. Every light in the +warehouse or about it and all in the village had been extinguished, but +the moonlight was clear and more stars had come into the full sky. + +"We can see well enough for a fight," murmured Captain Sherburne. + +Everybody could hear the hoofbeats now, and again there was a stir in +the ranks of the defenders. The dark line appeared in the road three or +four hundred yards away and then, as the horsemen emerged into the open, +they deployed rapidly by companies. They, too, were trained men, and +keen eyes among their officers caught sight of the armed dark line +before the warehouse. The voice of the trumpet suddenly pealed forth +again, and now it was loud and menacing. + +"It's the charge!" cried Sherburne, "and I can see that they're all you +said, Kenton! A magnificent body, truly! Ready, men! Ready! For God's +sake don't fire too soon! Wait for the word! Wait for the word!" + +He was all the leader now, and in the excitement of the moment McGee did +not notice it. The superior mind, the one keen to see and to act, was in +control. + +"Here, Kenton!" cried Sherburne, "hold back these recruits! My own men +will do exactly as I say!" + +Harry ran along the infantry line, and here and there he knocked down +rifles which were raised already, although the enemy was yet three +hundred yards away. But he saw a figure in front of the charging +horsemen wave a sword. Then the trumpet blew another call, short but +fierce and menacing, and the ground thundered as nearly a thousand +horsemen swept forward, uttering a tremendous shout, their sabers +flashing in the moonlight. + +Harry felt a moment of admiration and then another moment of pity. +These men, charging so grandly, did not know that the defenders had been +reinforced. Nor did they know that they rode straight to what was swift +and sudden death for many of them. + +It was hard to stand steady and not pull the trigger, while that line of +flashing steel galloped upon them, but the dismounted cavalrymen looked +to their leader for commands, and the officer held the infantry. Harry's +moment of admiration and pity passed. These were soldiers coming to +defeat and destroy, and it was his business to help prevent it. His own +pulse of battle began to beat hard. + +That front of steel, spread wide across the open, was within two hundred +yards now! Then a hundred and fifty! Then a hundred! Then less, and +fierce and sharp like the crack of a rifle came Captain Sherburne's +command: "Fire!" + +Four hundred rifles leaped to the shoulder and four hundred fingers +pressed trigger so close together that four hundred rifles sang together +as one. The charge halted in its tracks. The entire front rank was shot +away. Horses and men went down together, and the horses uttered neighs +of pain, far more terrific than the groans of the wounded men. Many of +them, riderless, galloped up and down between the lines. + +But the splendid horsemen behind came on again, after the momentary +stop. Half of them armed with short carbines sent a volley at the +defenders, who were shoving in cartridges in frantic haste, and the +swordsmen galloped straight upon the Virginians. + +Harry saw a great saber flashing directly in his face. It was wielded +by a man on a powerful horse that seemed wild with the battle fever. The +horse, at the moment, was more terrible than his rider. His mouth was +dripping with foam, and his lips were curled back from his cruel, white +teeth. His eyes, large and shot with blood, were like those of some +huge, carnivorous animal. + +The boy recoiled, more in fear of the horse than of the saber, and +snatching a heavy pistol from his belt, fired directly at the great +foam-flecked head. The horse crashed down, but his rider sprang clear +and retreated into the smoke. Almost at the same instant the defenders +had fired the second volley, and the charge was beaten back from their +very faces. + +The Southerners at the war's opening had the advantage of an almost +universal familiarity with the rifle, and now they used it well. +Sherburne's two hundred men, always cool and steady, fired like trained +marksmen, and the others did almost as well. Most of them had new +rifles, using cartridges, and no cavalry on earth could stand before +such a fire. + +Harry again saw the flashing sabers more than once, and there was a +vast turmoil of fire and smoke in front of him, but in a few minutes the +trumpet sounded again, loud and clear over the crash of battle, and now +it was calling to the men to come back. + +The two forces broke apart. The horsemen, save for the wounded and dead, +retreated to the forest, and the defenders, victorious for the present, +fired no more, while the wounded, who could, crawled away to shelter. +They reloaded their rifles and at first there was no exultation. They +barely had time to think of anything. The impact had been so terrible +and there had been such a blaze of firing that they were yet in a daze, +and scarcely realized what had happened. + +"Down, men! Down!" cried Captain Sherburne, as he ran along the line. +"They'll open fire from the wood!" + +All the defenders threw themselves upon the ground and lay there, much +less exposed and also concealed partly. One edge of the wood ran within +two hundred yards of the warehouse, and presently the Northern soldiers, +hidden behind the trees at that point, opened a heavy rifle fire. +Bullets whistled over the heads of the defenders, and kept up a constant +patter upon the walls of the warehouse, but did little damage. + +A few of the men in gray had been killed, and all the wounded were taken +inside the warehouse, into which the great tobacco barn had been turned. +Two competent surgeons attended to them by the light of candles, while +the garrison outside lay still and waiting under the heavy fire. + +"A waste of lead," said Sherburne to Harry. "They reckon, perhaps, that +we're all recruits, and will be frightened into retreat or surrender." + +"If we had those guns now we could clear out the woods in short order," +said Harry. + +"And if they had 'em they could soon blow up this barn, everything in it +and a lot of us at the same time. So we are more than even on the matter +of the lack of guns." + +The fire from the wood died in about fifteen minutes and was succeeded +by a long and trying silence. The light of the moon deepened, and +silvered the faces of the dead lying in the open. All the survivors of +the attack were hidden, but the defenders knew that they were yet in the +forest. + +"Kenton," said Captain Sherburne, "you know the way to General Jackson's +camp at Winchester." + +"I've been over it a dozen times." + +"Then you must mount and ride. This force is sitting down before us for +a siege, and it probably has pickets about the village, but you must +get through somehow. Bring help! The Yankees are likely to send back for +help, too, but we've got to win here." + +"I'm off in five minutes," said Harry, "and I'll come with a brigade by +dawn." + +"I believe you will," said Sherburne. "But get to Old Jack! Get there! +If you can only reach him, we're saved! He may not have any horsemen at +hand, but his foot cavalry can march nearly as fast! Lord, how Stonewall +Jackson can cover ground!" + +Their hands met in the hearty grasp of a friendship which was already +old and firm, and Harry, without looking back, slipped into the wood, +where the men from the village were watching over the horses. Sherburne +had told him to take any horse he needed, but he chose his own, +convinced that he had no equal, slipped into the saddle, and rode to the +edge of the wood. + +"There's a creek just back of us; you can see the water shining through +the break in the trees," said a man who kept the village store. "The +timber's pretty thick along it, and you'd best keep in its shelter. +Here, you Tom, show him the way." + +A boy of fourteen stepped up to the horse's head. + +"My son," said the storekeeper. "He knows every inch of the ground." + +But Harry waved him back. + +"No," he said. "I'll be shot at, and the boy on foot can't escape. I'll +find my way through. No, I tell you he must not go!" + +He almost pushed back the boy who was eager for the task, rode out +of the wood which was on the slope of the hill away from the point of +attack, and gained the fringe of timber along the creek. It was about +fifty yards from cover to cover, but he believed he had not been seen, +as neither shout nor shot followed him. + +Yet the Union pickets could not be far away. He had seen enough to know +that the besiegers were disciplined men led by able officers and they +would certainly make a cordon about the whole Southern position. + +He rode his horse into a dense clump of trees and paused to listen. +He heard nothing but the faint murmur of the creek, and the occasional +rustle of dry branches as puffs of wind passed. He dismounted for the +sake of caution and silence as far as possible, and led his horse down +the fringe of trees, always keeping well under cover. + +Another hundred yards and he stopped again to listen. All those old +inherited instincts and senses leaped into life. He was, for the moment, +the pioneer lad, seeking to detect the ambush of his foe. Now, his acute +ears caught the hostile sound. It was low, merely the footsteps of a +man, steadily walking back and forth. + +Harry peeped from his covert and saw a Union sentinel not far away, +pacing his beat, rifle on shoulder, the point of the bayonet tipped with +silver flame from the moon. And he saw further on another sentinel, and +then another, all silent and watchful. He knew that the circle about the +defense was complete. + +He could have escaped easily through the line, had he been willing to +leave his horse, and for a few moments he was sorely tempted to do so, +but he recalled that time was more precious than jewels. If he ever got +beyond the line of pickets he must go and go fast. + +He was three or four hundred yards from the village and no one had +yet observed him, but he did not believe that he could go much farther +undetected. Some one was bound to hear the heavy footsteps of the horse. + +The creek shallowed presently and the banks became very low. Then Harry +decided suddenly upon his course. He would put everything to the touch +and win or lose in one wild dash. Springing upon the back of his horse, +he raked him with the spur and put him straight at the creek. The +startled animal was across in two jumps, and then Harry sent him racing +across the fields. He heard two or three shouts and several shots, but +fortunately none touched him or his mount, and, not looking back, he +continually urged the horse to greater speed. + +Bending low he heard the distant sound of hoofbeats behind him, but they +soon died away. Then he entered a belt of forest, and when he passed +out on the other side no pursuit could be seen. But he did not slacken +speed. He knew that all Sherburne had said about Stonewall Jackson was +true. He would forgive no dallying by the way. He demanded of every man +his uttermost. + +He turned from the unfenced field into the road, and rode at a full +gallop toward Winchester. The cold wind swept past and his spirits rose +high. Every pulse was beating with exultation. It was he who had brought +the warning to the defenders of the stores. It was he who had brought +Sherburne's troop to help beat off the attack, and now it was he who, +bursting through the ring of steel, was riding to Jackson and sure +relief. + +His horse seemed to share his triumph. He ran on and on without a swerve +or jar. Once he stretched out his long head, and uttered a shrill neigh. +The sound died in far echoes, and then followed only the rapid beat of +his hoofs on the hard road. + +Harry knew that there was no longer any danger to him from the enemy, +and he resolved now not to go to his own colonel, but to ride straight +to the tent of Jackson himself. + +The night had never grown dark. Moon and stars still shed an abundant +light for the flying horseman, and presently he caught fleeting glimpses +through the trees of roofs that belonged to Winchester. Then two men +in gray spring into the road, and, leveling their rifles, gave him the +command to stop. + +"I'm Lieutenant Kenton of the Invincibles," he cried, "and I come for +help. A strong force of the Yankees is besieging Hertford, and four +hundred of our men are defending it. There is no time to waste! They +must have help there before dawn, or everything is lost! Which way is +General Jackson's tent?" + +"In that field on the hillock!" replied one of the men, pointing two or +three hundred yards away. + +Harry raced toward the tent, which rose in modest size out of the +darkness, and sprang to the ground, when his horse reached it. A single +sentinel, rifle across his arms, was standing before it, but the flap +was thrown back and a light was burning inside. + +"I'm a messenger for General Jackson!" cried Harry. "I've news that +can't wait!" + +The sentinel hesitated a moment, but a figure within stepped to the door +of the tent and Harry for the first time was face to face with Stonewall +Jackson. He had seen him often near or far, but now he stood before him, +and was to speak with him. + +Jackson was dressed fully and the fine wrinkles of thought showed on his +brow, as if he had intended to study and plan the night through. He was +a tallish man, with good features cut clearly, high brow, short +brown beard and ruddy complexion. His uniform was quite plain and his +appearance was not imposing, but his eyes of deep blue regarded the boy +keenly. + +"I'm Lieutenant Kenton, sir, of Colonel Talbot's Invincibles," replied +Harry to the question which was not spoken, but which nevertheless was +asked. "Our arsenal at Hertford is besieged by a strong force of the +enemy, a force that is likely to be increased heavily by dawn. Luckily +Captain Sherburne and his troop of valley Virginians came up in time to +help, and I have slipped through the besieging lines to bring more aid." + +Harry had touched his cap as he spoke and now he stood in silence while +the blue eyes looked him through. + +"I know you. I've observed you," said Jackson in calm, even tones, +showing not a trace of excitement. "I did not think that the Federal +troops would make a movement so soon, but we will meet it. A brigade +will march in half an hour." + +"Don't I go with it?" exclaimed Harry pleadingly. "You know, I brought +the news, sir!" + +"You do. Your regiment will form part of the brigade. Rejoin Colonel +Talbot at once. The Invincibles, with you as guide, shall lead the way. +You have done well, Lieutenant Kenton." + +Harry flushed with pride at the brief words of praise, which meant so +much coming from Stonewall Jackson, and saluting again hurried to his +immediate command. Already the messengers were flying to the different +regiments, bidding them to be up and march at once. + +The Invincibles were upon their feet in fifteen minutes, fully clothed +and armed, and ready for the road. The cavalry were not available that +night, and the brigade would march on foot save for the officers. Harry +was back on his horse, and St. Clair and Langdon were beside him. The +colonels, Talbot and St. Hilaire, sat on their horses at the head of the +Invincibles, the first regiment. + +"What is it?" said Langdon to Harry. "Have you brought this night march +upon us?" + +"I have, and we're going to strike the Yankees before dawn at Hertford," +replied Harry to both questions. + +"I like the nights for rest," said Langdon, "but it could be worse; I've +had four hours' sleep anyway." + +"You'll have no more this night, that's certain," said St. Clair. "Look, +General Jackson, himself, is going with us. See him climbing upon Little +Sorrel! Lord pity the foot cavalry!" + +General Jackson, mounted upon the sorrel horse destined to become so +famous, rode to the head of the brigade, which was now in ranks, and +beckoned to Harry. + +"I've decided to attend to this affair myself, Lieutenant Kenton," +he said. "Keep by my side. You know the way. Be sure that you lead us +right." + +His voice was not raised, but his words had an edge of steel. The cold +blue eyes swept him with a single chilly glance and Harry felt the fear +of God in his soul. Lead them right? His faculties could not fail with +Stonewall Jackson by his side. + +The general himself gave the word, the brigade swung into the broad +road and it marched. It did not dawdle along. It marched, and it marched +fast. It actually seemed to Harry after the first mile that it was +running, running toward the enemy. + +Not in vain had the infantry of Stonewall Jackson been called foot +cavalry. Harry now for the first time saw men really march. The road +spun behind them and the forest swept by. They were nearly all open-air +Virginians, long of limb, deep of chest and great of muscle. There was +no time for whispering among them, and the exchange of guesses about +their destination. They needed every particle of air in their lungs for +the terrible man who made them march as men had seldom marched before. + +Jackson cast a grim eye on the long files that sank away in the darkness +behind him. + +"They march very well," he said, "but they will do better with more +practice. Ride to the rear, Lieutenant Kenton, and see if there are any +stragglers. If you find any order them back into line and if they refuse +to obey, shoot." + +Again his voice was not raised, but an electric current of fiery energy +seemed to leap from this grave, somber man and to infuse itself through +the veins of the lad to whom he gave the orders. + +Harry saluted and, wheeling his horse, rode swiftly along the edge of +the forest toward the rear. Now, the spirit of indomitable youth broke +forth. Many in the columns were as young as he and some younger. In +the earlier years of the war, and indeed, to the very close, there was +little outward respect for rank among the citizen soldiers of either +army. Harry was saluted with a running fire of chaff. + +"Turn your horse's head, young feller, the enemy ain't that way. He's in +front." + +"He's forgot his toothbrush, Bill, and he's going back in a hurry to get +it." + +"If I had a horse like that I'd ride him in the right direction." + +"Tell 'em in Winchester that the foot cavalry are marchin' a hundred +miles an hour." + +Harry did not resent these comments. He merely flung back an occasional +comment of his own and hurried on until he reached the rear. Then in the +dusk of the road he found four or five men limping along, and ready when +convenient to drop away in the darkness. Harry wasted no time. The fire +in his blood that had come from Jackson was still burning. He snatched a +pistol from his belt and, riding directly at them, cried: + +"Forward and into the ranks at once, or I shoot!" + +"But we are lame, sir!" cried one of the men. "See my foot is bleeding!" + +He held up one foot and red drops were falling from the ragged shoe. + +"It makes no difference," cried Harry. "Barefooted men should be glad +to march for Stonewall Jackson! One, two, three! Hurry, all of you, or I +shoot!" + +The men took one look at the flaming face, and broke into a run for the +rear guard. Harry saw them in the ranks and then beat up the woods on +either side of the road, but saw no more stragglers or deserters. Then +he galloped through the edge of the forest and rejoined the general at +the head of the command. + +"Were they all marching?" asked Jackson. + +"All but four, sir." + +"And the four?" + +"They're marching now, too." + +"Good. How far are we from the arsenal?" + +"About eight miles, sir." + +"Isn't it nearer nine?" + +"I should say nearer eight, sir." + +"You should know, and at any rate we'll soon see." + +Jackson did not speak to him again directly, evidently keeping him at +his side now for sure guidance, but he continually sent other aides +along the long lines to urge more speed. The men were panting, and, +despite the cold of the winter night, beads of perspiration stood on +every face. But Jackson was pitiless. He continually spurred them on, +and now Harry knew with the certainty of fate that he would get there in +time. He would reach Hertford before fresh Union troops could come. He +was as infallible as fate. + +There was no breath left for whispering in the ranks of Jackson's men. +Nothing was heard but the steady beat of marching feet, and now and +then, the low command of an officer. But such commands were few. There +were no more stragglers, and the chief himself rode at their head. They +knew how to follow. + +The moon faded and many of the stars went back into infinite space. A +dusky film was drawn across the sky, and at a distance the fields and +forest blended into one great shadow. Harry looked back at the brigade +which wound in a long dark coil among the trees. He could not see faces +of the men now, only the sinuous black shape of illimitable length that +their solid lines made. + +This long black shape moved fast, and occasionally it gave forth a +sinister glitter, as stray moonbeams fell upon blade or bayonet. It +seemed to Harry that there was something deadly and inevitable about it, +and he began to feel sorry for the Union troops who were besieging the +village and who did not know that Stonewall Jackson was coming. + +He cast a sidelong glance at the leader. He rode, leaning a little +further forward in the saddle than usual, and the wintry blue eyes gazed +steadily before him. Harry knew that they missed nothing. + +"You are sure that we are on the right road, Mr. Kenton?" said Jackson. + +"Quite sure of it, sir." + +The general did not speak again for some time. Then, when he caught the +faint glimmer of water through the dark, he said: + +"This is the creek, is it not?" + +"Yes, sir, and the Yankees can't be more than a mile away." + +"And it's a full hour until dawn. The reinforcements for the enemy +cannot have come up. Lieutenant Kenton, I wish you to stay with me. I +will have a messenger tell Colonel Talbot that for the present you are +detached for my service." + +"Thank you, sir," said Harry. + +"Why?" + +"I wish to see how you crumple up the enemy." + +The cold blue eyes gleamed for a moment. Harry more than guessed the +depths of passion and resolve that lay behind the impenetrable mask +of Jackson's face. He felt again the rays of the white, hot fire that +burned in the great Virginian's soul. + +A few hundred yards further and the brigade began to spread out in the +dusk. Companies filed off to right and left, and in a few minutes came +shots from the pickets, sounding wonderfully clear and sharp in the +stillness of the night. Red dots from the rifle muzzles appeared +here and there in the woods, and then Harry caught the glint of late +starshine on the eaves of the warehouse. + +Jackson drew his horse a little to one side of the road, and Harry, +obedient to orders, followed him. A regiment massed directly behind them +drew up close. Harry saw that it was his own Invincibles. There were +Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire on +horseback, looking very proud and eager. Further away were Langdon and +St. Clair also mounted, but Harry could not see the expression on their +faces. + +"Tell Colonel Talbot to have the charge sounded and then to attack with +all his might," said Jackson to his young aide. + +Harry carried the order eagerly and rejoined the general at once. The +drums of the Invincibles beat the charge, and on both sides of them the +drums of other regiments played the same tune. Then the drum-beat was +lost in that wild and thrilling shout, the rebel yell, more terrible +than the war-whoop of the Indians, and the whole brigade rushed forward +in a vast half-circle that enclosed the village between the two horns of +the curve. + +The scattered firing of the pickets was lost in the great shout of the +South, and, by the time the Northern sentinels could give the alarm to +their main body, the rush of Jackson's men was upon them, clearing out +the woods and fields in a few instants and driving the Union horsemen in +swift flight northward. + +Harry kept close to his general. He saw a spark of fire shoot from the +blue eye, and the nostrils expand. Then the mask became as impenetrable +as ever. He let the reins fall on the neck of Little Sorrel, and watched +his men as they swept into the open, passed the warehouse, and followed +the enemy into the forest beyond. + +But the bugles quickly sounded the recall. It was not Jackson's purpose +to waste his men in frays which could produce little. The pursuing +regiments returned reluctantly to the open where the inhabitants of the +village were welcoming Jackson with great rejoicings. The encounter had +been too swift and short to cause great loss, but all the stores were +saved and Captain Sherburne and Captain McGee rode forward to salute +their commander. + +"You made a good defense," said Stonewall Jackson, crisply and briefly. +"We begin the removal of the stores at once. Wagons will come up shortly +for that purpose. Take your cavalry, Captain Sherburne, and scout the +country. If they need sleep they can get it later when there is nothing +else to do." + +Captain Sherburne saluted and Harry saw his face flush with pride. The +indomitable spirit of Jackson was communicated fast to all his men. The +sentence to more work appealed to Sherburne with much greater force than +the sentence of rest could have done. In a moment he and his men were +off, searching the woods and fields in the direction of the Union camp. + +"Ride back on the road, Lieutenant Kenton, and tell the wagons to +hurry," said General Jackson to Harry. "Before I left Winchester I gave +orders for them to follow, and we must not waste time here." + +"Yes, sir," said Harry, as he turned and rode into the forest through +which they had come. He, too, felt the same emotion that had made the +face of Sherburne flush with pride. What were sleep and rest to a young +soldier, following a man who carried victory in the hollow of his hand; +not the victory of luck or chance, but the victory of forethought, of +minute preparation, and of courage. + +He galloped fast, and the hard road gave back the ring of steel shod +hoofs. A silver streak showed in the eastern sky. The dawn was breaking. +He increased his pace. The woods and fields fled by. Then he heard the +cracking of whips, and the sound of voices urging on reluctant animals. +Another minute and the long line of wagons was in sight straining along +the road. + +"Hurry up!" cried Harry to the leader who drove, bareheaded. + +"Has Old Jack finished the job?" asked the man. + +"Yes." + +"How long did it take him?" + +"About five minutes." + +"I win," called the man to the second driver just behind him. "You +'lowed it would take him ten minutes, but I said not more'n seven at the +very furthest." + +The train broke into a trot, and Harry, turning his horse, rode by the +side of the leader. + +"How did you know that it would take General Jackson so little time to +scatter the enemy?" the boy asked the man. + +"'Cause I know Old Jack." + +"But he has not yet done much in independent command." + +"No, but I've seen him gettin' ready, an' I've watched him. He sees +everything, an' he prays. I tell you he prays. I ain't a prayin' man +myself. But when a man kneels down in the bushes an' talks humble an' +respectful to his God, an' then rises up an' jumps at the enemy, it's +time for that enemy to run. I'd rather be attacked by the worst bully +and desperado that ever lived than by a prayin' man. You see, I want to +live, an' what chance have I got ag'in a man that's not only not afraid +to die, but that's willin' to die, an' rather glad to die, knowin' that +he's goin' straight to Heaven an' eternal joy? I tell you, young man, +that unbelievers ain't ever got any chance against believers; no, not in +nothin'." + +"I believe you're right." + +"Right! Of course I'm right! Why did Old Jack order these waggins to +come along an' get them stores? 'Cause he believed he was goin' to save +'em. An' mebbe he saved 'em, 'cause he believed he was goin' to do it. +It works both ways. Git up!" + +The shout of "Git up!" was to his horses, which added a little more to +their pace, and now Harry saw troops coming back to meet them and form +an escort. + +In half an hour they were at the village. Already the ammunition and +supplies had been brought forth and were stacked, ready to be loaded on +the wagons. General Jackson was everywhere, riding back and forth on his +sorrel horse, directing the removal just as he had directed the march +and the brief combat. His words were brief but always dynamic. He seemed +insensible to weariness. + +It was now full morning, wintry and clear. The small population of the +village and people from the surrounding country, intensely Southern and +surcharged with enthusiasm, were bringing hot coffee and hot breakfast +for the troops. Jackson permitted them to eat and drink in relays. +As many as could get at the task helped to load the wagons. Little +compulsion was needed. Officers themselves toiled at boxes and casks. +The spirit of Jackson had flowed into them all. + +"I've gone into training," said Langdon to Harry. + +"Training? What kind of training, Tom?" + +"I see that my days of play are over forever, and I'm practicing hard, +so I can learn how to do without food, sleep or rest for months at a +time." + +"It's well you're training," interrupted St. Clair. "I foresee that +you're going to need all the practice you can get. Everything's loaded +in the wagons now, and I wager you my chances of promotion against one +of our new Confederate dollar bills that we start inside of a minute." + +The word "minute" was scarcely out of his mouth, when Jackson gave the +sharp order to march. Sherburne's troop sprang to saddle and led the +way, their bugler blowing a mellow salute to the morning and victory. +Many whips cracked, and the wagons bearing the precious stores swung +into line. Behind came the brigade, the foot cavalry. The breakfast and +the loading of the wagons had not occupied more than half an hour. It +was yet early morning when the whole force left the village and marched +at a swift pace toward Winchester. + +General Jackson beckoned to Harry. + +"Ride with me," he said. "I've notified Colonel Talbot that you are +detached from his staff and will serve on mine." + +Although loath to leave his comrades Harry appreciated the favor and +flushed with pleasure. + +"Thank you, sir," he said briefly. + +Jackson nodded. He seemed to like the lack of effusive words. Harry knew +that his general had not tasted food. Neither had he. He had actually +forgotten it in his keenness for his work, and now he was proud of the +fact. He was proud, too, of the comradeship of abstention that it gave +him with Stonewall Jackson. As he rode in silence by the side of the +great commander he made for himself an ideal. He would strive in his +own youthful way to show the zeal, the courage and the untiring devotion +that marked the general. + +The sun, wintry but golden, rose higher and made fields and forest +luminous. But few among Jackson's men had time to notice the glory of +the morning. It seemed to Harry that they were marching back almost as +swiftly as they had come. Langdon was right and more. They were getting +continuous practice not only in the art of living without food, sleep or +rest, but also of going everywhere on a run instead of a walk. Those who +survived it would be incomparable soldiers. + +Winchester appeared and the people came forth rejoicing. Jackson gave +orders for the disposition of the stores and then rode at once to a +tent. He signalled to Harry also to dismount and enter. An orderly took +the horses of both. + +"Sit down at the table there," said Jackson. "I want to dictate to you +some orders." + +Harry sat down. He had forgotten to take off his cap and gloves, but he +removed one gauntlet now, and picked up a pen which lay beside a little +inkstand, a pad of coarse paper on the other side. + +Jackson himself had not removed hat or gauntlets either, and the heavy +cavalry cloak that he had worn on the ride remained flung over his +shoulders. He dictated a brief order to his brigadiers, Loring, Edward +Johnson, Garnett, the commander of the Stonewall Brigade, and Ashby, who +led the cavalry, to prepare for a campaign and to see that everything +was ready for a march in the morning. + +Harry made copies of all the orders and sealed them. + +"Deliver every one to the man to whom it is addressed," said Jackson, +"and then report to me. But be sure that you say nothing of their +contents to anybody." + +The boy, still burning with zeal, hurried forth with the orders, +delivered them all, and came back to the tent, where he found the +general dictating to another aide. Jackson glanced at him and Harry, +saluting, said: + +"I have given all the orders, sir, to those for whom they were +intended." + +"Very well," said Jackson. "Wait and I shall have more messages for you +to carry." + +He turned to the second aide, but seeming to remember something, looked +at his watch. + +"Have you had any breakfast, Mr. Kenton?" he said. + +"No, sir." + +"Any sleep?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"When?" + +"I slept well, sir, night before last." + +Harry's reply was given in all seriousness. Jackson smiled. The boy's +reply and his grave manner pleased him. + +"I won't give you any more orders just now," he said. "Go out and get +something to eat, but do not be gone longer than half an hour. You need +sleep, too--but that can wait." + +"I shall be glad to carry your orders, sir, now. The food can wait, too. +I am not hungry." + +Harry spoke respectfully. There was in truth an appealing note in his +voice. Jackson gave him another and most searching glance. + +"I think I chose well when I chose you," he said. "But go, get your +breakfast. It is not necessary to starve to death now. We may have a +chance at that later." + +The faintest twinkle of grim humor appeared in his eyes and Harry, +withdrawing, hastened at once to the Invincibles, where he knew he would +have food and welcome in plenty. + +St. Clair and Langdon greeted him with warmth and tried to learn from +him what was on foot. + +"There's a great bustle," said Langdon, "and I know something big is +ahead. This is the last day of the Old Year, and I know that the New +Year is going to open badly. I'll bet you anything that before to-morrow +morning is an hour old this whole army will be running hot-foot over the +country, more afraid of Stonewall Jackson than of fifty thousand of the +enemy." + +"But you've been in training for it," said Harry with a laugh. + +"So I have, but I don't want to train too hard." + +Harry ate and drank and was back at General Jackson's tent in twenty +minutes. He had received a half hour but he was learning already to do +better than was expected of him. + + + + +CHAPTER III. STONEWALL JACKSON'S MARCH + + +Harry took some orders to brigadiers and colonels. He saw that +concentration was going on rapidly and he shared the belief of his +comrades that the army would march in the morning. He felt a new impulse +of ambition and energy. It continually occurred to him that while he was +doing much he might do more. He saw how his leader worked, with rapidity +and precision, and without excitement, and he strove to imitate him. + +The influence of Jackson was rapidly growing stronger upon the mind of +the brilliant, sensitive boy, so susceptible to splendor of both thought +and action. The general, not yet great to the world, but great already +to those around him, dominated the mind of the boy. Harry was proud to +serve him. + +He saw that Jackson had taken no sleep, and he would take none +either. Soon the question was forgotten, and he toiled all through the +afternoon, glad to be at the heart of affairs so important. + +Winchester was a sprightly little city, one of the best in the great +valley, inhabited by cultivated people of old families, and Southern to +the core. Harry and his young comrades had found a good welcome there. +They had been in many houses and they had made many friends. The +Virginians liked his bright face and manners. Now they could not fail +to see that some great movement was afoot, and more than once his new +friends asked him its nature, but he replied truthfully that he did +not know. In the throb of great action Winchester disappeared from his +thoughts. Every faculty was bent upon the plans of Jackson, whatever +they might be. + +The afternoon drew to a close and then the short winter twilight passed +swiftly. The last night of the Old Year had come, and Harry was to enter +at dawn upon one of the most vivid periods in the life of any boy that +ever lived, a period paralleled perhaps only by that of the French lads +who followed the young Bonaparte into the plains of Italy. Harry with +all his dreams, arising from the enormous impression made upon him by +Jackson, could not yet foresee what lay before him. + +He was returning on foot from one of his shorter errands. He had ridden +throughout the afternoon, but the time came when he thought the horse +ought to rest, and with the coming of the twilight he had walked. He +was not conscious of any weakness. His body, in a way, had become a mere +mechanism. It worked, because the will acted upon it like a spring, but +it was detached, separate from his mind. He took no more interest in it +than he would in any other machine, which, when used up, could be cast +aside, and be replaced with a new one. + +He glanced at the camp, stretching through the darkness. Much fewer +fires were burning than usual, and the men, warned to sleep while they +could, had wrapped themselves already in their blankets. Then he entered +the tent of Jackson with the reply to an order that he had taken to a +brigadier. + +The general stood by a wall of the tent, dictating to an aide who sat at +the little table, and who wrote by the light of a small oil lamp. +Harry saluted and gave him the reply. Jackson read it. As he read Harry +staggered but recovered himself quickly. The overtaxed body was making a +violent protest, and the vague feeling that he could throw away the +old and used-up machine, and replace it with a new one was not true. He +caught his breath sharply and his face was red with shame. He hoped that +his general had not seen this lamentable weakness of his. + +Jackson, after reading the reply, resumed his dictation. Harry was sure +that the general had not seen. He had not noticed the weakness in an +aide of his who should have no weakness at all! But Jackson had seen and +in a few hours of contact he had read the brave, bright young soul of +his aide. He finished the dictation and then turning to Harry, he said +quietly: + +"I can't think of anything more for you to do, Mr. Kenton, and I suppose +you might as well rest. I shall do so myself in a half hour. You'll find +blankets in the large tent just beyond mine. A half dozen of my aides +sleep in it, but there are blankets enough for all and it's first come +first served." + +Harry gave the usual military salute and withdrew. Outside the tent, the +body that he had used so cruelly protested not only a second time +but many times. It was in very fact and truth detached from the will, +because it no longer obeyed the will at all. His legs wobbled and +bent like those of a paralytic, and his head fell forward through very +weakness. + +Luckily the tent was only a few yards away, and he managed to reach it +and enter. It had a floor of planks and in the dark he saw three youths, +a little older than himself, already sound asleep in their blankets. +He promptly rolled himself in a pair, stretched his length against the +cloth wall, and balmy sleep quickly came to make a complete reunion +of the will and of the tired body which would be fresh again in the +morning, because he was young and strong and recovered fast. + +Harry slept hard all through the night and nature completed her task +of restoring the worn fibers. He was roused shortly after dawn and the +cooks were ready with breakfast for the army. He ate hungrily and when +he would stop, one of his comrades who had slept with him in the tent +told him to eat more. + +"You need a lot to go on when you march with Jackson," he said. +"Besides, you won't be certain where the next is coming from." + +"I've learned that already," said Harry, as he took his advice. + +A half hour later he was on his horse near Jackson, ready to receive his +commands, and in the early hours of the New Year the army marched out of +Winchester, the eager wishes of the whole population following it. + +It was the brightest of winter mornings, almost like spring it seemed. +The sky was a curving and solid sheet of sunlight, and the youths of the +army were for the moment a great and happy family. They were marching +to battle, wounds and death, but they were too young and too buoyant to +think much about it. + +Harry soon learned that they were going toward Bath and Hancock, two +villages on the railway, both held by Northern troops. He surmised that +Jackson would strike a sudden blow, surprise the garrisons, cut the +railway, and then rush suddenly upon some greater force. A campaign +in the middle of winter. It appealed to him as something brilliant and +daring. The pulses which had beat hard so often lately began to beat +hard again. + +The army went swiftly across forest and fields. As the brigade had +marched back the night before, so the whole army marched forward to-day. +The fact that Jackson's men always marched faster than other men was +forced again upon Harry's attention. He remembered from his reading an +old comment of Napoleon's referring to war that there were only two or +three men in Europe who knew the value of time. Now he saw that at least +one man in America knew its value, and knew it as fully as Napoleon ever +did. + +The day passed hour by hour and the army sped on, making only a short +halt at noon for rest and food. Harry joined the Invincibles for a +few moments and was received with warmth by Colonel Leonidas Talbot, +Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire and all his old friends. + +"I am sorry to lose you, Harry," said Colonel Talbot, "but I am glad +that you are on the immediate staff of General Jackson. It's an honor. I +feel already that we're in the hands of a great general, and the feeling +has gone through the whole army. There's an end, so far as this force is +concerned, to doubt and hesitation." + +"And we, the Southerners who are called the cavaliers, are led by a +puritan," said Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire. "Because if there ever +was a puritan, General Jackson is one." + +Harry passed on, intending to speak with his comrades, Langdon and +St. Clair. He heard the young troops talking freely everywhere, never +forgetting the fact that they were born free citizens as good as +anybody, and never hesitating to comment, often in an unflattering way, +upon their officers. Harry saw a boy who had just taken off his shoes +and who was tenderly rubbing his feet. + +"I never marched so fast before," he said complainingly. "My feet are +sore all over." + +"Put on your shoes an' shut up," said another boy. "Stonewall Jackson +don't care nothin' about your feet. You're here to fight." + +Harry walked on, but the words sank deep in his mind. It was an +uneducated boy, probably from the hills, who had given the rebuke, but +he saw that the character of Stonewall Jackson was already understood by +the whole army, even to the youngest private. He found Langdon and +St. Clair sitting together on a log. They were not tired, as they were +mounted officers, but they were full of curiosity. + +"What's passing through Old Jack's head?" asked Langdon, the irreverent +and the cheerful. + +"I don't know, and I don't suppose anybody will ever know all that's +passing there." + +"I'll wager my year's pay against a last year's bird nest that he isn't +leading us away from the enemy." + +"He certainly isn't doing that. We're moving on two little towns, Bath +and Hancock, but there must be bigger designs beyond." + +"This is New Year's Day, as you know," said St. Clair in his pleasant +South Carolina drawl, "and I feel that Tom there is going to earn the +year's pay that he talks so glibly about wagering." + +"At any rate, Arthur," said Langdon, "if we go into battle you'll be +dressed properly for it, and if you fall you'll die in a gentleman's +uniform." + +St. Clair smiled, showing that he appreciated Langdon's flippant +comment. Harry glanced at him. His uniform was spotless, and it was +pressed as neatly as if it had just come from the hands of a tailor. The +gray jacket of fine cloth, with its rows of polished brass buttons, was +buttoned as closely as that of a West Point cadet. He seemed to be in +dress and manner a younger brother of the gallant Virginia captain, +Philip Sherburne, and Harry admired him. A soldier who dressed well amid +such trying obstacles was likely to be a soldier through and through. +Harry was learning to read character from extraneous things, things that +sometimes looked like trifles to others. + +"I merely came over here to pass the time of day," he said. "We start +again in two or three minutes. Hark, there go the bugles, and I go with +them!" + +He ran back, sprang on his horse a few seconds before Jackson himself +was in the saddle, and rode away again. + +The general sent him on no missions for a while, and Harry rode in +silence. Observant, as always, he noticed the long ridges of the +mountains, showing blue in the distance, and the occasional glimmer +of water in the valley. It was beautiful, this valley, and he did not +wonder that the Virginians talked of it so much. He shared their wrath +because the hostile Northern foot already pressed a portion, and he felt +as much eagerness as they to drive away the invader. + +He also saw pretty soon that the long lines of the mountains, so blue +and beautiful against the shining sun, were losing their clear and vivid +tints. The sky above them was turning to gray, and their crests were +growing pale. Then a wind chill and sharp with the edge of winter began +to blow down from the slopes. It had been merely playing at summer that +morning and, before the first day of January 1862, closed, winter rushed +down upon Virginia, bringing with it the fiercest and most sanguinary +year the New World ever knew--save the one that followed it, and the one +that followed that. + +The temperature dropped many degrees in an hour. Just as the young +troops of Grant, marching to Donelson, deceived by a warm morning had +cast aside their heavy clothing to be chilled to the bone before the +day was over, so the equally young troops of Jackson now suffered in the +same way, and from the same lack of thought. + +Most of their overcoats and cloaks were in the wagons, and there was +no time to get them, because Jackson would not permit any delays. They +shivered and grumbled under their breath. Nevertheless the army marched +swiftly, while the dark clouds, laden with snow and cold, marched up +with equal swiftness from the western horizon. + +A winter campaign! It did not seem so glorious now to many of the boys +who in the warmth and the sunshine had throbbed with the thought of it. +They inquired once more about those wagons containing their overcoats +and blankets, and they learned that they had followed easier roads, +while the troops themselves were taking short cuts through the forests +and across the fields. They might be reunited at night, and they might +not. It was not considered a matter of the first importance by Jackson. + +Harry had been wise enough to retain his military cloak strapped to his +saddle, and he wrapped it about his body, drawing the collar as high +as he could. One of his gauntleted hands held the reins, and the other +swung easily by his side. He would have given his cloak to some one +of the shivering youths who marched on foot near him, but he knew that +Jackson would not permit any such open breach of discipline. + +The boy watched the leader who rode almost by his side. Jackson had put +on his own cavalry cloak, but it was fastened by a single button at +the top and it had blown open. He did not seem to notice the fact. +Apparently he was oblivious of heat and cold alike, and rode on, bent a +little forward in the saddle, his face the usual impenetrable mask. But +Harry knew that the brain behind that brow never ceased to work, always +thinking and planning, trying this combination and that, ready to make +any sacrifice to do the work that was to be done. + +The long shadows came, and the short day that had turned so cold was +over, giving way to the night that was colder than the day. They were +on the hills now and even the vigorous Jackson felt that it was time to +stop until morning. The night had turned very dark, a fierce wind was +blowing, and now and then a fine sift of snow as sharp as hail was blown +against their faces. + +The wagons with the heavy clothing, blankets and food had not come up, +and perhaps would not arrive until the next day. Gloom as dark as the +night itself began to spread among the young troops, but Jackson gave +them little time for bemoaning their fate. Fires were quickly built +from fallen wood. The men found warmth and a certain mental relief in +gathering the wood itself. The officers, many of them boys themselves, +shared in the work. They roamed through the forest dragging in fallen +timber, and now and then, an old rail fence was taken panel by panel to +join the general heap. + +The fires presently began to crackle in the darkness, running in long, +irregular lines, and the young soldiers crowded in groups about them. +At the same time they ate the scanty rations they carried in their +knapsacks, and wondered what had become of the wagons. Jackson sent +detachments to seek his supply trains, but Harry knew that he would not +wait for it in the morning. The horses drawing the heavy loads over the +slippery roads would need rest as badly as the men, and Jackson would +go on. If food was not there--well then his troops must march on empty +stomachs. + +Youth changes swiftly and the high spirits with which the soldiers had +departed in the morning were gone. The night had become extremely cold. +Fierce winds whistled down from the crests of the mountains and pierced +their clothing with myriads of little icy darts. They crept closer and +closer to the fire. Their faces burned while their backs froze, and +the menacing wind, while it chilled them to the marrow with its breath, +seemed to laugh at them in sinister fashion. They thought with many a +lament of their warm quarters in Winchester. + +Harry shared the common depression to a certain extent. He had recalled +that morning how the young Napoleon started on his great campaign +of Italy, and there had been in his mind some idea that it would be +repeated in the Virginia valleys, but he recalled at night that the +soldiers of the youthful Bonaparte had marched and fought in warm +days in a sunny country. It was a different thing to conduct a great +campaign, when the clouds heavy with snow were hovering around the +mountain tops, and the mercury was hunting zero. He shivered and looked +apprehensively into the chilly night. His apprehension was not for a +human foe, but for the unbroken spirits of darkness and mystery that can +cow us all. + +No tents were pitched. Jackson shared the common lot, sitting by a fire +with some of the higher officers, while three or four other young aides +were near. The sifts of snow turned after a while into a fine but steady +snow, which continued half an hour. The backs of the soldiers were +covered with white, while their faces burned. Then there was a shuffling +sound at every fire, as the men turned their backs to the blaze and +their faces to the forest. + +Harry watched General Jackson closely. He was sitting on a fallen log, +which the soldiers had drawn near to one of the largest fires, and he +was staring intently into the coals. He did not speak, nor did he seem +to take any notice of those about him. Harry knew, too, that he was not +seeing the coals, but the armies of the enemy on the other side of the +cold mountain. + +Jackson after a while beckoned to the young aides and he gave to every +one in turn the same command. + +"Mount and make a complete circuit of the army. Report to me whether +all the pickets are watchful, and whether any signs of the enemy can be +seen." + +Harry had tethered his horse in a little grove near by, where he might +be sheltered as much as possible from the cold, and the faithful animal +which had not tasted food that day, whimpered and rubbed his nose +against his shoulder when he came. + +"I'm sorry, old boy," whispered Harry, "I'd give you food if I could, +but since I can't give you food I've got to give you more work." + +He put on the bridle, leaped into the saddle, which had been left on the +horse's back, and rode away on his mission. The password that night +was "Manassas," and Harry exchanged it with the pickets who curved in a +great circle through the lone, cold forest. They were always glad to see +him. They were alone, save when two of them met at the common end of a +beat, and these youths of the South were friendly, liking to talk and to +hear the news of others. + +Toward the Northern segment of the circle he came to a young giant +from the hills who was walking back and forth with the utmost vigor +and shaking himself as if he would throw off the cold. His brown face +brightened with pleasure when he saw Harry and exchanged the password. + +"Two or three other officers have been by here ridin' hosses," he said +in the voice of an equal speaking to his equal, "an' they don't fill +me plum' full o' envy a-tall, a-tall. I guess a feller tonight kin keep +warmer walkin' on the ground than ridin' on a hoss. What might your name +be, Mr. Officer?" + +"Kenton. I'm a lieutenant, at present on the staff of General Jackson. +What is yours?" + +"Seth Moore, an' I'm always a private, but at present doin' sentinel +duty, but wishin' I was at home in our double log house 'tween the +blankets." + +"Have you noticed anything, Seth?" asked Harry, not at all offended by +the nature of his reply. + +"I've seen some snow, an' now an' then the cold top of a mountain, +an'--" + +"An' what, Seth?" + +"Do you see that grove straight toward the north four or five hundred +yards away?" + +"Yes, but I can make nothing of it but a black blur. It's too far away +to tell the trunks of the trees apart." + +"It's too fur fur me, too, an' my eyes are good, but ten or fifteen +minutes ago, leftenant, I thought I saw a shadder at the edge of the +grove. It 'peared to me that the shadder was like that of a horse with +a man on it. After a while it went back among the trees an' o' course I +lost it thar." + +"You feel quite sure you saw the shadow, Seth?" + +"Yes, leftenant. I'm shore I ain't mistook. I've hunted 'coons an' +'possums at night too much to be mistook about shadders. I reckon, if I +may say so, shadders is my specialty, me bein' somethin' o' a night owl. +As shore as I'm standin' here, leftenant, and as shore as you're settin' +there on your hoss, a mounted man come to the edge of that wood an' +stayed thar a while, watchin' us. I'd have follered him, but I couldn't +leave my beat here, an' you're the first officer I've saw since. It may +amount to nothin, an' then again it mayn't." + +"I'm glad you told me. I'll go into the grove myself and see if anybody +is there now." + +"Leftenant, if I was you I'd be mighty keerful. If it's a spy it'll be +easy enough for him under the cover of the trees to shoot you in the +open comin' toward him." + +Harry knew that Jackson planned a surprise of some kind and Seth Moore's +words about the mounted man alarmed him. He did not doubt the accuracy +of the young mountaineer's eyesight, or his coolness, and he resolved +that he would not go back to headquarters until he knew more about that +"shadow." But Moore's advice about caution was not to be unheeded. + +"If you keep in the edge of our woods here," said Moore, "an' ride along +a piece you'll come to a little valley. Then you kin go up that an' come +into the grove over thar without being seed." + +"Good advice. I'll take it." + +Harry loosened one of the pistols in his belt and rode cautiously +through the wood as Seth Moore had suggested. The ground sloped rapidly, +and soon he reached the narrow but deep little valley with a dense +growth of trees and underbrush on either side. The valley led upward, +and he came into the grove just as Moore had predicted. + +This forest was of much wider extent than he had supposed. It stretched +northward further than he could see, and, although it was devoid of +undergrowth, it was very dark among the trees. He rode his horse behind +the trunk of a great oak, and, pausing there, examined all the forest +within eyeshot. + +He saw nothing but the long rows of tree trunks, white on the northern +side with snow, and he heard nothing but the cold rustle of wind among +boughs bare of branches. Yet he had full confidence in the words of +Seth Moore. He could neither see him nor hear him, but he was sure that +somebody besides himself was in the wood. Once more the soul and spirit +of his great ancestor were poured into him, and for the moment he, too, +was the wilderness rover, endowed with nerves preternaturally acute. + +Hidden by the great tree trunks he listened attentively. His horse, +oppressed by the cold and perhaps by the weariness of the day, was +motionless and made no sound. He waited two or three minutes and then he +was sure that he heard a slight noise, which he believed was made by the +hoofs of a horse walking very slowly. Then he saw the shadow. + +It was the dim figure of a man on horseback, moving very cautiously at +some distance from Harry. He urged his own horse forward a little, and +the shadow stopped instantly. Then he knew that he had been seen, and he +sat motionless in the saddle for an instant or two, not knowing what to +do. + +After all, the man on horseback might be a friend. He might be some +scout from a band of rangers, coming to join Jackson; and not yet sure +that the army in the woods was his. Recovering from his indecision he +rode forward a little and called: + +"Who are you?" + +The shadow made no reply, and horse and rider were motionless. They +seemed for an instant to be phantoms, but then Harry knew that they were +real. He was oppressed by a feeling of the weird and menacing. He would +make the sinister figure move and his hand dropped toward his pistol +belt. + +"Stop, I can fire before you!" cried the figure sharply, and then Harry +suddenly saw a pistol barrel gleaming across the stranger's saddle bow. + +Harry checked his hand, but he did not consider himself beaten by any +means. He merely waited, wary and ready to seize his opportunity. + +"I don't want to shoot," said the man in a clear voice, "and I won't +unless you make me. I'm no friend. I'm an enemy, that is, an official +enemy, and I think it strange, Harry Kenton, almost the hand of fate, +that you and I come face to face again under such circumstances." + +Harry stared, and then the light broke. Now he remembered both the voice +and the figure. + +"Shepard!" he exclaimed. + +"It's so. We're engaged upon the same duty. I've just been inspecting +the army of General Jackson, calculating its numbers, its equipment, and +what it may do. Keep your hand away from that pistol. I might not hit +you, but the chances are that I would. But as I said, I don't want to +shoot. It wouldn't help our cause or me any to maim or kill you. Suppose +we call it peace between us for this evening." + +"I agree to call it peace because I have to do it." + +Shepard laughed, and his laugh was not at all sarcastic or unpleasant. + +"Why a rage to kill?" he said. "You and I, Harry Kenton, will find +before this war is over that we'll get quite enough of fighting in +battles without seeking to make slaughter in between. Besides, having +met you several times, I've a friendly feeling for you. Now turn and +ride back to your own lines and I'll go the other way." + +The blood sprang into Harry's face and his heart beat hard. There was +something dominating and powerful in the voice. It now had the tone of a +man who spoke to one over whom he ruled. Yet he could do nothing. He saw +that Shepard was alert and watchful. He felt instinctively that his foe +would fire if he were forced to do so and that he would not miss. Then +despite himself, he felt admiration for the man's skill and power, and a +pronounced intellectual quality that he discovered in him. + +"Very well," he replied, "I'll turn and go back, but I want to tell you, +Mr. Shepard, that while you have been estimating what General Jackson's +army can do you must make that estimate high." + +"I've already done so," called Shepard--Harry was riding away as he +spoke. The boy at the edge of the wood looked back, but the shadow was +already gone. He rode straight across the open and Seth Moore met him. + +"Did you find anything?" the young mountaineer asked. + +"Yes, there was a mounted man in a blue uniform, a spy, who has been +watching, but he made off. You had good eyes, Seth, and I'm going to +report this at once to General Jackson." + +Harry knew that he was the bearer of an unpleasant message. General +Jackson was relying upon surprise, and it would not please him to know +that his movements were watched by an active and intelligent scout or +spy. But the man had already shown his greatness by always insisting +upon hearing the worst of everything. + +He found the chief, still sitting before one of the fires and reported +to him fully. Jackson listened without comment, but at the end he said +to two of the brigadiers who were sitting with him: + +"We march again at earliest dawn. We will not wait for the wagons." + +Then he added to Harry: + +"You've done good service. Join the sleepers, there." + +He pointed to a group of young officers rolled in their blankets, and +Harry obeyed quickly. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. WAR AND WAITING + + +Harry slept like one dead, but he was awakened at dawn, and he rose yet +heavy with sleep and somewhat stiff from the severe exertions of the day +before. But it all came back in an instant, the army, the march, and the +march yet to come. + +They had but a scanty breakfast, the wagons not yet having come up, +and in a half hour they started again. They grumbled mightily at first, +because the day was bleak beyond words, heavy with clouds, and sharp +with chill. The country seemed deserted and certainly that somber air +was charged with no omens of victory. + +But in spite of everything the spirits of the young troops began to +rise. They took a pride in this defiance of nature as well as man. They +could endure cold and hunger and weariness as they would endure battle, +when it came. They went on thus three days, almost without food and +shelter. Higher among the hills the snow sometimes beat upon them in a +hurricane, and at night the winds howled as if they had come down fresh +from the Arctic. + +The spirits of the young troops, after rising, fell again, and their +feet dragged. Jackson, always watching, noticed it. Beckoning to several +of his staff, including Harry, he rode back along the lines, giving a +word of praise here and two words of rebuke there. They came at last +to an entire brigade, halted by the roadside, some of the men leaning +against an old rail fence. + +Jackson looked at the men and his face darkened. It was his own +Stonewall Brigade, the one of which he was so proud, and which he had +led in person into the war. Their commander was standing beside a tree, +and riding up to him he demanded fiercely: + +"What is the meaning of this? Why have you stopped?" + +"I ordered a stop of a little while for the men to cook their rations," +replied General Garnett. + +Jackson's face darkened yet further, and the blue eyes were menacing. + +"There is no time for that," he said sharply. + +"But the men can't go any farther without them. It's impossible." + +"I never found anything impossible with this brigade." + +Jackson shot forth the words as if they were so many bullets, gave +Garnett a scornful look and rode on. Harry followed him, as was his +duty, but more slowly, and looked back. He saw a deep red flush show +through Garnett's sunburn. But the preparations for cooking were stopped +abruptly. Within three minutes the Stonewall Brigade was in line again, +marching resolutely over the frozen road. Garnett had recognized that +the impossible was possible--at least where Jackson led. + +Not many stragglers were found as they rode on toward the rear, but +every regiment increased its speed at sight of the stern general. After +circling around the rear he rode back toward the front, and he left +Harry and several others to go more slowly along the flanks and report +to him later. + +When Harry was left alone he was saluted with the usual good-humored +chaff by the soldiers who again demanded his horse of him, or asked +him whether they were to fight or whether they were training to +be foot-racers. Harry merely smiled, and he came presently to the +Invincibles, who were trudging along stubbornly, with the officers +riding on their flanks. Langdon was as cheerful as usual. + +"Things have to come to their worst before they get better," he said +to Harry, "and I suppose we've about reached the worst. A sight of the +enemy would be pleasant, even if it meant battle." + +"We're marching on Bath," said Harry, "and we ought to strike it +to-night, though I'm afraid the Yankees have got warning of our coming." + +He was thinking of Shepard, who now loomed very large to him. The +circumstances of their meetings were always so singular that this +Northern scout and spy seemed to him to possess omniscience. Beyond +a doubt he would notify every Northern garrison he could reach of +Jackson's coming. + +Suddenly the band of South Carolinians, who were still left in the +Invincibles, struck up a song: + + + "Ho, woodsmen of the mountain-side! + Ho, dwellers in the vales! + Ho, ye who by the chafing tide + Have roughened in the gales! + Leave barn and byre, leave kin and cot, + Lay by the bloodless spade: + Let desk and case and counter rot, + And burn your books of trade!" + + +All the Invincibles caught the swing and rush of the verses, and +regiments before them and behind them caught the time, too, if not the +words. The chant rolled in a great thundering chorus through the wintry +forest. It was solemn and majestic, and it quickened the blood of these +youths who believed in the cause for which they fought, just as those on +the other side believed in theirs. + +"It was written by one of our own South Carolinians," said St. Clair, +with pride. "Now here goes the second verse! Lead off, there, Langdon! +They'll all catch it!" + + + "The despot roves your fairest lands; + And till he flies or fears, + Your fields must grow but armed bands + Your sheaves be sheaves of spears: + Give up to mildew and to rust + The useless tools of gain + And feed your country's sacred dust + With floods of crimson rain!" + + +Louder and louder swelled the chorus of ten thousand marching men. It +was not possible for the officers to have stopped them had they wished +to do so, and they did not wish it. Stonewall Jackson, who had read and +studied much, knew that the power of simple songs was scarcely less than +that of rifle and bayonet, and he willingly let them sing on. Now and +then, a gleam came from the blue eyes in his tanned, bearded face. + +Harry, sensitive and prone to enthusiasm, was flushed in every vein by +the marching song. He seemed to himself to be endowed with a new life of +vigor and energy. The invader trod the Southern land and they must rush +upon him at once. He was eager for a sight of the blue masses which they +would certainly overcome. + +He returned to his place near the head of the column with the staff +of the commander. Night was now close at hand, but Bath was still many +miles away. It was colder than ever, but the wagons had not yet come up +and there were no rations and tents. Only a few scraps of food were left +in the knapsacks. + +"Ride to Captain Sherburne," said General Jackson to Harry, "and tell +him to go forward with his men and reconnoiter." + +"May I go with him, sir?" + +"Yes, and then report to me what he and his men find." + +Harry galloped gladly to the vanguard, where the gallant young captain +and his troop were leading. These Virginians preserved their fine +appearance. If they were weary they did not show it. They sat erect in +their saddles and the last button on their uniforms was in place. Their +polished spurs gleamed in the wintry sun. + +They set off at a gallop, Harry riding by the side of Captain Sherburne. +Blood again mounted high with the rapid motion and the sense of action. +Soon they left the army behind, and, as the road was narrow and shrouded +in forest, they could see nothing of it. Its disappearance was as +complete as if it had been swallowed up in a wilderness. + +They rode straight toward Bath, but after two or three miles they +slackened speed. Harry had told Sherburne of the presence of Shepard the +night before, and the captain knew that they must be cautious. + +Another mile, and at a signal from the captain the whole troop stopped. +They heard hoofbeats on the road ahead of them, and the sound was coming +in their direction. + +"A strong force," said Captain Sherburne. + +"Probably larger than ours, if the hoofbeats mean anything," said Harry. + +"And Yankees, of course. Here they are!" + +A strong detachment of cavalry suddenly rounded a curve in the road and +swept into full view. Then the horsemen stopped in astonishment at the +sight of the Confederate troop. + +There was no possibility of either command mistaking the other for a +friend, but Sherburne, despite his youth, had in him the instinct +for quick perception and action which distinguished the great cavalry +leaders of the South like Jeb Stuart, Turner Ashby and others. He drew +his men back instantly somewhat in the shelter of the trees and received +the Union fire first. + +As Sherburne had expected, few of the Northern bullets struck home. Some +knocked bark from the trees, others kicked up dirt from the frozen +road, but most of them sang vainly through the empty air and passed far +beyond. Now the Southerners sent their fire full into the Union ranks, +and, at Sherburne's shouted command, charged, with their leader at their +head swinging his sword in glittering circles like some knight of old. + +The Southern volley had brought down many horses and men, but the +Northern force was double in numbers and many of the men carried new +breech-loading rifles of the best make. While unused to horses and +largely ignorant of the country, they had good officers and they +stood firm. The Southern charge, meeting a second volley from the +breech-loading rifles, broke upon their front. + +Harry, almost by the side of Sherburne, felt the shock as they galloped +into the battle smoke, and then he felt the Virginians reel. He heard +around him the rapid crackle of rifles and pistols, sabers clashing +together, the shouts of men, the terrible neighing of wounded horses, +and then the two forces drew apart, leaving a sprinkling of dead and +wounded between. + +It was a half retreat by either, the two drawing back sixty or seventy +yards apiece and then beginning a scattered and irregular fire from the +rifles. But Sherburne, alert always, soon drew his men into the shelter +of the woods, and attempted an attack on his enemy's flank. + +Some destruction was created in the Union ranks by the fire from the +cover of the forest, but the officers of the opposing force showed +skill, too. Harry had no doubt from the way the Northern troops were +handled that at least two or three West Pointers were there. They +quickly fell back into the forest on the other side of the road, and +sent return volleys. + +Harry heard the whistle and whizz of bullets all about them. Bark was +clipped from trees and dry twigs fell. Yet little damage was done by +either. The forest, although leafless, was dense, and trunks and low +boughs afforded much shelter. Both ceased fire presently, seeming to +realize at the same moment that nothing was being done, and hovered +among the trees, each watching for what the other would try next. + +Harry kept close to Captain Sherburne, whose face plainly showed signs +of deep disgust. His heart was full of battle and he wished to get at +the enemy. But prudence forbade another charge upon a force double +his numbers and now sheltered by a wood. At this moment it was the boy +beside him who was cooler than he. + +"Captain Sherburne," he suggested mildly, "didn't General Jackson merely +want to find out what was ahead of him? When the army comes up it will +sweep this force out of its way." + +"That's so," agreed Sherburne reluctantly, "but if we retire they'll +claim a victory, and our men will be depressed by the suspicion of +defeat." + +"But the Yankees are retiring already. Look, you can see them +withdrawing! They were on the same business that we were, and it's far +more important for them to be sure that Jackson is advancing than it is +for us to know that an enemy's in front." + +"You're right. We knew already that he was there, and we were watching +to get him. It's foolish for us to stay here, squabbling with a lot of +obstinate Yankees. We'll go back to Jackson as fast as we can. You're a +bright boy, Harry." + +He dropped a hand affectionately on Harry's shoulder, then gave the +order to the men and they turned their horses' heads toward the army. +At the same time they saw with their own eyes the complete withdrawal +of the Union troops, and the proud Virginians were satisfied. It was no +defeat. It was merely a parting by mutual consent, each moving at the +same instant, that is, if the Yankees didn't go first. + +They galloped back over the frozen road, and Captain Sherburne admitted +once more to himself the truth of Harry's suggestion. Already the +twilight was coming, and again it was heavy with clouds. In the east all +the peaks and ridges were wrapped about with them, and the captain knew +that they meant more snow. Heavy snow was the worst of all things for +the advance of Jackson. + +Captain Sherburne gave another signal to his men and they galloped +faster. The hoofbeats of nearly two hundred horses rang hard on the +frozen road, but with increased speed pulses throbbed faster and spirits +rose. The average age of the troops was not over twenty, and youth +thought much of action, little of consequences. + +They saw in a half hour the heads of columns toiling up the slopes, +and then Jackson riding on Little Sorrel, his shoulders bent forward +slightly, the grave eyes showing that the great mind behind them was +still at work, planning, planning, always planning. Their expression +did not change when Sherburne, halting his horse before him, saluted +respectfully. + +"What did you find, Captain Sherburne?" he asked. + +"The enemy, sir. We ran into a force of cavalry about four hundred +strong." + +"And then?" + +"We had a smart little skirmish with them, sir, and then both sides +withdrew." + +"Undoubtedly they went to report to their people, as you have come to +report to yours. It looks as if our attempt to surprise Bath might fail, +but we'll try to reach it to-night. Lieutenant Kenton, ride back and +give the brigade commanders orders to hasten their march." + +He detached several others of his staff for the same duty, and in most +cases wrote brief notes for them. Harry noticed how he took it for +granted that one was always willing to do work, and yet more work. +He himself had just ridden back from battle, and yet he was sent +immediately on another errand. He noticed, too, how it set a new +standard for everybody. This way Jackson had of expecting much was +rapidly causing his men to offer much as a matter of course. + +While Jackson was writing the notes to the brigadiers he looked up once +or twice at the darkening skies. The great mass of clouds, charged with +snow that had been hovering in the east, was now directly overhead. When +he had finished the last note it was too dark for him to write any more +without help of torch. As he handed the note to the aide who was to take +it, a great flake of snow fell upon his hand. + +Harry found that the brigades could move no faster. They were already +toiling hard. The twilight had turned to night, and the clouds covered +the whole circle of the heavens. The snow, slow at first, was soon +falling fast. The soldiers brushed it off for a while, and then, feeling +that it was no use, let it stay. Ten thousand men, white as if wrapped +in winding sheets, marched through the mountains. Now and then, a thin +trickle of red from a foot, encased in a shoe worn through, stained the +snow. + +The wind was not blowing, and the night, reinforced by the clouds, +became very dark, save the gleam from the white covering of snow upon +the earth. Torches began to flare along the line, and still Jackson +marched. Harry knew what was in his mind. He wished to reach Bath that +night and fall upon the enemy when he was not expected, even though that +enemy had been told that Jackson was coming. The commander in front, +whoever he might be, certainly would expect no attack in the middle of +the night and in a driving snowstorm. + +But the fierce spirit of Jackson was forced to yield at last. His +men, already the best marchers on the American continent, could go no +farther. The order was given to camp. Harry more than guessed how bitter +was the disappointment of his commander, and he shared it. + +The men, half starved and often stiff with cold, sank down by the +roadside. They no longer asked for the wagons containing their food and +heavy clothing, because they no longer expected them. They passed from +high spirits to a heavy apathy, and now they did not seem to care what +happened. But the officers roused them up as much as possible, made them +build fires with every piece of wood they could find, and then let +them wrap themselves in their blankets and go to sleep--save for the +sentinels. + +All night long the snow beat on Jackson's army lying there among the +mountains, and save for a few Union officers not far away, both North +and South wondered what had become of it. + +It was known at Washington and Richmond that Jackson had left +Winchester, and then he had dropped into the dark. The eyes of the +leaders at both capitals were fixed upon the greater armies of McClellan +and Johnston, and Stonewall Jackson was not yet fully understood by +either. Nevertheless, the gaunt and haggard President of the North began +to feel anxiety about this Confederate leader who had disappeared with +his army in the mountains of Northern Virginia. + +The telegraph wires were not numerous then, but they were kept busy +answering the question about Jackson. Banks and the other Union leaders +in the valley sent reassuring replies. Jackson would not dare to attack +them. They had nearly three times as many men as he, and it did not +matter what had become of him. If he chose to come, the sooner he came, +the sooner he would be annihilated. McClellan himself laughed at the +fears about Jackson. He was preparing his own great army for a march on +Richmond, one that would settle everything. + +But the army of Jackson, nevertheless, rose from the snow the next +morning, and marched straight on the Union garrison. The rising was made +near Bath, and the army literally brushed the snow from itself before +eating the half of a breakfast, and taking to the road again, Jackson, +on Little Sorrel, leading them. Harry, as usual, rode near him. + +Harry, despite exertions and hardships which would have overpowered +him six months before, did not feel particularly hungry or weary that +morning. No one in the army had caught more quickly than he the spirit +of Stonewall Jackson. He could endure anything, and in another hour +or two they would pass out of this wilderness of forest and snow, and +attack the enemy. Bath was just ahead. + +A thrill passed through the whole army. Everybody knew that Jackson was +about to attack. While the first and reluctant sun of dawn was trying to +pierce the heavy clouds, the regiments, spreading out to right and +left to enclose Bath, began to march. Then the sun gave up its feeble +attempts, the clouds closed in entirely, the wind began to blow hard, +and with it came a blinding snow, and then a bitter hail. + +Harry had been sent by Jackson to the right flank with orders and he was +to remain there, unless it became necessary to inform the commander that +some regiment was not doing its duty. But he found them all marching +forward, and, falling in with the Invincibles, he marched with them. +Yet it was impossible for the lines to retain cohesion or regularity, so +fierce was the beat of the storm. + +It was an alternation of blinding snow and of hail that fairly stung. +Often the officers could not see the men thirty yards distant, and +there was no way of knowing whether the army was marching forward in +the complete half circle as planned. Regiments might draw apart, leaving +wide gaps between, and no one would know it in all that hurricane. + +Harry rode by the side of Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel +Hector St. Hilaire, who were leading the Invincibles in person. Both +had gray military cloaks drawn around them, but Harry saw that they +were shivering with cold as they sat on their horses, with the snow +accumulating on their shoulders and on the saddles around them. In +truth, the foot cavalry had rather the better of it, as the hard +marching kept up the circulation. + +"Not much like the roses of Charleston," said Colonel Talbot, faintly +smiling. + +"But I'm glad to be here," said Harry, "although I will admit, sir, that +I did not expect a campaign to the North Pole." + +"Neither did I, but I'm prepared for anything now, under the commander +that we have. Bear in mind, my young friend, that this is for your +private ear only." + +"Of course, sir! What was that? Wasn't it a rifle shot?" + +"The report is faint, but it was certainly made by a rifle. And hark, +there are others! We've evidently come upon their outposts! Confound +this storm! It keeps us from seeing more than twenty yards in front of +us!" + +The scattered rifle fire continued, and the weary soldiers raised their +heads which they had bent to shelter their eyes from the driving snow +and hail. Pulses leaped up again, and blood sparkled. The whole army +rushed forward. The roofs of houses came into view, and there was Bath. + +But the firing had been merely that of a small rear guard, skirmishers +who surrendered promptly. The garrison, warned doubtless by Shepard, +and then the scouting troop, had escaped across the river, but Jackson's +wintry march was not wholly in vain. The fleeing Union troops had no +time either to carry away or destroy the great stores of supplies, +accumulated there for the winter, and the starving and freezing +Southerners plunged at once into the midst of plenty, ample compensation +to the young privates. + +The population, ardently Southern, as everywhere in these Virginia +towns, welcomed the army with wild enthusiasm. Officers and soldiers +were taken into the houses, as many as Bath could hold, and enormous +fires were built in the open spaces for the others. They also showed the +way at once to the magazines, where the Union supplies were heaped up. + +Harry, at the direction of his general, went with one of the detachments +to seize these. Their first prize was an old but large storehouse, +crammed full of the things they needed most. The tall mountain youth, +Seth Moore, was one of his men, and he proved to be a prince of looters. + +"Blankets! blankets!" cried Moore. "Here they are, hundreds of 'em! An' +look at these barrels! Bacon! Beef! Crackers! An' look at the piles of +cheese! Oh, Lieutenant Kenton, how my mouth waters! Can't I bite into +one o' them cheeses?" + +"Not yet," said Harry, whose own mouth was watering, too, "but you can, +Seth, within ten minutes at the farthest. The whole army must bite at +once." + +"That's fa'r an' squar', but ain't this richness! Cove oysters, cans an' +cans of 'em, an' how I love 'em! An' sardines, too, lots of 'em! Why, +I could bite right through the tin boxes to get at 'em. An' rice, an' +hominy, an' bags o' flour. Why, the North has been sendin' whole train +loads of things down here for us to eat!" + +"And she has been sending more than that," said Harry. "Here are five +or six hundred fine breech-loading rifles, and hundreds of thousands +of cartridges. She's been sending us arms and ammunition with which to +fight her!" + +His boyish spirit burst forth. Even though an officer, he could not +control them, and he was radiant as the looting Seth Moore himself. He +went out to report the find and to take measures concerning it. On his +way he met hundreds of the Southern youths who had already put on heavy +blue overcoats found in the captured stores. The great revulsion had +come. They were laughing and cheering and shaking the hands of one +another. It was a huge picnic, all the more glorious because they had +burst suddenly out of the storm and the icy wilderness. + +But order was soon restored, and wrapped in warm clothing they feasted +like civilized men, the great fires lighting up the whole town with a +cheerful glow. Harry was summoned to new duties. He was also a new +man. Warmth and food had doubled his vitality, and he was ready for any +errand on which Jackson might send him. + +While it was yet snowing, he rode with a half dozen troopers toward +the Potomac. On the other side was a small town which also held a Union +garrison. Scouting warily along the shores, Harry discovered that the +garrison was still there. Evidently the enemy believed in the protection +of the river, or many of their leaders could not yet wholly believe that +Jackson and his army, making a forced march in the dead of winter, were +at hand. + +But he had no doubt that his general would attend to these obstinate +men, and he rode back to Bath with the news. Jackson gave his worn +troops a little more rest. They were permitted to spend all that day and +night at Bath, luxuriating and renewing their strength and spirits. + +Harry slept, for the first time in many nights, in a house, and he made +the most of it, because he doubted whether he would have another such +chance soon. Dawn found the army up and ready to march away from this +place of delight. + +They went up and down the Potomac three or four days, scattering +or capturing small garrisons, taking fresh supplies and spreading +consternation among the Union forces in Northern Virginia and Maryland. +It was all done in the most bitter winter weather and amid storms of +snow and hail. The roads were slippery with sleet, and often the cavalry +were compelled to dismount and lead their horses long distances. There +was little fighting because the Northern enemy was always in numbers +too small to resist, but there was a great deal of hard riding and many +captures. + +News of Jackson's swoop began to filter through to both Richmond and +Washington. In Richmond they wondered and rejoiced. In Washington they +wondered, but did not rejoice. They had not expected there any blow to +be struck in the dead of winter, and Lincoln demanded of his generals +why they could not do as well. Distance and the vagueness of the news +magnified Jackson's exploits and doubled his numbers. Eyes were turned +with intense anxiety toward that desolate white expanse of snow and ice, +in the midst of which he was operating. + +Jackson finally turned his steps toward Romney, which had been the Union +headquarters, and his men, exhausted and half starved, once more dragged +themselves over the sleety roads. Winter offered a fresh obstacle at +every turn. Even the spirits of Harry, who had borrowed so much from the +courage of Jackson, sank somewhat. As they pulled themselves through the +hills on their last stage toward Romney, he was walking. His horse had +fallen three times that day on the ice, and was now too timid to carry +his owner. + +So Harry led him. The boy's face and hands were so much chapped and +cracked with the cold that they bled at times. But he wasted no +sympathy on himself. It was the common fate of the army. Jackson and +his generals, themselves, suffered in the same way. Jackson was walking, +too, for a while, leading his own horse. + +Harry was sent back to bring up the Invincibles, as Romney was now +close at hand, and there might be a fight. He found his old colonel and +lieutenant-colonel walking over the ice. Both were thin, and were black +under the eyes with privation and anxiety. These were not in appearance +the men whom he had known in gay and sunny Charleston, though in spirit +the same. They gave Harry a welcome and hoped that the enemy would wait +for them in Romney. + +"I don't think so," said Harry, "but I've orders for you from General +Jackson to bring up the Invincibles as fast as possible." + +"Tell General Jackson that we'll do our best," said Colonel Talbot, as +he looked back at his withered column. + +They seemed to Harry to be withered indeed, they were so gaunt with +hardship and drawn up so much with cold. Many wore the blue Northern +overcoats that they had captured at Bath, and more had tied up their +throats and ears in the red woolen comforters of the day, procured at +the towns through which they passed. They, too, were gaunt of cheek and +black under the eye like their officers. + +The Invincibles under urging increased their speed, but not much. Little +reserve strength was left in them. Langdon and St. Clair, who had been +sent along the line, returned to Colonel Talbot where Harry was still +waiting. + +"They're not going as fast as a railroad train," said Langdon in an +aside to Harry, "but they're doing their best. You can't put in a well +more than you can take out of it, and they're marching now not on their +strength, but their courage. Still, it might be worse. We might all be +dead." + +"But we're not dead, by a big margin, and I think we'll make another +haul at Romney." + +"But Old Jack won't let us stay and enjoy it. I never saw a man so much +in love with marching. The steeper the hills and mountains, the colder +the day, the fiercer the sleet and snow, the better he likes it." + +"The fellow who said General Jackson didn't care anything about our feet +told the truth," said St. Clair, thoughtfully. "The general is not a +cruel man, but he thinks more of Virginia and the South, and our cause, +than he does of us. If it were necessary to do so to win he'd sacrifice +us to the last man and himself with us." + +"And never think twice before doing it. You've sized him up," said +Harry. The army poured into Romney and found no enemy. Again a garrison +had escaped through the mountain snows when the news reached it that +Jackson was at hand. But they found supplies of food, filled their empty +stomachs, and as Langdon had foretold, quickly started anew in search of +another enemy elsewhere. + +But the men finally broke down under the driving of the merciless +Jackson. Many of them began to murmur. They had left the bleeding trail +of their feet over many an icy road, and some said they were ready to +lie down in the snow and die before they would march another mile. A +great depression, which was physical rather than mental, a depression +born of exhaustion and intense bodily suffering, seized the army. + +Jackson, although with a will of steel, was compelled to yield. Slowly +and with reluctance, he led his army back toward Winchester, leaving +a large garrison in Romney. But Harry knew what he had done, although +nothing more than skirmishes had been fought. He had cleared a wide +region of the enemy. He had inspired enthusiasm in the South, and he had +filled the North with alarm. The great movement of McClellan on Richmond +must beware of its right flank. A dangerous foe was there who might +sting terribly, and men had learned already that none knew when or +whence Jackson might come. + +A little more than three weeks after their departure Harry and his +friends and the army, except the portion left in garrison at Romney, +returned to Winchester, the picturesque and neat little Virginia city so +loyal to the South. It looked very good indeed to Harry as he drew near. +He liked the country, rolling here and there, the hills crested with +splendid groves of great trees. The Little North Mountain a looming blue +shadow to the west, and the high Massanutton peaks to the south seemed +to guard it round. And the valley itself was rich and warm with the fine +farms spread out for many miles. Despite the engrossing pursuit of the +enemy and of victory and glory, Harry's heart thrilled at the sight of +the red brick houses of Winchester. + +Here came a period of peace so far as war was concerned, but of great +anxiety to Harry and the whole army. The government at Richmond began +to interfere with Jackson. It thought him too bold, even rash, and it +wanted him to withdraw the garrison at Romney, which was apparently +exposed to an attack by the enemy in great force. It was said that +McClellan had more than two hundred thousand men before Washington, +and an overwhelming division from it might fall at any time upon the +Southern force at Romney. + +Harry, being a member of Jackson's staff, and having become a favorite +with him, knew well his reasons for standing firm. January, which had +furnished so fierce a month of winter, was going. The icy country was +breaking up under swift thaws, and fields and destroyed roads were a +vast sea of mud in which the feet of infantry, the hoofs of horses and +the wheels of cannon would sink deep. + +Jackson did not believe that McClellan had enough enterprise to order +a march across such an obstacle, but recognizing the right of his +government to expect obedience, he sent his resignation to Richmond. +Harry knew of it, his friends knew of it, and their hearts sank like +plummets in a pool. + +Another portion of the Invincibles had been drawn off to reinforce +Johnston's army before Richmond, as they began to hear rumors now that +McClellan would come by sea instead of land, and their places were +filled with more recruits from the valley of Virginia. Scarcely +a hundred of the South Carolinians were left, but the name, "The +Invincibles" and the chief officers, stayed behind. Jackson had been +unwilling to part with Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. +Hilaire, experienced and able West Pointers. Langdon and St. Clair also +stayed. + +Harry talked over the resignation with these friends of his, and they +showed an anxiety not less than his own. It had become evident to the +two veteran West Pointers that Jackson was the man. Close contact with +him had enabled them to read his character and immense determination. + +"I hope that our government at Richmond will decline this resignation +and give him a free hand," said Colonel Talbot to Harry. "It would be a +terrible loss if he were permitted to drop out of the army. I tell you +for your own private ear that I have taken it upon me to Write a letter +of protest to President Davis himself. I felt that I could do so, +because Mr. Davis and myself were associated closely in the Mexican +War." + +The answer came in time from Richmond. Stonewall Jackson was retained +and a freer hand was given to him. Harry and all his comrades felt an +immense relief, but he did not know until long afterward how near the +Confederacy had come to losing the great Jackson. + +Benjamin, the Secretary of War, and President Davis both were disposed +to let him go, but the powerful intervention of Governor Letcher of +Virginia induced them to change their minds. Moreover, hundreds of +letters from leading Virginians who knew Jackson well poured in upon +him, asking him to withdraw the resignation. So it was arranged and +Jackson remained, biding his time for the while at Winchester, until he +could launch the thunderbolt. + +A pleasant month for Harry, and all the young staff officers passed at +Winchester. The winter of intense cold had now become one of tremendous +rain. It poured and it poured, and it never ceased to pour. Between +Winchester and Washington and McClellan's great army was one vast +flooded area, save where the hills and mountains stood. + +But in Winchester the Southern troops were warm and comfortable. It was +a snug town within its half circle of mountains. Its brick and wooden +houses were solid and good. The young officers when they went on errands +trod on pavements of red brick, and oaks and elms and maples shaded them +nearly all the way. + +When Harry, who went oftenest on such missions, returned to his general +with the answers, he walked up a narrow street, where the silver maples, +which would soon begin to bud under the continuous rain, grew thickest, +and came to a small building in which other officers like himself wrote +at little tables or waited in full uniform to be sent upon like errands. +If it were yet early he would find Jackson there, but if it were late +he would cross a little stretch of grass to the parsonage, the large +and solid house, where the Presbyterian minister, Dr. Graham, lived, and +where Jackson, with his family, who had joined him, now made his home in +this month of waiting. + +It was here that Harry came one evening late in February. It had been +raining as usual, and he wore one of the long Union overcoats captured +at Bath, blue then but a faded grayish brown now. However, the gray +Confederate uniform beneath it was neat and looked fresh. Harry was +always careful about his clothing, and the example of St. Clair inspired +him to greater efforts. Besides, there was a society in Winchester, +including many handsome young women of the old Virginia families, and +even a budding youth who was yet too young for serious sentimentalism, +could not ignore its existence. + +It was twilight and the cold rain was still coming down steadily, as +Harry walked across the grass, and looked out of the wet dusk at the +manse. Lights were shining from every window, and there was warmth +around his heart. The closer association of many weeks with Jackson +had not only increased his admiration, but also had given the general a +great place in the affection that a youth often feels for an older man +whom he deems a genius or a hero. + +Harry walked upon a little portico, and taking off the overcoat shook +out the rain drops. Then he hung it on a hook against the wall of the +house. The door was open six inches or so, and a ribbon of brilliant +light from within fell across the floor of the portico. + +Harry looked at the light and smiled. He was young and he loved gayety. +He smiled again when he heard within the sound of laughter. Then he +pushed the door farther open and entered. Now the laughter rose to a +shout, and it was accompanied by the sound of footsteps. A man, thick +of hair and beard, was running down a stairway. Perched high upon his +shoulders was a child of three or four years, with both hands planted +firmly in the thick hair. The small feet crossed over the man's neck +kicked upon his chest, but he seemed to enjoy the sport as much as the +child did. + +Harry paused and stood at attention until the man saw him. Then he +saluted respectfully and said to General Jackson: + +"I wish to report to you, sir, that I delivered the order to General +Garnett, as you directed, and here, sir, is his reply." + +He handed a note to the general, who read it, thrust it into his pocket, +and said: + +"That ends your labors for the day, Lieutenant Kenton. Come in now and +join us." + +He picked up the child again, and carrying it in his arms, led the way +into an inner room, where he gave it to a nurse. Then they passed into +the library, where Dr. Graham, several generals and two or three of +Winchester's citizens were gathered. + +All gave Harry a welcome. He knew them well, and he looked around with +satisfaction at the large room, with its rows and rows of books, bound +mostly in dark leather, volumes of theology, history, essays, poetry, +and of the works of Walter Scott and Jane Austen. Jackson himself was a +rigid Presbyterian, and he and Dr. Graham had many a long talk in this +room on religion and other topics almost equally serious. + +But to-night they were in a bright mood. A mountaineer had come in with +four huge wild turkeys, which he insisted upon giving to General Jackson +himself, and guests had been asked in to help eat them. + +Nearly twenty people sat around the minister's long table. The turkeys, +at least enough for present needs, were cooked beautifully, and all the +succulent dishes which the great Virginia valleys produce so fruitfully +were present. General Jackson himself, at the request of the minister, +said grace, and he said it so devoutly and so sincerely that it always +impressed the hearers with a sense of its reality. + +It was full dusk and the rain was beating on the windows, when the black +attendants began to serve the guests at the great board. Several +ladies, including the general's wife, were present. The room was lighted +brilliantly, and a big fire burned in the wide fireplace at the end. +To Harry, three seats away from General Jackson, there was a startling +contrast between the present moment and that swift campaign of theirs +through the wintry mountains where the feet of the soldiers left bloody +trails on the ice and snow. + +It was a curious fact that for a few instants the mountain and the great +cold were real and this was but fancy. He looked more than once at the +cheerful faces and the rosy glow of the fire, before he could convince +himself that he was in truth here in Winchester, with all this comfort, +even luxury, around him. + +Sitting next to him was a lady of middle age, Mrs. Howard, of prominence +in the town and a great friend of the Grahams. Harry realized suddenly +that while the others were talking he had said nothing, and he felt +guilty of discourtesy. He began an apology, but Mrs. Howard, who had +known him very well since he had been in Winchester, learning to call +him by his first name, merely smiled and the smile was at once maternal +and somewhat sad. + +"No apologies are needed, Harry," she said in a low tone that the others +might not hear. "I read your thoughts. They were away in the mountains +with a marching army. All this around us speaks of home and peace, but +it cannot last. All of you will be going soon." + +"That's true, Mrs. Howard, I was thinking of march and battle, and I +believe you're right in saying that we'll all go soon. That is what +we're for." + +She smiled again a little sadly. + +"You're a good boy, Harry," she said, "and I hope that you and all your +comrades will come back in safety to Winchester. But that is enough +croaking from an old woman and I'm ashamed of myself. Did you ever see a +happier crowd than the one gathered here?" + +"Not since I was in my father's house when the relatives would come to +help us celebrate Christmas." + +"When did you hear from your father?" asked Mrs. Howard, whose warm +sympathies had caused Harry to tell her of his life and of his people +whom he had left behind in Kentucky. + +"Just after the terrible disaster at Donelson. He was in the fort, but +he escaped with Forrest's cavalry, and he went into Mississippi to join +the army under Albert Sidney Johnston. He sent a letter for me to +my home, Pendleton, under cover to my old teacher, Dr. Russell, who +forwarded it to me. It came only this morning." + +"How does he talk?" + +"Hopefully, though he made no direct statement. I suppose he was afraid +to do so lest the letter fall into the hands of the Yankees, but +I imagine that General Johnston's army is going to attack General +Grant's." + +"If General Johnston can win a victory it will help us tremendously, +but I fear that man, Grant. They say that he had no more men at Donelson +than we, but he took the fort and its garrison." + +"It's true. Our affairs have not been going well in the West." + +Harry was downcast for a few moments. Much of their Western news had +come through the filter of Richmond, but despite the brighter color that +the Government tried to put on it, it remained black. Forts and armies +had been taken. Nothing had been able to stop Grant. But youth again +came to Harry. He could not resist the bright light and the happy talk +about him. Bitter thoughts fled. + +General Jackson was in fine humor. He and Dr. Graham had started to +discuss a problem in Presbyterian theology in which both were deeply +interested, but they quickly changed it in deference to the younger and +lighter spirits about them. Harry had never before seen his general +in so mellow a vein. Perhaps it was the last blaze of the home-loving +spirit, before entering into that storm of battle which henceforth was +to be his without a break. + +The general, under urging, told of his life as an orphan boy in his +uncle's rough home in the Virginia wilderness, how he had been seized +once by the wanderlust, then so strong in nearly all Americans, and +how he and his brother had gone all the way down the Ohio to the +Mississippi, where they had camped on a little swampy island, earning +their living by cutting wood for the steamers on the two rivers. + +"How old were you two then, General?" asked Dr. Graham. + +"The older of us was only twelve. But in those rough days boys matured +fast and became self-reliant at a very early age. We did not run away. +There wasn't much opposition to our going. Our uncle was sure that we'd +come back alive, and though we arrived again in Virginia, five or six +hundred miles from our island in the river, all rags and filled with +fever, we were not regarded as prodigal sons. It was what hundreds, yes, +thousands of other boys did. In our pleasant uplands we soon got rid of +both rags and fever." + +"And you did not wish to return to the wilderness?" + +"The temptation was strong at times, but it was defeated by other +ambitions. There was school and I liked sports. These soon filled up my +life." + +Harry knew much more about the life of Jackson, which the modesty of his +hero kept him from telling. Looking at the strong, active figure of +the man so near him he knew that he had once been delicate, doomed in +childhood, as many thought, to consumption, inherited from his mother. +But a vigorous life in the open air had killed all such germs. He was a +leader in athletic sports. He was a great horseman, and often rode as +a jockey for his uncle in the horse races which the open-air Virginians +loved so well, and in which they indulged so much. He could cut down a +tree or run a saw-mill, or drive four horses to a wagon, or seek deer +through the mountains with the sturdiest hunter of them all. And upon +top of this vigorous boyhood had come the long and severe training at +West Point, the most thorough and effective military school the world +has ever known. + +Harry did not wonder, as he looked at his general, that he could dare +and do so much. He might be awkward in appearance, he might wear his +clothes badly, but the boy at ten years had been a man, doing a man's +work and with a man's soul. He had come into the field, no parade +soldier, but with a body and mind as tough and enduring as steel, the +whole surcharged and heated with a spirit of fire. + +Both Harry and Mrs. Howard had become silent and were watching the +general. For some reason Jackson was more moved than usual. His manner +did not depart from its habitual gravity. He made no gestures, but the +blue eyes under the heavy brows were irradiated by a peculiar flashing +light. + +The long dinner went on. It was more of a festival than a banquet, and +Harry at last gave himself up entirely to its luxurious warmth. The +foreboding that their mellow days in the pleasant little city were over, +was gone, but it was destined to come again. Now, after the dinner was +finished, and the great table was cleared away, they sat and talked, +some in the dining room and some in the library. + +It was still raining, that cold rain which at times turns for a moment +or two to snow, and it dashed in gusts against the window panes. Harry +was with some of the younger people in the library, where they were +playing at games. The sport lagged presently and he went to a window, +where he stood between the curtain and the glass. + +He saw the outside dimly, the drenched lawn, and the trees beyond, under +which two or three sentinels, wrapped closely in heavy coats, walked to +and fro. He gazed at them idly, and then a shadow passed between him and +them. He thought at first that it was a blurring of the glass by some +stronger gust of rain, but the next moment his experience told him that +it could not be so. He had seen a shadow, and the shadow was that of a +man, sliding along against the wall of the house, in order that he might +not be seen by a sentinel. + +Harry's suspicions were up and alive in an instant. In this border +country spies were numerous. It was easy to be a spy where people looked +alike and spoke the same language with the same accent. His suspicions, +too, centered at once upon Shepard, whom he knew to be so daring and +skillful. + +The lad was prompt to act. He slipped unnoticed into the hall, put on +his greatcoat, felt of the pistol in his belt, opened the front door and +stepped out into the dark and the rain. + + + + +CHAPTER V. THE NORTHERN ADVANCE + + +Harry flattened himself against the wall and all his training and +inherited instincts came promptly to his service. He knew that he, too, +would be in the shadow there, where it was not likely that the sentinels +could see him owing to the darkness of the night. Then he moved +cautiously toward the window where he had seen the outline. + +The cold rain beat on his face and he saw the figures of the sentinels +moving back and forth, but, black against the black wall, he was +confident that he could not be seen by them. Half way to the window, his +eyes now having gotten used to the darkness, he knelt down and examined +the earth, made soft by the rains. He distinctly saw footprints, +undoubtedly those of a man, leading by the edge of the wall, and now he +knew that he had not been mistaken. + +Harry came to the window himself, and, glancing in, he saw that the +merriment was going on unabated. He continued his search, following the +revealing foot prints. He went nearly all the way around the house and +then lost them among heavy shrubbery. He surmised that at this point +the spy--he was sure that it was a spy and sure, too, that it was +Shepard--had left the place, passing between the sentinels in the rainy +dark. + +He spoke to the sentinels, who knew him well, and they were quite +confident that nobody had come within their lines. But Harry, while +keeping his own counsel, held another opinion and he was equally +positive about it. He was returning to the house, when he heard the +tread of hoofs, and then a horseman spoke with the sentinels. He looked +back and recognized Sherburne. + +The young captain was holding himself erect in the saddle, but his horse +and his uniform were covered with red mud. There were heavy black lines +under his eyes and his face, despite his will, showed strong signs of +weariness. Sure that his mission was important, Harry went to him at +once. + +"Is General Jackson inside?" asked Sherburne. + +"Yes, and he has not yet gone to bed," replied Harry, looking at the +lighted windows. + +"Then ask him if I can see him at once. He sent my troop and me on a +scout toward Romney this morning. I have news, news that cannot wait." + +"Of course, he'll see you. Come inside." + +Sherburne slipped from his horse. Harry noticed that it was not his +usual elastic spring. He seemed almost to fall to the ground, and the +horse, no hand on the reins, still stood motionless, his head drooping. +It was evident that Sherburne was in the last stages of exhaustion, +and now that he came nearer his face showed great anxiety as well as +weariness. + +Harry opened the door promptly and pushed him inside. Then he helped him +off with his wet and muddy overcoat, pushed him into a chair, and said: + +"I'll announce you to General Jackson, and he'll see you at once." + +Harry knew that Jackson would not linger a second, when a messenger of +importance came, and he went into the library where the minister and +the general stood talking. General Jackson held in one hand a large +leather-covered volume, and with the forefinger of the other hand he was +pointing to a paragraph in it. The minister was saying something +that Harry did not catch, but he believed that they were arguing some +disputed point of Presbyterian doctrine. + +When Jackson saw Harry he closed the book instantly, and put it on the +shelf. He had seen in the eyes of his aide that he was coming with no +common message. + +"Captain Sherburne is in the hall, sir," said the boy. "He has come back +from the scout toward Romney." + +"Bring him in." + +The minister quietly slipped out, as Sherburne entered, but Jackson bade +Harry remain, saying that he might have orders for him to carry. + +"What have you to tell me, Captain Sherburne?" asked Jackson. + +"We saw the patrols of the enemy, and we took two prisoners. We learned +that McClellan's army is showing signs of moving, and we saw with +our own eyes that Banks and Shields are preparing for the same. They +threaten us here in Winchester." + +"What force do you think Banks has?" + +"He must have forty thousand men." + +"A good guess. The figures of my spies say thirty-eight thousand, and we +can muster scarcely five thousand here. We must move." + +Jackson spoke without emotion. His words were cold and dry, even formal. +Harry's heart sank. If eight times their numbers were advancing upon +them, then they must abandon Winchester. They must leave to the enemy +this pleasant little city, so warmly devoted to the Southern cause and +confess weakness and defeat to these friends who had done so much for +them during their stay. + +He felt the full bitterness of the blow. The people of the South--little +immigration had gone there--were knit together more closely by ties of +kinship than those of the North. Harry through the maternal line was, +like most Kentuckians, of Virginia descent, and even here in Winchester +he had found cousins, more or less removed it was true, but it was +kinship, nevertheless, and they had made the most of it. It would have +been easier for him were strangers instead of friends to see their +retreat. + +"Captain Sherburne, you will go to your quarters and sleep. It is +obvious that you need rest," said Jackson. "Mr. Kenton, you will wait +and take the orders that I am going to write." + +Sherburne saluted and withdrew promptly. Jackson turned to a shelf of +the library on which lay pen, ink and paper, and standing before it +rapidly wrote several notes. It was his favorite attitude--habit of his +West Point days--to write or read standing. + +It took him less than five minutes to write the notes, and he handed +them to Harry to deliver without delay to the brigade commanders. His +tones were incisive and charged with energy. Harry felt the electric +thrill pass to himself, and with a quick salute he was once more out in +the rain. + +Some of the brigadiers were asleep, and grumbled when Harry awoke them, +but the orders soon sent the last remnants of sleep flying. The boy did +not linger, but returned quickly to the manse, where General Jackson met +him at the door. Other aides were coming or going, but all save one or +two windows of the house were dark now, and the merrymaking was over. + +"You have delivered the orders?" asked Jackson. + +"Yes, sir, all of them." + +Harry also told then of the face that he had seen at the window and his +belief concerning its identity. + +"Very likely," said Jackson, "but we cannot pursue him now. Now go to +headquarters and sleep, but I shall want you at dawn." + +Harry was ready before the first sunlight, and that day consternation +spread through Winchester. The enemy was about to advance in +overwhelming force, and Jackson was going to leave them. Johnston was +retreating before McClellan, and Jackson in the valley must retreat +before Banks. + +There could be no doubt about the withdrawal of Jackson. The +preparations were hurried forward with the utmost vigor. A train took +the sick to Staunton, and in one of the coaches went Mrs. Jackson to her +father's home. Town and camp were filled with talk of march and battle, +and the younger rejoiced. They felt that a month of waiting had made +them rusty. + +Amid all the bustle Jackson found time to attend religious services, +and also ordered every wagon that reached the camp with supplies to be +searched. If liquor were found it was thrown at once upon the ground. +The soldiers, even the recruits, knew that they were to follow a +God-fearing man. Oliver Cromwell had come back to earth. But most of the +soldiers were now disciplined thoroughly. The month they had spent at +Winchester after the great raid had been devoted mostly to drill. + +The day of departure came and the army, amid the good wishes of many +friends in Winchester, filed out of the town. The great rains, which, it +had seemed, would never cease, had ceased at last. There was a touch of +spring in the air, and in sheltered places the grass was taking on deep +tints of green. + +During all the days of preparation Jackson had said nothing about his +plan of retreat. The Virginians, lining the streets and watching so +anxiously, did not know where he would seek refuge. And suddenly as they +watched, a cheer, tremendous and involuntary, burst from them. + +The heads of Jackson's columns were turned north. He was not marching +away from the enemy. He was marching toward him. But the burst of +elation was short. Even the civilians in Winchester knew that Jackson +was hugely outnumbered. + +Harry himself was astonished, and he gazed at his leader. What +fathomless purpose lay beneath that stern, bearded face? Jackson's eyes +expressed nothing. He and he alone knew what was in his mind. + +But the troops asked no word from their leaders. The fact that their +faces were turned toward the north was enough for them. They knew, too, +of the heavy odds that were against them, but they were not afraid. + +As Harry watched the young soldiers, many of whom sang as they marched, +his own enthusiasm rose. He had seen companies in brilliant uniforms at +Richmond, but no parade soldiers were here. There were few glimpses of +color in the columns, but the men marched with a strong, elastic step. +They had all been born upon the farms or in the little villages, and +they were familiar with the hills and forests. They had been hunters, +too, as soon as their arms were strong enough to hold rifle or shot gun. +Most of them had killed deer or bear in the mountains, and all of them +had known how to ride from earliest childhood. They had endured every +hardship and they knew how to take care of themselves in any kind of +country and in any kind of weather. + +Harry smiled as he looked at their uniforms. How different they were +from some of the gay young companies of Charleston! These uniforms had +been spun for them and made for them by their own mothers and wives and +sisters or sweethearts. They were all supposed to be gray, but there +were many shades of gray, sometimes verging to a light blue, with +butternut as the predominant color. They wore gray jackets, short of +waist and single-breasted. Caps were giving way to soft felt hats, +and boots had already been supplanted by broad, strong shoes, called +brogans. + +Many of the soldiers carried frying pans and skillets hung on the +barrels of their rifles, simple kitchen utensils which constituted +almost the whole of their cooking equipment. Their blankets and rubber +sheets for sleeping were carried in light rolls on their backs. A +toothbrush was stuck in a buttonhole. On their flanks or in front rode +the cavalry, led by the redoubtable Turner Ashby, and there was in +all their number scarcely a single horseman who did not ride like the +Comanche Indian, as if he were born in the saddle. Ashby was a host in +himself. He had often ridden as much as eighty miles a day to inspect +his own pickets and those of the enemy, and it was told of him that he +had once gone inside the Union lines in the disguise of a horse doctor. + +The Northern cavalry, unused to the saddle, compared very badly with +those of the South in the early years of the war. Ashby's men, moreover, +rode over country that they had known all their lives. There was no +forest footpath, no train among the hills hidden from them. But the +cannon of Jackson's army was inferior. Here the mechanical genius of the +North showed supreme. + +Such was the little army of Jackson, somber to see, which marched forth +upon a campaign unrivalled in the history of war. The men whom they +were to meet were of staunch stock and spirit themselves. Banks, their +commander, had worked in his youth as a common laborer in a cotton mill, +and had forced himself up by vigor and energy, but Shields was a veteran +of the Mexican War. Most of the troops had come from the west, and they, +too, were used to every kind of privation and hardship. + +Harry's duties carried him back and forth with the marching columns, +but he lingered longest beside the Invincibles, only a regiment now, and +that regiment composed almost wholly of Virginians. St. Clair was still +in the smartest of uniforms, a contrast to the others, and as he nodded +to Harry he told him that the troops expected to meet the enemy before +night. + +"I don't know how they got that belief," he said, "but I know it extends +to all our men. What about it, Harry?" + +"Stonewall Jackson alone knows, and he's not telling." + +"They say that Banks is coming with ten to one!" said Langdon, "but it +might be worse than that. It might be a hundred to one." + +"It's hardly as bad as ten to one, Tom," said Harry with a laugh. +"Ashby's men say it's only eight to one, and they know." + +"It's all right, then," said Langdon, squaring his shoulders, and +looking ferocious. "Ten to one would be a little rough on us, but I +don't mind eight to one at all! at all! They say that the army of Banks +is not many miles away. Is it so, Harry?" + +"I suppose so. That's the news the cavalry bring in." + +Harry rode on, saluting Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. +Hilaire as he passed. They returned the salutes, but said nothing, and +in a few minutes he was with General Jackson again. + +It was now March, and the spring was making headway in the great valley. +The first flush of green was over everything. The snows were gone, the +rains that followed were gone, too, and the earth was drying rapidly +under the mild winds that blew from the mountains. It was evident to all +that the forces of war were unloosed with the departure of winter. + +The day was filled with excitement for Harry. The great Federal army was +now so near that the rival pickets were almost constantly in touch. Only +stern orders from Jackson kept his fiery cavalry from making attacks +which might have done damage, but not damage enough. Banks, the Union +leader, eminent through politics rather than war, having been Governor +of Massachusetts, showed the utmost caution. Feeling secure in +his numbers he resolved to risk nothing until he gained his main +object--Winchester--and the efforts of Turner Ashby and his brilliant +young lieutenants like Sherburne, could not lead him into any trap. + +Night came and the Southern army stopped for supper and rest. The +Northern army was then only four miles from Winchester, and within a +half hour hostile pickets had been firing at one another. Yet the men +ate calmly and lay down under the trees. Jackson called a council in a +little grove. General Garnett, the commander of the Stonewall Brigade, +all the colonels of the regiments, and the most trusted young officers +of his staff were present. A little fire of fallen wood lighted up the +anxious and earnest faces. + +Jackson spoke rapidly. Harry had never before seen him show so much +emotion and outward fire. He wanted to bring up all his men and attack +the Union army at once. He believed that the surprise and the immense +dash of the Southern troops would overcome the great odds. But the other +officers shook their heads sadly. There had been a confusion of orders. +Their own troops had been scattered and their supply trains were far +away. If they attacked they would surely fall. + +Jackson reluctantly gave up his plan and walked gloomily away. But he +turned presently and beckoned to Harry and others of his staff. His eyes +were shining. Some strange mood seemed to possess him. + +"Mount at once, gentlemen," he said, "and ride with me. I'm going to +Winchester." + +One or two of the officers opened their mouths to protest, but checked +the words when they saw Jackson's stern face. They sprang into the +saddle, and scorning possible attack or capture by roving Union cavalry, +galloped to the town. + +Jackson drew rein before the manse, where Dr. Graham was already +standing at the open door to meet him, runners from the town carrying +ahead the news that Jackson was returning with his staff. It seemed that +something the general had said to the minister the day before troubled +him. Harry inferred from the words he heard that Jackson had promised +the minister too much and now he was stung by conscience. Doubtless +he had told Dr. Graham that he would never let the Federals take +Winchester, and he had come to apologize for his mistake. Harry was not +at all surprised. In fact, as he came to know him thoroughly, he was +never surprised at anything this strange man and genius did. + +Harry's surmise was right. Jackson was torn with emotion at being +compelled to abandon Winchester, and he wanted to explain how it was to +the friend whom he liked so well. He had thoughts even yet of striking +the enemy that night and driving him away. Looking the minister steadily +in the face, but not seeing him, seeing instead a field of battle, he +said slowly, biting each word: + +"I--will--yet--carry--out--this plan. I--will--think. It--must be done." + +The minister said nothing, standing and staring at the general like +one fascinated. He had never seen Jackson that way before. His face +was lined with thought and his eyes burned like coals of fire. His +hand fiercely clinched the hilt of his sword. He, who showed emotion so +rarely, was overcome by it now. + +But the fire in his eyes died, his head sank, and his hand fell from his +sword. + +"No, no," he said sadly. "I must not try it. Too many of my brave men +would fall. I must withdraw, and await a better time." + +Saying good-by to his friend he mounted and rode in silence from +Winchester again, and silently the people saw him go. His staff followed +without a word. When they reached a high hill overlooking the town +Jackson paused and the others paused with him. All turned as if by one +accord and looked at Winchester. + +The skies were clear and a silver light shone over the town. It was a +beautiful, luminous light and it heightened the beauty of spire, roof, +and wall. Jackson looked at it a long time, the place where he had spent +such a happy month, and then, his eye blazing again, he lifted his hand +and exclaimed with fierce energy: + +"That is the last council of war I will ever hold!" + +Harry understood him. He knew that Jackson now felt that the council had +been too slow and too timid. Henceforth he would be the sole judge of +attack and retreat. But the general's emotion was quickly suppressed. +Taking a last look at the little city that he loved so well, he rode +rapidly away, and his staff followed closely at his heels. + +That was a busy and melancholy night. The young troops, after all, were +not to fight the enemy, but were falling back. Youth takes less account +than age of odds, and they did not wish to retreat. Harry who had seen +that look upon Jackson's face, when he gazed back at Winchester, felt +that he would strike some mighty counter-blow, but he did not know how +or when. + +The army withdrew slowly toward Strasburg, twenty-five miles away, +and the next morning the Union forces in overwhelming numbers occupied +Winchester. Meantime the North was urging McClellan with his mighty army +to advance on Richmond, and Stonewall Jackson and his few thousands who +had been driven out of Winchester were forgotten. The right flank of +McClellan, defended by Banks and forty thousand men, would be secure. + +There was full warrant for the belief of McClellan. It seemed to Harry +as they retreated up the valley that they were in a hopeless checkmate. +What could a few thousand men, no matter how brave and hardy, do against +an army as large as that of Banks? But he was cheered somewhat by the +boldness and activity of the cavalry under Ashby. These daring horsemen +skirmished continually with the enemy, and Harry, as he passed back and +forth with orders, saw much of it. + +Once he drew up with the Invincibles, now a Virginia instead of a +South Carolina regiment, and sitting on horseback with his old friends, +watched the puffs of smoke to the rear, where Ashby's men kept back the +persistent skirmishers of the North. + +"Colonel," said Harry to Colonel Talbot, "what do you think of it? Shall +we ever make headway against such a force? Or shall we be compelled +to retreat until we make a junction with the main army under General +Johnston?" + +Colonel Talbot glanced back at the puffs of white smoke, and suddenly +his eyes seemed to flash with the fire that Harry had seen in Jackson's +when he looked upon the Winchester that he must leave. + +"No, Harry, I don't believe we'll keep on retreating," he replied. "I +was with General Taylor when he fell back before the Mexican forces +under Santa Anna which outnumbered him five to one. But at Buena Vista +he stopped falling back, and everybody knows the glorious victory we won +there over overwhelming odds. The Yankees are not Mexicans. Far from +it. They are as brave as anybody. But Stonewall Jackson is a far greater +general than Zachary Taylor." + +"I'm hoping for the best," said Harry. + +"We'll all wait and see," said the colonel. + +They stopped falling back at Mount Jackson, twenty-five miles from +Winchester, and the army occupied a strong position. Harry felt +instinctively that they would fall back no more, and his spirits began +to rise again. But the facts upon which his hopes were based were small. +Jackson had less than five thousand men, and in the North he was wiped +off the map. It was no longer necessary for cabinet members and generals +to take him into consideration. + +Jackson now out of the way, the main portion of the army under Banks was +directed to march eastward to Manassas, while a heavy detachment still +more than double Jackson's in numbers remained in the valley. Meanwhile +McClellan, with his right flank clear, was going by sea to Richmond, +goaded to action at last by the incessant demands of a people which had +a right to expect much of his great and splendidly equipped army. + +Harry was with Stonewall Jackson when the news of these movements +reached them, brought by Philip Sherburne, who, emulating his commander, +Turner Ashby, seemed never to rest or grow weary. + +"General Banks is moving eastward to cover the eastern approaches to +Washington," said the young captain, "while General Shields with 12,000 +men is between us and Winchester." + +"So," said Jackson. Sherburne looked at him earnestly, but he gave no +sign. + +"Ride back to your chief and tell him I thank him for his vigilance and +to report to me promptly everything that he may discover," said Jackson. +"You may ride with him also, Mr. Kenton, and return to me in an hour +with such news as you may have." + +Harry went gladly. Sometimes he longed to be at the front with Turner +Ashby, there where the rifles were often crackling. + +"What will he do? Will he turn now?" said Sherburne anxiously to Harry. + +"I heard General Jackson say that he would never hold another council +of war, and he's keeping his word. Nobody knows his plans, but I think +he'll attack. I feel quite sure of it, captain." + +They came soon to a field in which Turner Ashby was sitting on a +horse, examining points further down the valley with a pair of powerful +glasses. Sherburne reported briefly and Ashby nodded, but did not take +the glasses from his eyes. Harry also looked down the valley and his +strong sight enabled him to detect tiny, moving figures which he knew +were those of Union scouts and skirmishers. + +Despite his youth and the ardor of battle in his nostrils, Harry felt +the tragedy of war in this pleasant country. It was a noble landscape, +that of the valley between the blue mountains. Before him stretched low +hills, covered here and there with fine groups of oak or pine without +undergrowth. Houses of red brick, with porticoes and green shutters, +stood in wide grounds. Most of them were inhabited yet, and their owners +always brought information to the soldiers of the South, never to those +of the North. + +The earth had not yet dried fully from the great rains, and horses and +cannon wheels sank deep in the mud, whenever they left the turnpike +running down the center of the valley and across which a Northern army +under Shields lay. The men in blue occupied a wide stretch of grassy +fields on the east, and on the west a low hill, with a small grove +growing on the crest. Dominating the whole were the lofty cliffs of +North Mountain on the west. The main force of the North, strengthened +with cannon, lay to the east of the turnpike. But on the hill to the +west were two strong batteries and near it were lines of skirmishers. +Shields, a veteran of the Mexican war himself, was not present at this +moment, but Kimball, commanding in his absence, was alert and did not +share the general belief that Stonewall Jackson might be considered +non-existent. + +Harry, things coming into better view, the longer he looked, saw much of +the Union position, and Turner Ashby presently handed him the glasses. +Then he plainly discerned the guns and a great mass of infantry, with +the colors waving above them in the gentle breeze. + +"They're there," said Turner Ashby, dryly. "If we want to attack they're +waiting." + +Harry rode back to Jackson, and told him that the whole Union force was +in position in front, and then the boy knew at once that a battle was +coming. The bearded, silent man showed no excitement, but sent orders +thick and fast to the different parts of his army. The cavalry led by +Ashby began to press the enemy hard in front of a little village called +Kernstown. A regiment with two guns led the advance on the west of the +turnpike, and the heavier mass of infantry marched across the fields on +the left. + +Harry, as his duty bade him, kept beside his general, who was riding +near the head of the infantry. The feet of men and horses alike sank +deep in the soft earth of the fields, but they went forward at a good +pace, nevertheless. Their blood was hot and leaping. There was an end to +retreats. They saw the enemy and they were eager to rush upon him. + +The pulses in Harry's temples were beating hard. He already considered +himself a veteran of battle, but he could not see it near without +feeling excitement. A long line of fire had extended across the valley. +White puffs of smoke arose like innumerable jets of steam. The crackle +of the rifles was incessant and at the distance sounded like the ripping +of heavy cloth. + +Then came a deep heavy crash that made the earth tremble. The two +batteries on the hill had opened at a range of a mile on Jackson's +infantry. Those men of the North were good gunners and Harry heard the +shells and solid shot screaming and hissing around. Despite his will +he could not keep from trembling for a while, but presently it ceased, +although the fire was growing heavier. + +But the Southern infantry were so far away that the artillery fire did +not harm. Ever urged on by Jackson, they pressed through fields and +marshy ground, their destination a low ridge from which, as a place of +advantage, they could reply to the Union batteries. From the east and +from a point near a church called the Opequon came the thunder of their +own guns advancing up the other side of the turnpike. + +Now the great marching qualities of Jackson's men were shown. Not in +vain had they learned to be foot cavalry. They pressed forward through +the deep mud and always the roar of the increasing fire called them on. +Before them stretched the ridge and Harry was in fear lest the enemy +spring forward and seize it first. + +But no foe appeared in front of them in the fields, and then with a rush +they were at the foot of the ridge. Another rush and they had climbed +it. Harry from its crest saw the wide field of combat and he knew that +the greater battle had just begun. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. KERNSTOWN + + +The long winding lines of the two armies spread over a maze of fields, +woods and thickets, with here and there a stone wall and scattered low +hills, which could be used as points of strength. Jackson's men, led by +able officers, were pushing forward with all their might. The woods, the +thickets and the mud nullified to some extent the superior power of +the Northern artillery, but the rifles were pouring forth shattering +volleys, many at close range. + +Harry felt his horse stagger just after he reached the crest of the +hill, but he took no notice of it until a few minutes later, when the +animal began to shiver. He leaped clear just in time, for when the +shiver ceased, the horse plunged forward, fell on his side and lay dead. +As Harry straightened himself on his feet a bullet went through the brim +of his cap, and another clipped his epaulet. + +"Those must be western men shooting at you, Harry," said a voice beside +him. "But it could have been worse. You're merely grazed, when you could +have been hit and hit deep." + +It was Langdon, cool and imperturbable, who was speaking. He was +regarding Harry rather quizzically, as the boy mechanically brushed the +mud from his clothes. + +"Force of habit," said Langdon, and then he suddenly grasped Harry and +pulled him to his knees. There was a tremendous crash in front of them, +and a storm of bullets swept over their heads. + +"I saw a Yankee officer give the word, and then a million riflemen rose +from the bushes and fired straight at us!" shouted Langdon. "You stay +here! See the Invincibles are all about you!" + +Harry saw that he had in truth fallen among the Invincibles. There was +St. Clair, immaculate, a blazing red spot in either cheek, gazing at +the great swarms of riflemen in front. Colonel Leonidas Talbot and +Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, those veteran West Pointers, were +stalking up and down in front of their lines, fiercely bidding their men +to lie down. But Harry knew that his duty was elsewhere. + +"I belong to the general!" he exclaimed. "I must join him!" + +Casting one glance of regret at the fallen horse that had served him so +well he rushed toward General Jackson, who with the rest of his staff +had dismounted. The general, showing no emotion or anxiety, was watching +the doubtful combat. + +Along the whole line the battle was deepening. The able West Pointers +on the Northern side were hurrying forward fresh troops. Shields himself +was coming with new battalions. The men from Ohio and the states further +west, expert like the Southerners in the use of the rifle, and confident +of victory, were pouring a heavy and unbroken fire upon the thinner +Southern lines. They, too, knew the value of cover and, cool enough to +think about it, they used every thicket, and grove and ridge that they +could reach. + +The roar of the battle was heard plainly in Winchester, and the people +of the town, although it was now held by the North, wished openly for +the success of the South. The Northern troops, as it happened, nearly +all through the war, were surrounded by people who were against them. +The women at the windows and on the house tops looked eagerly for the +red flare in the South which should betoken the victorious advance of +Jackson, sweeping his enemies before him. + +But Jackson was not advancing. All the valor and courage of the South so +far had been in vain. Harry, standing near his commander, and awaiting +any order that might be given him, saw new masses of the enemy advancing +along every road and through the fields. The Union colors, held aloft in +front of the regiments, snapped defiantly in the wind. And those western +riflemen, from their cover, never ceased to pour showers of bullets +upon the Southern lines. They had already cut a swath of dead, and many +wounded were dragging themselves to the rear. + +It seemed to Harry, looking over the field, that the battle was lost. +The Northern troops were displaying more tenacity than the Southern +officers had expected. Moreover, they were two to one, in strong +positions, and with a much superior artillery. As he looked he saw one +of the Virginia regiments reel back before the attack of much greater +numbers and retreat in some disorder. The victors came on, shouting +in triumph, but in a few minutes their officers rallied them, another +Virginia regiment rushed to their relief, and the two, united, hurled +themselves upon the advancing enemy. The Union troops were driven back +with great loss, and Harry noticed that the fire from their two great +batteries was weakening. He could not keep from shouting in joy, but he +was glad that the sound of his voice was drowned in the thunder of the +battle. + +General Jackson had no orders for him at present, and Harry watched with +extraordinary fascination the battle which was unrolling itself in film +after film before him. He saw a stone fence running down the center of +a field, and then he saw beyond it a great mass of Northern infantry +advancing with bayonets shining and colors waving. From his own side a +regiment was running toward it. + +Who would reach the fence first? The pulses in Harry's temple beat so +hard that they hurt. He could not take his eyes from that terrible race, +a race of human beings, a race of life and death. The sun blazed down +on the rival forces as they sped across the field. But the Southerners +reached the wall first. Not in vain had Jackson trained his foot cavalry +to march faster anywhere than any other troops in the world. + +Harry saw the Virginians sink down behind the fence, the crest of which +a moment later blazed with fire for a long distance. He saw the whole +front line of the Northern troops disappear, while those behind were +thrown into confusion. The Southerners poured in a second volley before +they could recover and the whole force broke and retreated. Other troops +were brought up but in the face of everything the Virginians held the +fence. + +But Shields was an able officer. Moreover he and Jackson had been +thrown together in former years, and he knew him. He divined some of the +qualities of Jackson's mind, and he felt that the Southern general, the +field being what it was, was going to push hardest at the center. He +accumulated his own forces there in masses that increased continually. +He had suffered a wound the previous day in a skirmish, and he could not +be at the very front, but he delivered his orders through Kimball, who +was in immediate command upon the field. Five regiments in reserve were +suddenly hurled forward and struck the Confederates a tremendous blow. + +Harry saw these regiments emerge from the woods and thickets and he saw +the gray lines reel before them. Jackson, pointing toward this new and +furious conflict, said to Harry: + +"Jump on the horse there and tell the officer in command that he must +stand firm at all hazards!" + +Harry sprang upon a horse not his own, and galloped away. The moment he +came into view the western riflemen began to send bullets toward him. +His horse was struck, but went on. Another bullet found him, and then a +third, which was mortal. Harry leaped clear of the second horse that +had been killed under him, and ran toward the officer in charge of the +stricken troops. But they were retreating already. They moved slowly, +but they moved backward. + +Harry joined with the officers in their entreaties to the men to stand, +but the pressure upon them was too great. General Garnett, the commander +of the Stonewall Brigade, had given an order of his own accord to +retreat, and all that part of the line was falling back. The Northern +leader, seeing the breach, continually pushed forward fresh troops and +more cannon, while the deadly riflemen in the thickets did more harm +than the great guns. + +The Southerners were compelled to fall back. One gun was lost. Jackson +from the crest of the hill had seen with amazement the retreat of the +famous Stonewall Brigade that he had once led in person. He galloped +across the field, reckless of bullets, and fiercely bade Garnett turn +and hold his ground. A drummer stood near and Jackson, grasping him by +the shoulder with a firm right hand, fairly dragged him to the crest of +a little hill, and bade him beat the rally. + +While Jackson still held him he gave the call to stand and fight. But +the Southerners could not. The men in blue, intoxicated with victory, +pushed forward in thousands and thousands. Their heavy masses overbore +all resistance. Jackson, Garnett, Harry and all the officers, young +and old were swept from the field by that flood, crested with fire and +steel. It was impossible to preserve order and cohesion. The broken +regiments were swept back in a confused mass. + +Jackson galloped about, trying to rally his men, and his staff gave all +the help they could. Harry was on foot once more, waving the sword of +which he was so proud. But nothing could stay the tremendous pressure of +the Union army. Their commanders always pushed them forward and always +fresh men were coming. Skilled cannoneers sent grape shot, shell and +round shot whistling through the Southern ranks. The Northern cavalry +whipped around the Southern flanks and despite the desperate efforts of +Ashby, Sherburne, and the others, began to clip off its wings. + +Harry often wondered afterward how his life was preserved. It seemed +impossible that he could have escaped such a storm from rifle and +cannon, but save for the slight scratches, sustained earlier in the +action, he remained untouched. He did not think of it at the time, only +of the avalanche that was driving them back. He saw before him a vast +red flame, through which bayonets and faces of men showed, ever coming +nearer. + +Now the North was sure of victory. The shouts of joy ran up and down +their whole front. The batteries were pushed nearer and nearer, and +sent in terrible volleys at short range. The riflemen who had done +such deadly work rose from the woods and thickets, and rushed forward, +loading and firing as they came. The Southern force seemed to be nothing +but a hopeless mass of fugitives. + +Anyone save Jackson would have despaired even of saving his army. But +he dreamed yet of victory. He galloped back for a strong detachment of +Virginians who had not yet come upon the field, but could not get them +up in time to strike a heavy blow. + +It was apparent even to Harry and all the other young lieutenants that +the battle was lost. He must have shed tears then, because afterward he +found furrows in the mud and burned gunpowder on his face. The combat +now was not for victory, but for existence. The Southerners fought to +preserve the semblance of an army, and it was well for them that they +were valiant Virginians led by a great genius, and dauntless officers. + +Stonewall Jackson, in this the only defeat he ever sustained in +independent command, never lost his head for a moment. By gigantic +exertions he formed a new line at last. The fresher troops covered the +shattered regiments. The retreating artillery was posted anew. + +Jackson galloped back and forth on Little Sorrel. Everywhere his courage +and presence of mind brought the men back from despair to hope. Once +anew was proved the truth of Napoleon's famous maxim that men are +nothing, a man everything. The soldiers on the Northern side were as +brave as those on the Southern but they were not led by one of those +flashing spirits of war which emerge but seldom in the ages, men who in +all the turmoil and confusion of battle can see what ought to be done +and who do it. + +The beaten Southern army, but a few thousands, now was formed anew for +a last stand. A portion of them seized a stone fence, and others took +position in thick timber. The cavalry of Turner Ashby raged back and +forth, seeking to protect the flanks, and in the east, coming shadows +showed that the twilight might yet protect the South from the last blow. + +Harry, in the thick of furious battle, had become separated from his +commander. He was still on foot and his sword had been broken at the +hilt by a bullet, but he did not yet know it. Chance threw him once more +among the Invincibles. He plunged through the smoke almost into the arms +of Langdon. + +"And here is our Harry again!" shouted the irrepressible South +Carolinian. "Stonewall Jackson has lost a battle, but he hasn't lost an +army. Night and our courage will save us! Here, take this rifle!" + +He picked up a loaded rifle which some falling soldier had dropped and +thrust it into Harry's hand. + +The boy took the rifle and began mechanically to fire and load and fire +again at the advancing blue masses. He resolved himself for a minute +into a private soldier, and shouted and fired with the rest. The +twilight deepened and darkened in the east, but the battle did not +cease. The Northern leaders, grim and determined men, seeing their +victory sought to press it to the utmost, and always hurried forward +infantry, cavalry and artillery. Had the Southern army been commanded by +any other than Jackson it would have been destroyed utterly. + +Jackson, resourceful and unconquerable, never ceased his exertions. +Wherever he appeared he infused new courage into his men. Harry had +seized a riderless horse and was once more in the saddle, following his +leader, taking orders and helping him whenever he could. The Virginians +who had seized the stone fence and the wood held fast. The eye of +Jackson was on them, and they could do nothing else. An Ohio and a +Virginia regiment on either side lost and retook their colors six times +each. One of the flags had sixty bullets through it. An Indiana regiment +gave way, but reinforced by another from the state rallied and returned +anew to the attack. A Virginia regiment also retreated but was brought +back by its colonel, and fought with fresh courage. + +The numerous Northern cavalry forced its way around the Southern +flanks, and cut in on the rear, taking many prisoners. Then the horsemen +appeared in a great mass on the Southern left, and had not time and +chance intervened at the last moment Stonewall Jackson might have passed +into obscurity. + +The increasing twilight was now just merging into night, and a wood +stretched between the Northern cavalry and the Southern flank. The +Northern horsemen hesitated, not wishing to become entangled among +trees and brush in the dark, and in a few minutes the Southern infantry, +falling back swiftly after beating off the attacks on their front, +passed out of the trap. Sherburne and Funsten, two of Ashby's most +valiant cavalry leaders, came up with their squadrons, and covered the +retreat, fighting off the Northern horsemen as Jackson and his army +disappeared in the woods, and night came over the lost field. + +The Southern army retired, beaten, but sullen and defiant. It did not +go far, but stopped at a point where the supply train had been placed. +Fires were built and some of the men ate, but others were so much +exhausted that without waiting for food they threw themselves upon the +ground, and in an instant were fast asleep. + +Harry, for the moment, a prey to black despair, followed his general. +Only one other officer, a major, was with him. Harry watched him +closely, but he did not see him show any emotion. Little Sorrel like +his master, although he had been under fire a hundred times, had passed +through the battle without a scratch. Now he walked forward slowly, the +reins lying loose upon his neck. + +Harry was not conscious of weariness. He had made immense exertions, but +his system was keyed so high by excitement that the tension held firmly +yet a little longer. The night had come on heavy and dark. Behind him he +could hear the fitful sounds of the Northern and Southern cavalry +still skirmishing with each other. Before him he saw dimly the Southern +regiments, retreating in ragged lines. It was almost more than he could +stand, and his feelings suddenly found vent in an angry cry. + +General Jackson heard him and understood. + +"Don't be grieved, my boy," he said quietly. "This is only the first +battle." + +The calm, unboastful courage strengthened Harry anew. If he should +grieve how much more should the general who had led in the lost battle, +and upon whom everybody would hasten to put the blame! He felt once more +that flow of courage and fire from Jackson to himself, and he felt also +his splendid fortune in being associated with a man whose acts showed +all the marks of greatness. Like so many other young officers, mere +boys, he was fast maturing in the furnace of a vast war. + +The general ceased to follow the troops, but turned aside into what +seemed to be a thin stretch of forest. But Harry saw that the trees grew +in rows and he exclaimed: + +"An orchard!" + +It seemed to strike Jackson's fancy. + +"Well," he said, "an orchard is a good place to sleep in. Can't we +make a fire here? I fear that we shall have to burn some fence rails +tonight." + +Harry and the major--Hawks was his name--hitched the horses, and +gathered a heap of dry fence rails. The major set fire to splinters with +matches and, in a few minutes a fine fire was crackling and blazing, +taking away the sharp chill of the March night. + +Harry saw other fires spring up in the orchard, and he went over to one +of them, where some soldiers were cooking food. + +"Give me a piece of meat and bread," he said to a long Virginian. + +"Set, Sonny, an' eat with us!" + +"I don't want it for myself." + +"Then who in nation are you beggin' fur?" + +"For General Jackson. He's sitting over there." + +"Thunderation! The gen'ral himself! Here, boy!" + +Bearing a big piece of meat in one hand and a big piece of bread in the +other Harry returned to Jackson, who had not yet tasted food that day. +The general ate heartily, but almost unconsciously. He seemed to be in a +deep study. Harry surmised that his thoughts were on the morrow. He had +learned already that Stonewall Jackson always looked forward. + +Harry foraged and obtained more food for himself, and other officers +of the staff who were coming up, some bearing slight wounds that they +concealed. He also secured the general's cloak, which was strapped to +his saddle and insisted upon his putting it on. + +The fire was surrounded presently by officers. Major Hawks had laid +together and as evenly as possible a number of fence rails upon which +Jackson was to sleep, but as yet no one was disposed to slumber. They +had finished eating, but they remained in a silent and somber circle +about the fire. + +Jackson stood up presently and his figure, wrapped in the long cloak was +all dark. The light did not fall upon his face. All the others looked at +him. Among them was one of Ashby's young troopers, a bold and reckless +spirit. It was a time, too, when the distinction between officers and +privates in the great citizen armies was not yet sharply defined. And +this young trooper, some spirit of mockery urging him on, stood up and +said to his general: + +"The Yankees didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave Winchester, did +they, general?" + +Harry drew a quick, sharp breath, and there was a murmur among the +officers, but Stonewall Jackson merely turned a tranquil look upon the +presumptuous youth. Then he turned it back to the bed of coals and said +in even tones: + +"Winchester is a pleasant town to stay in, sir." + +The young cavalryman, not abashed at all, continued: + +"We heard the Yankees were retreating, but I guess they're retreating +after us." + +Harry half rose and so did several of the older officers, but Jackson +replied quietly: + +"I think I may tell you, young sir, that I am satisfied with the +result." + +The audacity of the youthful trooper could not carry him further. He +caught threatening looks from the officers and slipped away in the +darkness. Silence fell anew around the fire, and Jackson still stood, +gazing into the coals. Soon, he turned abruptly, strode away into the +darkness, but came back after a while, lay down on the fence rails and +slept soundly. + +Harry put four or five rails side by side to protect his body from the +cold ground, lay down upon them and threw a cloak over himself. Now he +relaxed or rather collapsed completely. The tension that had kept him +up so long was gone, and he felt that he could not have risen from the +rails had he wished. He saw wavering fires and dusky figures beside +them, but sleep came in a few minutes to soothe and heal. + +Bye and bye all the army, save the sentinels, slept and the victorious +Northern army only two or three miles away also slept, feeling that it +had done enough for one day. + +Shields that night was sending messages to the North announcing his +victory, but he was cherishing no illusions. He told how fierce had +been the attack, and with what difficulty it had been beaten off, and in +Washington, reading well between the lines they felt that another attack +and yet others might come from the same source. + +Harry sleeping on his bed of fence rails did not dream of the +extraordinary things that the little army of Jackson, beaten at +Kernstown was yet to do. McClellan was just ready to start his great +army by sea for the attack on Richmond, when suddenly the forgotten +or negligible Jackson sprang out of the dark and fixed himself on his +flank. + +The capital, despite victory, was filled with alarm and the President +shared it. The veteran Shields knew this man who had led the attack, +and he did not seek to hide the danger. The figure of Stonewall Jackson, +gigantic and menacing, showed suddenly through the mists. If McClellan +went on to Richmond with the full Northern strength he might launch +himself on Washington. + +The great scheme of invasion was put out of joint. Shields, although +victorious for the time, could not believe that Jackson would attack +with so small an army unless he expected reinforcements, and he sent +swift expresses to bring back a division of 8,000 men which was +marching to cover Washington. Banks, his superior officer, on the way to +Washington, too, heard the news at Harper's Ferry and halted there, and +Lincoln, detaching a whole corps of nearly 40,000 men from McClellan's +army, ordered them to remain at Manassas to protect the capital against +Jackson. A dispatch was sent to Banks ordering him to push the valley +campaign with his whole strength. + +But when Harry rose the next morning from his fence rails he knew +nothing of these things. Nor did anyone else in the Southern army, +unless it was Stonewall Jackson who perhaps half-divined them. Harry +thought afterward that he had foreseen much when he said to the impudent +cavalryman that he was satisfied with the result at Kernstown. + +They lingered there a little and then began a retreat, unharrassed by +pursuit. Scouts of the enemy were seen by Ashby's cavalry, who hung like +a curtain between them and the army, but no force strong enough to do +any harm came in sight. Harry had secured another horse and most of his +duty was at the rear, where he was often sent by the general to get the +latest news from Ashby. + +He quickly met Sherburne over whose dress difficulties had triumphed +at last. His fine cloak, rent in many places, was stained with mud and +there was one large dark spot made by his own blood. His face was lined +deeply by exhaustion and deep disappointment. + +"They were too much for us this time, Harry," he said bitterly. "We +can't beat two to one all the time. How does the general take it?" + +"As if it were nothing. He'll be ready to fight again in a few days, and +we must have struck a hard blow anyhow. The enemy are not pursuing." + +"That's true," said Sherburne more cheerfully. "Your argument is a good +one." + +The army came to a ridge called Rude's Hill and stopped there. Harry was +already soldier enough to see that it was a strong position. Before it +flowed a creek which the melting snows in the mountains had swollen to +a depth of eight or ten feet, and on another side was a fork of the +Shenandoah, also swollen. Here the soldiers began to fortify and prepare +for a longer stay while Jackson sent for aid. + +Harry was not among the messengers for help. Jackson had learned his +great ability as a scout, and now he often sent him on missions of +observation, particularly with Captain Sherburne, to whom St. Clair and +Langdon were also loaned by Colonel Talbot. Thus the three were together +when they rode with Sherburne and a hundred men a few days after their +arrival at the ridge. + +They were well wrapped in great coats, because the weather, after +deceiving for a while with the appearance of spring, had turned cold +again. The enemy's scouts and spies were keeping back, where they could +blow on their cold fingers or walk a while to restore the circulation to +their half frozen legs. + +Sherburne was his neat and orderly self again and St. Clair was fully +his equal. Langdon openly boasted that he was going to have a dressing +contest between them for large stakes as soon as the war was over. But +all the young Southerners were in good spirits now. They had learned +of the alarm caused in the North by Kernstown, and that a third of +McClellan's army had been detached to guard against them. Nor had Banks +and Shields yet dared to attack them. + +"There's what troubles Banks," said Sherburne, pointing with his saber +to a towering mass of mountains which rose somber and dark in the very +center of the Shenandoah Valley. "He doesn't know which side of the +Massanuttons to take." + +Harry looked up at these peaks and ridges, famous now in the minds of +all Virginians, towering a half mile in the air, clothed from base to +summit with dense forest of oak and pine, although today the crests were +wrapped in snowy mists. They cut the Shenandoah valley into two smaller +valleys, the wider and more nearly level one on the west. Only a single +road by which troops could pass crossed the Massanuttons, and that road +was held by the cavalry of Ashby. + +"If Banks comes one way and he proves too strong for us we can cross +over to the other," said Sherburne. "If he divides his force, marching +into both valleys, we may beat one part of his army, then pass the +mountain and beat the other." + +Sherburne had divined aright. It was the mighty mass of the Massanuttons +that weighed upon Banks. As he looked up at the dark ridges and misty +crests his mind was torn by doubts. His own forces, great in number +though they were, were scattered. Fremont to his right on the slopes +of the Alleghanies had 25,000 men; there were other strong detachments +under Milroy and Schenck, and he had 17,000 men under his own eye. So he +was hesitating while the days were passing and Jackson growing stronger. + +"I suppose the nature of the country helps us a lot," said Harry as he +looked up at the Massanuttons, following Sherburne's pointing saber. + +"It does, and we need help," said Sherburne. "Even as it is they would +have been pushing upon us if it hadn't been for the cavalry and the +artillery. Every time a detachment advanced we'd open up on it with a +masked battery from the woods, and if pickets showed their noses too +close horsemen were after them in a second. We've had them worried to +death for days and days, and when they do come in force Old Jack will +have something up his sleeve." + +"I wonder," said Harry. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. ON THE RIDGES + + +As they rode in the shadow of the Massanuttons Harry continued +to wonder. The whole campaign in the valley had become to him an +interminable maze. Stonewall Jackson might know what he intended to do, +but he was not telling. Meanwhile they marched back and forth. There was +incessant skirmishing between cavalry and pickets, but it did not seem +to signify anything. Banks, sure of his overwhelming numbers, pressed +forward, but always cautiously and slowly. He did not march into any +trap. And Harry surmised that Jackson, much too weak to attack, was +playing for time. + +Sherburne and his troop paused at the very base of the Massanuttons +and Harry, who happened to be with them, looked up again at the lofty +summits standing out so boldly and majestically in the middle of the +valley. The oaks and maples along their slopes were now blossoming into +a green that matched the tint of the pines, but far up on the crests +there was still a line of snow, and white mists beyond. + +"Why not climb the highest summit?" he said to Sherburne. "You have +powerful glasses and we could get a good view of what is going on up the +valley." + +"Most of those slopes are not slopes at all. They're perpendicular like +the side of a house. The horses could never get up." + +"But they can certainly go part of the way, and some of us can climb the +rest on foot." + +Sherburne's eyes sparkled. The spirit of adventure was strong within +him. Moreover the task, if done, was worth while. + +"Good for you, Harry," he exclaimed. "We'll try it! What do you say, St. +Clair, you and Langdon?" + +"I follow where you lead, and I hope that you lead to the top of the +mountain," replied St. Clair. + +"Likely it's cold up there," said Langdon, "but there are higher and +colder mountains and I choose this one." + +They had learned promptness and decision from Stonewall Jackson, and +Sherburne at once gave the order to ascend. Several men in his troop +were natives of that part of the valley, and they knew the Massanuttons +well. They led and the whole troop composed of youths followed eagerly. +Bye and bye they dismounted and led their horses over the trails which +grew slippery with wet and snow as they rose higher. + +When they paused at times to rest they would all look northward over +the great valley, where a magnificent panorama had gradually risen into +view. They saw a vast stretch of fields turning green, neat villages, +dark belts of forest, the gleam of brooks and creeks, and now and then, +the glitter from a Northern bayonet. + +At length the chief guide, a youth named Wallace, announced that the +horses could go no farther. Even in summer when the snow was all gone +and the earth was dry they could not find a footing. Now it was certain +death for them to try the icy steeps. + +Sherburne ordered the main body of the troop to halt in a forested and +sheltered glen in the side of the mountain, and, choosing Harry, St. +Clair, Langdon, the guide Wallace, and six others, he advanced with them +on foot. It was difficult climbing, and more than once they were bruised +by falls, but they learned to regard such accidents as trifles, and +ardent of spirit they pressed forward. + +"I think we'll get a good view," said Sherburne. "See how brilliantly +the sun is shining in the valley." + +"Yes, and the mists on the crests are clearing away," said Harry. + +"Then with the aid of the glasses we can get a sweep up the valley for +many miles. Now boys, here we go! up! up!" + +If it had not been for the bushes they could never have made the ascent, +as they were now in the region of snow and ice and the slopes were like +glass. Often they were compelled to crawl, and it was necessary, too, to +exercise a good deal of care in crawling. + +St. Clair groaned as he rose after climbing a rock, and brushed the +knees of his fine gray trousers. + +"Cheer up, Arthur," said Langdon, "it could have been worse. The sharp +stones there might have cut holes through them." + +But in spite of every difficulty and danger they went steadily toward +the summit, and streamers of mist yet floating about the mountain often +enclosed them in a damp shroud. Obviously, however, the clouds and +vapors were thinning, and soon the last shred would float away. + +"It ain't more'n a hundred feet more to the top," said Wallace, "an' +it's shore that the sun will be shinin' there." + +"Shining for us, of course," said Langdon. "It's a good omen." + +"I wish I could always look for the best as you do, Tom," said St. +Clair. + +"I'm glad I can. Gay hearts are better than riches. As sure as I climb, +Arthur, I see the top." + +"Yes, there it is, the nice snowy bump above us." + +They dragged themselves upon the loftiest crest, and, panting, stood +there for a few minutes in several inches of snow. Then the wind caught +up the last shreds and tatters of mist, and whipped them away southward. +Every one of them drew a deep, sharp breath, as the great panorama of +the valley to the northward and far below was unrolled before them. + +The brilliant sunshine of early spring played over everything, but far +down in the valley they seemed to see by contrast the true summer of the +sunny south, which is often far from sunny. But seen from the top of +the mountain the valley was full of golden rays. Now the roofs of the +villages showed plainly and they saw with distinctness the long silver +lines that marked the flowing of the rivers and creeks. To the east and +to the west further than the eye could reach rose the long line of dim +blue mountains that enclosed the valley. + +But it was the glitter of the bayonets in the valley that caused the +hearts of the Virginians to beat most fiercely. Banners and guidons, +clusters of white tents, and dark swarms of men marked where the foot +of the invading stranger trod their soil. The Virginians loved the great +valley. Enclosed between the blue mountains it was the richest and most +beautiful part of all their state. It hurt them terribly to see the +overwhelming forces of the North occupying its towns and villages and +encamped in its fields. + +Harry, not a Virginian himself, but a brother by association, understood +and shared their feeling. He saw Sherburne's lips moving and he knew +that he was saying hard words between his teeth. But Sherburne's eyes +were at the glasses, and he looked a long time, moving them slowly from +side to side. After a while he handed them to Harry. + +The boy raised the glasses and the great panorama of the valley sprang +up to his eyes. It seemed to him that he could almost count the soldiers +in the camps. There was a troop of cavalry riding to the southward, +and further to the left was another. Directly to the north was their +battlefield of Kernstown, and not far beyond it lay Winchester. He saw +such masses of the enemy's troops and so many signs of activity among +them that he felt some movement must be impending. + +"What do you think of it, Harry?" said Sherburne. + +"Banks must be getting ready to move forward." + +"I think so, too. I wish we had his numbers." + +"More men are coming for us. We'll have Ewell's corps soon, and General +Jackson himself is worth ten thousand men." + +"That's so, Harry, but ten thousand men are far too few. McDowell's +whole corps is available, and with it the Yankees can now turn more than +seventy thousand men into the valley." + +"And they can fight, too, as we saw at Kernstown," said St. Clair. + +"That's so, and I'm thinking they'll get their stomachs full of it +pretty soon," said Langdon. "Yesterday about dusk I went out in some +bushes after firewood, and I saw a man kneeling. It struck me as +curious, and I went up closer. What do you think? It was Old Jack +praying. Not any mock prayer, but praying to his Lord with all his heart +and soul. I'm not much on praying myself, but I felt pretty solemn then, +and I slid away from there as quick and quiet as you please. And I +tell you, fellows, that when Stonewall Jackson prays it's time for the +Yankees to weep." + +"You're probably right, Langdon," said Captain Sherburne, "but it's +time for us to be going back, and we'll tell what we've seen to General +Jackson." + +As they turned away a crunching in the snow on the other slope caused +them to stop. The faces of men and then their figures appeared through +the bushes. They were eight or ten in number and all wore blue uniforms. +Harry saw the leader, and instantly he recognized Shepard. It came to +him, too, in a flash of prescience, that Shepard was just the man whom +he would meet there. + +Sherburne, who had seen the blue uniforms, raised a pistol and fired. +Two shots were fired by the Union men at the same instant, and then both +parties dropped back from the crest, each on its own side. + +Sherburne's men were untouched and Harry was confident that Shepard's +had been equally lucky--the shots had been too hasty--but it was nervous +and uncomfortable work, lying there in the snow, and waiting for the +head of an enemy to appear over the crest. + +Harry was near Captain Sherburne, and he whispered to him: + +"I know the man whose face appeared first through the bushes." + +"Who is he?" + +"His name is Shepard. He's a spy and scout for the North, and he is +brave and dangerous. He was in Montgomery when President Davis was +inaugurated. I saw him in Washington when I was there as a spy myself. I +saw him again in Winchester just before the battle of Kernstown, and now +here he is once more." + +"Must be a Wandering Jew sort of a fellow." + +"He wanders with purpose. He has certainly come up here to spy us out." + +"In which he is no more guilty than we are." + +"That's true, but what are we going to do about it, captain?" + +"Blessed if I know. Wait till I take a look." + +Captain Sherburne raised himself a little, in order to peep over the +crest of the ridge. A rifle cracked on the other side, a bullet +clipped the top of his cap, and he dropped back in the snow, unhurt but +startled. + +"This man, Shepard, is fully as dangerous as you claim him to be," he +said to Harry. + +"Can you see anything of them?" asked St. Clair. + +"Not a thing," said Harry. + +"If we show they shoot, and if they show we shoot," said Langdon. "Seems +to me it's about the most beautiful case of checkmate that I've known." + +"Perhaps we can stalk them," said St. Clair. + +"And perhaps they can stalk us," said Langdon. "But I think both sides +are afraid to try it." + +"You're right, Langdon," said Captain Sherburne, "It's a case of +checkmate. I confess that I don't know what to do." + +"We could wait here while they waited too, and if we waited long enough +it would get so dark we couldn't see each other. But captain, you are a +kind-hearted and sympathetic man, do you see any fun in sitting in the +snow on top of a mountain, waiting to kill men whom you don't want to +kill or to be killed by men who don't want to kill you?" + +"No, Tom, I don't," replied Captain Sherburne with a laugh, "and you're +talking mighty sound sense. This is not like a regular battle. We've +nothing to gain by shooting those men, and they've nothing to gain by +shooting us. The Massanuttons extend a long distance and there's nothing +to keep scouts and spies from climbing them at other places. We'll go +away from here." + +He gave the order. They rose and crept as softly as they could through +the snow and bushes down the side of the mountain. Harry looked back +occasionally, but he saw no faces appear on the crest. Soon he heard +Langdon who was beside him laughing softly to himself. + +"What's the matter, Tom?" he asked. + +"Harry, if I could take my pistol and shoot straight through this +mountain the bullet when it came out on the other side would hit a +soldier in blue clothes, going at the same rate of speed down the +mountain." + +"More than likely you're right, Tom, if they're sensible, and that man +Shepard certainly is." + +Further down they met some of their own men climbing up. The troop had +heard the shots and was on the way to rescue, if rescue were needed. +Captain Sherburne explained briefly and they continued the descent, +leading their horses all the way, and breathing deep relief, when they +stood at last in the plain. + +"I'll remember that climb," said Langdon to Harry as he sprang into +the saddle, "and I won't do it again when there's snow up there, unless +General Jackson himself forces me up with the point of a bayonet." + +"The view was fine." + +"So it was, but the shooting was bad. Not a Yank, not a Reb fell, and +I'm not unhappy over it. A curious thing has happened to me, Harry. +While I'm ready to fight the Yankee at the drop of the hat I don't seem +to hate 'em as much as I did when the war began." + +"Same here. The war ought not to have happened, but we're in it, and to +my way of thinking we're going to be in it mighty deep and long." + +Langdon was silent for a little while, but nothing could depress him +long. He was soon chattering away as merrily as ever while the troop +rode back to General Jackson. Harry regarded him with some envy. A +temperament that could rejoice under any circumstances was truly worth +having. + +Sherburne reported to Ashby who in return sent him to the commander, +Harry going with him to resume his place on the staff. Jackson heard the +report without comment and his face expressed nothing. Harry could not +see that he had changed much since he had come to join him. A little +thinner, a little more worn, perhaps, but he was the same quiet, +self-contained man, whose blue eyes often looked over and beyond the one +to whom he was talking, as if he were maturing plans far ahead. + +Harry occupied a tent for the time with two or three other young +officers, and being permitted a few hours off duty he visited +his friends of the Invincibles, Colonel Leonidas Talbot and +Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. The two old comrades already had +heard the results of the scout from St. Clair and Langdon, but they gave +Harry a welcome because they liked him. They also gave him a camp stool, +no small luxury in an army that marches and fights hard, using more +gunpowder than anything else. + +Harry put the stool against a tree, sat on it and leaned back against +the trunk, feeling a great sense of luxury. The two men regarded him +with a benevolent eye. They, too, were enjoying luxuries, cigars which +a cavalry detail had captured from the enemy. It struck Harry at the +moment that although one was of British descent and the other of French +they were very much alike. South Carolina had bred them and then West +Point had cast them in her unbreakable mold. Neat, precise, they sat +rigidly erect, and smoked their cigars. + +"Do you like it on the staff of General Jackson, Harry," asked Colonel +Talbot. + +"I felt regrets at leaving the Invincibles," replied Harry truthfully, +"but I like it. I think it a privilege to be so near to General +Jackson." + +"A leader who has fought only one battle in independent command and who +lost that," said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, thoughtfully--he +knew that Harry would repeat nothing, "and who nevertheless has the +utmost confidence of his men. He does not joke with them as the young +Napoleon did with his soldiers. He has none of the quality that we call +magnetic charm, and yet his troops are eager to follow him anywhere. He +has won no victories, but his men believe him capable of many. He takes +none of his officers into his confidence, but all have it. Incredible, +but true. Why is it?" + +He put his cigar back in his mouth and puffed meditatively. Colonel +Leonidas Talbot, who also had been puffing meditatively while +Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire was speaking, now took his cigar +from his mouth, blew away the delicate rings of smoke, and said in an +equally thoughtful tone: + +"It occurs to me, Hector, that it is the power of intellect. Stonewall +Jackson has impressed the whole army down to the last and least little +drummer with a sense of his mental force. I tell you, sir, that he is +a thinker, and thinkers are rare, much more rare than people generally +believe. There is only one man out of ten thousand who does not act +wholly according to precedent and experience. Habit is so powerful that +when we think we are thinking we are not thinking at all, we are merely +recalling the experiences of ourselves or somebody else. And of the +rare individuals who leave the well-trod paths of thought to think new +thoughts, only a minutely small percentage think right. This minutely +small fraction represents genius, the one man in a million or rather ten +million, or, to be more accurate, the one man in a hundred million." + +Colonel Leonidas Talbot put the cigar back in his mouth and puffed with +regularity and smoothness. Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, in his +turn, took his cigar from his mouth once more, blew away the fine white +rings of smoke and said: + +"Leonidas, it appears to me that you have hit upon the truth, or as our +legal friends would say, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the +truth. I am in the middle of life and I realize suddenly that in all the +years I have lived I have met but few thinkers, certainly not more than +half a dozen, perhaps not more than three or four." + +He put his cigar back in his mouth and the two puffed simultaneously and +with precision, blowing out the fine, delicate rings of smoke at exactly +the same time. Gentlemen of the old school they were, even then, but +Harry recognized, too, that Colonel Leonidas Talbot had spoken the +weighty truth. Stonewall Jackson was a thinker, and thinkers are never +numerous in the world. He resolved to think more for himself if he +could, and he sat there trying to think, while he absently regarded the +two colonels. + +Colonel Leonidas Talbot, after two minutes perhaps, took the cigar from +his mouth once more and said to Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire: + +"Fine cigars the Yankees make, Hector." + +"Quite true, Leonidas. One of the best I have ever smoked." + +"Not more than a dozen left." + +"Then we must get more." + +"But how?" + +"Stonewall Jackson will think of a way." + +Harry, despite his respect for them, was compelled to laugh. But the two +colonels laughed with him. + +"The words of my friend Leonidas have been proved true within a few +minutes," said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. "In doubt we +turned at once and with involuntary impulse to Stonewall Jackson to +think of a way. He has impressed us, as he has impressed the privates, +with his intellectual power." + +Harry sat with them nearly an hour. He had not only respect but +affection also for them. Old-fashioned they might be in some ways, but +they were able military men, thoroughly alert, and he knew that he could +learn much from them. When he left them he returned to General Jackson +and a few more days of waiting followed. + +Winter was now wholly gone and spring, treacherous at first, was +becoming real and reliable. Reports heavy and ominous were coming from +McClellan. He would disembark and march up the peninsula on Richmond +with a vast and irresistible force. Jackson might be drawn off from the +valley to help Johnston in the defense of the capital. But Banks with +his great army would then march down it as if on parade. + +Harry heard one morning that a new man was put in command of the +Southern forces in Northern Virginia. Robert Edward Lee was his name, +and it was a good name, too. He was the son of that famous Light Horse +Harry Lee who was a favorite of Washington in the Revolution. Already +an elderly man, he was sober and quiet, but the old West Pointers passed +the word through Jackson's army that he was full of courage and daring. + +Harry felt the stimulus almost at once. A fresh wind seemed to be +blowing down the Valley of Virginia. Lee had sent word to Jackson that +he might do what he could, and that he might draw to his help also a +large division under Ewell. The news spread through the army and there +was a great buzzing. Young Virginia was eager to march against any odds, +and Harry was with them, heart and soul. + +Nor were they kept waiting now. The news had scarcely spread through the +army when they heard the crack of carbines in their front. The cavalry +of Ashby, increased by many recruits, was already skirmishing with the +vanguard of Banks. It was the last day of April and Harry, sent to the +front, saw Ashby drive in all the Northern cavalry. When he returned +with the news Jackson instantly lifted up his whole division and marched +by the flank through the hills, leaving Ewell with his men to occupy +Banks in front. The mind of the "thinker" was working, and Harry knew it +as he rode behind him. He did not know what this movement meant, but he +had full confidence in the man who led them. + +Yet the marching, like all the other marching they had done, was of +the hardest. The ground, torn by hoofs, cannon wheels and the feet of +marching men, was a continuous quagmire. Ponds made newly by the rains +stood everywhere. Often it required many horses and men to drag a cannon +out of the mud. The junior officers, and finally those of the highest +rank, leaped from their horses and gave aid. Jackson himself carried +boughs and stones to help make a road. + +Despite the utmost possible exertions the army could make only five +miles in a single day and at the approach of night it flung itself upon +the ground exhausted. + +"I call this the Great Muddy Army," said St. Clair, ruefully to Harry, +as he surveyed his fine uniform, now smeared over with brown liquid +paste. + +"It might have been worse," said Langdon. "Suppose we had fallen in a +quicksand and had been swallowed up utterly. 'Tis better to live muddy +than not to live at all." + +"It would be better to call it the Great Tired Army just now," said +Harry. "To keep on pulling your feet all day long out of mud half a yard +deep is the most exhausting thing I know or ever heard of." + +"Where are we going?" asked St. Clair. + +"Blessed if I know," replied Harry, "nor does anybody else save one. +It's all hid under General Jackson's hat." + +"I guess it's Staunton," said Langdon. "That's a fine town, as good as +Winchester. I've got kinsfolk there. I came up once from South Carolina +and made them a visit." + +But it was not Staunton, although Staunton, hearing of the march, had +been joyfully expecting Jackson's men. The fine morning came, warm and +brilliant with sunshine, raising the spirits of the troops. The roads +began to dry out fast and marching would be much easier. But Jackson, +leading somberly on Little Sorrel, turned his back on Staunton. + +The Virginians stared in amazement when the heads of columns turned +away from that trim and hospitable little city, which they knew was so +fervently attached to their cause. Before them rose the long line of the +Blue Ridge and they were marching straight toward it. + +They marched a while in silence, and then a groan ran through the ranks. +It was such a compound of dismay and grief that it made Harry shiver. +The Virginians were leaving their beloved and beautiful valley, leaving +it all to the invader, leaving the pretty little places, Winchester and +Staunton and Harrisonburg and Strasburg and Front Royal, and all the +towns and villages in which their families and relatives lived. Every +one of the Virginians had blood kin everywhere through the valley. + +The men began to whisper to one another, but the order of silence was +passed sternly along the line. They marched on, sullen and gloomy, +but after a while their natural courage and their confidence in their +commander returned. Their spirits did not desert them, even when they +left the valley behind them and began to climb the Blue Ridge. + +Up, up, they went through dense forests. Harry remembered their ascent +of the Massanuttons, but the snows were gone now. They pressed on until +they reached the crest of the ridges and there the whole army paused, +high up in the air, while they looked with eager interest at the rolling +Virginia country stretching toward the east until it sank under the +horizon. + +Harry saw smoke that marked the passing of trains, and he believed +that they were now on their way to Richmond to help defend the capital +against McClellan. He glanced at Jackson, but the commander was as +tight-lipped as ever. Whatever was under that hat remained the secret of +its owner. + +They descended the mountains and came to a railway station, where many +cars were waiting. Troops were hurried aboard expecting to start for +Richmond, and then a sudden roar burst from them. The trains did not +move toward Richmond, but back, through defiles that would lead them +again into their beloved valley. Cheers one after another rolled through +the trains, and Harry, who was in a forward car with the Invincibles, +joined in as joyfully as the best Virginian of them all. + +The boy was so much exhausted that he fell into a doze on a seat. But +afterward he dimly remembered that he heard the two colonels talking. +They were trying to probe into the depths of Jackson's mind. They +surmised that this march over the mountains had been made partly to +delude Banks. They were right, at least as far as the delusion of Banks +went. He had been telegraphing that the army of Jackson was gone, on its +way to Richmond, and that there was nothing in front of him save a few +skirmishers. + +The Virginians left their trains in the valley again, waited for their +wagons and artillery, and then marched on to Staunton, that neat little +city that was so dear to so many of them. But the mystery of what was +under Jackson's hat remained a mystery. They passed through Staunton, +amid the cheering people, women and children waving hats, scarfs and +handkerchiefs to their champions. But the terrible Stonewall gave them +no chance to dally in that pleasant place. Staunton was left far behind +and they never stopped until they went into camp on the side of another +range of mountains. + +Here in a great forest they built a few fires, more not being allowed, +and after a hasty supper most of the men lay down in their blankets to +rest. But the young officers did not sleep. A small tent for Jackson had +been raised by the side of the Invincibles, and Harry, sitting on a log, +talked in low tones with Langdon and St. Clair. The three were of the +opinion that some blow was about to be struck, but what it was they did +not know. + +"The Yankees must have lost us entirely," said Langdon. "To tell you the +truth, boys, I've lost myself. I've been marching about so much that I +don't know east from west and north from south. I'm sure that this is +the Southern army about us, but whether we're still in Virginia or not +is beyond me. What do you say, Arthur?" + +"It's Virginia still, Tom, but we've undoubtedly done a lot of +marching." + +"A lot of it! 'Lot' is a feeble word! We've marched a million miles in +the last few days. I've checked 'em off by the bunions on the soles of +my feet." + +"Look out, boys," said St. Clair. "Here comes the general!" + +General Jackson was walking toward them. His face had the usual intense, +preoccupied look, but he smiled slightly when he saw the three lads. + +"Come, young gentlemen," he said, "we're going to take a look at the +enemy." + +A group of older officers joined him, and the three lads followed +modestly. They reached a towering crag and from it Harry saw a deep +valley fringed with woods, a river rushing down its center and further +on a village. Both banks of the river were thick with troops, men in +blue. Over and beyond the valley was a great mass of mountains, ridge +on ridge and peak on peak, covered with black forest, and cut by defiles +and ravines so narrow that it was always dark within them. + +Harry felt a strange, indescribable thrill. The presence of the enemy +and the wild setting of the mountains filled him with a kind of awe. + +"It's a Northern army under Milroy," whispered St. Clair, who now heard +Jackson talking to the older officers. + +"Then there's going to be a battle," said Harry. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE MOUNTAIN BATTLE + + +General Jackson and several of his senior officers were examining the +valley with glasses, but Harry, with eyes trained to the open air and +long distances, could see clearly nearly all that was going on below. +He saw movement among the masses of men in blue, and he saw officers on +horseback, galloping along the banks of the river. Then he saw cannon +in trenches with their muzzles elevated toward the heights, and he knew +that the Union troops must have had warning of Jackson's coming. And he +saw, too, that the officers below also had glasses through which they +were looking. + +There was a sudden blaze from the mouth of one of the cannon. A shell +shot upward, whistling and shrieking, and burst far above their heads. +Harry heard pieces of falling metal striking on the rocks behind them. +The mountains sent back the cannon's roar in a sinister echo. + +A second gun flashed and again the shell curved over their heads. +But Jackson paid no heed. He was still watching intently through his +glasses. + +"The enemy is up and alert," whispered St. Clair to Harry. "I judge that +these are Western men used to sleeping with their eyes open." + +"Like as not a lot of them are mountain West Virginians," said Harry. +"They are strong for the North, and it's likely, too, that they're the +men who have discovered Jackson's advance." + +"And they mean to make it warm for us. Listen to those guns! It's hard +shooting aiming at men on heights, but it shows what they could do on +level ground." + +Jackson presently retired with his officers, and Harry, parting from his +friends of the Invincibles, went with him. Back among the ridges all the +troops were under arms, the weary ones having risen from their blankets +which were now tied in rolls on their backs. They had not yet been able +to bring the artillery up the steeps. Harry saw that the faces of all +were eager as they heard the thunder of the guns in the valley below. +Among the most eager was a regiment of Georgians arrived but recently +with the reinforcements. + +Many of the men, speaking from the obscurity of the crowded ranks, did +not scorn to hurl questions at their officers. + +"Are we goin' to fight the Yankees at last?" + +"I'd rather take my chances with the bullets than march any more." + +"Lead us down an' give us a chance at 'em." + +Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire were +among the officers who had gone with Jackson to the verge of the cliff, +and now when they heard the impertinent but eager questions from the +massed ranks they looked at each other and smiled. It was not according +to West Point, but these were recruits and here was enthusiasm which was +a pearl beyond price. + +General Jackson beckoned to Harry and three other young staff officers. + +"Take glasses," he said, "go back to the verge of the cliff, and watch +for movements on the part of the enemy. If any is made be sure that you +see it, and report it to me at once." + +The words were abrupt, sharp, admitting of no question or delay, and +the four fairly ran. Harry and his comrades lay down at the edge of the +cliff and swept the valley with their glasses. The great guns were still +firing at intervals of about a minute. The gunners could not see the +Southern troops drawn back behind the ridges, but Harry believed that +they might be guided by signals from men on opposite slopes. But if +signalmen were there they were hidden by the forest even from his +glasses. + +The smoke from the cannon was gathering heavily in the narrow valley, so +heavily that it began to obscure what was passing there in the Northern +army. But the four, remembering the injunction of Jackson, a man who +must be obeyed to the last and minutest detail, still sought to pierce +through the smoke both with the naked eye and with glasses. As a rift +appeared Harry saw a moving mass of men in blue. It was a great body of +troops and the sun shining through the rift glittered over bayonets and +rifle barrels. They were marching straight toward a slope which led at a +rather easy grade up the side of the mountain. + +"They're not waiting to be attacked! They're attacking!" cried Harry, +springing to his feet and running to the point where he knew Jackson +stood. Jackson received his news, looked for himself, and then began to +push on the troops. A shout arose as the army pressed forward to meet +the enemy who were coming so boldly. + +"We ought to beat 'em, as we have the advantage of the heights," +exclaimed Sherburne, who was now on foot. + +But the advantage was the other way. Those were staunch troops who were +advancing, men of Ohio and West Virginia, and while they were yet on the +lower slopes their cannon, firing over their heads, swept the crest with +shot and shell. The eager Southern youths, as invariably happens with +those firing downward, shot too high. The Northern regiments now opening +with their rifles and taking better aim came on in splendid order. + +"What a magnificent charge!" Harry heard Sherburne exclaim. + +The rifles by thousands were at work, and the unceasing crash sent +echoes far through the mountains. The Southerners at the edge of the +cliff were cut down by the fire of their enemy from below. Their loss +was now far greater than that of the North, and their officers sought to +draw them back from the verge, to a ridge where they could receive the +charge, just as it reached the crest and pour into them their full fire. +The eager young regiment from Georgia refused to obey. + +"Have we come all these hundreds of miles from Georgia to run before +Yankees?" they cried, and stood there pulling trigger at the enemy, +while their own men fell fast before the bitter Northern hail. + +Harry, too, was forced to admire the great resolution and courage with +which the Northern troops came upward, but he turned away to be ready +for any command that Jackson might give him. The general stood by a rock +attentively watching the fierce battle that was going on, but not yet +giving any order. But Harry fancied that he saw his eyes glisten as he +beheld the ardor of his troops. + +A detachment of Virginians, posted in the rear, seeing a break in the +first line, rushed forward without orders, filled the gap and came +face to face with the men in blue. Harry thought he saw Jackson's eyes +glisten again, but he was not sure. + +The crash of the battle increased fast. The Southern troops had no +artillery, but as the Northern charge came nearer the crest their +bullets ceased to fly over the heads of their enemies, but struck now in +the ranks. The ridges were enveloped in fire and smoke. A fresh Southern +regiment was thrown in and the valiant Northern charge broke. The brave +men of Ohio and West Virginia, although they fought desperately and +encouraged one another to stand fast, were forced slowly back down the +slope. + +Harry and a half dozen others beside him heard Jackson say, apparently +to himself, "The battle will soon be over." Harry knew instinctively +that it was true. He had got into the habit of believing every thing +Jackson said. The end came in fifteen minutes more, and with it came the +night. + +The soldiers in their ardor had not noticed that the long shadows were +creeping over the mountains. The sun had already sunk in a blood-red +blur behind the ridges, and as the men in blue slowly yielded the last +slope darkness which was already heavy in the defiles and ravines swept +down over the valley. + +Jackson had won, but his men had suffered heavily and moreover he had +stood on the defense. He could not descend into the valley in the face +of the Northern resistance which was sure to be fierce and enduring. +The Northern cannon were beginning to send curving shells again over the +cliffs, sinister warnings of what the Virginians might expect if they +came down to attack. Harry and the other staff officers peering over the +crest saw many fires burning along the banks of the river. Milroy seemed +to be still bidding Jackson defiance. + +Harry saw no preparations for a return assault. Jackson was inspecting +the ground, but his men were going over the field gathering up the +wounded and burying the dead. The Georgians had suffered terribly--most +of all--for their rash bravery, and the whole army was subdued. There +was less of exuberant youth, and more of grim and silent resolve. + +Harry worked far into the night carrying orders here and there. The +moon came out and clothed the strange and weird battlefield in a robe of +silver. The heavens were sown with starshine, but it all seemed mystic +and unreal to the excited nerves of the boy. The mountains rose to two, +three times their real height, and the valley in which the Northern +fires burned became a mighty chasm. + +It was one o'clock in the morning before Jackson himself left the field +and went to his headquarters at a little farmhouse on the plateau. +His faithful colored servant was waiting for him with food. He had not +touched any the whole day, but he declined it saying that he needed +nothing but sleep. He flung himself booted and clothed upon a bed and +was sound asleep in five minutes. + +There was a little porch on one side of the house, and here Harry, who +had received no instructions from his general, camped. He rolled himself +in his cavalry cloak, lay down on the hard floor which was not hard to +him, and slept like a little child. + +He was awakened at dawn as one often is by a presence, even though that +presence be noiseless. He felt a great unwillingness to get up. That was +a good floor on which he slept, and the cavalry cloak wrapped around +him was the finest and warmest that he had ever felt. He did not wish +to abandon either. But will triumphed. He opened his eyes and sprang +quickly to his feet. + +Stonewall Jackson was standing beside him looking intently toward the +valley. The edge of a blazing sun barely showed in the east, and in the +west all the peaks and ridges were yet in the dusk. Morning was coming +in silence. There was no sound of battle or of the voices of men. + +"I beg your pardon. I fear that I have overslept myself!" exclaimed +Harry. + +"Not at all," said Jackson with a slight smile. "The others of the staff +are yet asleep. You might have come inside. A little room was left on +the floor there." + +"I never had a better bed and I never slept better." The general smiled +again and gave Harry an approving glance. + +"Soldiers, especially boys, learn quickly to endure any kind of +hardship," he said. "Come, we'll see if the enemy is still there." + +Harry fancied from his tone that he believed Milroy gone, but knowing +better than to offer any opinion of his own he followed him toward the +edge of the valley. The pickets saluted as the silent figures passed. +The sun in the east was rising higher over the valley, and in the west +the peaks and ridges were coming out of the dusk. + +The general carried his glasses slung over his shoulder, but he did +not need them. One glance into the valley and they saw that the army of +Milroy was gone. It had disappeared, horse, foot and guns, and Harry now +knew that the long row of camp fires in the night had been a show, but +only a brave show, after all. + +The whole Southern army awoke and poured down the slopes. Yes, Milroy, +not believing that he was strong enough for another battle, had gone +down the valley. He had fought one good battle, but he would reach Banks +before he fought another. + +The Southern troops felt that they had won the victory, and Jackson +sent a message to Richmond announcing it. Never had news come at a more +opportune time. The fortunes of the South seemed to be at the lowest +ebb. Richmond had heard of the great battle of Shiloh, the failure to +destroy Grant and the death of Albert Sidney Johnston. New Orleans, +the largest and richest city in the Confederacy, had been taken by the +Northern fleet--the North was always triumphant on the water--and the +mighty army of McClellan had landed on the Peninsula of Virginia for the +advance on Richmond. + +It had seemed that the South was doomed, and the war yet scarcely a +year old. But in the mountains the strange professor of mathematics had +struck a blow and he might strike another. Both North and South realized +anew that no one could ever tell where he was or what he might do. The +great force, advancing by land to co-operate with McClellan, hesitated, +and drew back. + +But Jackson's troops knew nothing then of what was passing in the minds +of men at Washington and Richmond. They were following Milroy and that +commander, wily as well as brave, was pressing his men to the utmost in +order that he might escape the enemy who, he was sure, would pursue with +all his power. He knew that he had fought with Stonewall Jackson and he +knew the character of the Southern leader. + +Sherburne brought his horses through a defile into the valley and his +men, now mounted, led the pursuit. Jackson in his eagerness rode with +him and Harry was there, too. Behind them came the famous foot cavalry. +Thus pursuer and pursued rolled down the valley, and Harry exulted +when he looked at the path of the fleeing army. The traces were growing +fresher and fresher. Jackson was gaining. + +But there were shrewd minds in Milroy's command. The Western men knew +many devices of battle and the trail, and Milroy was desperately bent +upon saving his force, which he knew would be overwhelmed, if overtaken +by Jackson's army. Now he had recourse to a singular device. + +Harry, riding with Captain Sherburne, noticed that the trees were dry +despite the recent rains. On the slopes of the mountains the water ran +off fast, and the thickets were dry also. Then he saw a red light in the +forest in front of them. General Jackson saw it at the same time. + +"What is that?" he exclaimed. + +"It looks like a forest fire, general," replied Sherburne. + +"You're right, captain, and it's growing." + +As they galloped forward they saw the red light expand rapidly and +spread directly across their path. The whole forest was on fire. Great +flames rose up the trunks of trees and leaped from bough to bough. +Sparks flew in millions and vast clouds of smoke, picked up by the wind, +were whirled in their faces. + +The troop of cavalry was compelled to pause and General Jackson, +brushing the smoke from his eyes, said: + +"Clever! very clever! Milroy has put a fiery wall between us." + +The device was a complete success. The pursuing men in gray could pass +around the fire at points, and wait at other points for it to burn out, +but they lost so much time that their cavalry were able only to skirmish +with the Northern rear guard. Then when night came on Milroy escaped +under cover of the thick and smoky darkness. + +Harry slept on the ground that night, but the precious cloak was around +him. He slept beyond the dawn as the pursuit was now abandoned, but +when he arose smoke was still floating over the valley and the burned +forests. He was stiff and sore, but the fierce hunger that assailed +him made him forget the aching of his bones. He had eaten nothing for +thirty-six hours. He had forgotten until then that there was such a +thing as food. But the sight of Langdon holding a piece of frying bacon +on a stick afflicted him with a raging desire. + +"Give me that bacon, Tom," he cried, "or I'll set the rest of the forest +on fire!" + +"No need, you old war-horse. I was just bringing it to you. There's +plenty more where this came from. The foot cavalry took it at McDowell, +and like the wise boys they are brought it on with them. Come and join +us. Your general is already riding a bit up the valley, and, as he +didn't call you, it follows that he doesn't want you." + +Harry followed him gladly. The Invincibles had found a good place, and +were cooking a solid breakfast. They had bacon and ham and coffee +and bread in abundance, and for a while there was a great eating and +drinking. + +To youth which had marched and fought without food it was not a +breakfast. It was a banquet and a feast. Young frames which recover +quickly responded at once. Now and then, the musical clatter of iron +spoons and knives on iron cups and plates was broken by deep sighs of +satisfaction. But they did not speak for a while. There was lost time +to be made up, and they did not know when they would get another such +chance--the odds were always against it. + +"Enough is enough," said Langdon at last. "It took a lot to make enough, +but it's enough. You have to be a soldier, Harry, to appreciate what +it is to eat, sleep and rest. I'm willing to wager my uniform against a +last winter's snowball that we don't get another such meal in a month. +Old Jack won't let us." + +"To my mind," said St. Clair, "we're going right into the middle of big +things. We've chased the Yankees out of the mountains into the valley, +and we'll follow hot on their heels. We've already learned enough of +General Jackson to know that he doesn't linger." + +"Linger!" exclaimed Langdon indignantly. "Even if there was no fighting +to be done he'd march us from one end of the valley to the other just +to keep us in practice. Hear that bugle! Off we go! Five minutes to get +ready! Or maybe it is only three!" + +It was more than five minutes, but not much more, when the whole army +was on the march again, but the foot cavalry forgot to grumble when +they came again into their beloved valley, across which, and up and down +which, they had marched so much. + +They threw back their shoulders, their gait became more jaunty and they +burst into cheers, at the sight of the rich rolling country, now so +beautiful in spring's heavy green. Far off the mountains rose, dark +and blue, but they were only the setting for the gem and made it more +precious. + +"It's ours," said Sherburne proudly to Harry. "We left it to the Yankees +for a little while, but we've come back to claim it, and if the unbidden +tenant doesn't get out at once we'll put him out. Harry, haven't you got +Virginia kinfolks? We want to adopt you and call you a Virginian." + +"Lots of them. My great-grandfather, Governor Ware, was born in +Maryland, but all the people on my mother's side were of Virginia +origin." + +"I might have known it. Kentucky is the daughter of Virginia though a +large part of Kentucky takes sides with the Yankees. But that's not your +fault. Remember, for the time being you're a Virginian, one of us by +right of blood and deed." + +"Count me among 'em at once," said Harry. He felt a certain pride in +this off-hand but none the less real adoption, because he knew that it +was a great army with which he marched, and it might immortalize itself. + +"What's the news, Harry?" asked Sherburne. "You're always near Old Jack, +and if he lets anything come from under that old hat of his, which isn't +often, it's because he's willing for it to be known." + +"He's said this, and he doesn't mean it to be any secret. Banks is +at Strasburg with a big army, but he's fortified himself there and he +doesn't know just what to do. He doesn't for the life of him know which +way Jackson is coming, nor do I. But I do know that Ewell with his +division is going to join us at last and we'll have a sizable army." + +"And that means bigger things!" exclaimed Sherburne, joyously. "Between +you and me, Harry, Banks won't sleep soundly again for many a night!" + +As they marched on the valley people came out joyously to meet them. +Even women and girls on horseback, galloping, reined in their horses to +tell them where the Union forces lay. Always they had information for +Jackson, never any for the North. Here scouts and spies were scarcely +needed by the Southern army. Before night Stonewall Jackson knew as much +of his enemy as any general needed to know. + +They camped at dusk and Langdon, contrary to his prediction, enjoyed +another ample meal and plenty of rest. Jackson allowed no tent to be +set for himself. The night was warm and beautiful and the songs of birds +came from the trees. The general had eaten sparingly, and now he sat on +a log in deep thought. Presently he looked up and said: + +"Lieutenant Kenton, do you and Lieutenant Dalton ride forward in that +direction and meet General Ewell. He is coming, with his staff, to see +me. Escort him to the camp." + +He pointed out the direction and in an instant Harry and Dalton, also of +the staff, were in the camp, following the line of that pointing finger. +They had the password and as they passed a little beyond the pickets +they saw a half dozen horsemen riding rapidly toward them in the dusk. + +"General Ewell, is it not, sir?" said Harry, as he and Dalton gave the +salute. + +"I'm General Ewell," replied the foremost horseman. "Do you come from +General Jackson?" + +"Yes, sir. His camp is just before you. You can see the lights now. He +has directed us to meet you and escort you." + +"Then lead the way." + +The two young lieutenants, guiding General Ewell and his staff, were +soon inside Jackson's camp, but Harry had time to observe Ewell well. He +had already heard of him as a man of great vigor and daring. He had made +a name for judgment and dash in the Indian wars on the border. Men +spoke of him as a soldier, prompt to obey his superior and ready to take +responsibility if his superior were not there. Harry knew that Jackson +expected much of him. + +He saw a rather slender man with wonderfully bright eyes that smiled +much, a prominent and pronounced nose and a strong chin. When he took +off his hat at the meeting with Jackson he disclosed a round bald head, +which he held on one side when he talked. + +Jackson had risen from the log as Ewell rode up and leaped from his +magnificent horse--his horses were always of the best--and he advanced, +stretching out his hand. Ewell clasped it and the two talked. The staffs +of the two generals had withdrawn out of ear shot, but Harry noticed +that Ewell did much the greater part of the talking, his head cocked on +one side in that queer, striking manner. But Harry knew, too, that +the mind and will of Jackson were dominant, and that Ewell readily +acknowledged them as so. + +The conference did not last long. Then the two generals shook hands +again and Ewell sprang upon his horse. Jackson beckoned to Harry. + +"Lieutenant Kenton," he said, "ride with General Ewell to his camp. +You will then know the way well, and he may wish to send me some quick +dispatch." + +Harry, nothing loath, was in the saddle in an instant, and at the wish +of General Ewell rode by his side. + +"You have been with him long?" said Ewell. + +"From the beginning of the campaign here, sir." + +"Then you were at both Kernstown and McDowell. A great general, young +man." + +"Yes, sir. He will march anywhere and fight anything." + +"That's my own impression. We've heard that his men are the greatest +marchers in the world. My own lads under him will acquire the same +merit." + +"We know, sir, that your men are good marchers already." + +General Ewell laughed with satisfaction. + +"It's true," he said. "When I told my second in command that we were +going to march to join General Jackson he wanted to bring tents. I told +him that would load us up with a lot of tent poles and that he must +bring only a few, for the sick, perhaps. There must be no baggage, just +food and ammunition. I told 'em that when we joined General Jackson we'd +have nothing to do but eat and fight." + +He seemed now to be speaking to himself rather than to Harry, and the +boy said nothing. Ewell, relapsing into silence, urged his horse to a +gallop and the staff perforce galloped, too. Such a pace soon brought +them to the camp of the second army, and as they rode past the pickets +Harry heard the sound of stringed music. + +"The Cajuns," said one of the staff, a captain named Morton. Harry did +not know what "Cajuns" meant, but he was soon to learn. Meanwhile the +sound of the music was pleasant in his ear, and he saw that the camp, +despite the lateness of the hour, was vivid with life. + +General Ewell gave Harry into Captain Morton's care, and walked away to +a small tent, where he was joined by several of his senior officers for +a conference. But after they had tethered their horses for the night, +Captain Morton took Harry through the camp. + +Harry was full of eagerness and curiosity and he asked to see first the +strange "Cajuns," those who made the music. + +"They are Louisiana French," said Morton, "not the descendants or the +original French settlers in that state, but the descendants of the +French by the way of Nova Scotia." + +"Oh, I see, the Acadians, the exiles." + +"Yes, that's it. The name has been corrupted into Cajuns in Louisiana. +They are not like the French of New Orleans and Baton Rouge and the +other towns. They are rural and primitive. You'll like them. Few of them +were ever more than a dozen miles from home before. They love music, and +they've got a full regimental band with them. You ought to hear it play. +Why, they'd play the heart right out of you." + +"I like well enough the guitars and banjos that they're playing now. +Seems to me that kind of music is always best at night." + +They had now come within the rim of light thrown out by the fires of +the Acadians, and Harry stood there looking for the first time at these +dark, short people, brought a thousand miles from their homes. + +They were wholly unlike Virginians and Kentuckians. They had black eyes +and hair, and their naturally dark faces were burned yet darker by the +sun of the Gulf. Yet the dark eyes were bright and gay, sparkling with +kindliness and the love of pleasure. The guitars and banjos were playing +some wailing tune, with a note of sadness in the core of it so keen and +penetrating that it made the water come to Harry's eyes. But it changed +suddenly to something that had all the sway and lilt of the rosy South. +Men sprang to their feet and clasping arms about one another began to +sway back and forth in the waltz and the polka. + +Harry watched with mingled amazement and pleasure. Most of the South +was religious and devout. The Virginians of the valley were nearly all +staunch Presbyterians, and Stonewall Jackson, staunchest of them all, +never wanted to fight on Sunday. The boy himself had been reared in a +stern Methodist faith, and the lightness in this French blood of the +South was new to him. But it pleased him to see them sing and dance, and +he found no wrong in it, although he could not have done it himself. + +Captain Morton noticed Harry's close attention and he read his mind. + +"They surprised me, too, at first," he said, "but they're fine soldiers, +and they've put cheer into this army many a time when it needed it +most. Taylor, their commander, is a West Pointer and he's got them into +wonderful trim. They're well clothed and well shod. They never straggle +and they're just about the best marchers we have. They'll soon be rated +high among Jackson's foot cavalry." + +Harry left the Acadians with reluctance, and when he made the round of +the camp General Ewell, who had finished the conference, told him that +he would have no message to send that night to Jackson. He might go to +sleep, but the whole division would march early in the morning. Harry +wrapped himself again in his cloak, found a place soft with moss under a +tree, and slept with the soft May wind playing over his face and lulling +him to deeper slumber. + +He rode the next morning with General Ewell and the whole division to +join Jackson's army. It was a trim body of men, well clad, fresh and +strong, and they marched swiftly along the turnpike, on both sides of +which Jackson was encamped further on. + +Harry felt a personal pride in being with Ewell when the junction was +to be made. He felt that, in a sense, he was leading in this great +reinforcement himself, and he looked back with intense satisfaction at +the powerful column marching so swiftly along the turnpike. + +They came late in the day to Jackson's pickets, and then they saw his +army, scattered through the fields on either side of the road. + +Harry rejoiced once more in the grand appearance of the new division. +Every coat or tunic sat straight. Every shoe-lace was tied, and they +marched with the beautiful, even step of soldiers on parade. They +were to encamp beyond Jackson's old army, and as they passed along the +turnpike it was lined on either side by Jackson's own men, cheering with +vigor. + +The colonel who was in immediate charge of the encampment, a man who had +never seen General Jackson, asked Harry where he might find him. Harry +pointed to a man sitting on the top rail of a fence beside the road. + +"But I asked for General Jackson," said the colonel. + +"That's General Jackson." + +The colonel approached and saluted. General Jackson's clothes were +soiled and dusty. His feet, encased in cavalry boots that reached beyond +the knees, rested upon a lower rail of the fence. A worn cap with a +dented visor almost covered his eyes. The rest of his face was concealed +by a heavy, dark beard. + +"General Jackson, I believe," said the officer, saluting. + +"Yes. How far have those men marched?" The voice was kindly and +approving. + +"We've come twenty-six miles, sir." + +"Good. And I see no stragglers." + +"We allow no stragglers." + +"Better still. I haven't been able to keep my own men from straggling, +and you'll have to teach them." + +At that moment the Acadian band began to play, and it played the +merriest waltz it knew. Jackson gazed at it, took a lemon from his +pocket and began to suck the juice from it meditatively. The officer +stood before him in some embarrassment. + +"Aren't they rather thoughtless for such serious work as war?" asked the +Presbyterian general. + +"I am confident, sir, that their natural gayety will not impair their +value as soldiers." + +Jackson put the end of the lemon back in his mouth and drew some juice +from it. The colonel bowed and retired. Then Jackson beckoned to Harry, +who stood by. + +"Follow him and tell him," he said, "that the band can play as much as +it likes. I noticed, too, that it plays well." + +Jackson smiled and Harry hurried after the officer, who flushed with +gratification, when the message was delivered to him. + +"I'll tell it to the men," he said, "and they'll fight all the better +for it." + +That night it was a formidable army that slept in the fields on either +side of the turnpike, and in the silence and the dark, Stonewall Jackson +was preparing to launch the thunderbolt. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. TURNING ON THE FOE + + +Harry was awakened at the first shoot of dawn by the sound of trumpets. +It was now approaching the last of May and the cold nights had long +since passed. A warm sun was fast showing its edge in the east, and, +bathing his face at a brook and snatching a little breakfast, he was +ready. Stonewall Jackson was already up, and his colored servant was +holding Little Sorrel for him. + +The army was fast forming into line, the new men of Ewell resolved to +become as famous foot cavalry as those who had been with Jackson all +along. Ewell himself, full of enthusiasm and already devoted to his +chief, was riding among them, and whenever he spoke to one of them he +cocked his head on one side in the peculiar manner that was habitual +with him. Now and then, as the sun grew warmer, he took off his hat and +his bald head gleamed under the yellow rays. + +"Which way do you think we're going?" said the young staff officer, +George Dalton, to Harry--Dalton was a quiet youth with a good deal of +the Puritan about him and Harry liked him. + +"I'm not thinking about it at all," replied Harry with a laugh. "I've +quit trying to guess what our general is going to do, but I fancy that +he means to lead us against the enemy. He has the numbers now." + +"I suppose you're right," said Dalton. "I've been trying to guess all +along, but I think I'll give it up now and merely follow where the +general leads." + +The bugles blew, the troops rapidly fell into line and marched northward +along the turnpike, the Creole band began to play again one of those +lilting waltz tunes, and the speed of the men increased, their feet +rising and falling swiftly to the rhythm of the galloping air. Jackson, +who was near the head of the column, looked back and Harry saw a faint +smile pass over his grim face. He saw the value of the music. + +"I never heard such airs in our Presbyterian church," said Dalton to +Harry. + +"But this isn't a church." + +"No, it isn't, but those Creole tunes suit here. They put fresh life +into me." + +"Same here. And they help the men, too. Look how gay they are." + +Up went the shining sun. The brilliant blue light, shot with gold, +spread from horizon to horizon, little white clouds of vapor, tinted +at the edges with gold from the sun, floated here and there. It was +beautiful May over all the valley. White dust flew from the turnpike +under the feet of so many marching men and horses, and the wheels of +cannon. Suddenly the Georgia troops that had suffered so severely at +McDowell began to sing a verse from the Stars and Bars, and gradually +the whole column joined in: + + + "Now Georgia marches to the front + And close beside her come + Her sisters by the Mexique sea + With pealing trump and drum, + Till answering back from hill and glen + The rallying cry afar, + A nation hoists the Bonnie Blue Flag + That bears a single star." + + +It was impossible not to feel emotion. The face of the most solemn +Presbyterian of them all flushed and his eyes glowed. Now the band, that +wonderful band of the Acadians, was playing the tune, and the mighty +chorus rolled and swelled across the fields. Harry's heart throbbed +hard. He was with the South, his own South, and he was swayed wholly by +feeling. + +The Acadians were leading the army. Harry saw Jackson whispering +something to a staff officer. The officer galloped forward and spoke to +Taylor, the commander of the Louisiana troops. Instantly the Acadians +turned sharply from the turnpike and walked in a diagonal line through +the fields. The whole army followed and they marched steadily northward +and eastward. + +Harry had another good and close view of the Massanuttons, now one +vast mass of dark green foliage, and it caused his thoughts to turn to +Shepard. He had no doubt that the wary and astute Northern scout was +somewhere near watching the march of Stonewall. He had secured a pair of +glasses of his own and he scanned the fields and forests now for a +sight of him and his bold horsemen. But he saw no blue uniforms, merely +farmers and their wives and children, shouting with joy at the sight of +Jackson, eager to give him information, and eager to hide it from Banks. + +But Harry was destined to have more than another view of the +Massanuttons. Jackson marched steadily for four days, crossing the +Massanuttons at the defile, and coming down into the eastern valley. +The troops were joyous throughout the journey, although they had not the +least idea for what they were destined, and Ewell's men made good their +claim to a place of equal honor in the foot cavalry. + +They were now in the division of the great valley known as the Luray, +and only when they stopped did Harry and his comrades of the staff learn +that the Northern army under Kenly was only ten miles away at Front +Royal. + +The preceding night had been one of great confidence, even of +light-heartedness in Washington. The worn and melancholy President felt +that a triumphant issue of the war was at hand. The Secretary of War was +more than sanguine, and the people in the city joyfully expected +speedy news of the fall of Richmond. McClellan was advancing with an +overwhelming force on the Southern capital, and the few regiments of +Jackson were lost somewhere in the mountains. In the west all things +were going well under Grant. + +It was only a few who, recognizing that the army of Jackson was lost to +Northern eyes, began to ask questions about it. But they were laughed +down. Jackson had too few men to do any harm, wherever he might be. +Nobody suspected that at dawn Jackson, with a strong force, would be +only a little more than three score miles from the Union capital itself. +Even Banks himself, who was only half that distance from the Southern +army, did not dream that it was coming. + +When the sun swung clear that May morning there was a great elation +in this army which had been lost to its enemies for days and which the +unknowing despised. They ate a good breakfast, and then, as the Creole +band began to play its waltzes again, they advanced swiftly on Front +Royal. + +"We'll be attacking in two hours," said Dalton. + +"In less time than that, I'm thinking," said Harry. "Look how the men +are speeding it up!" + +The band ceased suddenly. Harry surmised that it had been stopped, +in order to suppress noise as much as possible, now that they were +approaching the enemy. Cheering and loud talking also were stopped, +and they heard now the heavy beat of footsteps, horses and men, and the +rumble of vehicles, cannon and wagons. The morning was bright and hot. +A haze of heat hung over the mountains, and to Harry the valley was more +beautiful and picturesque than ever. He had again flitting feelings of +melancholy that it should be torn so ruthlessly by war. + +If Shepard and other Northern scouts were near, they were lax that +morning. Not a soul in the garrison at Front Royal dreamed of Jackson's +swift approach. They were soon to have a terrible awakening. + +Harry saw Jackson raise the visor of his old cap a little, and he saw +the eyes beneath it gleam. + +"We must be near Front Royal," he said to Dalton. + +"It's just beyond the woods there. It's not more than half a mile away." + +The army halted a moment and Jackson sent forward a long line of +skirmishers through the wood. Sherburne's cavalry were to ride just +behind them, and he dispatched Harry and Dalton with the captain. At the +first sound of the firing the whole army would rush upon Front Royal. + +The skirmishers, five hundred strong, pressed forward through the wood. +They were sun-browned, eager fellows, every one carrying a rifle, and +all sharpshooters. + +It seemed to Harry that the skirmishers were through the wood in +an instant, like a force of Indians bursting from ambush upon an +unsuspecting foe. The Northern pickets were driven in like leaves before +a whirlwind. The rattle and then the crash of rifles beat upon the ears, +and the Southern horsemen were galloping through the streets of the +startled village by the time the Northern commander, posted with his +main force just behind the town, knew that Jackson had emerged from the +wilderness and was upon him. Banks not dreaming of Jackson's nearness, +had taken away Kenly's cavalry, and there were only pickets to see. + +The Northern commander was brave and capable. He drew up his men rapidly +on a ridge and planted his guns in front, but the storm was too heavy +and swift. + +Harry saw the front of the Southern army burst into fire, and then a +deadly sleet of shell and bullets was poured upon the Northern force. +He and Dalton did not have time to rejoin Jackson, but they kept with +Sherburne's force as the group of wild horsemen swung around toward the +Northern rear, intending to cut it off. + +Harry heard the Southern bugles playing mellow and triumphant tunes, and +they inflamed his brain. All the little pulses in his head began to beat +heavily. Millions of black specks danced before his eyes, but the air +about them was red. He began to shout with the others. The famous rebel +yell, which had in it the menacing quality of the Indian war whoop, was +already rolling from the half circle of the attacking army, as it rushed +forward. + +Kenly hung to his ground, fighting with the courage of desperation, and +holding off for a little while the gray masses that rushed upon him. But +when he heard that the cavalry of Sherburne was already behind him, and +was about to gain a position between him and the river, he retreated +as swiftly as he could, setting fire to all his tents and stores, and +thundering in good order with his remaining force over the bridge. + +These Northern men, New Yorkers largely, were good material, like +their brethren of Ohio and West Virginia. Despite the surprise and the +overwhelming rush of Jackson, they stopped to set fire to the bridge, +and they would have closed that avenue of pursuit had not the Acadians +rushed forward, heedless of bullets and flames, and put it out. Yet +the bridge was damaged and the Southern pursuit could cross but slowly. +Kenly, seeing his advantage, and cool and ready, drew up his men on a +hill and poured a tremendous fire upon the bridge. + +Harry saw the daring deed of the men from the Gulf coast, and he clapped +his hands in delight. But he had only a moment's view. Sherburne was +curving away in search of a ford and all his men galloped close behind +him. + +Near the town the river was deep and swift and the horsemen would be +swept away by it, but willing villagers running at the horses' heads led +them to fords farther down. + +"Into the river, boys!" shouted Sherburne, as he with Harry and Dalton +by his side galloped into the stream. It seemed to Harry that the whole +river was full of horsemen in an instant, and then he saw Stonewall +Jackson himself, riding Little Sorrel into the stream. + +Harry's horse stumbled once on the rocky bottom, but recovered his +footing, and the boy urged him on toward the bank, bumping on either +side against those who were as eager as he. He was covered with water +and foam, churned up by so many horses, but he did not notice it. In a +minute his horse put his forefeet upon the bank, pulled himself up, and +then they were all formed up by Jackson himself for the pursuit. + +"They run! They run already!" cried Sherburne. + +They were not running, exactly, but Kenly, always alert and cool, had +seen the passage of the ford by the Virginians, and unlimbering his +guns, was retreating in good order, but swiftly, his rear covered by the +New York cavalry. + +Now Harry saw all the terrors of war. It was not sufficient for Jackson +to defeat the enemy. He must follow and destroy him. More of his army +crossed at the fords and more poured over the bridge. + +The New York cavalry, despite courage and tenacity, could not withstand +the onset of superior numbers. They were compelled to give way, and +Kenly ordered his infantry, retreating on the turnpike, to turn and help +them. Jackson had not waited for his artillery, but his riflemen poured +volley after volley of bullets upon the beaten army, while his cavalry, +galloping in the fields, charged it with sabers on either flank. + +Harry was scarcely conscious of what he was doing. He was slashing with +his sword and shooting with the rest. Sometimes his eyes were filled +with dust and smoke and then again they would clear. He heard the voices +of officers shouting to both cavalry and infantry to charge, and then +there was a confused and terrible melee. + +Harry never remembered much of that charge, and he was glad that he did +not. He preferred that it should remain a blur in which he could not +pick out the details. He was conscious of the shock, when horse met +horse and body met body. He saw the flash of rifle and pistol shots, +and the gleam of sabers through the smoke, and he heard a continuous +shouting kept up by friend and foe. + +Then he felt the Northern army, struck with such terrific force, giving +way. Kenly had made a heroic stand, but he could no longer support the +attacks from all sides. One of his cannon was taken and then all. He +himself fell wounded terribly. His senior officers also fell, as they +tried to rally their men, who were giving way at all points. + +Sherburne wheeled his troop away again and charged at the Northern +cavalry, which was still in order. Harry had seen Jackson himself give +the command to the captain. It was the redoubtable commander who saw all +and understood all, who always struck, with his sword directly at the +weak point in the enemy's armor. Harry saw that eye glittering as he had +never seen it glitter before, and the command was given in words of fire +that communicated a like fire to every man in the troop. + +The Northern cavalry cut to pieces, Kenly's whole army dissolved. The +attack was so terrific, so overwhelming, and was pushed home so hard, +that panic ran through the ranks of those brave men. They fled through +the orchards and the fields, and Jackson never ceased to urge on the +pursuit, taking whole companies here and there, and seizing scattered +fugitives. + +Ashby, with the chief body of the cavalry, galloped on ahead to a +railway station, where Pennsylvania infantry were on guard. They had +just got ready a telegraphic message to Banks for help, but his men +rushed the station before it could be sent, tore up the railroad tracks, +cut the telegraph wires, carried by storm a log house in which the +Pennsylvanians had taken refuge, and captured them all. + +The Northern army had ceased to exist. Save for some fugitives, it had +all fallen or was in the hands of Jackson, and the triumphant cheers of +the Southerners rang over the field. Banks, at Strasburg, not far away, +did not know that Kenly's force had been destroyed. Three hours after +the attack had been made, an orderly covered with dust galloped into his +camp and told him that Kenly was pressed hard--he did not know the full +truth himself. + +Banks, whose own force was cut down by heavy drafts to the eastward, +was half incredulous. It was impossible that Jackson could be at Front +Royal. He was fifty or sixty miles away, and the attack must be some +cavalry raid which would soon be beaten off. He sent a regiment and two +guns to see what was the matter. He telegraphed later to the Secretary +of War at Washington that a force of several thousand rebels gathered in +the mountains was pushing Kenly hard. + +Meanwhile the victorious Southerners were spending a few moments in +enjoying their triumph. They captured great quantities of food and +clothing which Kenly had not found time to destroy, and which they +joyously divided among themselves. + +Harry found the two colonels and all the rest of the Invincibles lying +upon the ground in the fields. Some of them were wounded, but most +were unhurt. They were merely panting from exhaustion. Colonel Leonidas +Talbot sat up when he saw Harry, and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. +Hilaire also sat up. + +"Good afternoon, Harry," said Colonel Talbot, politely. "It's been a +warm day." + +"But a victorious one, sir." + +"Victorious, yes; but it is not finished. I fancy that in spite of +everything we have not yet learned the full capabilities of General +Jackson, eh, Hector?" + +"No, sir, we haven't," replied Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, +emphatically. "I never saw such an appetite for battle. In Mexico +General Winfield Scott would press the enemy hard, but he was not +anxious to march twenty miles and fight a battle every day." + +Harry found St. Clair and Langdon not far away from their chief +officers. St. Clair had brushed the dust off his clothing, but he was +regarding ruefully two bullet holes in the sleeve of his fine gray +tunic. + +"He has neither needle nor thread with which to sew up those holes," +said Langdon, with wicked glee, "and he must go into battle again with a +tunic more holy than righteous. It's been a bad day for clothes." + +"A man doesn't fight any worse because he's particular about his +uniform, does he?" asked St. Clair. + +"You don't. That's certain, old fellow," said Langdon, clapping him +on the back. "And just think how much worse it might have been. Those +bullets, instead of merely going through your coat sleeve, might have +gone through your arm also, shattering every bone in it. Now, Harry, you +ride with Old Jack. Tell us what he means to do. Are we going to rest +on our rich and numerous laurels, or is it up and after the Yanks +hot-foot?" + +"He's not telling me anything," replied Harry, "but I think it's safe to +predict that we won't take any long and luxurious rest. Nor will we ever +take any long and luxurious rest while we're led by Stonewall Jackson." + +Jackson marched some distance farther toward Strasburg, where the army +of Banks, yet unbelieving, lay, and as the night was coming on thick and +black with clouds, went into camp. But among their captured stores they +had ample food now, and tents and blankets to protect themselves from +the promised rain. + +The Acadians, who were wonderful cooks, showed great culinary skill as +well as martial courage. They were becoming general favorites, and they +prepared all sorts of appetizing dishes, which they shared freely with +the Virginians, the Georgians and the others. Then the irrepressible +band began. In the fire-lighted woods and on the ground yet stained by +the red of battle, it played quaint old tunes, waltzes and polkas and +roundelays, and once more the stalwart Pierres and Raouls and Luciens +and Etiennes, clasping one another in their arms, whirled in wild dances +before the fires. + +The heavy clouds opened bye and bye, and then all save the sentinels +fled to shelter. Harry and Dalton, who had been watching the dancing, +went to a small tent which had been erected for themselves and two more. +Next to it was a tent yet smaller, occupied by the commander-in-chief, +and as they passed by it they heard low but solemn tones lifted in +invocation to God. Harry could not keep from taking one fleeting glance. +He saw Jackson on his knees, and then he went quickly on. + +The other two officers had not yet come, and Dalton and he were alone in +the tent. It was too dark inside for Harry to see Dalton's face, but he +knew that his comrade, too, had seen and heard. + +"It will be hard to beat a general who prays," said Dalton. "Some of our +men laugh at Jackson's praying, but I've always heard that the Puritans, +whether in England or America, were a stern lot to face." + +"The enemy at least won't laugh at him. I've heard that they had great +fun deriding a praying professor of mathematics, but I fancy they've +quit it. If they haven't they'll do so when they hear of Front Royal." + +The tent was pitched on the bare ground, but they had obtained four +planks, every one about a foot wide and six feet or so long. They were +sufficient to protect them from the rain which would run under the tent +and soak into the ground. Harry had long since learned that a tent and a +mere strip of plank were a great luxury, and now he appreciated them at +their full value. + +He wrapped himself in the invaluable cloak, stretched his weary body +upon his own particular plank, and was soon asleep. He was awakened in +the night by a low droning sound. He did not move on his plank, but lay +until his eyes became used partially to the darkness. Then he saw +two other figures also wrapped in their cloaks and stretched on their +planks, dusky and motionless. But the fourth figure was kneeling on +his plank and Harry saw that it was Dalton, praying even as Stonewall +Jackson had prayed. + +Then Harry shut his eyes. He was not devout himself, but in the darkness +of the night, with the rain beating a tattoo on the canvas walls of +the tent, he felt very solemn. This was war, red war, and he was in the +midst of it. War meant destruction, wounds, agony and death. He might +never again see Pendleton and his father and his aunt and his cousin, +Dick Mason, and Dr. Russell and all his boyhood and school friends. It +was no wonder that George Dalton prayed. He ought to be praying himself, +and lying there and not stirring he said under his breath a simple +prayer that his mother had taught him when he was yet a little child. + +Then he fell asleep again, and awoke no more until the dawn. But while +Harry slept the full dangers of his situation became known to Banks far +after midnight at Strasburg. The regiment and the two guns that he +had sent down the turnpike to relieve Kenly had been fired upon so +incessantly by Southern pickets and riflemen that they were compelled +to turn back. Everywhere the Northern scouts and skirmishers were driven +in. Despite the darkness and rain they found a wary foe whom they could +not pass. + +It was nearly two o'clock in the morning when Banks was aroused by a +staff officer who said that a man insisted upon seeing him. The man, +the officer said, claimed to have news that meant life or death, and he +carried on his person a letter from President Lincoln, empowering him to +go where he pleased. He had shown that letter, and his manner indicated +the most intense and overpowering anxiety. + +Banks was surprised, and he ordered that the stranger be shown in at +once. A tall man, wrapped in a long coat of yellow oilcloth, dripping +rain, was brought into the room. He held a faded blue cap in his hand, +and the general noticed that the hand was sinewy and powerful. The front +of the coat was open a little at the top, disclosing a dingy blue coat. +His high boots were spattered to the tops with mud. + +There was something in the man's stern demeanor and his intense, burning +gaze that daunted Banks, who was a brave man himself. Moreover, the +general was but half dressed and had risen from a warm couch, while +the man before him had come in on the storm, evidently from some great +danger, and his demeanor showed that he was ready for other and instant +dangers. For the moment the advantage was with the stranger, despite the +difference in rank. + +"Who are you?" asked the general. + +"My name, sir, is Shepard, William J. Shepard. I am a spy or a scout +in the Union service. I have concealed upon me a letter from President +Lincoln, empowering me to act in such a capacity and to go where I +please. Do you wish to see it, sir?" + +Shepard spoke with deference, but there was no touch of servility in his +tone. + +"Show me the letter," said Banks. + +Shepard thrust a hand into his waistcoat and withdrew a document which +he handed to the general. Banks glanced through it rapidly. + +"It's from Lincoln," he said; "I know that handwriting, but it would not +be well for you to be captured with that upon you." + +"If I were about to be captured I should destroy it." + +"Why have you come here? What message do you bring?" + +"The worst possible message, sir. Stonewall Jackson and an army of +twenty thousand men will be upon you in the morning." + +"What! What is this you say! It was only a cavalry raid at Front Royal!" + +"It was no cavalry raid at Front Royal, sir! It was Jackson and his +whole army! I ought to have known, sir! I should have got there and have +warned Kenly in time, but I could not! My horse was killed by a rebel +sharpshooter in the woods as I was approaching! I could not get up in +time, but I saw what happened!" + +"Kenly! Kenly, where is he?" + +"Mortally wounded or dead, and his army is destroyed! They made a brave +stand, even after they were defeated at the village. They might have got +away had anybody but Jackson been pursuing. But he gave them no chance. +They were enveloped by cavalry and infantry, and only a few escaped." + +"Good God!" exclaimed Banks, aghast. + +"Nor is that all, sir. They are close at hand! They will attack you +at dawn! They are in full force! Ewell's army has joined Jackson and +Jackson leads them all! We must leave Strasburg at once or we are lost!" + +Shepard's manner admitted of no doubt. Banks hurried forth and sent +officers to question the pickets. All the news they brought was +confirmatory. Even in the darkness and rain shots had been fired at +them by the Southern skirmishers. Banks sent for all of his important +officers, the troops were gathered together, and leaving a strong +rear-guard, they began a rapid march toward Winchester, which Jackson +had loved so well. + +Swiftness and decision now on the other side had saved the Northern army +from destruction. Banks did not realize until later, despite the urgent +words of Shepard, how formidable was the danger that threatened him. +Jackson, despite all the disadvantages of the darkness and the rain, +wished to get his army up before daylight, but the deep mud formed by +the pouring rain enabled Banks to slip away from the trap. + +The Southern troops, moreover, were worn to the bone. They had come +ninety miles in five days over rough roads, across streams without +bridges, and over a high mountain, besides fighting a battle of uncommon +fierceness. There were limits even to the endurance of Jackson's foot +cavalry. + +Harry was first awake in the little tent. He sat up and looked at the +other three on their planks who were sleeping as if they would never +wake any more. A faint tint of dawn was appearing at the open flap of +the door. The four had lain down dressed fully, and Harry, as he sprang +from his board, cried: + +"Up, boys, up! The army is about to move!" + +The three also sprang to their feet, and went outside. Although the dawn +was as yet faint, the army was awakening rapidly, or rather was being +awakened. The general himself appeared a moment later, dressed fully, +the end of a lemon in his mouth, his face worn and haggard by incredible +hardships, but his eyes full of the strength that comes from an +unconquerable will. + +He nodded to Harry, Dalton and the others. + +"Five minutes for breakfast, gentlemen," he said, "and then join me on +horseback, ready for the pursuit of the enemy!" + +The few words were like the effects of a galvanic battery on Harry. +Peculiarly susceptible to mental power, Jackson was always a stimulus +to him. Close contact revealed to him the fiery soul that lay underneath +the sober and silent exterior, and, in his own turn, he caught fire from +it. Youthful, impressionable and extremely sensitive to great minds +and great deeds, Stonewall Jackson had become his hero, who could do no +wrong. + +Five minutes for the hasty breakfast and they were in the saddle just +behind Jackson. The rain had ceased, the sun was rising in a clear sky, +the country was beautiful once more, and down a long line the Southern +bugles were merrily singing the advance. Very soon scattered shots all +along their front showed that they were in touch with the enemy. + +The infantry and cavalry left by Banks as a curtain between himself and +Jackson did their duty nobly that morning. The pursuit now led into a +country covered with forest, and using every advantage of such shelter, +the Northern companies checked the Southern advance as much as was +humanly possible. Many of them were good riflemen, particularly those +from Ohio, and the cavalry of Ashby, Funsten and Sherburne found the +woods very warm for them. Horses were falling continually, and often +their riders fell with them to stay. + +Harry, in the center with the commander, heard the heavy firing to both +right and left, and he glanced often at Jackson. He saw his lips move as +if he were talking to himself, and he knew that he was disappointed at +this strong resistance. Troops could move but slowly through woods in +the face of a heavy rifle fire, and meanwhile Banks with his main body +was escaping to Winchester. + +"Mr. Kenton," said Jackson sharply, "ride to General Ashby and tell him +to push the enemy harder! We must crush at least a portion of this army! +It is vital!" + +Harry was off as soon as the last words left the general's lips. He +spurred his horse from the turnpike, leaped a low rail fence, and +galloped across a field toward a forest, where Ashby's cavalry were +advancing and the rifles were cracking fast. + +Bullets from the Northern skirmishers flew over him and beside him, as +he flew about the field, but he thought little of them. He was growing +so thoroughly inured to war that he seldom realized the dangers until +they were passed. + +Neither he nor his horse was hurt--their very speed, perhaps, saved them +and they entered the wood, where the Southern cavalry were riding. + +"General Ashby!" he cried to the first man he saw. "Where is he? I've a +message from General Jackson!" + +The soldier pointed to a figure on horseback but a short distance away, +and Harry galloped up. + +"General Jackson asks you to press the enemy harder!" he said to Ashby. +"He wishes him to be driven in rapidly!" + +A faint flush came into the brown cheeks of Ashby. + +"He shall be obeyed," he replied. "We're about to charge in full force! +Hold, young man! You can't go back now! You must charge with us!" + +He put his hand on Harry's rein as he spoke, and the boy saw that a +strong force of Northern cavalry had now appeared in the fields directly +between him and his general. Ashby turned the next instant to a bugler +at his elbow and exclaimed fiercely: + +"Blow! Blow with all your might!" + +The piercing notes of the charge rang forth again and again. Ashby, +shouting loudly and continuously and waving his sword above his head, +galloped forward. His whole cavalry force galloped with him and swept +down upon the defenders. + +Nor did Ashby lack support. The Acadians led by Taylor swung forward on +a run, and a battery, coming at the double quick, unlimbered and opened +fire. Jackson had directed all, he had brought up the converging lines, +and the whole Northern rear guard, two thousand cavalry, some infantry +and a battery, were caught. Just before them lay the little village of +Middletown, and in an instant they were driven into its streets, where +they were raked by shot and shell from the cannon, while the rifles of +the cavalry and of the Louisiana troops swept them with bullets. + +Again the Northern soldiers, brave and tenacious though they might be, +could make no stand against the terrible rush of Jackson's victorious +and superior numbers. They had no such leading as their foes. The man, +the praying professor, was proving himself everything. + +As at Front Royal, the Northern force was crushed. It burst from the +village in fragments, and fled in many directions. But Jackson urged on +the pursuit. Ashby's cavalry charged again and again, taking prisoners +everywhere. + +The people of Middletown, as red-hot for the South as were those of +Front Royal, rushed from their houses and guided the victors along the +right roads. They pointed where two batteries and a train of wagons were +fleeing toward Winchester, and Ashby, with his cavalry, Harry still at +his elbow, raced in pursuit. + + + + +CHAPTER X. WINCHESTER + + +Ashby's troopers put the armed guard of the wagons to flight in an +instant, and then they seized the rich pillage in these wagons. They +were not yet used to the stern discipline of regular armies and Ashby +strove in vain to bring most of them back to the pursuit of the flying +enemy. Harry also sought to help, but they laughed at him, and he had +not yet come to the point where he could cut down a disobedient soldier. +Nor had the soldiers reached the point where they would suffer such +treatment from an officer. Had Harry tried such a thing it is more than +likely that he would have been cut down in his turn. + +But the delay and similar delays elsewhere helped the retreating +Northern army. Banks, feeling that the pursuit was not now so fierce, +sent back a strong force with artillery under a capable officer, Gordon, +to help the rear. The scattered and flying detachments also gathered +around Gordon and threw themselves across the turnpike. + +Harry felt the resistance harden and he saw the pursuit of the Southern +army slow up. The day, too, was waning. Shadows were already appearing +in the east and if Jackson would destroy Banks' army utterly he must +strike quick and hard. Harry at that moment caught sight of the general +on the turnpike, on Little Sorrel, the reins lying loose on the horse's +neck, his master sitting erect, and gazing at the darkening battlefield +which was spread out before him. + +Harry galloped up and saluted. + +"I could not come back at once, sir," he said, "because the enemy was +crowded in between Ashby and yourself." + +"But you've come at last. I was afraid you had fallen." + +Harry's face flushed gratefully. He knew now that Stonewall Jackson +would have missed him. + +"If the night were only a little further away," continued Jackson, "we +could get them all! But the twilight is fighting for them! And they +fight for themselves also! Look, how those men retreat! They do well for +troops who were surprised and routed not so long ago!" + +He spoke in a general way to his staff, but his tone expressed decided +admiration. Harry felt again that the core of the Northern resistance +was growing harder and harder. The hostile cannon blazed down the road, +and the men as they slowly retired sent sheets of rifle bullets at their +pursuers. Detachments of their flying cavalry were stopped, reformed on +the flanks, and had the temerity to charge the victors more than once. + +Harry did not notice now that the twilight was gone and the sun had sunk +behind the western mountains. The road between pursuer and pursued was +lighted up by the constant flashes of cannon and rifles, and at times +he fancied that he could see the vengeful and threatening faces of those +whom he followed, but it was only fancy, fancy bred by battle and its +excitement. + +The pursued crossed a broad marshy creek, the Opequon, and suddenly +formed in line of battle behind it with the cavalry on their flanks. +The infantry poured in heavier volleys than before and their horsemen, +charging suddenly upon a Virginia regiment that was trying to cross, +sent it back in rapid retreat. + +After the great volleys it was dark for a moment or two and then Harry +saw that General Jackson and his staff were sitting alone on their +horses on the turnpike. The Northern rifles flashed again on the edge of +the creek, and from a long stone fence, behind which they had also taken +refuge for a last stand. + +Harry and his comrades urged Jackson off the turnpike, where he was a +fair target for the rifles whenever there was light, and into the bushes +beside it. They were just in time, as the night was illuminated an +instant later by cannon flashes and then a shower of bullets swept the +road where Jackson and his staff had been. + +Harry thought that they would stop now, but he did not yet know fully +his Stonewall Jackson. He ordered up another Virginia regiment, which, +reckless of death, charged straight in front, crossed the creek and +drove the men in blue out of their position. + +Yet the Northern troops, men from Massachusetts, refused to be routed. +They fell back in good order, carrying their guns with them, and +stopping at intervals to fire with cannon and rifles at their pursuers. +Jackson and his staff spurred through the Opequon. Water and mud flew in +Harry's face, but he did not notice them. He was eager to be up with the +first, because Jackson was still urging on the pursuit, even far into +the night. Banks with his main force had escaped him for the time, but +he did not mean that the Northern commander should make his retreat at +leisure. + +Harry had never passed through such a night. It contained nothing but +continuous hours of pursuit and battle. The famous foot cavalry had +marched nearly twenty miles that day, they had fought a hard combat +that afternoon, and they were still fighting. But Jackson allowed not a +moment's delay. He was continually sending messengers to regiments and +companies to hurry up, always to hurry up, faster, and faster and yet +faster. + +Harry carried many such messages. In the darkness and the confusion +his clothing was half torn off him by briars and bushes. His horse fell +twice, stumbling into gulleys, but fortunately neither he nor his rider +was injured. Often he was compelled to rein up suddenly lest he ride +over the Southern lads themselves. All around him he heard the panting +of men pushed to the last ounce of their strength, and often there was +swearing, too. Once in the darkness he heard the voice of a boy cry out: + +"Oh, Lord, have mercy on me and let me go to Hades! The Devil will have +mercy on me, but Stonewall Jackson never will!" + +Harry did not laugh, nor did he hear anyone else laugh. He had expressed +the opinion that many of them held at that moment. Stonewall Jackson was +driving them on in the darkness and the light that he furnished them was +a flaming sword. It was worse to shirk and face him, than it was to go +on and face the cannon and rifles of the enemy. + +They called upon their reserves of strength for yet another ounce, and +it came. The pursuit thundered on, through the woods and bushes +and across the hills and valleys, but the men in blue, in spite of +everything, retained their ranks on the turnpike, retreated in order, +and facing at intervals, sent volley after volley against the foe. It +was impossible for the Southern army to ride them down or destroy them +with cannon and rifle. + +Harry came back about midnight from one of his messages, to Jackson, who +was again riding on the turnpike. Most of his staff were gone on like +errands, but General Taylor who led the Acadians was now with him. Off +in front the rifles were flashing, and again and again, bullets whistled +near them. Harry said nothing but fell in behind Jackson and close to +him to await some new commission. + +They heard the thunder of a horse's hoofs behind them, and a man +galloped up, he as well as his horse breathing hard. + +He was the chief quartermaster of the army, and Jackson recognized him +at once, despite the dark. + +"Where are the wagon trains?" exclaimed Jackson, shouting forth his +words. + +"They're far behind. They were held up by a bad road in the Luray +valley. We did our best, sir," replied the officer, his voice trembling +with weariness and nervousness. + +"And the ammunition wagons, where are they?" + +The voice was stern, even accusing, but the officer met Jackson's gaze +firmly. + +"They are all right, sir," he replied. "I sacrificed the other wagons +for them, though. They're at hand." + +"You have done well, sir," said Jackson, and Harry thought he saw him +smile. No food for his veterans, but plenty of powder. It was exactly +what would appeal to Stonewall Jackson. + +"Supply more powder and bullets to the men," said Jackson presently. +"Keep on pushing the enemy! Never stop for a moment." + +Harry mechanically put his hand in his pocket, why he did not know, but +he felt a piece of bread and meat that he had put there in the morning. +He fingered the foreign substance a moment, and it occurred to him +that it was good to eat. It occurred to him next that he had not eaten +anything since morning, and this body of his, which for the time being +seemed to be dissevered from mind, might be hungry. + +He took out the food and looked at it. It was certainly good to the +eyes, and the body was not so completely dissevered after all, as it +began to signal the mind that it was, in very truth, hungry. He was +about to raise the food to his lips and then he remembered. + +Spurring forward a little he held out the bread and meat to Jackson. + +"It's cold and hard, sir," he said, "but you'll find it good." + +"It's thoughtful of you," said Jackson. "I'll take half and see that you +eat the rest. Give none of it to this hungry horde around me. They're +able to forage for themselves." + +Jackson ate his half and Harry his. That reminded most of the officers +that they had food also, and producing it they divided it and fell +to with an appetite. As they ate, a shell from one of the retreating +Northern batteries burst almost over their heads and fragments of hot +metal struck upon the hard road. They ate on complacently. When Jackson +had finished his portion he took out one of his mysterious lemons and +began to suck the end of it. + +Midnight was now far behind and the pursuit never halted. One of the +officers remarked jokingly that he had accepted an invitation to take +breakfast on the Yankee stores in Winchester the next morning. Jackson +made no comment. Harry a few minutes later uttered a little cry. + +"What is it?" asked Jackson. + +"We're coming upon our old battlefield of Kernstown. I know those hills +even in the dark." + +"So we are. You have good eyes, boy. It's been a long march, but here we +are almost back in Winchester." + +"The enemy are massing in front, sir," said Dalton. "It looks as if they +meant to make another stand." + +The Massachusetts troops, their hearts bitter at the need to retreat, +were forming again on a ridge behind Kernstown, and the Pennsylvanians +and others were joining them. Their batteries opened heavily on their +pursuers, and the night was lighted again with the flame of many cannon +and rifles. + +But their efforts were vain against the resistless advance of Jackson. +The peal of the Southern trumpets was heard above cannon and rifles, +always calling upon the men to advance, and, summoning their strength +anew, they hurled themselves upon the Northern position. + +Fighting hard, but unable to turn the charge, the men in blue were +driven on again, leaving more prisoners and more spoil in the hands of +their pursuers. The battle at three o'clock in the morning lasted but a +short time. + +The sound of the retreating column, the footsteps, the hoof-beats and +the roll of the cannon, died away down the turnpike. But the sound of +the army marching in pursuit died, also. Jackson's men could call up +no further ounce of strength. The last ounce had gone long ago. Many of +them, though still marching and at times firing, were in a mere daze. +The roads swam past them in a dark blur and more than one babbled of +things at home. + +It would soon be day and there was Winchester, where the kin of so many +of them lived, that Winchester they had left once, but to which they +were now coming back as conquerors, conquerors whose like had not been +seen since the young Napoleon led his republican troops to the conquest +of Italy. No, those French men were not as good as they. They could not +march so long and over such roads. They could not march all day and all +night, too, fighting and driving armies of brave men before them as they +fought. Yes, the Yankees were brave men! They were liars who said they +wouldn't fight! If you didn't believe it, all you had to do was to +follow Stonewall Jackson and see! + +Such thoughts ran in many a young head in that army and Harry's, too, +was not free from them, although it was no new thing to him to admit +that the Yankees could and would fight just as well as the men of his +South. The difference in the last few days lay in the fact that the +Southern army was led by a man while the Northern army was led by mere +men. + +The command to halt suddenly ran along the lines of Jackson's troops, +and, before it ceased to be repeated, thousands were lying prostrate in +the woods or on the grass. They flung themselves down just as they were, +reckless of horses or wagons or anything else. Why should they care? +They were Jackson's men. They had come a hundred miles, whipping armies +as they came, and they were going to whip more. But now they meant to +rest and sleep a little while, and they would resume the whipping after +sunrise. + +It was but a little while until dawn and they lay still. Harry, who had +kept his eyes open, felt sorry for them as they lay motionless in the +chill of the dawn, like so many dead men. + +Jackson himself took neither sleep nor rest. Without even a cloak to +keep off the cold of dawn, he walked up and down, looking at the silent +ranks stretched upon the ground, or going forward a little to gaze +in the direction of Winchester. Nothing escaped his eye, and he heard +everything. Dalton, too, had refused to lie down and he stood with +Harry. The two gazed at the sober figure walking slowly to and fro. + +"He begins to frighten me," whispered Dalton. "He now seems to me at +times, Harry, not to be human, or rather more than human. It has been +more than a day and night now since he has taken a second of rest, and +he appears to need none." + +"He is human like the rest of us, but the flame in him burns stronger. +He gets cold and hungry and tired just as we do, but his will carries +him on all the same." + +"I'm thankful that I fight with him and not against him," said Dalton +earnestly. + +"Yes, and you're going to march again with him in five minutes. See the +gray blur in the east, George. It's the dawn and Jackson never waits on +the morning." + +Jackson was already giving the order for the men to awake and march +forth to battle. It seemed to most of them that they had closed their +eyes but a minute before. They rose, half awake, without food, cold, +and stiff from the frightful exertions of the day and night before, and +advanced mechanically in line. + +The sun again was yellow and bright in a clear blue sky, and soon the +day would be warm. As they heard the sound of the trumpets they shook +sleep wholly from their eyes, and, as they moved, much of the soreness +went from their bones. Not far before them was Winchester. + +Banks was in Winchester with his army. The fierce pursuit of the night +before had filled him with dismay, but with the morning he recalled his +courage and resolved to make a victorious stand with the valiant troops +that he led. Many of his officers told him how these men had fought +Jackson all through the night, and he found abundant cause for courage. + +Harry and Dalton sprang into the saddle again, and, as they rode with +Jackson, they saw that the whole Southern army was at hand. Ewell was +there and the cavalry and the Acadians, their band saluting the morning +with a brave battle march. It sent the blood dancing through Harry's +veins. He forgot his immense exertions, dangers and hardships and that +he had had no sleep in twenty-four hours. + +Before him lay the enemy. It was no longer Jackson who retreated before +overwhelming numbers. He had the larger force now, at least where +the battle was fought, and although the Northern troops in the +valley exceeded him three or four to one, he was with his single army +destroying their detached forces in detail. + +General Jackson, General Taylor and several other high officers were +just in front of the first Southern line, and Harry and Dalton sat on +their horses a few yards in the rear. The two generals were examining +the Northern position minutely through their glasses, and the chief, +turning presently to Harry, said: + +"You have young and strong eyes. Tell me what you can see." + +Harry raised the splendid pair of glasses that he had captured in one of +the engagements and took a long, careful look. + +"I can see west of the turnpike," he said, "at least four or five +regiments and a battery of eight big guns. I think, too, that there is a +force of cavalry behind them. On the right, sir, I see stone fences and +the windings of the creeks with large masses of infantry posted behind +them." + +He spoke modestly, but with confidence. + +"Your eyesight agrees with mine," said Jackson. "We outnumber them, but +they have the advantage of the defense. But it shall not avail them." + +He spoke to himself rather than to the others, but Harry heard every +word he said, and he already felt the glow of the victory that Jackson +had promised. He now considered it impossible for Jackson to promise in +vain. + +The sun was rising on another brilliant morning, and the two armies that +had been fighting all through the dark now stood face to face in full +force in the light. Behind the Northern army was Winchester in all the +throes of anxiety or sanguine hope. + +The people had heard two or three days before that Jackson was fighting +his way back toward the north, winning wherever he fought. They had +heard in the night the thunder of his guns coming, always nearer, and +the torrents of fugitives in the dark had told them that the Northern +army was pushed hard. Now in the morning they were looking eagerly +southward, hoping to see Jackson's gray legions driving the enemy before +him. But it was yet scarcely full dawn, and for a while they heard +nothing. + +Jackson waited a little and scanned the field again. The morning had now +come in the west as well as in the east, and he saw the strong Northern +artillery posted on both sides of the turnpike, threatening the Southern +advance. + +"We must open with the cannon," he said, and he dispatched Harry and +Dalton to order up the guns. + +The Southern batteries were pushed forward, and opened with a terrific +crash on their enemy, telling the waiting people in Winchester that the +battle had begun. The infantry and cavalry on either side, eager despite +their immense exertions and loss of rest and lack of food, were held +back by their officers, while the artillery combat went on. + +Jackson, anxious to see the result, rode a little further forward, and +the group of staff officers, of course, went with him. Some keen-eyed +Northern gunner picked them out, and a shell fell near. Then came +another yet nearer, and when it burst it threw dirt all over them. + +"A life worth so much as General Jackson's should not be risked this +way," whispered Dalton to Harry, "but I don't dare say anything to him." + +"Nor do I, and if we did dare he'd pay no attention to us. Our gunners +don't seem to be driving their gunners away. Do you notice that, +George?" + +"Yes, I do and so does General Jackson. I can see him frowning." + +The Northern batteries, nearly always of high quality, were doing +valiant service that morning. The three batteries on the left of the +turnpike and another of eight heavy rifled guns on the right, swept the +whole of Jackson's front with solid shot, grape and shell. The Southern +guns, although more numerous, were unable to crush them. The batteries +of the South were suffering the more. One of them was driven back +with the loss of half its men and horses. At another every officer was +killed. + +"They outshoot us," said Dalton to Harry, "and they make a splendid +stand for men who have been kept on the run for two days and nights." + +"So they do," said Harry, "but sooner or later they'll have to give way. +I heard General Jackson say that we would win a victory." + +Dalton glanced at him. + +"So you feel that way, too," he said very seriously. "I got the belief +some time ago. If he says we'll win we'll win. His prediction settles it +in my mind." + +"There's a fog rising from the creek," said Harry, "and it's growing +heavier. I think Ewell was to march that way with his infantry and it +will hold him back. Chance is against us." + +"His guns have been out of action, but there they come again! I can't +see them, but I can hear them through the mist." + +"And here goes the main force on our left. Stonewall is about to +strike." + +Harry had discovered the movement the moment it was begun. The whole +Stonewall brigade, the Acadians and other regiments making a formidable +force, moved to the left and charged. Gordon, Banks' able assistant, +threw in fresh troops to meet the Southern rush, and they fired almost +point blank in the faces of the men in gray. Harry, riding forward +with the eager Jackson, saw many fall, but the Southern charge was not +checked for a moment. The men, firing their rifles, leaped the stone +fences and charged home with the bayonet. The Northern regiments were +driven back in disorder and their cavalry sweeping down to protect them, +were met by such a sleet of bullets that they, too, were driven back. + +Now all the Southern regiments came up. Infantry, cavalry and artillery +crossed the creek and the ridges and formed in a solid line which +nothing could resist. The enemy, carrying away what cannon he could, was +driven swiftly before them. The rebel yell, wild and triumphant, swelled +from ten thousand throats as Jackson's army rushed forward, pursuing the +enemy into Winchester. + +Harry was shouting with the rest. He couldn't help it. The sober Dalton +had snatched off his cap, and he, too, was shouting. Then Harry saw +Jackson himself giving way to exultation, for the first time. He was +back at Winchester which he loved so well, he had defeated the enemy +before it, and now he was about to chase him through its streets. He +spurred his horse at full speed down a rocky hill, snatched off his cap, +whirled it around his head and cried at the top of his voice again and +again: + +"Chase them to the Potomac! Chase them to the Potomac!" + +Harry and Dalton, hearing the cry, took it up and shouted it, too. +Before them was a vast bank of smoke and dust, shot with fire, and the +battle thundered as it rolled swiftly into Winchester. The Northern +officers, still strove to prevent a rout. They performed prodigies of +valor. Many of them fell, but the others, undaunted, still cried to the +men to turn and beat off the foe. + +Winchester suddenly shot up from the dust and smoke. The battle went on +in the town more fiercely than ever. Torrents of shell and bullets swept +the narrow streets, but many of the women did not hesitate to appear at +the windows and shout amid all the turmoil and roar of battle cheers and +praise for those whom they considered their deliverers. Over all rose +the roar and flame of a vast conflagration where Banks had set his +storehouses on fire, but the women cheered all the more when they saw +it. + +Harry did his best to keep up with his general, but Jackson still seemed +to be aflame with excitement. He was in the very front of the attack and +he cried to his men incessantly to push on. It was not enough to take +Winchester. They must follow the beaten army to the Potomac. + +Harry had a vision of flame-swept streets, of the whizzing of bullets +and shell, of men crowded thick between the houses, and of the faces of +women at windows, handkerchiefs and veils in their hands. Before him was +a red mist sown with sparks, but every minute or two the mist was rent +open by the blast of a cannon, and then the fragments of shell whistled +again about his ears. He kept his eyes on Jackson, endeavoring to follow +him as closely as possible. + +He heard suddenly a cry behind him. He saw Dalton's horse falling, and +then Dalton and the horse disappeared. He felt a catch at the heart, +but it was not a time to remember long. The Southern troops were still +pouring forward driving hard on the Northern resistance. + +He heard a moment or two later a voice by his side and there was Dalton +again mounted. + +"I thought you were gone!" Harry shouted. + +"I was gone for a minute but it was only my horse that stayed. He was +shot through the heart but I caught another--plenty of riderless ones +are galloping about--and here I am." + +The houses and the narrow streets offered some support to the defense +of Banks, but he was gradually driven through the town and out into +the fields beyond. Then the women, careless of bullets, came out of the +houses and weeping and cheering urged on the pursuit. It always seemed +to Harry that the women of this section hated the North more than the +men did, and now it was in very fact and deed the fierce women of the +South cheering on their men. + +He came in the fields into contact with the Invincibles. St. Clair was +on foot, his horse killed, but Langdon was still riding, although there +was a faint trickle of blood from his shoulder. Some grim demon seized +him as he saw Harry. + +"We said we were coming back to Winchester," he shouted in his comrade's +ear, "and we have come, but we don't stay. Harry, how long does Old Jack +expect us to march and fight without stopping?" + +"Until you get through." + +Then the Invincibles, curving a little to the right, were lost in the +flame and smoke, and the pursuit, Jackson continually urging it, swept +on. He seemed to Harry to be all fire. He shouted again and again. "We +must follow them to the Potomac! To the Potomac! To the Potomac!" He +sent his staff flying to every regimental commander with orders. He had +the horses cut from the artillery and men mounted on them to continue +the pursuit. He inquired continually for the cavalry. Harry, after +returning from his second errand with orders, was sent on a third to +Ashby. There was no time to write any letter. He was to tell him to come +up with cavalry and attack the Federal rear with all his might. + +Harry found Ashby far away on the right, and with but fifty men. The +rest had been scattered. He galloped back to his general and reported. +He saw Jackson bite his lip in annoyance, but he said nothing. +Harry remained by his side and the chase went on through the fields. +Winchester was left out of sight behind, but the crashing of the rifles +and the shouts of the troopers did not cease. + +The Northern army had not yet dissolved. Although many commands were +shattered and others destroyed, the core of it remained, and, as it +retreated, it never ceased to strike back. Harry saw why Jackson was +so anxious to bring up his cavalry. A strong charge by them and the +fighting half of the Northern force would be split asunder. Then nothing +would be left but to sweep up the fragments. + +But Jackson's men had reached the limit of human endurance. They were +not made of steel as their leader was, and the tremendous exultation of +spirit that had kept them up through battle and pursuit began to die. +Their strength, once its departure started, ebbed fast. Their knees +crumpled under them and the weakest fell unwounded in the fields. The +gaps between them and the Northern rear-guard widened, and gradually the +flying army of Banks disappeared among the hills and woods. + +Banks, deeming himself lucky to have saved a part of his troops, did not +stop until he reached Martinsburg, twenty-two miles north of Winchester. +There he rested a while and resumed his flight, other flying detachments +joining him as he went. He reached the Potomac at midnight with less +than half of his army, and boats carried the wearied troops over the +broad river behind which they found refuge. + +Most of the victors meanwhile lay asleep in the fields north of +Winchester, but others had gone back to the town and were making an +equitable division of the Northern stores among the different regiments. +Harry and Dalton were sent with those who went to the town. On their +way Harry saw St. Clair and Langdon lying under an apple tree, still and +white. He thought at first they were dead, but stopping a moment he saw +their chests rising and falling with regular motion, and he knew +that they were only sleeping. The whiteness of their faces was due to +exhaustion. + +Feeling great relief he rode on and entered the exultant town. He marked +many of the places that he had known before, the manse where the good +minister lived, the churches and the colonnaded houses, in more than one +of which he had passed a pleasant hour. + +Here Harry saw people that he knew. They could not do enough for him. +They wanted to overwhelm him with food, with clothes, with anything he +wanted. They wanted him to tell over and over again of that wonderful +march of theirs, how they had issued suddenly from the mountains in the +wake of the flying Milroy, how they had marched down the valley winning +battle after battle, marching and fighting without ceasing, both by day +and by night. + +He was compelled to decline all offers of hospitality save food, which +he held in his hands and ate as he went about his work. When he finished +he went back to his general, and being told that he was wanted no more +for the night, wrapped himself in his cloak and lay down under an apple +tree. + +He felt then that mother-earth was truly receiving him into her kindly +lap. He had not closed his eyes for nearly two days--it seemed a +month--and looking back at all through which he had passed it seemed +incredible. Human beings could not endure so much. They marched through +fire, where Stonewall Jackson led, and they never ceased to march. He +saw just beyond the apple tree a dusky figure walking up and down. It +was Jackson. Would he never rest? Was he not something rather more than +normal after all? Harry was very young and he rode with his hero, seeing +him do his mighty deeds. + +But nature had given all that it had to yield, and soon he slept, lying +motionless and white like St. Clair and Langdon. But all through the +night the news of Jackson's great blow was traveling over the wires. He +had struck other fierce blows, but this was the most terrible of them +all. Alarm spread through the whole North. Lincoln and his Cabinet saw a +great army of rebels marching on Washington. A New York newspaper which +had appeared in the morning with the headline, "Fall of Richmond," +appeared at night with the headline "Defeat of General Banks." +McDowell's army, which, marching by land, was to co-operate with +McClellan in the taking of Richmond, was recalled to meet Jackson. The +governors of the loyal states issued urgent appeals for more troops. + +Harry learned afterward how terribly effective had been the blow. The +whole Northern campaign had been upset by the meteoric appearance of +Jackson and the speed with which he marched and fought. McDowell's army +of 40,000 men and a hundred guns had been scattered, and it would take +him much time to get it all together again. McClellan, advancing on +Richmond, was without the support on his right which McDowell was to +furnish and was compelled to hesitate. + +But Jackson's foot cavalry were soon to find that they were not to rest +on their brilliant exploits. As eager as ever, their general was making +them ready for another great advance further into the North. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. THE NIGHT RIDE + + +Harry was back with the general in a few hours, but now he was allowed a +little time for himself. It seemed to occur suddenly to Jackson that the +members of his staff, especially the more youthful ones, could not march +and fight more than two or three days without food and rest. + +"You've done well, Harry," he said--he was beginning to call the boy by +his first name. + +The words of praise were brief, and they were spoken in a dry tone, but +they set Harry's blood aflame. He had been praised by Stonewall Jackson, +the man who considered an ordinary human being's best not more than +third rate. Harry, like all the others in the valley army, saw that +Jackson was setting a new standard in warfare. + +Tremendously elated he started in search of his friends. He found the +Invincibles, that is, all who were left alive, stretched flat upon +their sides or backs in the orchard. It seemed to him that St. Clair +and Langdon had not moved a hair's breadth since he had seen them there +before. But their faces were not so white now. Color was coming back. + +He put the toe of his boot against Langdon's side and shoved gently but +firmly. Langdon awoke and sat up indignantly. + +"How dare you, Harry Kenton, disturb a gentleman who is occupied with +his much-needed slumbers?" he asked. + +"General Jackson wants you." + +"Old Jack wants me! Now, what under the sun can he want with me?" + +"He wants you to take some cavalry, gallop to Washington, go all around +the city, inspect all its earthworks and report back here by nightfall." + +"You're making that up, Harry; but for God's sake don't make that +suggestion to Old Jack. He'd send me on that trip sure, and then have me +hanged as an example in front of the whole army, when I failed." + +"I won't say anything about it." + +"You're a bright boy, Harry, and you're learning fast. But things could +be a lot worse. We could have been licked instead of licking the enemy. +I could be dead instead of lying here on the grass, tired but alive. +But, Harry, I'm growing old fast." + +"How old are you, Tom?" + +"Last week I was nineteen, to-day I'm ninety-nine, and if this sort of +thing keeps up I'll be a hundred and ninety-nine next week." + +St. Clair also awoke and sat up. In some miraculous manner he had +restored his uniform to order and he was as neat and precise as usual. + +"You two talk too much," he said. "I was in the middle of a beautiful +dream, when I heard you chattering away." + +"What was your dream, Arthur?" asked Harry. + +"I was in St. Andrew's Hall in Charleston, dancing with the most +beautiful girl you ever saw. I don't know who she was, I didn't identify +her in my dream. There were lots of other beautiful girls there dancing +with fellows like myself, and the roses were everywhere, and the music +rose and fell like the song of angels, and I was so happy and--I +awoke to find myself here on a hillside with a ragged army that's been +marching and fighting for days and weeks, and which, for all I know, +will keep it up for years and years longer." + +"I've a piece of advice for you, Arthur," said Langdon. + +"What is it?" + +"Quit dreaming. It's a bad habit, especially when you're in war. The +dream is sure to be better than the real thing. You won't be dancing +again in Charleston for a long time, nor will I. All those beautiful +girls you were dreaming about but couldn't name will be without partners +until we're a lot older than we are now." + +Langdon spoke with a seriousness very uncommon in him, and lay back +again on the ground, where he began to chew a grass stem meditatively. + +"Go back to sleep, boys, you'll need it," said Harry lightly. "Our next +march is to be a thousand miles, and we're to have a battle at every +milestone." + +"You mean that as a joke, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it came +true," said Langdon, as he closed his eyes again. + +Harry went on and found the two colonels sitting in the shadow of a +stone fence. One of them had his arm in a sling, but he assured Harry +the wound was slight. They gave him a glad and paternal welcome. + +"In the kind of campaign we're waging," said Colonel Leonidas Talbot, "I +assume that anybody is dead until I see him alive. Am I not right, eh, +Hector?" + +"Assuredly you're right, Leonidas," replied Lieutenant-Colonel Hector +St. Hilaire. "Our young men don't get frightened because they don't have +time to think about it. Before we can get excited over the battle in +which we are engaged we've begun the next one. It is also a matter +of personal pride to me that one of the best bodies of troops in the +service of General Jackson is of French descent like myself." + +"The Acadians, colonel," said Harry. "Grand troops they are." + +"It is the French fighting blood," said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. +Hilaire, with a little trace of the grandiloquent in his tone. "Slurs +have been cast at the race from which I sprang since the rout and flight +at Waterloo, but how undeserved they are! The French have burned more +gunpowder and have won more great battles without the help of allies +than any other nation in Europe. And their descendants in North America +have shown their valor all the way from Quebec to New Orleans, although +we are widely separated now, and scarcely know the speech of one +another." + +"It's true, Hector," said Colonel Leonidas Talbot. "I think I've heard +you say as much before, but it will bear repeating. Do you think, +Hector, that you happen to have about you a cigarette that has survived +the campaign?" + +"Several of them, Leonidas. Here, help yourself. Harry, I would offer +one to you, but I do not recommend the cigarette to the young. You don't +smoke! So much the better. It's a bad habit, permissible only to the +old. Leonidas, do you happen to have a match?" + +"Yes, Hector, I made sure about that before I asked you for the +cigarettes. Be careful when you light it. There is only one match for +the cigarettes of both." + +"I'll bring you a coal from one of the campfires," said Harry, springing +up. + +But Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire waved him down courteously, +though rather reprovingly. + +"You would never fire a cannon shot to kill a butterfly," he said, "and +neither will I ever light a delicate cigarette with a huge, shapeless +coal from a campfire. It would be an insult to the cigarette, and after +such an outrage I could never draw a particle of flavor from it. No, +Harry, we thank you, you mean well, but we can do it better." + +Harry sat down again. The two colonels, who had been through days of +continuous marching and fighting, knelt in the lee of the fence, and +Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire also shaded the operation with +his hat as an additional protection. Colonel Leonidas Talbot carefully +struck the match. The flame sputtered up and his friend brought his hat +closer to protect it. Then both lighted their cigarettes, settled back +against the fence, and a deep peace appeared upon their two faces. + +"Hector," said Colonel Talbot, "only we old soldiers know how little it +takes to make a man happy." + +"You speak truly, Leonidas. In the last analysis it's a mere matter of +food, clothes and shelter, with perhaps a cigarette or two. In Mexico, +when we advanced from Vera Cruz to the capital, it was often very cold +on the mountains. I can remember coming in from some battle, aching with +weariness and cold, but after I had eaten good food and basked half +an hour before a fire I would feel as if I owned the earth. Physical +comfort, carried to the very highest degree, produces mental comfort +also." + +"Sound words, Hector. The starved, the cold and the shelterless can +never be happy. God knows that I am no advocate of war, although it is +my trade. It is a terrible thing for people to kill one another, but it +does grind you down to the essentials. Because it is war you and I have +an acute sense of luxury, lying here against a stone fence, smoking a +couple of cigarettes." + +"That is, Leonidas, we are happy when we have attained what we have +needed a long time, and which we have been a long time without. It has +occurred to me that the cave-man, in all his primitive nakedness, must +have had some thrilling moments, moments of pleasures of the body, the +mind and the imagination allied, which we modern beings cannot feel." + +"To what moments do you allude, Hector?" + +"Suppose that he has just eluded a monstrous saber-toothed tiger, and +has slipped into his cave by the opening, entirely too small for any +great beast of prey. He is in his home. A warm fire is burning on a +flat stone. His wife--beautiful to him--is cooking savory meats for +him. Around the walls are his arms and their supplies. They eat placidly +while the huge tiger from which he has escaped by a foot or less roars +and glowers without. The contrast between the danger and that house, +which is the equivalent to a modern palace, comes home to him with a +thrill more keen and penetrating than anything we can ever feel. + +"The man and his wife eat their evening meal, and retire to their bed +of dry leaves in the corner. They fall asleep while the frenzied and +ferocious tiger is still snarling and growling. They know he cannot get +at them, and his gnashings and roarings are merely a lullaby, soothing +them to the sweetest of slumbers. You could not duplicate that in the +age in which we live, Leonidas." + +"No, Hector, we couldn't. But, as for me, I can spare such thrills. It +seems to me that we have plenty of danger of our own just now. I must +say, however, that you put these matters in a fine, poetic way. Have you +ever written verses, Hector?" + +"A few, but never for print, Leonidas. I am happy to think that a +few sonnets and triolets of mine are cherished by middle-aged but yet +handsome women of Charleston that we both know." + +Harry left them still talking in rounded sentences and always in perfect +agreement. He thought theirs a beautiful friendship, and he hoped that +he should have friendships like it, when he was as old as they. + +But he and all the other prophets were right. The restless Jackson soon +took up the northward march again. He was drawing farther and farther +away from McClellan and the Southern army before Richmond, and the great +storm that was gathering there. The army of Banks was not yet wholly +destroyed, and there were other Northern and undestroyed armies in the +valley. His task there was not yet finished. Jackson pushed on toward +Harper's Ferry on the Potomac. He was now, though to the westward, +further north than Washington itself, and with other armies in his +rear he was taking daring risks. But as usual, he kept his counsels to +himself. All was hidden under that battered cap to become later an old +slouch hat, and the men who followed him were content to go wherever he +led. + +The old Stonewall Brigade was in the van and Jackson and his staff were +with it. The foot cavalry refreshed by a good rest were marching again +at a great rate. + +Harry was detached shortly after the start, and was sent to General +Winder with orders for him to hurry forward with the fine troops under +his command. Before he could leave Winder he ran into a strong Northern +force at Charleston, and the Southern division attacked at once with all +the dash and vigor that Jackson had imparted to his men. They had, too, +the confidence bred by continuous victory, while the men in blue were +depressed by unbroken defeats. + +The Northern force was routed in fifteen or twenty minutes and fled +toward the river, leaving behind it all its baggage and stores. Harry +carried the news to Jackson and saw the general press his thin lips +together more closely than ever. He knew that the hope of destroying +Banks utterly was once more strong in the breast of their leader. The +members of the staff were all sent flying again with messages to the +regiments to hurry. + +The whole army swung forward at increased pace. Jackson did not know +what new troops had come for Banks, but soon he saw the heights south of +Harper's Ferry, and the same glance told him that they were crowded with +soldiers. General Saxton with seven thousand men and eighteen guns had +undertaken to hold the place against his formidable opponent. + +General Jackson held a brief council, and, when it was over, summoned +Harry and Dalton to him. + +"You are both well mounted and have had experience," he said. "You +understand that the army before us is not by any means the only one +that the Yankees have. Shields, Ord and Fremont are all leading armies +against us. We can defeat Saxton's force, but we must not be caught in +any trap. Say not a word of this to anybody, but ride in the direction +I'm pointing and see if you can find the army of Shields. Other scouts +are riding east and west, but you must do your best, nevertheless. +Perhaps both of you will not come back, but one of you must. Take food +in your saddle bags and don't neglect your arms." + +He turned instantly to give orders to others and Harry and Dalton +mounted and rode, proud of their trust, and resolved to fulfill it. +Evening was coming as they left the army, and disappeared among the +woods. They had only the vague direction given by Jackson, derived +probably from reports, brought in by other scouts, but it was their +mission to secure definite and exact information. + +"You know this country, George, don't you?" asked Harry. + +"I've ridden over all of it. They say that Shields with a large part of +McDowell's army is approaching the valley through Manassas Gap. It's a +long ride from here, Harry, but I think we'd better make for it. This +horse of mine is one of the best ever bred in the valley. He could carry +me a hundred miles by noon to-morrow." + +"Mine's not exactly a plough horse," said Harry, as he stroked the mane +of his own splendid bay, one especially detailed for him on this errand. +"If yours can go a hundred miles by noon to-morrow so can mine." + +"Suppose, then, we go a little faster." + +"Suits me." + +The riders spoke a word or two. The two grand horses stretched out their +necks, and they sped away southward. For a while they rode over the +road by which they had come. It was yet early twilight and they saw many +marks of their passage, a broken-down wagon, a dead horse, an exploded +caisson, and now and then something from which they quickly turned away +their eyes. + +Dalton knew the roads well, and at nightfall they bore in toward the +right. They had already come a long distance, and in the darkness they +went more slowly. + +"I think there's a farmhouse not much further on," said Dalton, "and +we'll ask there for information. It's safe to do so because all the +people through here are on our side. There, you can see the house now." + +The moonlight disclosed a farmhouse, surrounded by a lawn that was +well sprinkled with big trees, but as they approached Harry and Dalton +simultaneously reined their horses back into the wood. They had seen a +dozen troopers on the lawn, and the light was good enough to show that +their uniforms were or had been blue. A woman was standing in the open +door of the house, and one of the men, who seemed to be the leader, was +talking to her. + +"Yankee scouts," whispered Harry. + +"Undoubtedly. The Yankee generals are waking up--Jackson has made 'em do +it, but I didn't expect to find their scouts so far in the valley." + +"Nor I. Suppose we wait here, George, until they leave." + +"It's the thing to do." + +They rode a little further into the woods where they were safe from +observation, and yet could watch what was passing at the house. But +they did not have to wait long. The troopers evidently got little +satisfaction from the woman to whom they were talking and turned their +horses. Harry saw her disappear inside, and he fairly heard the door +slam when it closed. The men galloped southward down the road. + +Harry heard a chuckle beside him and he turned in astonishment. + +"I'm laughing," said Dalton, "because I've got a right to laugh. Here in +the valley we are all kin to one another just as you people in Kentucky +are all related. The woman who stood in the doorway is Cousin Eliza +Pomeroy. She's about my seventh cousin, but she's my cousin just the +same, and if we could have heard it we would have enjoyed what she was +saying to those Yankees." + +"Oughtn't we to stop also and get news, if we can?" + +"Of course. We must have a talk with Cousin Eliza." + +They emerged from the woods, opened the gate and rode upon the lawn. Not +a ray of light came from the house anywhere. Every door and shutter was +fast. + +"Knock on the door with the hilt of your sword, Harry," said Dalton. "It +will bring Cousin Eliza. She can't have gone to sleep yet." + +Harry dismounted and holding the reins of his horse over his arm, +knocked loudly. There was no reply. + +"Beat harder, Harry. She's sure to hear." + +Harry beat upon that door until he bruised the hilt of his sword. At +last it was thrown open violently, and a powerful woman of middle years +appeared. + +"I thought you Yankees had gone forever!" she exclaimed. "You'd better +hurry or Stonewall Jackson will get you before morning!" + +"We're not Yankees, ma'am," said Harry, politely. "We're Southerners, +Stonewall Jackson's own men, scouts from his army, here looking for news +of the enemy." + +"A fine tale, young man. You're trying to fool me with your gray +uniform. Stonewall Jackson's men are fifteen miles north of here, +chasing the Yankees by thousands into the Potomac. They say he does it +just as well by night as by day, and that he never sleeps or rests." + +"What my comrade tells you is true. Good evening, Cousin Eliza!" said a +gentle voice beyond Harry. + +The woman started and then stepped out of the door. Dalton rode forward +a little where the full moonlight fell upon him. + +"You remember that summer six years ago when you spanked me for stealing +the big yellow apples in the orchard." + +"George! Little George Dalton!" she cried, and as Dalton got off his +horse she enclosed him in a powerful embrace, although he was little no +longer. + +"And have you come from Stonewall Jackson?" she asked breathless with +eagerness. + +"Straight from him. I'm on his staff and so is my friend here. This is +Harry Kenton of Kentucky, Mrs. Pomeroy, and he's been through all +the battles with us. We were watching from the woods and we saw those +Yankees at your door. They didn't get any information, I know that, but +I'm thinking that we will." + +Cousin Eliza Pomeroy laughed a low, deep laugh of pride and +satisfaction. + +"Come into the house," she exclaimed. "I'm here with four children. Jim, +my husband, is with Johnston's army before Richmond, but we've been able +to take care of ourselves thus far, and I reckon we'll keep on being +able. I can get hot coffee and good corn cakes ready for you inside of +fifteen minutes." + +"It's not food we want, Cousin Eliza," said Dalton. "We want something +far better, what those Yankees came for--news. So I think we'd better +stay outside and run no risk of surprise. The Yankees might come back." + +"That's so. You'll grow up into a man with a heap of sense, George. +I've got real news, and I was waiting for a chance to send it through to +Stonewall Jackson. Billy! Billy!" + +A small boy, not more than twelve, but clothed fully, darted from the +inside of the house. He was well set up for his age, and his face was +keen and eager. + +"This is Billy Pomeroy, my oldest son," said Cousin Eliza Pomeroy, with +a swelling of maternal pride. "I made him get in bed and cover himself +up, boots and all, when the Yankees came. Billy has been riding to-day. +He ain't very old, and he ain't very big, but put him on a horse and +he's mighty nigh a man." + +The small, eager face was shining. + +"What did you see, Billy, when you rode so far?" asked Dalton. + +"Yankees! Yankees, Cousin George, and lots of 'em, toward Manassas Gap! +I saw some of their cavalry this side of the Gap, and I heard at the +store that there was a big army on the other side, marching hard to come +through it, and get in behind our Stonewall." + +Harry looked at Dalton. + +"That confirms the rumors we heard," he said. + +"You can believe anything that Billy tells you," said Mrs. Pomeroy. + +"I know it," said Dalton, "but we've got to go on and see these men for +ourselves. Stonewall Jackson is a terrible man, Cousin Eliza. If we tell +him that the Yankees are coming through Manassas Gap and closing in on +his rear, he'll ask us how we know it, and when we reply that a boy told +us he'll break us as unfit to be on his staff." + +"And I reckon Stonewall Jackson will be about right!" said Cousin Eliza +Pomeroy, who was evidently a woman of strong mind. "Billy, you lead +these boys straight to Manassas Gap." + +"Oh, no, Cousin Eliza!" exclaimed Dalton. "Billy's been riding hard all +day, and we can find the way." + +"What do you think Billy's made out of?" asked his mother +contemptuously. "Ain't he a valley boy? Ain't he Jim Pomeroy's son and +mine? I want you to understand that Billy can ride anything, and he can +ride it all day long and all night long, too!" + +"Make 'em let me go, ma!" exclaimed Billy, eagerly. "I can save time. I +can show 'em the shortest way!" + +Harry and George glanced at each other. Young Billy Pomeroy might be +of great value to them. Moreover, the choice was already made for them, +because Billy was now running to the stable for his horse. + +"He goes with us, or rather he leads us, Cousin Eliza," said Dalton. + +Billy appeared the next instant, with his horse saddled and bridled, and +his own proud young self in the saddle. + +"Billy, take 'em straight," said his Spartan mother, as she drew him +down in the saddle and kissed him, and Billy, more swollen with pride +than ever, promised that he would. But the mother's voice broke a little +when she said to Dalton: + +"He's to guide you wherever you want to go, but you must bring him back +to me unhurt." + +"We will, Cousin Eliza," said Dalton earnestly. + +Then they galloped away in the dark with Billy leading and riding like a +Comanche. He had taken a fresh horse from the stall and it was almost as +powerful as those ridden by Harry and Dalton. + +"See the mountains," said Billy, pointing eastward to a long dark line +dimly visible in the moonlight. "That's the Blue Ridge, and further +south is the Gap, but you can't see it at night until you come right +close to it." + +"Do you know any path through the woods, Billy?" asked Harry. "We don't +want to run the risk of capture." + +"I was just about to lead you into it," replied the boy, still rejoicing +in the importance of his role. "Here it is." + +He turned off from the road into a path leading into thick forest, +wide enough for only one horse at a time. Billy, of course, led, Harry +followed, and Dalton brought up the rear. The path, evidently a short +cut used by farmers, was enclosed by great oaks, beeches and elms, now +in full leaf, and it was dark there. Only a slit of moonlight showed +from above, and the figures of the three riders grew shadowy. + +"They'll never find us here, will they, Billy?" said Harry. + +"Not one chance in a thousand. Them Yankees don't know a thing about +the country. Anyway, if they should come into the path at the other end, +we'd hear them long before they heard us." + +"You're right, Billy, and as we ride on we'll all three listen with six +good ears." + +"Yes, sir," said Billy. + +Harry, although only a boy himself, was so much older than Billy, who +addressed him as "sir," that he felt himself quite a veteran. + +"Billy," he said, "how did it happen that you were riding down this way, +so far from home, to-day?" + +"'Cause we heard there was Yanks in the Gap. Ma won't let me go an' +fight with Stonewall Jackson. She says I ain't old enough an' big +enough, but she told me herself to get on the horse an' ride down this +way, an' see if what we heard was true. I saw 'em in little bunches, an' +then that gang come to our house to-night, less 'n ten minutes after I +come back. We'll be at a creek, sir, in less than five minutes. It runs +down from the mountains, an' it's pretty deep with all them big spring +rains. I guess we'll have to swim, sir. We could go lower down, where +there's always a ford, but that's where the Yankees would be crossing." + +"We'll swim, if necessary, Billy." + +"When even the women and little children fight for us, the South will +be hard to conquer," was Harry's thought, but he said no more until they +reached the creek, which was indeed swollen by the heavy rains, and was +running swiftly, a full ten feet in depth. + +"Hold on, Billy, I'll lead the way," said Harry. + +But Billy was already in the stream, his short legs drawn up, and his +horse swimming strongly. Harry and Dalton followed without a word, and +the three emerged safely on the eastern side. + +"You're a brave swimmer, Billy," said Harry admiringly. + +"'Tain't nothin, sir. I didn't swim. It was my horse. I guess he'd take +me across the Mississippi itself. I wouldn't have anything to do but +stick on his back. Look up, sir, an' you can see the mountains close +by." + +Harry and Dalton looked up through the rift in the trees, and saw almost +over them the lofty outline of the Blue Ridge, the eastern rampart of +the valley, heavy with forest from base to top. + +"We must be near the Gap," said Dalton. + +"We are," said Billy. "We've been coming fast. It's nigh on to fifteen +miles from here to home." + +"And must be a full thirty to Harper's Ferry," said Dalton. + +"Does this path lead to some point overlooking the Gap," asked Harry, +"where we can see the enemy if he's there, and he can't see us?" + +"Yes, sir. We can ride on a slope not more than two miles from here and +look right down into the Gap." + +"And if troops are there we'll be sure to see their fires," said Dalton. +"Lead on, Billy." + +Billy led with boldness and certainty. It was the greatest night of his +life, and he meant to fulfill to the utmost what he deemed to be his +duty. The narrow path still wound among mighty trees, the branches of +which met now and then over their heads, shutting out the moonlight +entirely. It led at this point toward the north and they were rapidly +ascending a shoulder of the mountain, leaving the Gap on their right. + +Harry, riding on such an errand, felt to the full the weird quality +of mountains and forest, over which darkness and silence brooded. The +foliage was very heavy, and it rustled now and then as the stray winds +wandered along the slopes of the Blue Ridge. But for that and the +hoofbeats of their own horses, there was no sound save once, when they +heard a scuttling on the bark of a tree. They saw nothing, but Billy +pronounced it a wildcat, alarmed by their passage. + +The three at length came out on a level place or tiny plateau. Billy, +who rode in advance, stopped and the others stopped with him. + +"Look," said the boy, pointing to the bottom of the valley, about five +hundred feet below. + +A fire burned there and they could discern men around it, with horses in +the background. + +"Yankees," said Billy. "Look at 'em through the glasses." + +Harry raised his glasses and took a long look. They had the full +moonlight where they stood and the fire in the valley below was also a +help. He saw that the camp was made by a strong cavalry force. Many of +them were asleep in their blankets, but the others sat by the fire and +seemed to be talking. + +Then he passed the glasses to Dalton, who also, after looking long and +well, passed them to Billy, as a right belonging to one who had been +their real leader, and who shared equally with them their hardships and +dangers. + +"How large would you say that force is, George?" asked Harry. + +"Three or four hundred men at least. There's a great bunch of horses. I +should judge, too, from the careless way they've camped, that they've no +fear of being attacked. How many do you think they are, Billy?" + +"Just about what you said, Cousin George. Are you going to attack them?" + +Harry and Dalton laughed. + +"No, Billy," replied Dalton. "You see we're only three, and there must +be at least three hundred down there." + +"But we've been hearin' that Stonewall Jackson's men never mind a +hundred to one," said Billy, in an aggrieved tone. "We hear that's just +about what they like." + +"No, Billy, my boy. We don't fight a hundred to one. Nobody does, unless +it's like Thermopylae and the Alamo." + +"Then what are we going to do?" continued Billy in his disappointed +tone. + +"I think, Billy, that Harry and I are going to dismount, slip down +the mountainside, see what we can see, hear what we can hear, and that +you'll stay here, holding and guarding the horses until we come back." + +"I won't!" exclaimed Billy in violent indignation. "I won't, Cousin +George. I'm going down the mountain with you an' Mr. Kenton." + +"Now, Billy," said Dalton soothingly, "you've got a most important job +here. You're the reserve, and you also hold the means of flight. Suppose +we're pursued hotly, we couldn't get away without the horses that you'll +hold for us. Suppose we should be taken. Then it's for you to gallop +back with the news that Shields' whole army will be in the pass in the +morning, and under such circumstances, your mother would send you on to +General Jackson with a message of such immense importance." + +"That's so," said Billy with conviction, in the face of so much +eloquence and logic, "but I don't want you fellows to be captured." + +Dalton and Harry dismounting, gave the reins of their horses into the +hands of Billy, and the small fingers clutched them tightly. + +"Stay exactly where you are, Billy," said Harry. "We want to find you +without trouble when we come back." + +"I'll be here," said Billy proudly. + +Harry and Dalton began the descent through the bushes and trees. They +had not the slightest doubt that this was the vanguard of the Northern +army which they heard was ten thousand strong, and that this force was +merely a vanguard for McDowell, who had nearly forty thousand men. But +they knew too well to go back to Stonewall Jackson with mere surmise, +however plausible. + +"We've got to find out some way or other whether their army is certainly +at hand," whispered Dalton. + +Harry nodded, and said: + +"We must manage to overhear some of their talk, though it's risky +business." + +"But that's what we're here for. They don't seem to be very watchful, +and as the woods and bushes are thick about 'em we may get a chance." + +They continued their slow and careful descent. Harry glanced back once +through an opening in the bushes and saw little Billy, holding the reins +of the three horses and gazing intently after them. He knew that among +all the soldiers of Jackson's army, no matter how full of valor and zeal +they might be, there was not one who surpassed Billy in eagerness to +serve. + +They reached the bottom of the slope, and lay for a few minutes hidden +among dense bushes. Both had been familiar with country life, they had +hunted the 'possum and the coon many a dark night, and now their forest +lore stood them in good stead. They made no sound as they passed among +the bushes and trailing vines, and they knew that they were quite secure +in their covert, although they lay within a hundred yards of one of the +fires. + +Harry judged that most of the men whom they saw were city bred. It was +an advantage that the South had over the North in a mighty war, waged in +a country covered then mostly with forest and cut by innumerable rivers +and creeks, that her sons were familiar with such conditions, while many +of those of the North, used to life in the cities, were at a loss, when +the great campaigns took them into the wilderness. + +Both he and Dalton, relying upon this knowledge, crept a little closer, +but they stopped and lay very close, when they saw a man advancing to a +hillock, carrying under his arm a bundle which they took to be rockets. + +"Signals," whispered Dalton. "You just watch, Harry, and you'll see 'em +answered from the eastward." + +The officer on the summit of the hillock sent up three rockets, which +curved beautifully against the blue heavens, then sank and died. Far to +the eastward they saw three similar lights flame and die. + +"How far away would you say those answering rockets were?" whispered +Harry. + +"It's hard to say about distances in the moonlight, but they may be +three or four miles. I take it, Harry, that they are sent up by the +Northern main force." + +"So do I, but we've got to get actual evidence in words, or we've got +to see this army. I'm afraid to go back to General Jackson with anything +less. Now, we won't have time to go through the Gap, see the army and +get back to the general before things begin to happen, so we've got to +stick it out here, until we get what we want." + +"True words, Harry, and we must risk going a little nearer. See that +line of bushes running along there in the dark? It will cover us, and +we're bound to take the chance. We must agree, too, Harry, that if we're +discovered, neither must stop in an attempt to save the other. If one +reaches Jackson it will be all right." + +"Of course, George. We'll run for it with all our might, and if it's +only one it's to be the better runner." + +They lay almost flat on their stomachs, and passing through the +grass, reached the line of bushes. Here they could rise from such an +uncomfortable position, and stooping they came within fifty yards of the +first fire, where they saw very clearly the men who were not asleep, +and who yet moved about. Most of them were not yet sunburned, and Harry +judged at once that they had come from the mills and workshops of New +York or New England. As far as he could see they had no pickets, and he +inferred their belief that no enemy was nearer than Jackson's army, at +least thirty miles away. Perhaps the little band of horsemen who had +knocked at Mrs. Pomeroy's door had brought them the information. + +They lay there nearly an hour, not thinking of the danger, but consumed +with impatience. Officers passed near them talking, but they could catch +only scraps, not enough for their purpose. A set of signals was sent up +again and was answered duly from the same point to the east of the Gap. +But after long waiting, they were rewarded. Few of the officers or men +ever went far from the fires. They seemed to be at a loss in the dark +and silent wilderness which was absolute confirmation to Harry that they +were city dwellers. + +Two officers, captains or majors, stopped within twenty feet of the +crouching scouts, and gazed for a long time through the Gap toward the +west into the valley, at the northern end of which Jackson and his army +lay. + +"I tell you, Curtis," one of them said at last, "that if we get through +the Gap to-morrow and Fremont and the others also come up, Jackson can't +possibly get away. We'll have him and his whole force in a trap and with +three or four to one in our favor, it will be all over." + +"It's true, if it comes out as you say, Penfield," said the other, "but +there are several 'ifs,' and as we have reason to know, it's hard to put +your hand on Jackson. Why, when we thought he was lost in the mountains +he came out of them like an avalanche, and some of our best troops were +buried under that avalanche." + +"You're too much of a pessimist, Curtis. We've learned a lot in the last +few days. As sure as you and I stand here the fox will be trapped. Why, +he's trapped already. We'll be through the Gap here with ten thousand +men in the morning, squarely in Jackson's rear. To-morrow we'll have +fifty or sixty thousand good troops between him and Richmond and +Johnston. His army will be taken or destroyed, and the Confederacy will +be split asunder. McClellan will be in Richmond with an overwhelming +force, and within a month the war will be practically over." + +"There's no doubt of that, if we catch Jackson, and it certainly looks +as if the trap were closing down upon him. In defeating Banks and then +following him to the Potomac he has ruined himself and his cause." + +Harry felt a deadly fear gripping at his heart. What these men were +saying was probably true. Every fact supported their claim. The tough +and enduring North, ready to sustain any number of defeats and yet win, +was pouring forward her troops with a devotion that would have wrung +tears from a stone. And she was destined to do it again and again +through dark and weary years. + +The two men walked further away, still talking, but Harry and Dalton +could no longer hear what they were saying. The rockets soared again +in the pass, and were answered in the east, but now nearer, and the two +knew that it was not worth while to linger any longer. They knew the +vital fact that ten thousand men were advancing through the pass, and +that all the rest was superfluity. And time had a value beyond price to +their cause. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. THE CLOSING CIRCLE + + +"George," said Harry, "we must chance it now and get back to the horses. +We've got to reach General Jackson before the Northern army is through +the pass." + +"You lead," said Dalton. "I don't think we'll have any danger except +when we are in that strip of grass between these bushes and the woods." + +Harry started, and when he reached the grass threw himself almost flat +on his face again, crawling forward with extreme caution. Dalton, close +behind him, imitated his comrade. The high grass merely rippled as they +passed and the anxious Northern officers walking back and forth were not +well enough versed in woodcraft to read from any sign that an enemy was +near. + +Once Dalton struck his knee against a small bush and caused its leaves +to rustle. A wary and experienced scout would have noticed the slight, +though new noise, and Harry and Dalton, stopping, lay perfectly still. +But the officers walked to and fro, undisturbed, and the two boys +resumed their creeping flight. + +When they reached the forest, they rose gladly from their knees, and ran +up the slope, still bearing in mind that time was now the most pressing +of all things. They whistled softly as they neared the little plateau, +and Billy's low answering whistle came back. They hurried up the last +reach of the slope, and there he was, the eyes shining in his eager +face, the three bridles clutched tightly in his small right hand. + +"Did you get what you wanted?" he asked in a whisper. + +"We did, Billy," answered Harry. + +"I saw 'em sendin' up shootin' stars an' other shootin' stars way off to +the east answerin', an' I didn't know what it meant." + +"It was their vanguard in the Gap, talking to their army several miles +to the eastward. But we lay in the bushes, Billy, and we heard what +their officers said. All that you heard was true. Ten thousand Yankees +will be through the pass in the morning, and Stonewall Jackson will have +great cause to be grateful to William Pomeroy, aged twelve." + +The boy's eyes fairly glowed, but he was a man of action. + +"Then I guess that we've got to jump on our horses and ride lickety +split down the valley to give warnin' to General Jackson," he said. + +Harry knew what was passing in the boy's mind, that he would go with +them all the way to Jackson, and he did not have the heart to say +anything to the contrary just then. But Dalton replied: + +"Right you are, Billy. We ride now as if the woods were burning behind +us." + +Billy was first in the saddle and led the way. The horses had gained +a good rest, while Harry and Dalton were stalking the troopers in the +valley, and, after they had made the descent of the slope, they swung +into a long easy gallop across the level. + +The little lad still kept his place in front. Neither of the others +would have deprived him of this honor which he deserved so well. He sat +erect, swinging with his horse, and he showed no sign of weariness. They +took no precautions now to evade a possible meeting with the enemy. What +they needed was haste, haste, always haste. They must risk everything +to carry the news to Jackson. A mere half hour might mean the difference +between salvation and destruction. + +Harry felt the great tension of the moment. The words of the Northern +officers had made him understand what he already suspected. The whole +fate of the Confederacy would waver in the balance on the morrow. If +Jackson were surrounded and overpowered, the South would lose its right +arm. Then the armies that engulfed him would join McClellan and pour +forward in an overwhelming host on Richmond. + +Their hoofbeats rang in a steady beat on the road, as they went forward +on that long easy gallop which made the miles drop swiftly behind them. +The skies brightened, and the great stars danced in a solid sheet of +blue. They were in the gently rolling country, and occasionally they +passed a farmhouse. Now and then, a watchful dog barked at them, but +they soon left him and his bark behind. + +Harry noticed that Billy's figure was beginning to waver slightly, and +he knew that weariness and the lack of sleep were at last gaining the +mastery over his daring young spirit. It gave him relief, as it solved a +problem that had been worrying him. He rode up by the side of Billy, but +he said nothing. The boy's eyelids were heavy and the youthful figure +was wavering, but it was in no danger of falling. Billy could have +ridden his horse sound asleep. + +Harry presently saw the roof of Mrs. Pomeroy's house showing among the +trees. + +"It's less than half a mile to your house, Billy," he said. + +"But I'm not going to stop there. I'm goin' on with you to General +Jackson, an' I'm goin' to help him fight the Yankees." + +Harry was silent, but when they galloped up to the Pomeroy house, Billy +was nearly asleep. + +The door sprang open as they approached, and the figure of the stalwart +woman appeared. Harry knew that she had been watching there every minute +since they left. He was touched by the dramatic spirit of the moment, +and he said: + +"Mrs. Pomeroy, we bring back to you the most gallant soldier in +Stonewall Jackson's army of the Valley of Virginia. He led us straight +to the Gap where we were able to learn the enemy's movements, a +knowledge which may save the Confederacy from speedy destruction. We +bring him back to you, safe and unharmed, and sleeping soundly in his +saddle." + +He lifted Billy from the saddle and put him in his mother's arms. + +"Billy's a hero, Cousin Eliza," said Dalton. "Few full-grown men have +done as important deeds in their whole lives as he has done to-night. +When he awakens he'll be angry because he didn't go with us, but you +tell him we'll see that he's a duly enrolled member of General Jackson's +army. Stonewall Jackson never forgets such deeds as his." + +"It's a proud woman I am to-night," said Mrs. Pomeroy. "Good-bye, Cousin +George, and you, too, Mr. Kenton. I can see that you're in a hurry to be +off, and you ought to be. I want to see both of you in my house again in +better days." + +She went inside, carrying the exhausted and sleeping boy in her arms, +and Harry and Dalton galloped away side by side. + +"How's your horse, Harry?" asked Dalton. + +"Fine. Smooth as silk! How's yours?" + +"The machinery moves without a jar. I may be stiff and sore myself, but +I'm so anxious to get to General Jackson that I haven't time to think +about it." + +"Same here. Suppose we speed 'em up a little more." + +They came into the turnpike, and now the horses lengthened out their +stride as they fled northward. It was yet some time until dawn, but the +two young riders took the cold food from their knapsacks and ate as they +galloped on. It was well that they had good horses, staunch and true, as +they were pushing them hard now. + +Harry looked toward the west, where the dark slope of Little North +Mountain closed in the valley from that side, and he felt a shiver +which he knew did not come from the night air. He knew that a powerful +Northern force was off there somewhere, and he wondered what it was +doing. But he and Dalton had done their duty. They had uncovered one +hostile force, and doubtless other men who rode in the night for Jackson +would attend to the rest. + +Both Harry and Dalton had been continuously in the saddle for many hours +now, but they did not notice their weariness. They were still upborne +by a great anxiety and a great exaltation, too. Feeling to the full +the imminence and immensity of the crisis, they were bending themselves +heart and soul to prevent it, and no thought of weariness could enter +their minds. Each was another Billy, only on a larger and older scale. + +Later on, the moon and all the stars slipped away, and it became very +dark. Harry felt that it was merely a preliminary to the dawn, and he +asked Dalton if he did not think so, too. + +"It's too dark for me to see the face of my watch," said Dalton, "but I +know you're right, Harry. I can just feel the coming of the dawn. It's +some quality in the air. I think it grows a little colder than it has +been in the other hours of the night." + +"I can feel the wind freshening on my face. It nips a bit for a May +morning." + +They slackened speed a little, wishing to save their horses for a final +burst, and stopped once or twice for a second or two to listen for the +sound of other hoofbeats than their own. But they heard none. + +"If the Yankee armies are already on the turnpike they're not near us. +That's sure," said Dalton. + +"Do you know how many men they have?" + +"Some of the spies brought in what the general believed to be pretty +straight reports. The rumors said that Shields was advancing to Manassas +Gap with ten thousand men, and from what we heard we know that is true. +A second detachment, also ten thousand strong, from McDowell's army is +coming toward Front Royal, and McDowell has twenty thousand men east +of the Blue Ridge. What the forces to the west are I don't know but the +enemy in face of the general himself on the Potomac must now number at +least ten thousand." + +Harry whistled. + +"And at the best we can't muster more than fifteen thousand fit to carry +arms!" he exclaimed. + +Dalton leaned over in the dark, and touched his comrade on the shoulder. + +"Harry," he said, "don't forget Old Jack. Where Little Sorrel leads +there is always an army of forty thousand men. I'm not setting myself up +to be very religious, but it's safe to say that he was praying to-night, +and when Old Jack prays, look out." + +"Yes, if anybody can lead us out of this trap it will be Old Jack," said +Harry. "Look, there's the dawn coming over the Blue Ridge, George." + +A faint tint of gray was appearing on the loftiest crests of the Blue +Ridge. It could scarcely be called light yet, but it was a sign to the +two that the darkness there would soon melt away. Gradually the gray +shredded off and then the ridges were tipped with silver which soon +turned to gold. Dawn rushed down over the valley and the pleasant +forests and fields sprang into light. + +Then they heard hoofbeats behind them coming fast. The experienced ears +of both told them that it was only a single horseman who came, and, +drawing their pistols, they turned their horses across the road. When +the rider saw the two threatening figures he stopped, but in a moment he +rode on again. They were in gray and so was he. + +"Why, it's Chris Aubrey of the general's own staff!" exclaimed Dalton. +"Don't you know him, Harry?" + +"Of course I do. Aubrey, we're friends. It's Dalton and Kenton." + +Aubrey dashed his hands across his eyes, as if he were clearing a +mist from them. He was worn and weary, and his look bore a singular +resemblance to that of despair. + +"What is it, Chris?" asked Dalton with sympathy. + +"I was sent down the Luray Valley to learn what I could and I discovered +that Ord was advancing with ten thousand men on Front Royal, where +General Jackson left only a small garrison. I'm going as fast as my +horse can take me to tell him." + +"We're on the same kind of a mission, Chris," said Harry. "We've seen +the vanguard of Shields, ten thousand strong coming through Manassas +Gap, and we also are going as fast as our horses can take us to tell +General Jackson." + +"My God! Does it mean that we are about to be surrounded?" + +"It looks like it," said Harry, "but sometimes you catch things that you +can't hold. George and I never give up faith in Old Jack." + +"Nor do I," said Aubrey. "Come on! We'll ride together! I'm glad I met +you boys. You give me courage." + +The three now rode abreast and again they galloped. One or two early +farmers going phlegmatically to their fields saw them, but they passed +on in silence. They had grown too used to soldiers to pay much attention +to them. Moreover, these were their own. + +The whole valley was now flooded with light. To east and to west loomed +the great walls of the mountains, heavy with foliage, cut here and there +by invisible gaps through which Harry knew that the Union troops were +pouring. + +They caught sight of moving heads on a narrow road coming from the west +which would soon merge into theirs. They slackened speed for a moment or +two, uncertain what to do, and then Aubrey exclaimed: + +"It's a detachment of our own cavalry. See their gray uniforms, and +that's Sherburne leading them!" + +"So it is!" exclaimed Harry, and he rode forward joyfully. Sherburne +gave all three of them a warm welcome, but he was far from cheerful. He +led a dozen troopers and they, like himself, were covered with dust +and were drooping with weariness. It was evident to Harry that they had +ridden far and hard, and that they did not bring good news. + +"Well, Harry," said Sherburne, still attempting the gay air, "chance has +brought us together again, and I should judge from your appearance that +you've come a long way, bringing nothing particularly good." + +"It's so. George and I have been riding all night. We were in Manassas +Gap and we learned definitely that Shields is coming through the pass +with ten thousand men." + +"Fine," said Sherburne with a dusty smile. "Ten thousand is a good round +number." + +"And if we'll give him time enough," continued Harry, "McDowell will +come with twice as many more." + +"Look's likely," said Sherburne. + +"We've been riding back toward Jackson as fast as we could," continued +Harry, "and a little while ago Aubrey riding the same way overtook us." + +"And what have you seen, Aubrey?" asked Sherburne. + +"I? Oh, I've seen a lot. I've been down by Front Royal in the night, +and I've seen Ord with ten thousand men coming full tilt down the Luray +Valley." + +"What another ten thousand! It's funny how the Yankees run to even tens +of thousands, or multiples of that number." + +"I've heard," said Harry, "that the force under Banks and Saxton in +front of Jackson was ten thousand also." + +"I'm sorry, boys, to break up this continuity," said Sherburne with +a troubled laugh, "but it's fifteen thousand that I've got to report. +Fremont is coming from the west with that number. We've seen 'em. I've +no doubt that at this moment there are nearly fifty thousand Yankees in +the valley, with more coming, and all but ten thousand of them are in +General Jackson's rear." + +It seemed that Sherburne, daring cavalryman, had lost his courage for +the moment, but the faith of the stern Presbyterian youth, Dalton, never +faltered. + +"As I told Harry a little while ago, we have at least fifty thousand +men," he said. + +"What do you mean?" asked Sherburne. + +"I count Stonewall Jackson as forty thousand, and the rest will bring +the number well over fifty thousand." + +Sherburne struck his gauntleted hand smartly on his thigh. + +"You talk sense, Dalton!" he exclaimed. "I was foolish to despair! I +forgot how much there was under Stonewall Jackson's hat! They haven't +caught the old fox yet!" + +They galloped on anew, and now they were riding on the road, over which +they had pursued so hotly the defeated army of Banks. They would soon +be in Jackson's camp, and as they approached their hearts grew lighter. +They would cast off their responsibilities and trust all to the leader +who appeared so great to them. + +"I see pickets now," said Aubrey. "Only five more minutes, boys, but as +soon as I give my news I'll have to drop. The excitement has kept me up, +but I can't last any longer." + +"Nor I," said Harry, who realized suddenly that he was on the verge +of collapse. "Whether our arrival is to be followed by a battle or a +retreat I'm afraid I won't be fit for either." + +They gave the password, and the pickets pointed to the tent of Jackson. +They rode straight to him, and dismounted as he came forth from the +tent. They were so stiff and sore from long riding that Dalton and +Aubrey fell to their knees when they touched the ground, but they +quickly recovered, and although they stood somewhat awkwardly they +saluted with the deepest respect. Jackson's glance did not escape their +mishap, and he knew the cause, but he merely said: + +"Well, gentlemen." + +"I have to report, sir," said Sherburne, speaking first as the senior +officer, "that General Fremont is coming from the west with fifteen +thousand men, ready to fall upon your right flank." + +"Very good, and what have you seen, Captain Aubrey?" + +"Ord with ten thousand men is in our rear and is approaching Front +Royal." + +"Very good. You have done faithful work, Captain Aubrey. What have you +seen, Lieutenant Kenton and Lieutenant Dalton?" + +"General Shields, sir, is in Manassas Gap this morning with ten thousand +men, and he and General Ord can certainly meet to-day if they wish. We +learned also that General McDowell can come up in a few days with twenty +thousand more." + +The face of Stonewall Jackson never flinched. It looked worn and weary +but not more so than it did before this news. + +"I thank all of you, young gentlemen," he said in his quiet level tones. +"You have done good service. It may be that you're a little weary. You'd +better sleep now. I shall call you when I want you." + +The four saluted and General Jackson went back into the tent. Aubrey +made a grimace. + +"We may be a little tired!" he said. "Why, I haven't been out of the +saddle for twenty-four hours, and I felt so anxious that every one of +those hours was a day long." + +"But it's a lot to get from the general an admission that you may be +even a little tired," said Dalton. "Remember the man for whom you ride." + +"That's so," said Aubrey, "and I oughtn't to have said what I did. We've +got to live up to new standards." + +Sherburne, Aubrey and Dalton picked out soft spots on the grass and +almost instantly were sound asleep, but Harry lingered a minute or two +longer. He saw across the river the glitter of bayonets and the dark +muzzles of cannon. He also saw many troops moving on the hills and he +knew that he was looking upon the remains of Banks' army reinforced by +fresh men, ready to dispute the passage or fight Jackson if he marched +northward in any other way, while the great masses of their comrades +gathered behind him. + +Harry felt again for a moment that terrible sinking of the heart which +is such close kin to despair. Enemies to the north of them, enemies to +the south of them, and to the east and to the west, enemies everywhere. +The ring was closing in. Worse than that, it had closed in already and +Stonewall Jackson was only mortal. Neither he nor any one else could +lead them through the overwhelming ranks of such a force. + +But the feeling passed quickly. It could not linger, because the band +of the Acadians was playing, and the dark men of the Gulf were singing. +Even with the foe in sight, and a long train of battles and marches +behind them, with others yet worse to come, they began to dance, clasped +in one another's arms. + +Many of the Acadians had already gone to a far land and they would never +again on this earth see Antoinette or Celeste or Marie, but the sun of +the south was in the others and they sang and danced in the brief rest +allowed to them. + +Harry liked to look at them. He sat on the grass and leaned his back +against a tree. The music raised up the heart and it was wonderfully +lulling, too. Why worry? Stonewall Jackson would tell them what to do. + +The rhythmic forms grew fainter, and he slept. He was awakened the +next instant by Dalton. Harry opened his eyes heavily and looked +reproachfully at his friend. + +"I've slept less than a minute," he said. + +Dalton laughed. + +"So it seemed to me, too, when I was awakened," he said, "but you've +slept a full two hours just as I did. What do you expect when you're +working for Stonewall Jackson. You'll be lucky later on whenever you get +a single hour." + +Harry brushed the traces of sleep from his eyes and stood up straight. + +"What's wanted?" he asked. + +"You and I and some others are going to take a little railroad trip, +escorted by Stonewall Jackson. That's all I know and that's all anybody +knows except the general. Come along and look your little best." + +Harry brushed out his wrinkled uniform, straightened his cap, and in +a minute he and Dalton were with the group of staff officers about +Jackson. There was still a section of railway in the valley held by the +South, and Jackson and his aides were soon aboard a small train on their +way back to Winchester. Harry, glancing from the window, saw the troops +gathering up their ammunition and the teamsters hitching up their +horses. + +"It's going to be a retreat up the valley," he whispered to Dalton. "But +masses more than three to one are gathering about us." + +"I tell you again, you just trust Old Jack." + +Harry looked toward the far end of the coach where Jackson sat with the +older members of his staff. His figure swayed with the train, but +he showed no sign of weariness or that his dauntless soul dwelt in a +physical body. He was looking out at the window, but it was obvious that +he did not see the green landscape flashing past. Harry knew that he +was making the most complex calculations, but like Dalton he ceased to +wonder about them. He put his faith in Old Jack, and let it go at that. + +There was very little talking in the train. Despite every effort, +Harry's eyes grew heavy and he began to doze a little. He would waken +entirely at times and straighten up with a jerk. Then he would see the +fields and forests still rushing past, now and then a flash as they +crossed a stream, and always the sober figure of the general, staring, +unseeing, through the window. + +He suddenly became wide-awake, when he heard sharp comment in the coach. +All the older officers were gazing through the windows with the greatest +interest. Harry saw a man in Confederate uniform galloping across the +fields and waving his hands repeatedly to the train which was already +checking speed. + +"A staff officer with news," said Dalton. + +"Yes," said Harry, "and I'm thinking it will seem bad news to you and +me." + +The train stopped in a field, and the officer, panting and covered with +dust and perspiration, rode alongside. Jackson walked out on the steps, +followed by his eager officers. + +"What is it?" asked Jackson. + +"The Northern army has retaken Front Royal. The Georgia regiment you +left in garrison there has been driven out and without support is +marching northward. I have here, sir, a dispatch from Colonel Connor, +the commander of the Georgians." + +He handed the folded paper to the general, who received it but did not +open it for a moment. There was something halfway between a sigh and a +groan from the officers, but Jackson said nothing. He smiled, but, as +Harry saw it, it was a strange and threatening smile. Then he opened the +dispatch, read it carefully, tore it into tiny bits and threw them away. +Harry saw the fragments picked up by the wind and whirled across the +field. Jackson nearly always destroyed his dispatches in this manner. + +"Very good," he said to the officer, "you can rejoin Colonel Connor." + +He went back to his seat. The train puffed, heaved and started again. +Jackson leaned against the back of the seat and closed his eyes. He +seemed to be asleep. But the desire for sleep was driven from Harry. +The news of the retaking of Front Royal had stirred the whole train. +Officers talked of it in low tones, but with excitement. The Northern +generals were acting with more than their customary promptness. Already +they had struck a blow and Ord with his ten thousand men had undoubtedly +passed from the Luray Valley into the main Valley of Virginia to form a +junction with Shields and his ten thousand. + +What would Jackson do? Older men in the train than Harry and Dalton were +asking that question, but he remained silent. He kept his eyes closed +for some time, and Harry thought that he must be fast asleep, although +it seemed incredible that a man with such responsibilities could sleep +at such a time. But he opened his eyes presently and began to talk with +a warm personal friend who occupied the other half of the seat. + +Harry did not know the tenor of this conversation then, but he heard of +it later from the general's friend. Jackson had remarked to the man that +he seemed to be surrounded, and the other asked what he would do if the +Northern armies cut him off entirely. Jackson replied that he would go +back toward the north, invade Maryland and march straight on Baltimore +and Washington. Few more daring plans have ever been conceived, but, +knowing Jackson as he learned to know him, Harry always believed that he +would have tried it. + +But the Southern leaders within that mighty and closing ring in the +valley were not the only men who had anxious minds. At the Union capital +they did not know what had become of Jackson. They knew that he was +somewhere within the ring, but where? He might pounce upon a division, +deal another terrible blow and then away! In a week he had drawn +the eyes of the world upon him, and his enemies no longer considered +anything impossible to him. Many a patriot who was ready to die rather +than see the union of the states destroyed murmured: "If he were only on +our side!" There was already talk of recalling McClellan's great army to +defend Washington. + +The object of all this immense anxiety and care was riding peacefully in +a train to Winchester, talking with a friend but conscious fully of his +great danger. It seemed that the Northern generals with their separate +armies were acting in unison at last, and must close down on their prey. + +They came again into Winchester, the town torn so often by battle and +its anxieties, and saw the Presbyterian minister, his face gray with +care, greet Jackson. Then the two walked toward the manse, followed at a +respectful distance by the officers of the staff. + +Harry soon saw that the whole of Winchester was in gloom. They knew +there of the masses in blue converging on Jackson, and few had hope. +While Jackson remained at the manse he sat upon the portico within call. +There was little sound in Winchester. The town seemed to have passed +into an absolute silence. Most of the doors and shutters were closed. + +And yet the valley had never seemed more beautiful to Harry. Far off +were the dim blue mountains that enclosed it on either side, and the +bright skies never bent in a more brilliant curve. + +He felt again that overpowering desire to sleep, and he may have dozed a +little when he sat there in the sun, but he was wide awake when Jackson +called him. + +"I want you to go at once to Harper's Ferry with this note," he said, +"and give it to the officer in command. He will bring back the troops to +Winchester, and you are to come with him. You can go most of the way on +the train and then you must take to your horse. The troops will march +back by the valley turnpike." + +Harry saluted and was off. He soon found that other officers were going +to the various commands with orders similar to his, and he no longer had +any doubt that the whole force would be consolidated and would withdraw +up the valley. He was right. Jackson had abandoned the plan of entering +Maryland and marching on Baltimore and Washington, and was now about +to try another, fully as daring, but calling for the most sudden and +complicated movements. He had arranged it all, as he rode in the train, +most of it as he leaned against the back of the seat with his eyes shut. + +Harry was soon back in Harper's Ferry, and the troops there immediately +began their retreat. Most all of them knew of the great danger that +menaced their army, but Harry, a staff officer, understood better than +the regimental commanders what was occurring. The Invincibles were in +their division and he rode with the two colonels, St. Clair and Happy +Tom Langdon. They went at a swift pace and behind them came the steady +beat of the marching troops on the turnpike. + +"You have been with General Jackson in Winchester, Harry," said Colonel +Leonidas Talbot in his precise manner, "and I judge that you must have +formed some idea of his intentions. This indicates a general retreat +southward, does it not?" + +"I think so, sir. General Jackson has said nothing, but I know that +orders have been sent to all our detachments to draw in. He must have +some plan of cutting his way through toward the south. What do you +think, Colonel St. Hilaire?" + +"It must be so," replied Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, "but +how he will do it is beyond me. When I look around at all these blue +mountains, Leonidas, it seems to me that we're enclosed by living +battlements." + +"Or that Jackson is like the tiger in the bush, surrounded by the +beaters." + +"Yes, and sometimes it's woe to the beaters when they come too near." + +Harry dropped back with his younger friends who were by no means of sad +demeanor. St. Clair had restored his uniform to its usual immaculate +neatness or in some manner he had obtained a new one. Tom Langdon was +Happy Tom again. + +"We've eaten well, and we've slept well," said Langdon, "and Arthur and +I are restored completely. He's the finest dandy in the army again, +and I'm ready for another week's run with Jackson. I know I won't get +another chance to rest in a long time, but Old Stonewall needn't think I +can't march as long as he can." + +"You'll get your fill of it," said Harry, "and of fighting, too. Take a +look all around you. No, not a half circle, but a complete circle." + +"Well, I've twisted my neck until my head nearly falls off. What +signifies the performance?" + +"There was no time when you were turning around the circle that your +eyes didn't look toward Yankees. Nearly fifty thousand of 'em are in the +valley. We're in a ring of steel, Happy." + +"Well, Old Jack will just take his sword and slash that steel ring +apart. And if he should fail I'm here. Lead me to 'em, Harry." + +Langdon's spirits were infectious. Even the marching men who heard Happy +Tom laugh, laughed with him and were more cheerful. They marched +faster, too, and from other points men were coming quickly to Jackson +at Winchester. They were even coming into contact with the ring of +steel which was closing in on them. Fremont, advancing with his fifteen +thousand from the mountains, met a heavy fire from a line of ambushed +riflemen. Not knowing where Jackson was or what he was doing, and +fearing that the great Confederate commander might be before him with +his whole army, he stopped at Cedar Creek and made a camp of defense. + +Shields, in the south, moving forward, found a swarm of skirmishers +in his front, and presently the Acadians, sent in that direction by +Jackson, opened up with a heavy fire on his vanguard. Shields drew back. +He, too, feared that Jackson with his entire army was before him and +rumor magnified the Southern force. Meanwhile the flying cavalry of +Ashby harassed the Northern advance at many points. + +All the time the main army of Jackson was retreating toward Winchester, +carrying with it the prisoners and a vast convoy of wagons filled with +captured ammunition and stores. Jackson had foreseen everything. He had +directed the men who were leading these forces to pass around Winchester +in case he was compelled to abandon it, circle through the mountains and +join him wherever he might be. + +But Harry when he returned to Winchester breathed a little more freely. +He felt in some manner that the steel ring did not compress so tightly. +Jackson, acting on the inside of the circle, had spread consternation. +The Northern generals could not communicate with one another because +either mountains or Southern troops came between. Prisoners whom the +Southern cavalry brought in told strange stories. Rumor in their ranks +had magnified Jackson's numbers double or triple. Many believed that +a great force was coming from Richmond to help him. Jackson was +surrounded, but the beaters were very wary about pressing in on him. + +Yet the Union masses in the valley had increased. McDowell himself had +now come, and he sent forward cavalry details which, losing the way, +were compelled to return. Fremont on the west at last finding the line +of riflemen before him withdrawn, pushed forward, and saw the long +columns of the Southern army with their wagons moving steadily toward +the south. His cavalry attacking were driven off and the Southern +division went on. + +Harry with the retreating division wondered at these movements and +admired their skill. Jackson's army, encumbered as it was with prisoners +and stores, was passing directly between the armies of Fremont and +Shields, covering its flanks with clouds of skirmishers and cavalry that +beat off every attack of the hostile vanguards, and that kept the two +Northern armies from getting into touch. + +Jackson had not stopped at Winchester. He had left that town once more +to the enemy and was still drawing back toward the wider division of the +valley west of the Massanuttons. The great mind was working very fast +now. The men themselves saw that warlike genius incarnate rode on the +back of Little Sorrel. Jackson was slipping through the ring, carrying +with him every prisoner and captured wagon. + +His lightning strokes to right and to left kept Shields and Fremont +dazed and bewildered, and McDowell neither knew what was passing nor +could he get his forces together. Harry saw once more and with amazement +the dark bulk of the Massanuttons rising on his left and he knew that +these great isolated mountains would again divide the Union force, while +Jackson passed on in the larger valley. + +He felt a thrill, powerful and indescribable. Jackson in very truth had +slashed across with his sword that great ring of steel and was passing +through the break, leaving behind not a single prisoner, nor a single +wagon. Sixty-two thousand men had not only failed to hold sixteen +thousand, but their scattered forces had suffered numerous severe +defeats from the far smaller army. It was not that the Northern men were +inferior to the Southern in courage and tenacity, but the Southern army +was led by a genius of the first rank, unmatched as a military leader in +modern times, save by Napoleon and Lee. + +It was the last day of May and the twilight was at hand. The dark masses +of Little North Mountain to the west and of the Massanuttons to the east +were growing dim. Harry rode by the side of Dalton a few paces in the +rear of Jackson, and he watched the somber, silent man, riding silently +on Little Sorrel. There was nothing bright or spectacular about him. The +battered gray uniform was more battered than ever. In place of the worn +cap an old slouched hat now shaded his forehead and eyes. But Harry +knew that their extraordinary achievements had not been due to luck or +chance, but were the result of the mighty calculations that had been +made in the head under the old slouched hat. + +Harry heard behind him the long roll and murmur of the marching army, +the wheels of cannon and wagons grating on the turnpike, the occasional +neigh of a horse, the rattle of arms and the voices of men talking low. +Most of these men had been a year and a half ago citizens untrained for +war. They were not mere creatures of drill, but they were intelligent, +and they thought for themselves. They knew as well as the officers what +Jackson had done and henceforth they looked upon him as something almost +superhuman. Confident in his genius they were ready to follow wherever +Jackson led, no matter what the odds. + +These were exactly the feelings of both Harry and Dalton. They would +never question or doubt again. Both of them, with the hero worship of +youth felt a mighty swell of pride, that they should ride with so great +a leader, and be so near to him. + +The army marched on in the darkening hours, leaving behind it sixty +thousand men who closed up the ring only to find their game gone. + +Harry heard from the older staff officers that they would go on up +the valley until they came to the Gaps of the Blue Ridge. There in +an impregnable position they could turn and fight pursuit or take the +railway to Richmond and join in the defense against McClellan. It +all depended on what Jackson thought, and his thoughts were uniformly +disclosed by action. + +Meanwhile the news was spreading through the North that Jackson had +escaped, carrying with him his prisoners and captured stores. Odds had +counted for nothing. All the great efforts directed from Washington had +been unavailing. All the courage and energy of brave men had been in +vain. But the North did not cease her exertions for an instant. Lincoln, +a man of much the same character as Jackson, but continually thwarted +by mediocre generals, urged the attack anew. Dispatches were sent to all +the commanders ordering them to push the pursuit of Jackson and to bring +him to battle. + +Cut to the quick by their great failure, Fremont, Shields, Ord, +Banks, McDowell and all the rest, pushed forward on either side of the +Massanuttons, those on the west intending to cross at the gap, join +their brethren, and make another concerted attempt at Jackson's +destruction. + +But Harry ceased to think of armies and battles as he rode on in the +dark. He was growing sleepy again and he dozed in his saddle. Half +consciously he thought of his father and wondered where he was. He had +received only one letter from him after Shiloh, but he believed that he +was still with the Confederate army in the west, taking an active part. +Much as he loved his father it was the first time that he had been in +his thoughts in the last two weeks. How could any one think of anything +but the affair of the moment at such a time, when the seconds were +ticked off by cannon-shots! + +In this vague and pleasant dream he also remembered Dick Mason, his +cousin, who was now somewhere there in the west fighting on the other +side. He thought of Dick with affection and he liked him none the less +because he wore the blue. Then, curiously enough, the last thing that +he remembered was his Tacitus, lying in his locked desk in the Pendleton +Academy. He would get out that old fellow again some day and finish him. +Then he fell sound asleep in his saddle, and the horse went steadily on, +safely carrying his sleeping master. + +He did not awake until midnight, when Dalton's hand on his shoulder +caused him to open his eyes. + +"I've been asleep, too, Harry," said Dalton, "but I woke up first. We're +going into camp here for the rest of the night." + +"I'm glad to stop," said Harry, "but I wonder what the dawn will bring." + +"I wonder," said Dalton. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE SULLEN RETREAT + + +Harry, like the rest of the army, slept soundly through the rest of the +night and they rose to a brilliant first day of June. The scouts said +that the whole force of Fremont was not far behind, while the army of +Shields was marching on a parallel line east of the Massanuttons, and +ready at the first chance to form a junction with Fremont. + +Youth seeks youth and Harry and Dalton found a little time to talk with +St. Clair and Langdon. + +"We've broken their ring and passed through," said Langdon, "but as sure +as we live we'll all be fighting again in a day. If the Yankees follow +too hard Old Jack will turn and fight 'em. Now, why haven't the Yankees +got sense enough to let us alone and go home?" + +"They'll never do it," said Dalton gravely. "We've got to recognize that +fact. I'm never going to say another word about the Yankees not being +willing to fight." + +"They're too darned willing," said Happy Tom. "That's the trouble." + +"I woke up just about the dawn," said Dalton. "Everybody was asleep, but +the general, and I saw him praying." + +"Then it means fighting and lots of it," said St. Clair. "I'm going to +make the best use I can of this little bit of rest, as I don't expect +another chance for at least a month. Stonewall Jackson thinks that one +hour a day for play keeps Jack from being a dull boy." + +"Just look at our colonels, will you?" said Happy Tom. "They're +believers in what Arthur says." + +Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire were +sitting in a corner of a rail fence opposite each other, and their bent +gray heads nearly touched. But their eyes were on a small board between +them and now and then they moved carved figures back and forth. + +"They're playing chess," whispered Happy Tom. "They found the board and +set of men in the captured baggage, and this is their first chance to +use them." + +"They can't possibly finish a game," said Harry. + +"No," said Tom, "they can't, and it's just as well. Why anybody wants to +play chess is more than I can understand. I'd rather watch a four-mile +race between two turtles. It's a lot swifter and more thrilling." + +"It takes intelligence to play chess, Happy," said St. Clair. + +"And time, too," rejoined Happy. "If a thing consumes a lifetime anyway, +what's the use of intelligence?" + +A bugle sounded. The two colonels raised their gray heads and gave the +chess men and the board to an orderly. The four boys returned to their +horses, and in a few minutes Jackson's army was once more on the march, +the Acadian band near the head of the column playing as joyously as +if it had never lost a member in battle. The mountains and the valley +between were bathed in light once more. The heavy dark green foliage on +the slopes of the Massanuttons rested the eye and the green fields of +the valley were cheering. + +"I don't believe I'd ever forget this valley if I lived to be a +thousand," said Harry. "I've marched up and down it so much and every +second of the time was so full of excitement." + +"Here's one day of peace, or at least it looks so," said Dalton. + +But Jackson beckoned to Harry, bade him ride to the rear and report if +there was any sign of the enemy. They had learned to obey quickly and +Harry galloped back by the side of the marching army. Even now the men +were irrepressible and he was saluted with the old familiar cries: + +"Hey, Johnny Reb, come back! You're going toward the Yankees, not away +from 'em." + +"Let him go ahead, Bill. He's goin' to tell the Yankees to stop or he'll +hurt 'em." + +"That ain't the way to ride a hoss, bub. Don't set up so straight in the +saddle." + +Harry paid no attention to this disregard of his dignity as an officer. +He had long since become used to it, and, if they enjoyed it, he was +glad to furnish the excuse. He reached the rear guard of scouts and +skirmishers, and, turning his horse, kept with them for a while, but +they saw nothing. Sherburne, with a detachment of the cavalry was there, +and Ashby, who commanded all the horse, often appeared. + +"Fremont's army is not many miles behind," said Sherburne. "If we were +to ride a mile or two toward it we could see its dust. But the Yanks +are tired and they can't march fast. I wish I knew how far up the Luray +Shields and his army are. We've got to look out for that junction of +Shields and Fremont." + +"We'll pass the Gap before they can make the junction," said Harry +confidently. + +"How's Old Jack looking?" + +"Same as ever." + +"That is, like a human sphinx. Well, you can never tell from his face +what he's thinking, but you can be sure that he's thinking something +worth while." + +"You think then I can report to him that the pursuit will not catch up +to-day?" + +"I'm sure of it. I've talked with Ashby also about it and he says +they're yet too far back. Harry, what day is this?" + +Harry smiled at the sudden question, but he understood how Sherburne, +amid almost continuous battle, had lost sight of time. + +"I heard someone say it was the first of June," he replied. + +"No later than that? Why, it seemed to me that it must be nearly autumn. +Do you know, Harry, that on this very day, two years ago, I was up there +in those mountains to the west with a jolly camping party. I was just a +boy then, and now here I am an old man." + +"About twenty-three, I should say." + +"A good guess, but anyway I've been through enough to make me feel +sixty. I promise you, Harry, that if ever I get through this war alive +I'll shoot the man who tries to start another. Look at the fields! How +fine and green they are! Think of all that good land being torn up by +the hoofs of cavalry and the wheels of cannon!" + +"If you are going to be sentimental I'll leave you," said Harry, and the +action followed the word. He rode away, because he was afraid he would +grow sentimental himself. + +The army continued its peaceful march up the valley and most of the +night that followed. Harry was allowed to obtain a few hours sleep in +the latter part of the night in one of the captured wagons. It was a +covered wagon and he selected it because he noticed that the night, even +if it was the first of June, was growing chill. But he had no time to be +particular about the rest. He did not undress--he had not undressed in +days--but lying between two sacks of meal with his head on a third sack +he sank into a profound slumber. + +When Harry awoke he felt that the wagon was moving. He also heard the +patter of rain on his canvas roof. It was dusky in there, but he saw in +front of him the broad back of the teamster who sat on the cross seat +and drove. + +"Hello!" exclaimed Harry, sitting up. "What's happened?" + +A broad red face was turned to him, and a voice issuing from a slit +almost all the way across its breadth replied: + +"Well, if little old Rip Van Winkle hasn't waked up at last! Why, you've +slept nigh on to four hours, and nobody in Stonewall Jackson's army is +ever expected to sleep more'n three and that's gospel truth, as shore's +my name is Sam Martin." + +"But, Sam, you don't tell me what's happened!" + +"It's as simple as A, B, C. We're movin' ag'in, and that fine June day +yestiddy that we liked so much is gone forever. The second o' June ain't +one little bit like the first o' June. It's cold and it's wet. Can't you +hear the rain peltin' on the canvas? Besides, the Yanks are comin' up, +too. I done heard the boomin' o' cannon off there toward the rear." + +"Oh, why wasn't I called! Here I am sleeping away, and the enemy is +already in touch with us!" + +"Don't you worry any 'bout that, sonny. Don't you be so anxious to git +into a fight, 'cause you'll have plenty of chances when you can't keep +out o' it. 'Sides, Gin'ral Jackson ain't been expectin' you. We're up +near the head o' the line an' 'bout an hour ago when we was startin' +a whiskered man on a little sorrel hoss rid up an' said: 'Which o' my +staff have you got in there? I remember 'signin' one to you last night.' +I bows very low an' I says: 'Gin'ral Jackson, I don't know his name. He +was too sleepy to give it, but he's a real young fellow, nice an' quiet. +He ain't give no trouble at all. He's been sleepin' so hard I think he +has pounded his ear clean through one o' them bags o' meal.' Gin'ral +Jackson laughs low an' just a little, and then he takes a peek into the +wagon. 'Why, it's young Harry Kenton!' he says. 'Let him sleep on till +he wakes. He deserves it!' Then he lets fall the canvas an' he ups +an' rides away. An' if I was in your place, young Mr. Kenton, I'd feel +mighty proud to have Stonewall Jackson say that I deserved more rest." + +"I am proud, but I've got to go now. I don't know where I'll find my +horse." + +"I know, an' what's more I'll tell. An orderly came back with him +saddled an' bridled an' he's hitched to this here wagon o' mine. +Good-bye, Mr. Kenton, I'm sorry you're goin' 'cause you've been a nice, +pleasant boarder, sayin' nothin' an' givin' no trouble." + +Harry thanked him, and then in an instant was out of the wagon and on +his horse. It required only a few minutes to overtake Jackson and his +staff, who were riding soberly along in the rain. He noticed with relief +that he was not the last to join the chief. Two or three others came up +later. Jackson nodded pleasantly to them all as they came. + +But the morning was gloomy in the extreme. Harry was glad to shelter +himself with the heavy cavalry cloak from the cold rain. All the skies +were covered with sullen clouds, and the troops trudged silently on +in deep mud. Now and then a wind off the mountains threshed the rain +sharply into their faces. From the rear came the deep, sullen mutter +which Harry so readily recognized as the sound of the big guns. Sam +Martin was right. The enemy was most decidedly "in touch." + +Dalton handed Harry some cold food and he ate it in the saddle. Jackson +rode on saying nothing, his head bowed a little, his gaze far away. The +officers of his staff were also silent. Jackson after a while reined his +horse out of the road, and his staff, of course, followed. The troops +filed past and Jackson said: + +"We will soon pass the Gap in the Massanuttons, and Shields cannot come +out there ahead of us. That danger is left behind." + +"What of the junction between Shields and Fremont, General?" asked one +of the older officers. + +Jackson cast one glance at the somber heavens. + +"Providence favors us," he said. "The south fork of the Shenandoah flows +between Fremont and Shields. It is swollen already by the rains and the +rushing torrents from the mountains, and if I read the skies right we're +going to have other long and heavy rains. They can't ford the Shenandoah +and they can't stop to bridge it. It will be a long time before they can +bring a united force against us." + +But while he spoke the mutter of the guns grew louder. Jackson listened +attentively a long time, and then sent several of his staff officers to +the rear with orders to the cavalry, the Invincibles under Talbot, and +one other regiment to hold the enemy off at all costs. As Harry galloped +back the mutter of the cannon grew into thunder. There was also the +sharper crash of rifle fire. Presently he saw the flash of the firing +and numerous spires of smoke rising. + +His own message was to the Invincibles and he delivered the brief note +to Colonel Talbot, who read it quickly and then tore it up. + +"Stay with us a while, Harry," he said, "and you can then report more +fully to the general what is going on. They crowd us hard. Look how +their sharpshooters are swarming in the woods and fields yonder." + +An orchard to the left of the road and only a short distance away was +filled with the Union riflemen. Running from tree to tree and along the +fences they sent bullets straight into the ranks of the Invincibles. +Four guns were turned and swept the orchard with shell, but the wary +sharpshooters darted to another point, and again came the hail of +bullets. Colonel Talbot bade his weary men turn, but at the moment, +Sherburne, with a troop of cavalry, swept down on the riflemen and sent +them flying. Harry saw Colonel Talbot's lips moving, and he knew that he +was murmuring thanks because Sherburne had come so opportunely. + +"We're not having an easy time," he said to Harry. "They press us hard. +We drive them back for a time, and they come again. They have field +guns, too, and they are handled with great skill. If I do not mistake +greatly, they are under the charge of Carrington, who, you remember, +fought us at that fort in the valley before Bull Run, John Carrington, +old John Carrington, my classmate at West Point, a man who wouldn't hurt +a fly, but who is the most deadly artillery officer in the world." + +Harry remembered that famous duel of the guns in the hills and Colonel +Talbot's admiration of his opponent, Carrington. Now he could see it +shining in his eyes as strongly as ever. + +"Why are you so sure, colonel, that it's Carrington?" he asked. + +"Because nobody else could handle those field guns as he does. He +brings 'em up, sends the shot and shell upon us, then hitches up like +lightning, is away before we can charge, and in a minute or two is +firing into our line elsewhere. Trust Carrington for such work, and I'm +glad he hasn't been killed. John's the dearest soul in the world, as +gentle as a woman. Down! Down! all of you! There are the muzzles of his +guns in the bushes again!" + +Colonel Talbot's order was so sharp and convincing that most of the +Invincibles mechanically threw themselves upon their faces, just as four +field pieces crashed and the shell and shrapnel flew over their heads. +That rapid order had saved them, but the officers on horseback were +not so lucky. A captain was killed, Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire was +grazed on the shoulder, and the horse of Colonel Talbot was killed under +him. + +But Colonel Talbot, alert and agile, despite his years, sprang clear +of the falling horse and said emphatically to his second in command, +Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire: + +"The last doubt is gone! It's Carrington as sure as we live!" + +Then he gave a quick order to his men to rise and fire with the rifles, +but the woods protected the gunners, and, when Sherburne with his +cavalry charged into the forest, Carrington and his guns were gone. + +Colonel Talbot procured another horse, and the Invincibles, sore of body +and mind, resumed their slow and sullen retreat. Harry left them and +rode further along the front of the rear guard. Under the somber skies +and in the dripping rain there was a long line of flashing rifles and +the flaming of big guns at intervals. + +Fremont was pushing the pursuit and pushing it hard. Harry recognized +anew the surpassing skill of Jackson in keeping his enemies separated by +mountains and streams, while his own concentrated force marched on. He +felt that Fremont would hold Jackson in battle if he could until the +other Northern armies came up, and he felt also that Jackson would +lead Fremont beyond a junction with the others and then turn. Yet these +Northern men were certainly annoying. They did not seem to mind defeats. +Here they were fighting as hard as ever, pursuing and not pursued. + +Harry, turning to the left, saw a numerous body of cavalry under Ashby, +supported by guns also, and he joined them. Ashby on his famous white +horse was riding here and there, exposing himself again and again to the +fire of the enemy, who was pressing close. He nodded to Harry, whom he +knew. + +"You can report to General Jackson," he said, "that the enemy is +continually attacking, but that we are continually beating him off." + +Just as he spoke a trumpet sounded loud and clear in the edge of a wood +only three or four hundred yards away. There was a tremendous shout from +many men, and then the thunder of hoofs. A cavalry detachment, more than +a thousand strong, rushed down upon them, and to right and left of the +horse, regiments of infantry, supported by field batteries, charged +also. + +The movement was so sudden, so violent and so well-conceived that +Ashby's troops were swept away, despite every effort of the leader, who +galloped back and forth on his white horse begging them to stand. So +powerful was the rush that the cavalry were finally driven in retreat +and with them the Invincibles. + +Some of the troops, worn by battles and marches until the will weakened +with the body, broke and ran up the road. Harry heard behind him the +triumphant shouts of their pursuers and he saw the Northern bayonets +gleaming as they came on in masses. Ashby was imploring his men to stand +but they would not. The columns pressing upon them were too heavy and +they scarcely had strength enough left to fight. + +More and yet more troops came into battle. The Northern success for the +time was undoubted. The men in blue were driving in the Southern rear +guard, and Ashby was unable to hold the road. + +But the two colonels at last succeeded in drawing the Invincibles across +the turnpike, where they knelt in good order and sent volley after +volley into the pursuing ranks. Fremont's men wavered and then stopped, +and Ashby, upbraiding his horsemen and calling their attention to the +resolute stand of the infantry, brought them into action again. Infantry +and cavalry then uniting, drove back the Northern vanguard, and, for the +time being, the Southern rear guard was safe once more. + +But the Invincibles and the cavalry were almost exhausted. Harry found +St. Clair wounded, not badly, but with enough loss of blood for Colonel +Talbot to send him to one of the wagons. He insisted that he was +still fit to help hold the road, but Colonel Talbot ordered two of the +soldiers to put him in the wagon and he was compelled to submit. + +"We can't let you die now from loss of blood, you young fire-eater," +said Colonel Talbot severely, "because you may be able to serve us +better by getting killed later on." + +St. Clair smiled wanly and with his formal South Carolina politeness +said: + +"Thanks, sir, it helps a lot when you're able to put it in such a +satisfactory way." + +Harry, who was unhurt, gave St. Clair a strong squeeze of the hand. + +"You'll be up and with us again soon, Arthur," he said consolingly, and +then he rode away to Ashby. + +"You may tell General Jackson that we can hold them back," said the +cavalry leader grimly. "You have just seen for yourself." + +"I have, sir," replied Harry, and he galloped away from the rear. But +he soon met the general himself, drawn by the uncommonly heavy firing. +Harry told him what had happened, but the expression of Jackson's face +did not change. + +"A rather severe encounter," he said, "but Ashby can hold them." + +All that day, nearly all that night and all the following day Harry +passed between Jackson and Ashby or with them. It was well for the +Virginians that they were practically born on horseback and were trained +to open air and the forests. For thirty-six hours the cavalry were in +the saddle almost without a break. And so was Harry. He had forgotten +all about food and rest. He was in a strange, excited mood. He seemed to +see everything through a red mist. In all the thirty-six hours the crash +of rifles or the thud of cannon ceased scarcely for a moment. It went on +just the same in day or in night. The Northern troops, although led by +no such general as Stonewall Jackson, showed the splendid stuff of which +they were made. They were always eager to push hard and yet harder. + +The Southern troops burnt the bridges over the creeks as they retreated, +but the Northern men waded through the water and followed. The clouds +of cavalry were always in touch. A skirmish was invariably proceeding +at some point. Toward evening of the second day's pursuit, they came to +Mount Jackson, to which they had retreated once before, and there went +into camp in a strong place. + +But the privates themselves knew that they could not stay there long. +They might turn and beat off Fremont's army, but then they would have +to reckon with the second army under Shields and the yet heavier masses +that McDowell was bringing up. But Jackson himself gave no sign +of discouragement. He went cheerfully among the men, and saw that +attention, as far as possible at such a time, was given to their needs. +Harry hunted up St. Clair and found him with a bandaged shoulder sitting +in his wagon. He was sore but cheerful. + +"The doctor tells me, Harry, that I can take my place in the line in +three more days," he said, "but I intend to make it two. I fancy that we +need all the men we can get now, and that I won't be driven back to this +wagon." + +"If I were as well fixed as you are, Arthur," said Langdon, who appeared +at this moment on the other side of the wagon, "I'd stay where I was. +But it's so long since I've been hauled that I'm afraid the luxury would +overpower me. Think of lying on your back and letting the world float +peacefully by! Did I say 'think of it'? I was wrong. It is unthinkable. +Now, Harry, what plans has Old Jack got for us?" + +"I don't know." + +"Well, he'll get us out of this. We're sure of that. But when? That's +the question." + +The question remained without an answer. Early the next morning they +were on the march again under lowering skies. The heavens from horizon +to horizon were a sodden gray and began to drip rain. Harry was sent +again to the rear-guard, where Ashby's cavalry hung like a curtain, +backed by the Invincibles and one or two other skeleton regiments. + +Harry joined Sherburne and now the drip of the rain became a steady +beat. Chilling winds from the mountains swept over them. He had +preserved through thick and thin, through battle and through march that +big cavalry cloak, and now he buttoned it tightly around him. + +He saw down the road puffs of smoke and heard the lashing fire of +rifles, but it did not make his pulses beat any faster now. He had grown +so used to it that it seemed to be his normal life. A bullet fired from +a rifle of longer range than the others plumped into the mud at the feet +of his horse, but he paid no attention to it. + +He joined Sherburne, who was using his glasses, watching through the +heavy, thick air the Northern advance. The brilliant young cavalryman, +while as bold and enduring as ever, had changed greatly in the last two +or three weeks. The fine uniform was stained and bedraggled. Sherburne +himself had lost more than twenty pounds and his face was lined and +anxious far more than the face of a mere boy of twenty-three should have +been. + +"I think they'll press harder than ever," said Sherburne. + +"Why?" + +"The Shenandoah river, or rather the north fork of it, isn't far ahead. +They'd like to coop us up against it and make us fight, while their +army under Shields and all their other armies--God knows how many they +have--are coming up." + +"The river is bridged, isn't it?" + +"Yes, but it takes a good while to get an army such as ours, loaded down +with prisoners and spoil, across it, and if they rushed us just when we +were starting over it, we'd have to turn and give battle. Jupiter, how +it rains! Behold the beauties of war, Harry!" + +The wind suddenly veered a little, and with it the rain came hard and +fast. It seemed to blow off the mountains in sheets and for a moment or +two Harry was blinded. The beat of the storm upon leaves and earth +was so hard that the cracking of the rifles was dulled and deadened. +Nevertheless the rifle fire went on, and as well as Harry could judge, +without any decrease in violence. + +"Hear the bugles now!" said Sherburne. "Their scouts are warning them of +the approach to the Shenandoah. They'll be coming up in a minute or two +in heavier force. Ah, see, Ashby understands, too! He's massing the men +to hold them back!" + +The rain still poured with all the violence of a deluge, but the +Northern force, horse and cannon, pushed forward through the mud and +opened with all their might. Ashby's cavalry and the infantry in support +replied. There was something grim and awful to Harry in this fight in +the raging storm. Now and then, he could not see the flame of the firing +for the rain in his eyes. By a singular chance a bullet cut the button +of his cloak at the throat and the cloak flew open there. In a minute he +was soaked through and through with water, but he did not notice it. + +The cavalry, the Invincibles and the other regiments were making a +desperate stand in order that the army might cross the bridge of the +Shenandoah. Harry was seized with a sort of fury. Why should these men +try to keep them from getting across? It was their right to escape. +Presently he found himself firing with his pistols into the great pillar +of fire and smoke and rain in front of him. Mud splashed up by the +horses struck him in the face now and then, and stung like gunpowder, +but he began to shout with joy when he saw that Ashby was holding back +the Northern vanguard. + +Ahead of him the Southern army was already rumbling over the bridge, +while the swollen and unfordable waters of the Shenandoah raced beneath +it. But the Northern brigades pressed hard. Harry did not know whether +the rain helped them or hurt them, but at any rate it was terribly +uncomfortable. It poured on them in sheets and sheets and the earth +seemed to be a huge quagmire. He wondered how the men were able to keep +their ammunition dry enough to fire, but that they did was evident from +the crash that went on without ceasing. + +"In thinking of war before I really knew it," said Harry, "I never +thought much of weather." + +"Does sound commonplace, but it cuts a mighty big figure I can tell you. +If it hadn't rained so hard just before Waterloo Napoleon would have got +up his big guns more easily, winning the battle, and perhaps changing +the history of the world. Confound it, look at that crowd pushing +forward through the field to take us in the flank!" + +"Western men, I think," said Harry. "Here are two of our field guns, +Sherburne! Get 'em to throw some grape in there!" + +It was lucky that the guns approached at that moment. Their commander, +as quick of eye as either Harry or Sherburne, unlimbered and swept back +the western men who were seeking to turn their flank. Then Sherburne, +with a charge of his cavalry, sent them back further. But at the call of +Ashby's trumpet they turned quickly and galloped after Jackson's army, +the main part of which had now passed the bridge. + +"I suppose we'll burn the bridge after we cross it," said Harry. + +"Of course." + +"But how on earth can we set fire to it with this Noah's flood coming +down?" + +"I don't know. They'll manage it somehow. Look, Harry, see the flames +bursting from the timbers now. Gallop, men! Gallop! We may get our faces +scorched in crossing the bridge, but when we're on the other side it +won't be there for the Yankees!" + +The Invincibles and the other infantry regiments all were advancing at +the double quick, with the cavalry closing up the rear. Behind them many +bugles rang and through the dense rain they saw the Northern cavalry +leaders swinging their sabers and cheering on their men, and they also +saw behind them the heavy masses of infantry coming up. + +Harry knew that it was touch-and-go. The bulk of the army was across, +and if necessary they must sacrifice Ashby's cavalry, but that sacrifice +would be too great. Harry had never seen Ashby and his gallant captains +show more courage. They fought off the enemy to the very last and then +galloped for the bridge, under a shower of shell and grape and bullets. +Ashby's own horse was killed under him, falling headlong in the mud, +but in an instant somebody supplied him with a fresh one, upon which +he leaped, and then they thundered over the burning bridge, Ashby and +Sherburne the last two to begin the crossing. + +Harry, who was just ahead of Ashby and Sherburne, felt as if the flames +were licking at them. With an involuntary motion he threw up his hands +to protect his eyes from the heat, and he also had a horrible sensation +lest the bridge, its supporting timbers burned through, should fall, +sending them all into the rushing flood. + +But the bridge yet held and Harry uttered a gasp of relief as the feet +of his horse struck the deep mud on the other side. They galloped on for +two or three hundred yards, and then at the command of Ashby turned. + +The bridge was a majestic sight, a roaring pyramid that shot forth +clouds of smoke and sparks in myriads. + +"How under the sun did we cross it?" Harry exclaimed. + +"We crossed it, that's sure, because here we are," said Sherburne. "I +confess myself that I don't know just how we did it, Harry, but it's +quite certain that the enemy will never cross it. The fire's too strong. +Besides, they'd have our men to face." + +Harry looked about, and saw several thousand men drawn up to dispute the +passage, but the Northern troops recognizing its impossibility at that +time, made no attempt. Nevertheless their cannon sent shells curving +over the stream, and the Southern cannon sent curving shells in reply. +But the burning bridge roared louder and the pyramid of flame rose +higher. The rain, which had never ceased to pour in a deluge, merely +seemed to feed it. + +"Ah, she's about to go now," exclaimed Sherburne. + +The bridge seemed to Harry to rear up before his eyes like a living +thing, and then draw together a mass of burning timbers. The next moment +the whole went with a mighty crash into the river, and the blazing +fragments floated swiftly away on the flood. The deep and rapid +Shenandoah flowed a barrier between the armies of Jackson and Fremont. + +"A river can be very beautiful without a bridge, Harry, can't it?" said +a voice beside him. + +It was St. Clair, a heavy bandage over his left shoulder, but a smoking +rifle in his right hand, nevertheless. + +"I couldn't stand it any longer, Harry," he said. "I had to get up and +join the Invincibles, and you see I'm all right." + +Harry was compelled to laugh at the sodden figure, from which the rain +ran in streams. But he admired St. Clair's spirit. + +"It was by a hair's breadth, Arthur," he said. + +"But we won across, just the same, and now I'm going back to that wagon +to finish my cure. I fancy that we'll now have a rest of six or eight +hours, if General Jackson doesn't think so much time taken from war a +mere frivolity." + +The Southern army drew off slowly, but as soon as it was out of sight +the tenacious Northern troops undertook to follow. They attempted to +build a bridge of boats, but the flood was so heavy that they were swept +away. Then Fremont set men to work to rebuild the bridge, which they +could do in twenty-four hours, but Jackson, meanwhile, was using every +one of those precious hours. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE DOUBLE BATTLE + + +The twenty-four hours were a rest, merely by comparison. There was no +pursuit, at least, the enemy was not in sight, but the scouts brought +word that the bridge over the Shenandoah would be completed in a day and +night, and that Fremont would follow. Jackson's army triumphantly passed +the last defile of the Massanuttons and the army of Shields did not +appear issuing from it. It was no longer possible for them to be struck +in front and on the flank at the same time, and the army breathed a +mighty sigh of relief. At night of the next day Harry was sitting by the +camp of the Invincibles, having received a brief leave of absence from +the staff, and he detailed the news to his eager friends. + +"General Jackson is stripping again for battle," he said to Colonel +Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. "He's sent +all the sick and wounded across a ferry to Staunton, and he's dispatched +his prisoners and captured stores by another road. So he has nothing +left but men fit for battle." + +"Which includes me," said St. Clair proudly, showing his left shoulder +from which the bandage had been taken, "I'm as well as ever." + +"Men get well fast with Stonewall Jackson," said Colonel Talbot. "I'll +confess to you lads that I thought it was all up with us there in the +lower valley, when we were surrounded by the masses of the enemy, and I +don't see yet how we got here." + +"But we are here, Leonidas," said Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, +"and that's enough for us to know." + +"Right, Hector, old friend. It's enough for us to know. Do you by chance +happen to have left two of those delightful cigarettes?" + +"Just two, Leonidas, one for you and one for me, and now is a chance to +smoke 'em." + +The young lieutenants drew to one side while the two old friends smoked +and compared notes. They did not smoke, but they compared notes also, as +they rested on the turf. The rain had ceased and the grass was dry. They +saw through the twilight the dark mass of the Massanuttons, the extreme +southern end, and Happy Tom Langdon waved his hand toward the mountain, +like one who salutes a friend. + +"Good old mountain," he said. "You've been a buffer between us and the +enemy more than once, but it took a mind like Stonewall Jackson's to +keep moving you around so you would stand between the armies of the +enemy and make the Yankees fight, only one army at a time." + +"You're right," said Harry, who was enjoying the deep luxury of rest. "I +didn't know before that mountains could be put to such good use. Look, +you can see lights on the ridge now." + +They saw lights, evidently those of powerful lanterns swung to and fro, +but they did not understand them, nor did they care much. + +"Signals are just trifles to me now," said Happy Tom. "What do I care +for lights moving on a mountain four or five miles away, when for a +month, day and night without stopping, a million Yankees have been +shooting rifle bullets at me, and a thousand of the biggest cannon ever +cast have been pouring round shot, long shot, shell, grape, canister and +a hundred other kinds of missiles that I can't name upon this innocent +and unoffending head of mine." + +"They'll be on us tomorrow, Happy," said St. Clair, more gravely. "This +picnic of ours can't last more than a day." + +"I think so, too," said Harry. "So long, boys, I've got to join Captain +Sherburne. The general has detached me for service with him under Ashby, +and you know that when you are with them, something is going to happen." + +Harry slept well that night, partly in a camp and partly in a saddle, +and he found himself the next day with Ashby and Sherburne near a little +town called Harrisonburg. They were on a long hill in thick forest, and +the scouts reported that the enemy was coming. The Northern armies were +uniting now and they were coming up the valley, expecting to crush all +opposition. + +"Take your glasses, Harry," said Sherburne, "and you'll see a strong +force crossing the fields, but it's not strong enough. We've a splendid +position here in the forest and you just watch. Ah, here come your +friends, the Invincibles. See, Ashby is forming them in the center, +while we, of the horse, take the flanks." + +The men in blue, catching sight of the Confederate uniforms in the wood, +charged with a shout, but they did not know the strength of the force +before them. The Invincibles poured in a deadly fire at close range, and +then Ashby's cavalry with a yell charged on either flank. The Northern +troops, taken by surprise, gave way, and the Southern force followed, +firing continuously. + +They came within a half mile of Harrisonburg, and the main Northern army +of Fremont was at hand. The general who had pursued so long, saw his +men retreating, and, filled with chagrin and anger, he hurried forward +heavier forces of both cavalry and infantry. Other troops came to the +relief of Ashby also, and Harry saw what he thought would be only a +heavy skirmish grow into a hot battle of size. + +Fremont, resolved that the North should win a battle in the open field, +and rejoiced that he had at last brought his enemy to bay, never ceased +to hurry his troops to the combat. Formidable lines of the western +riflemen rushed on either flank, and before their deadly rifles Ashby's +cavalry wavered. Harry saw with consternation that they were about to +give way, but Ashby galloped up to the unbroken lines of infantry and +ordered them to charge. + +The words were scarcely out of his mouth, when his horse, shot through, +fell to the ground. Ashby fell with him, but he sprang instantly to his +feet, and shouted in a loud voice: + +"Charge men, for God's sake! Charge! Charge!" With a rush and roar, the +Invincibles and their comrades swept forward, but at the same instant +Harry saw Ashby fall again. With a cry of horror he leaped from his +horse and ran to him, lifting him in his arms. But he quickly laid him +back on the grass. Ashby had been shot through the heart and killed +instantly. + +Harry gazed around him, struck with grief and dismay, but he saw only +the resistless rush of the infantry. The Invincibles and their comrades +were avenging the death of Turner Ashby. Tired of retreating and hot +for action they struck the Northern division with a mighty impact, +shattering it and driving it back rapidly. The Southern cavalry, +recovering also, struck it on the flank, and the defeat was complete. +Fremont's wish was denied him. After so much hard marching and such a +gallant and tenacious pursuit, he had gone the way of the other Northern +generals who opposed Jackson, and was beaten. + +Although they had driven back the vanguard, winning a smart little +victory, and telling to Fremont and Shields that the pursuit of Jackson +had now become dangerous, there was gloom in the Southern army. The +horsemen did not know until they trotted back and saw Harry kneeling +beside his dead body, that the great Ashby was gone. For a while they +could not believe it. Their brilliant and daring leader, who had led +Jackson's vanguard in victory, and who had hung like a covering curtain +in retreat, could not have fallen. It seemed impossible that the man who +had led for days and days through continuous showers of bullets could +have been slain at last by some stray shot. + +But they lifted him up finally and carried him away to a house in the +little neighboring village of Port Republic, Sherburne and the other +captains, hot from battle, riding with uncovered heads. He was put upon +a bed there, and Harry, a staff officer, was selected to ride to Jackson +with the news. He would gladly have evaded the errand, but it was +obvious that he was the right messenger. + +He rode slowly and found Jackson coming up with the main force, Dr. +McGuire, his physician, and Colonel Crutchfield, his chief of artillery, +riding on either side of him. The general gave one glance at Harry's +drooping figure. + +"Well," he said, "have we not won the victory? From a hilltop our +glasses showed the enemy in flight." + +"Yes, general," said Harry, taking off his hat, "we defeated the enemy, +but General Ashby is dead." + +Jackson and his staff were silent for a moment, and Harry saw the +general shrink as if he had received a heavy blow. + +"Ashby killed! Impossible!" he exclaimed. + +"It's true, sir. I helped to carry his body to a house in Port Republic, +where it is now lying." + +"Lead us to that house, Mr. Kenton," said Jackson. + +Harry rode forward in silence, and the others followed in the same +silence. At the house, after they had looked upon the body, Jackson +asked to be left alone awhile with all that was left of Turner Ashby. +The others withdrew and Harry always believed that Jackson prayed within +that room for the soul of his departed comrade. + +When he came forth his face had resumed its sternness, but was without +other expression, as usual. + +"He will not show grief, now," said Sherburne, "but I think that his +soul is weeping." + +"And a bad time for Fremont and Shields is coming," said Harry. + +"It's a risk that we all take in war," said Dalton, who was more of a +fatalist than any of the others. + +The chief wrote a glowing official tribute to Ashby, saying that his +"daring was proverbial, his powers of endurance almost incredible, his +character heroic, and his sagacity almost intuitive in divining the +purposes and movements of the enemy." Yet deeply as Harry had been +affected by Ashby's death, it could not remain in his mind long, because +they had passed the Massanuttons now, and Fremont and Shields following +up the valley must soon unite. + +Harry believed that Jackson intended to strike a blow. The situation +of the Confederacy was again critical--it seemed to Harry that it was +always critical--and somebody must wield the sword, quick and strong. +McClellan with his great and well-trained army was before Richmond. It +was only the rapid marches and lightning strokes of Jackson that had +kept McDowell with another great army from joining him, but to keep back +this force of McDowell until they dealt with McClellan, there must be +yet other rapid marches and lightning strokes. + +Harry's sleep that night was the longest in two weeks, but he was up +at dawn, and he was directed by Jackson to ride forward with Sherburne +toward the southern base of the Massanuttons, observe the approach of +both Fremont and Shields and report to him. + +Harry was glad of his errand. He always liked to ride with Sherburne, +who was a fount of cheerfulness, and he was still keyed up to that +extraordinary intensity and pitch of excitement that made all things +possible. He now understood how the young soldiers of Napoleon in +Italy had been able to accomplish so much. It was the man, a leader of +inspiration and genius, surcharging them all with electrical fire. + +Sherburne's troop was a portion of a strong cavalry force, which divided +as it reached the base of the Massanuttons, a half passing on either +side. Sherburne and Harry rode to the right in order to see the army +of Shields. The day was beautiful, with a glorious June sun and gentle +winds, but Harry, feeling something strange about it, realized presently +that it was the silence. For more than two weeks cannon had been +thundering and rifles crashing in the valley, almost without cessation. +Neither night nor storm had caused any interruption. + +It seemed strange, almost incredible now, but they heard birds singing +as they flew from tree to tree, and peaceful rabbits popped up in the +brush. Yet before they went much further they saw the dark masses of the +Northern army under Shields moving slowly up the valley, and anxious for +the junction with Fremont. + +But the Northern generals were again at a loss. Jackson had turned +suddenly and defeated Fremont's vanguard with heavy loss, but what +had become of him afterward? Fremont and Shields were uncertain of +the position of each other, and they were still more uncertain about +Jackson's. He might fall suddenly upon either, and they grew very +cautious as they drew near to the end of the Massanuttons. + +Sherburne and Harry, after examining the Northern army through +their glasses, rode back with a dozen men to the south base of +the Massanuttons. Most of them were signal officers, and Harry and +Sherburne, dismounting, climbed the foot of the mountain with them. When +they stood upon the crest and looked to right and left in the clear June +air, they beheld a wonderful sight. + +To the south along Mill Creek lay Jackson's army. To the west massed +in the wider valley was the army of Fremont, which had followed them so +tenaciously, and to the east, but just separated from it by the base of +the Massanuttons, were the masses of Shields advancing slowly. + +Harry through his powerful glasses could see the horsemen in front +scouting carefully in advance of either army, and once more he +appreciated to the full Jackson's skill in utilizing the mountains and +rivers to keep his enemies apart. But what would he do now that they +were passing the Massanuttons, and there was no longer anything to +separate Shields and Fremont. He dismissed the thought. There was an +intellect under the old slouch hat of the man who rode Little Sorrel +that could rescue them from anything. + +"Quite a spectacle," said Sherburne. "A man can't often sit at ease on +a mountaintop and look at three armies. Now, Barron, you are to signal +from here to General Jackson every movement of our enemies, but just +before either Shields or Fremont reaches the base of the mountain, +you're to slip down and join us." + +"We'll do it, sir," said Barron, the chief signal officer. "We're not +likely to go to sleep up here with armies on three sides of us." + +Sherburne, Harry and two other men who were not to stay slowly descended +the mountain. Harry enjoyed the breathing space. On the mountainside he +was lifted, for a while, above the fierce passions of war. He saw things +from afar and they were softened by distance. He drew deep breaths of +the air, crisp and cool, on the heights, and Sherburne, who saw the glow +on his face, understood. The same glow was on his own face. + +"It's a grand panorama, Harry," he said, "and we'll take our fill of it +for a few moments." They stood on a great projection of rock and looked +once more and for a little while into the valley and its divisions. The +two Northern armies were nearer now, and they were still moving. Harry +saw the sun flashing over thousands of bayonets. He almost fancied he +could hear the crack of the teamsters' whips as the long lines of wagons +in the rear creaked along. + +They descended rapidly, remounted their horses and galloped back to +Jackson. + +They buried Ashby that day, all the leading Southern officers following +him to his grave, and throughout the afternoon the silence was +continued. But the signals on the mountain worked and worked, and the +signalmen with Jackson replied. No movement of the two pursuing armies +was unknown to the Southern leader. + +Harry, with an hour's leave, visited once more his friends of the +Invincibles. He had begged a package of fine West Indian cigarettes +from Sherburne, and he literally laid them at the feet of the two +colonels--he found them sitting together on the grass, lean gray men who +seemed to be wholly reduced to bone and muscle. + +"This is a great gift, Harry, perhaps greater than you think," said +Colonel Leonidas Talbot gravely. "I tried to purchase some from the +commissariat, but they had none--it seems that General Stonewall Jackson +doesn't consider cigarettes necessary for his troops. Anyhow, the way +our Confederate money is going, I fancy a package of cigarettes will +soon cost a hundred dollars. Here, Hector, light up. We divide this box, +half and half. That's right, isn't it, Harry?" + +"Certainly, sir." + +Harry passed on to the junior officers and found St. Clair and Happy Tom +lying on the grass. Happy pretended to rouse from sleep when Harry came. + +"Hello, old omen of war," he said. "What's Old Jack expecting of us +now?" + +"I told you never to ask me such a question as that again. The general +isn't what you'd call a garrulous man. How's your shoulder, Arthur?" + +"About well. The muscles were not torn. It was just loss of blood that +troubled me for the time." + +"I hear," said Langdon, "that the two Yankee armies are to join soon. +The Massanuttons won't be between them much longer, and then they'll +have only one of the forks of the river to cross before they fall upon +each other's breasts and weep with joy. Harry, it seems to me that we're +always coming to a fork of the Shenandoah. How many forks does it have +anyhow?" + +"Only two, but the two forks have forks of their own. That's the reason +we're always coming to deep water and by the same token the Yankees are +always coming to it, too, which is a good thing for us, as we get there +first, when the bridges are there, and when the Yankees come they are +gone." + +But not one of these boys understood the feeling in the Northern +armies. Late the day before a messenger from Shields had got through the +Massanuttons to Fremont, and had informed him that an easy triumph +was at hand. Jackson and his army, he said, fearing the onset of +overwhelming numbers, was retreating in great disorder. + +The two generals were now convinced of speedy victory. They had +communicated at last, and they could have some concert of movement. +Jackson was less than thirty miles away, and his army was now but a +confused mass of stragglers which would dissolve under slight impact. +Both had defeats and disappointments to avenge, and they pushed forward +now with increased speed, Shields in particular showing the greatest +energy in pursuit. But the roads were still deep in mud, and his army +was forced to toil on all that day and the next, while the signalmen +on the top of the Massanuttons told every movement he made to Stonewall +Jackson. + +The signals the second evening told Jackson that the two Northern armies +were advancing fast, and that he would soon have before him an enemy +outnumbering him anywhere from two to three to one. He had been talking +with Ewell just before the definite news was brought, and Harry, Dalton +and other officers of the staff stood near, as their duty bade them. + +Harry knew the nature of the information, as it was not a secret from +any member of the staff, and now they all stood silently on one side +and watched Jackson. Even Ewell offered no suggestion, but kept his +eyes fixed anxiously on his chief. Harry felt that another one of those +critical moments, perhaps the most dangerous of all, had arrived. They +had fought army after army in detail, but now they must fight armies +united, or fly. He did not know that the silent general was preparing +the most daring and brilliant of all his movements in the valley. In the +face of both Shields and Fremont his courage flamed to the highest, and +the brain under the old slouch hat grew more powerful and penetrating +than ever. And flight never for a moment entered into his scheme. + +Jackson at length said a few words to Ewell, who sprang upon his horse +and rode away to his division. Then, early in the morning, Jackson +led the rest of the army into a strange district, the Grottoes of the +Shenandoah. It was a dark region, filled beneath with great caves and +covered thickly with heavy forest, through the leaves of which the +troops caught views of the Massanuttons to the north or of the great +masses of the Blue Ridge to the east, while far to the west lay other +mountains, range on range. But all around them the country was wooded +heavily. + +The army did not make a great amount of noise when it camped in the +forest over the caves, and the fires were few. Perhaps some of the men +were daunted by the dangers which still surrounded them so thickly after +so many days of such fierce fighting. At any rate, they were silent. The +Acadians had played no music for a day now, and the band lay upon the +ground sunk in deep slumber. + +Harry had not been sent on any errand, and he was sitting on a stone, +finishing his supper, when Dalton, who had been away with a message, +returned. + +"What's happened, George?" asked Harry. + +"Nothing yet, but a lot will happen soon." + +"Where have you been?" + +"I've been on the other side of the Shenandoah. You needn't open your +eyes. It's so. Moreover, Ewell's whole division is over there, and it +will meet the vanguard of Fremont as he advances. I think I begin to see +the general's scheme." + +"I do, too. Ewell will fight off Fremont, holding him there until +Jackson can annihilate Shields. Then he will retreat over the river to +Jackson, burning the bridge behind him." + +Dalton nodded. + +"Looks that way to a man up a tree," he said. + +"It's like the general," said Harry. "He could bring his whole army on +this side, burn the bridge, and in full force attack Shields, but he +prefers to defeat them both." + +"Yes; but I wish to Heaven we had more men." + +"Sh! Here comes the general," said Harry. + +The two were silent as General Jackson and an officer passed. The +general spoke a word or two to the boys and went on. They were but +ordinary words, but both felt uplifted because he had spoken to them. + +Morning found them motionless in the forest, over the caves. They ate a +hasty breakfast and waited. But the scouts were all out, and presently +Harry and Dalton were sent toward the Shenandoah. Finding nothing there, +they crossed over the bridge and came to Ewell's division, where they +had plenty of acquaintances. + +The sun was now high, and while they were talking with their friends, +they heard the faint report of rifle shots far in their front. Presently +the scouts came running back, and said that the enemy was only two miles +away and was advancing to the attack. + +Ewell took off his hat and his bald head glistened in the sun's rays. +But, like Jackson, he was always cool, and he calmly moved his troops +into position along a low ridge, with heavy woods on either flank. Harry +knew the ground, alas, too well. It was among the trees just behind the +ridge that Turner Ashby had been slain. Ewell had before him Fremont +with two to one, and the rest of the army under Jackson's immediate +command was four miles away, facing Shields. + +"Do you hear anything behind you, Harry?" asked Dalton. + +"No, why do you ask?" + +"If we heard the booming of guns, and we'd hear 'em at four miles, we'd +know that General Jackson himself was engaged. But as there's no sound, +Shields hasn't come up, and we'll wait here a while to see if we can't +have something important to report." + +"I don't think so," said Harry. "We know that the enemy is about to +attack here in full force, and that's enough to know about this side of +the river. We ought to gallop back to General Jackson and tell him." + +"You're right, Harry," said the Virginian, in whom the sense of duty was +strong. "The general may be attacked by the time we get there, and he'll +want to know exactly how things are." + +They galloped back as fast as they could and found that General Jackson +had moved his headquarters to the little village of Port Republic. They +found him and told him the news as he was mounting his horse, but at +the same time an excited and breathless messenger came galloping up +from another direction. The vanguard of Shields had already routed +his pickets, and the second Northern army was pressing forward in full +force. + +As he spoke, the Northern cavalry came in sight, and if those Northern +horsemen had known what a prize was almost within their hands, they +would have spared no exertion. + +"Make for the bridge! Make for the bridge, general!" cried Dalton. + +The horsemen in blue were not coming fast. They rode cautiously through +the streets. Southern villages were not friendly to them, and this +caution saved Stonewall Jackson. He was on his horse in an instant, +galloping for the bridge, and Harry and Dalton were hot behind him. They +thundered over the bridge with the Northern cavalry just at their heels, +and escaped by a hair's breadth. But the chief of artillery and Dr. +McGuire and one of the captains, Willis, were captured, and the rest of +the staff was dispersed. + +"My God!" exclaimed Harry, when the Northern cavalry stopped at the +bridge. "What an escape!" + +He was thinking of Jackson's escape, not his own, and while he was +wondering what the general would do, he saw him ride to the bank of the +river and watch the Northern cavalry on the other side. Then Harry and +Dalton uttered a shout as they saw a Southern battery push forward from +the village and open on the cavalry. An infantry regiment, which had +been forming in the town, also came up at full speed, uttering the long, +high-pitched rebel yell. + +The Northern vanguard, which had come so near to such a high +achievement, was driven back with a rush, and a Southern battery +appearing on its flank, swept it with shell as it retreated. So heavy +was the Southern attack, that the infantry also were driven back and +their guns taken. The entire vanguard was routed, and as it received no +support, even Harry and Dalton knew that the main army under Shields had +not yet come up. + +"That was the closest shave I ever saw," said Dalton. "So it was," said +Harry. "But just listen to that noise behind you!" + +A tremendous roar and crash told them that the battle between Ewell and +Fremont had opened. Jackson beckoned to Harry, Dalton and the members +of his staff who had reassembled. The three, who were captured, +subsequently escaped in the confusion and turmoil and rejoined their +general. Setting a powerful force to guard the bridge, Jackson said to +his staff: + +"While we are waiting for Shields to come up with his army, we'll ride +over and see how the affair between Ewell and Fremont is coming on." + +The roar and crash told them it was coming on with great violence, but +Fremont, so strong in pursuit was not so strong in action. Now that he +was face to face with the enemy, he did not attack with all his might. +He hesitated, not from personal fear, but from fear on account of his +army. The whole force of Jackson might be in front of him, and the +apprehensions that he did not feel in pursuit assailed him when he +looked at the ridge covered with the enemy. + +Harry and Dalton watched with breathless interest. A portion of +Fremont's army, but not all of it, just when it was needed most, was +sent to the charge. Led by the pickets and skirmishers they came forward +gallantly, a long line of glittering bayonets. In the thick woods on +their flank lay three Southern regiments, ambushed and not yet stirring. +No sunlight penetrated there to show their danger to the soldiers who +were breasting the slope. + +Harry foresaw all, and he drew a long breath for brave men who were +marching to a certain fate. + +"Why don't they look! Why don't they look!" he found himself exclaiming. + +The next instant the entire wood burst into flame. Picking their aim and +firing at short range, the Southern riflemen sent sheet after sheet of +bullets into the charging ranks. It was more than human blood and flesh +could stand, and the Northern regiments gave way. But it was not a rout. +They retreated on their reserves, and stood there recovering themselves, +while the Southern riflemen reloaded, but did not pursue. The regiments +which had done the deadly work sank back in the woods, and seemingly the +battle was over. + +Harry had not been under fire. He and Dalton, the rest of Jackson's +staff and the general himself merely watched. Nor did Jackson give any +further orders to his able lieutenant, Ewell. He allowed him to make the +battle his own, and in Harry's opinion he was making it right. + +There came a silence that seemed interminably long to Harry. The +sunlight blazed down, and the two armies stood looking at each other +across a field that was strewn with the fallen. It would have been folly +for the men in blue to charge again, and it was the chief business of +the Southern troops to hold them back. Therefore they stood in their +positions and watched. Harry judged that the bulk of Fremont's army was +not yet up. It was this failure to bring superior numbers to bear at +the right time that was always the ruin of the Northern generals in the +valley, because the genius on the other side invariably saw the mistake +and profited by it. + +Harry and Dalton still waited, wondering. Jackson himself sat quietly on +his horse, and issued no order. The Northern troops were motionless, and +Harry, who knew how precious time was, with the rest of Fremont's army +coming up, wondered again. But Trimble, the commander of the Southern +riflemen hidden in the wood, saw a chance. He would send his men under +cover of the forest and hurl them suddenly upon the Northern flank. +Ewell gave his consent, and said that he would charge, too, if the +movement were successful. + +Harry, watching, saw the Southern regiments in the wood steal from the +forest, pass swiftly up a ravine, and then, delivering a shattering fire +at short range, charge with the bayonet upon the Northern flank. The men +in blue, surprised by so fierce an onset, gave way. Uttering the rebel +yell, the Southerners followed and pushed them further and further. +Ewell's quick eye, noting the success, sent forward his own center in a +heavy charge. + +Fremont, from the rear, hurried forward new troops, but they were beaten +as fast as they arrived. The batteries were compelled to unlimber and +take to flight, the fresh brigade dispatched by Fremont was routed, +and the whole Southern line pressed forward, driving the Northern army +before it. + +"General Jackson was wise in trusting to General Ewell," said Dalton to +Harry. "He's won a notable victory. I wonder how far he'll push it." + +"Not far, I think. All Ewell's got to do is to hold Fremont, and he has +surely held him. There's Shields on the other side of the river with +whom we have to deal. Do you know, George, that all the time we've been +sitting here, watching that battle in front of us, I've been afraid we'd +hear the booming of the guns on the other side of the river, telling +that Shields was up." + +"We scorched their faces so badly there in Cross Keys that they must be +hesitating. Lord, Harry, how old Stonewall plays with fire. To attack +and defeat one army with the other only a few miles away must take +nerves all of steel." + +"But if Ewell keeps on following Fremont he'll be too far away when we +turn to deal with Shields." + +"But he won't go too far. There are the trumpets now recalling his +army." + +The mellow notes were calling in the eager riflemen, who wished to +continue the pursuit, but the army was not to retire. It held the +battlefield, and now that the twilight was coming the men began to build +their fires, which blazed through the night within sight of those of the +enemy. The sentinels of the two armies were within speaking distance +of one another, and often in the dark, as happened after many another +battle in this war, Yank and Reb passed a friendly word or two. They +met, too, on the field, where they carried away their dead and wounded, +but on such errands there was always peace. + +Those hours of the night were precious, but Fremont did not use them. +Defeated, he held back, magnifying the numbers of his enemy, fearing +that Jackson was in front of him with his whole army, and once more out +of touch with his ally, Shields. + +But Stonewall Jackson was all activity. The great war-like intellect was +working with the utmost precision and speed. Having beaten back Fremont, +he was making ready for Shields. The first part of the drama, as he +had planned it, had been carried through with brilliant success, and he +meant that the next should be its equal. + +Harry was not off his horse that night. He carried message after message +to generals and colonels and captains. He saw the main portion of +Ewell's army withdrawn from Fremont's front, leaving only a single +brigade to hold him, in case he should advance at dawn. But he saw the +fires increased, and he carried orders that the men should build them +high, and see that they did not go down. + +When he came back from one of these errands about midnight, just after +the rise of the moon, he found General Jackson standing upon the bank +of the river, giving minute directions to a swarm of officers. His mind +missed nothing. He directed not only the movements of the troops, but he +saw also that the trains of ammunition and food were sent to the proper +points. About half way between midnight and morning he lay down and +slept in a small house near the river bank. Shortly before dawn the +commander of a battery, looking for one of his officers, entered the +house and saw Jackson, dressed for the saddle, sword, boots, spurs and +all, lying on his face upon the bed, asleep. On a small table near him +stood a short piece of tallow candle, sputtering dimly. But the officer +saw that it was Jackson, and he turned on tiptoe to withdraw. + +The general awoke instantly, sat up and demanded who was there. When the +officer explained, he said he was glad that he had been awakened, asked +about the disposition of the troops, and gave further commands. He did +not go to sleep again. + +But Harry's orders carried him far beyond midnight, and he had no +thought of sleep. Once more repressed but intense excitement had +complete hold of him. He could not have slept had the chance been +given to him. The bulk of the army was now in front of Shields, and +the pickets were not only in touch, but were skirmishing actively. All +through the late hours after midnight Harry heard the flash of their +firing in front of him. + +The cavalry under Sherburne and other daring leaders were exchanging +shots with the equally daring cavalry of the enemy. + +As the dawn approached the firing was heavier. Harry knew that the day +would witness a great battle, and his heart was filled with anxiety. +The army led by Shields showed signs of greater energy and tenacity than +that led by Fremont. The Northern troops that had fought so fiercely at +Kernstown were there, and they also had leaders who would not be daunted +by doubts and numbers. Harry wondered if they had heard of the defeat of +Fremont at Cross Keys. + +He looked at the flashing of the rifles in the dusk, and before dawn +rode back to the house where his commander slept. He was ready and +waiting when Jackson came forth, and Dalton appearing from somewhere in +the dusk, sat silently on his horse by his side. + +The general with his staff at once rode toward the front, and the masses +of the Southern army also swung forward. Harry saw that, according to +Jackson's custom, they would attack, not wait for it. It was yet dusky, +but the firing in their front was increasing in intensity. There was a +steady crash and a blaze of light from the rifle muzzles ran through the +forest. + +He took an order to the Acadians to move forward behind two batteries, +and as he came back he passed the Invincibles, now a mere skeleton +regiment, but advancing in perfect order, the two colonels on their +flanks near their head. He also saw St. Clair and Langdon, but he +had time only to wave his hand to them, and then he galloped back to +Jackson. + +The dusk rapidly grew thinner. Then the burnished sun rose over the +hills, and Harry saw the Northern army before them, spread across a +level between the river and a spur of the Blue Ridge, and also on the +slopes and in the woods. A heavy battery crowned one of the hills, +another was posted in a forest, and there were more guns between. Harry +saw that the position was strong, and he noted with amazement that the +Northern forces did not seem to outnumber Jackson's. It was evident that +Shields, with the majority of his force was not yet up. He glanced at +Jackson. He knew that the fact could not have escaped the general, but +he saw no trace of exultation on his face. + +There was another fact that Harry did not then know. Nearly all the men +who had fought successfully against Jackson at Kernstown were in that +vanguard, and Tyler, who had deemed himself a victor there, commanded +them. Everybody else had been beaten by Stonewall Jackson, but not they. +Confident of victory, they asked to be led against the Southern army, +and they felt only joy when the rising sunlight disclosed their foe. +There were the men of Ohio and West Virginia again, staunch and sturdy. + +Harry knew instinctively that the battle would be fierce, pushed to the +utmost. Jackson had no other choice, and as the sunlight spread over +the valley, although the mountains were yet in mist, the cannon on +the flanks opened with a tremendous discharge, followed by crash after +crash, North and South replying to each other. A Southern column also +marched along the slope of the hills, in order to take Tyler's men in +flank. Harry looked eagerly to see the Northern troops give way, but +they held fast. The veterans of Ohio and West Virginia refused to give +ground, and Winder, who led the Southern column, could make no progress. + +Harry watched with bated breath and a feeling of alarm. Were they to +lose after such splendid plans and such unparalleled exertions? The sun, +rising higher, poured down a flood of golden beams, driving the mists +from the mountains and disclosing the plain and slopes below wrapped in +fire, shot through with the gleam of steel from the bayonets. + +Tyler, who commanded the Northern vanguard, proved himself here, as at +Kernstown, a brave and worthy foe. He, too, had eyes to see and a brain +to think. Seeing that his Ohio and West Virginia men were standing fast +against every attack made by Winder, he hurried fresh troops to their +aid that they might attack in return. + +The battle thickened fast. At the point of contact along the slopes and +in the woods, there was a continued roar of cannon and rifles. Enemies +came face to face, and the men of Jackson, victorious on so many fields, +were slowly pressed back. A shout of triumph rose from the Union lines, +and the eager Tyler brought yet more troops into action. Two of Ewell's +battalions heard the thunder of the battle and rushed of their own +accord to the relief of their commander. But they were unable to stem +the fury of Ohio and West Virginia, and they were borne back with the +others, hearing as it roared in their ears that cry of victory from +their foe, which they had so often compelled that foe himself to hear. + +But it was more bitter to none than to Harry. Sitting on his horse in +the rear he saw in the blazing sunlight everything that passed. He saw +for the first time in many days the men in gray yielding. The incredible +was happening. After beating Fremont, after all their superb tactics, +they were now losing to Shields. + +He looked at Jackson, hoping to receive some order that would take him +into action, but the general said nothing. He was watching the battle +and his face was inscrutable. Harry wondered how he could preserve +his calm, while his troops were being beaten in front, and the army +of Fremont might thunder at any moment on his flank or rear. Truly the +nerves that could remain steady in such moments must be made of steel +triply wrought. + +The Northern army, stronger and more resolute than ever, was coming +on, a long blue line crested with bayonets. The Northern cannon, posted +well, and served with coolness and precision, swept the Southern ranks. +The men in gray retreated faster and some of their guns were taken. +The Union troops charged upon them more fiercely than ever, and the +regiments threatened to fall into a panic. + +Then Jackson, shouting to his staff to follow, spurred forward into the +mob and begged them to stand. He rode among them striking some with the +flat of his sword and encouraging others. His officers showed the same +energy and courage, but the columns, losing cohesion seemed on the point +of dissolving, in the face of an enemy who pressed them so hard. Harry +uttered a groan which nobody heard in all the crash and tumult. His +heart sank like lead. Hope was gone clean away. + +But at the very moment that hope departed he heard a great cheer, +followed a moment later by a terrific crash of rifles and cannon. Then +he saw those blessed Acadians charging in the smoke along the slope. +They had come through the woods, and they rushed directly upon the great +Northern battery posted there. But so well were those guns handled +and so fierce was their fire that the Acadians were driven back. They +returned to the charge, were driven back again, but coming on a third +time took all the battery except one gun. Then with triumphant shouts +they turned them on their late owners. + +The whole Southern line seemed to recover itself at once. The remainder +of Ewell's troops reached the field and enabled their comrades to turn +and attack. The Stonewall Brigade in the center, where Jackson was, +returned to the charge. In a few minutes fickle fortune had faced about +completely. The Union men saw victory once more snatched from their +hands. Their columns in the plain were being raked by powerful batteries +on the flank, many of the guns having recently been theirs. They must +retreat or be destroyed. + +The brave and skillful Tyler reluctantly gave the order to retreat, and +when Harry saw the blue line go back he shouted with joy. Then the rebel +yell, thrilling, vast and triumphant, swelled along the whole line, +which lifted up itself and rushed at the enemy, the cavalry charging +fiercely on the flanks. + +Shields got up fresh troops, but it was too late. The men in gray were +pouring forward, victorious at every point, and sweeping everything +before them, while the army of Fremont, arriving at the river at noon, +saw burned bridges, the terrible battlefield on the other side strewn +with the fallen, and the Southern legions thundering northward in +pursuit of the second army, superior in numbers to their own, that they +had defeated in two days. + +Every pulse in Harry beat with excitement. His soul sprang up at once +from the depths to the stars. This, when hope seemed wholly gone, was +the crowning and culminating victory. The achievement of Jackson equaled +anything of which he had ever heard. While the army of Fremont was held +fast on the other side of the river, the second army under Shields, +beaten in its turn, was retreating at a headlong rate down the valley. +The veterans of Kernstown had fought magnificently, but they had been +outgeneralled, and, like all others, had gone down in defeat before +Jackson. + +Jackson, merciless alike in battle and pursuit, pushed hard after the +men in blue for nine or ten miles down the river, capturing cannon and +prisoners. The Ohio and West Virginia men began at last to reform again, +and night coming on, Jackson stopped the pursuit. He still could not +afford to go too far down the valley, lest the remains of Fremont's army +appear in his rear. + +As they went back in the night, Harry and Dalton talked together in low +tones. Jackson was just ahead of them, riding Little Sorrel, silent, his +shoulders stooped a little, his mind apparently having passed on from +the problems of the day, which were solved, to those of the morrow, +which were to be solved. He replied only with a smile to the members of +his staff who congratulated him now upon his extraordinary achievement, +surpassing everything that he had done hitherto in the valley. For +Harry and Dalton, young hero-worshippers, he had assumed a stature yet +greater. In their boyish eyes he was the man who did the impossible over +and over again. + +The great martial brain was still at work. Having won two fresh +victories in two days and having paralyzed the operations of his +enemies, Jackson was preparing for other bewildering movements. Harry +and Dalton and all the other members of the staff were riding forth +presently in the dusk with the orders for the different brigades and +regiments to concentrate at Brown's Gap in the mountains, from which +point Jackson could march to the attack of McClellan before Richmond, or +return to deal blows at his opponents in the valley, as he pleased. But +whichever he chose, McDowell and sixty thousand men would not be present +at the fight for Richmond. Jackson with his little army had hurled back +the Union right, and the two Union armies could not be united in time. + +The whole Southern army was gathered at midnight in Brown's Gap, and the +men who had eaten but little and slept but little in forty-eight hours +and who had fought two fierce and victorious battles in that time, +throwing themselves upon the ground slept like dead men. + +While they slept consternation was spreading in the North. Lincoln, ever +hopeful and never yielding, had believed that Jackson was in disorderly +flight up the valley, and so had his Secretary of War, Stanton. The fact +that this fleeing force had turned suddenly and beaten both Fremont and +Shields, each of whom had superior forces, was unbelievable, but it was +true. + +But Lincoln and the North recalled their courage and turned hopeful eyes +toward McClellan. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. THE SEVEN DAYS + + +Harry did not awaken until late the next morning. Jackson, for once, +allowed his soldiers a long rest, and they were entitled to it. When he +rose from his blankets, he found fires burning, and the pleasant odor +of coffee, bacon and other food came to his nostrils. Many wounded were +stretched on blankets, but, as usual, they were stoics, and made no +complaint. + +The army, in truth, was joyous, even more, it was exultant. Every one +had the feeling that he had shared in mighty triumphs, unparalleled +exploits, but they gave the chief credit to their leader, and they spoke +admiringly and affectionately of Old Jack. The whole day was passed +in luxury long unknown to them. They had an abundance of food, mostly +captured, and their rations were not limited. + +The Acadian band reappeared and played with as much spirit as ever, and +once more the dark, strong men of Louisiana, clasped in one another's +arms, danced on the grass. Harry sat with St. Clair, Happy Tom and +Dalton and watched them. + +"I was taught that dancing was wicked," said Dalton, "but it doesn't +look wicked to me, and I notice that the general doesn't forbid it." + +"Wicked!" said St. Clair, "why, after we take Washington, you ought +to come down to Charleston and see us dance then. It's good instead of +wicked. It's more than that. It's a thing of beauty, a grace, a joy, +almost a rite." + +"All that Arthur says is true," said Happy Tom. "I'm a Sea Islander +myself, but we go over to Charleston in the winter. Still, I think +you'll have to do without me at those dances, Arthur. I shall probably +be kept for some time in the North, acting as proconsul for Pennsylvania +or Massachusetts." + +"Which way do you think we are going from here, Harry?" asked St. Clair. +"I don't think it's possible for General Jackson to stay longer than +twenty-four hours in one place, and I know that he always goes to you +for instructions before he makes any movement." + +"That's so. He spoke to me this morning asking what he ought to do, but +I told him the troops needed a rest of one day, but that he mustn't make +it more than one day or he'd spoil 'em." + +Happy Tom, who was lying on the ground, sat up abruptly. + +"If ever you hear of Old Stonewall spoiling anybody or anything," he +said, "just you report it to me and I'll tell you that it's not so." + +"I believe," said Dalton, "that we're going to leave the valley. Both +Shields and Fremont are still retreating. Our cavalry scouts brought +in that word this morning. We've heard also that Johnston and McClellan +fought a big battle at a place called Seven Pines, and that after it +McClellan hung back, waiting for McDowell, whom Old Jack has kept busy. +General Johnston was wounded at Seven Pines and General Robert Edward +Lee is now in command of our main army." + +"That's news! It's more! It's history!" exclaimed St. Clair. "I think +you're right, Harry. Two to one that we go to Richmond. And for one I'll +be glad. Then we'll be right in the middle of the biggest doings!" + +"I'm feeling that way, too," said Happy Tom. "But I know one thing." + +"What's that?" + +"Not a soul in all this army, except Old Jack himself, will know a thing +about it, until it's done, and maybe we won't know very much then. I +passed Old Jack about an hour ago and he saw me as clearly and plainly +as I see you, but he did not tell me a thing about his plans. He did not +even say a word. Did not speak. Just cut me dead." + +Not one of the four was destined for some days to learn what Jackson +intended. His highest officers even were kept in the same ignorance. +While the bulk of the army did little, the cavalry under Munford, who +had succeeded Ashby, were exceedingly active. The horsemen were like a +swarm of hornets in front of Jackson, and so great was their activity +that the Northern leaders were unable to gauge their numbers. Fremont, +exposed to these raids, retreated farther down the valley, leaving two +hundred of his wounded and many stores in the hands of Munford. + +Then Jackson crossed South River and marched into extensive woods by +the Shenandoah, where his army lay for five full days. It was almost +incredible to Harry and his friends that they should have so long a +rest, but they had it. They luxuriated there among the trees in the +beautiful June weather, listening to the music of the Acadians, eating +and drinking and sleeping as men have seldom slept before. + +But while the infantry was resting the activity of the cavalry never +ceased. These men, riding over the country in which most of them were +born, missed no movement of the enemy, and maintained the illusion that +their numbers were four or five times the fact. Harry, trying to fathom +Jackson's purpose, gave it up after that comparatively long stay beside +the Shenandoah. He did not know that it was a part of a complicated +plan, that Lee and Jackson, although yet apart, were now beginning their +celebrated work together. Near Richmond, Northern prisoners saw long +lines of trains moving north and apparently crowded with soldiers. +For Jackson, of course! And intended to help him in his great march on +Washington! But Jackson hung a complete veil about his own movements. +His highest officers told one another in confidence things that they +believed to be true, but which were not. It was the general opinion +among them that Jackson would soon leave in pursuit of Fremont. + +The pleasant camp by the Shenandoah was broken up suddenly, and the men +began to march--they knew not where. Officers rode among them with stern +orders, carried out sternly. In front, and on either flank, rode lines +of cavalry who allowed not a soul to pass either in or out. An equally +strong line of cavalry in the rear drove in front of it every straggler +or camp follower. There was not a single person inside the whole army of +Jackson who could get outside it except Jackson himself. + +An extraordinary ban of ignorance was also placed upon them, and it was +enforced to the letter. No soldier should give the name of a village or +a farm through which he passed, although the farm might be his father's, +or the village might be the one in which he was born. If a man were +asked a question, no matter what, he must answer, "I don't know." + +The young Southern soldiers, indignant at first, enjoyed it as their +natural humor rose to the surface. + +"Young fellow," said Happy Tom to St. Clair, "what's your name?" + +"I don't know." + +"Don't know your own name. Why, you must be feeble minded! Are you?" + +"I don't know." + +"Well, you may not know, but you look it. Do you think Old Jack is a +good general?" + +"I don't know." + +"Do you think he's feeble-minded like yourself?" + +"I don't know." + +"What! You dare to intimate that Stonewall Jackson, the greatest general +the world has ever known, is feeble-minded! You have insulted him, and +in his name I challenge you to fight me, sir. Do you accept?" + +"I don't know." + +The two looked at each other and grinned. The ignorance of the army grew +dense beyond all computation. Long afterward, "I don't know," became a +favorite and convenient reply, even when the knowledge was present. + +It was nearly two weeks after Port Republic before the troops had any +idea where they were going. They came to a little place called Hanover +Junction and they thought they were going to turn there and meet +McDowell, but they passed on, and one evening they encamped in a wood. +As they were eating supper they heard the muttering thunder of guns +toward the south, and throughout the brigades the conviction spread that +they were on the way to Richmond. + +The next night, Harry, who was asleep, was touched by a light hand. He +awoke instantly, and when he saw General Jackson standing over him, he +sprang up. + +"I am going on a long ride," said the general briefly, "and I want only +one man to go with me. I've chosen you. Get your horse. We start in five +minutes." + +Harry, a little dazed yet from sleep and the great honor that had been +thrust upon him, ran, nevertheless, for his horse, and was ready with a +minute to spare. + +"Keep by my side," said Jackson curtly, and the two rode in silence from +the camp, watched in wonder by the sentinels, who saw their general and +his lone attendant disappear in the forest to the south. + +It was then one o'clock in the morning of a moonlight night, and the +errand of Jackson was an absolute secret. Three or four miles from the +camp a sentinel slipped from the woods and stopped them. He was one +of their own pickets, on a far out-lying post, but to the amazement of +Harry, Jackson did not tell who he was. + +"I'm an officer on Stonewall Jackson's staff, carrying dispatches," he +said. "You must let me pass." + +"It's not enough. Show me an order from him." + +"I have no order," replied the equable voice, "but my dispatches are of +the greatest importance. Kindly let me pass immediately." + +The sentinel shook his head. + +"Draw back your horses," he said. "Without an order from the general you +don't go a step further." + +Harry had not spoken a word. He had ceased to wonder why Jackson +refused to reveal his identity. If he did not do so it must be for some +excellent reason, and, meanwhile, the boy waited placidly. + +"So you won't let us pass," said Jackson. "Is the commander of the +picket near by?" + +"I can whistle so he'll hear me." + +"Then will you kindly whistle?" + +The sentinel looked again at the quiet man on the horse, put his fingers +to his lips and blew loudly. An officer emerged from the woods and said: + +"What is it, Felton?" + +Then he glanced at the man on the horse and started violently. + +"General Jackson!" he exclaimed. + +The sentinel turned pale, but said nothing. + +"Yes, I'm General Jackson," said the general, "and I ride with this +lieutenant of my staff on an errand. But both of you must swear to me +that you have not seen me." + +Then he turned to the sentinel. + +"You did right to stop us," he said. "I wish that all our sentinels were +as faithful as you." + +Then while the man glowed with gratitude, he and Harry rode on. Jackson +was in deep thought and did not speak. Harry, a little awed by this +strange ride, looked up at the trees and the dusky heavens. He heard +the far hoot of an owl, and he shivered a little. What if a troop of +Northern cavalry should suddenly burst upon them. But no troop of the +Northern horse, nor horse of any kind, appeared. Instead, Jackson's own +horse began to pant and stumble. Soon he gave out entirely. + +It was not yet day, but dimly to the right they saw the roof of a house +among some trees. It was a poor Virginia farm that did not have horses +on it, and Jackson suggested to Harry that they wake up the people and +secure two fresh mounts. + +The commander of an army and his young aide walked a little distance +down a road, entered a lawn, drove off two barking dogs, and knocked +loud on the front door of the house with the butts of their riding +whips. A head was at last thrust out of an upper window, and a sleepy +and indignant voice demanded what they wanted. + +"We're two officers from General Jackson's army riding on important +duty," replied the general, in his usual mild tones. "Our horses have +broken down and we want to obtain new ones." + +"What's your names? What's your rank?" demanded the gruff voice. + +"We cannot give our names." + +"Then clear out! You're frauds! If I find you hanging about here I'll +shoot at you, and I tell you for your good that I'm no bad shot." + +The shutter of the window closed with a bang, but the two dogs that had +been driven off began to bark again at a safe distance. Harry glanced at +his general. + +"Isn't that a stable among the trees?" asked Jackson. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then we'll find our horses there. Get the other two and bring them +here." + +Harry obeyed promptly, and they opened the stable, finding good horses, +of which they selected the two best to which they changed their saddles +and bridles. + +"We'll leave our own horses for our inhospitable friends," said General +Jackson, "and he'll not suffer by the exchange." + +Mounting the fresh horses they rode rapidly, and, after the coming of +the dawn, Harry saw that they were approaching Richmond, and he guessed +now what was coming. + +General Jackson had in his pocket a pass sent to him by General Lee, +and they swiftly went through the lines of pickets, and then on through +Richmond. People were astir in the streets of the Southern capital, and +many of them saw the bearded man in an old uniform and a black slouch +hat riding by, accompanied by only a boy, but not one of them knew that +this was Stonewall Jackson, whose fame had been filling their ears for a +month past. Nor, if they had known him would they have divined how much +ill his passage boded to the great army of McClellan. + +They went through Richmond and on toward the front. Midday passed, and +at three o'clock they reached the house in which Lee had established his +headquarters. + +"Who is it?" asked a sentinel at the door. + +"Tell General Lee that General Jackson is waiting." + +The sentinel hurried inside, General Jackson and his aide dismounted, +and a moment later General Lee came out, extending his hand, which +Jackson clasped. The two stood a moment looking at each other. It was +the first time that they had met in the war, but Harry saw by the glance +that passed that each knew the other a man, not an ordinary man, nor +even a man of ten thousand, but a genius of the kind that appears but +seldom. It was all the more extraordinary that the two should appear at +the same time, serving together in perfect harmony, and sustaining for +so long by their united power and intellect a cause that seemed lost +from the first. + +It was not any wonder that Harry gazed with all his eyes at the +memorable meeting. He knew Jackson, and he was already learning much of +Lee. + +He saw in the Confederate commander-in-chief a man past fifty, ruddy of +countenance, hair and beard short, gray and thick, his figure tall +and powerful, and his expression at once penetrating and kind. He was +dressed in a fine gray uniform, precise and neat. + +Such was Robert Edward Lee, and Harry thought him the most impressive +human being upon whom he had ever looked. + +"General Jackson," said General Lee, "this is a fortunate meeting. You +have saved the Confederacy." + +General Jackson made a gesture of dissent, but General Lee took him by +the arm and they went into the house. General Jackson turned a moment +at the door and motioned to Harry to follow. The boy went in, and found +himself in a large room. Three men had risen from cane chairs to meet +the visitor. One, broad of shoulders, middle-aged and sturdy, was +Longstreet. The others more slender of figure were the two Hills. + +The major generals came forward eagerly to meet Jackson, and they also +had friendly greetings for his young aide. Lee handed them glasses of +milk which they drank thirstily. + +"You'll find an aide of mine in the next room," said General Lee to +Harry. "He's a little older than you are but you should get along +together." + +Harry bowed and withdrew, and the aide, Charlie Gordon, gave him a +hearty welcome. He was three or four years Harry's senior, something +of a scholar, but frank and open. When they had exchanged names, Gordon +said: + +"Stretch out a bit on this old sofa. You look tired. You've been riding +a long distance. How many miles have you come?" + +"I don't know," replied Harry, as he lay luxuriously on the sofa, "but +we started at one o'clock this morning and it is now three o'clock in +the afternoon." + +"Fourteen hours. It's like what we've been hearing of Stonewall Jackson. +I took a peep at him from the window as you rode up." + +"I suppose you didn't see much but dust." + +"They certainly tell extraordinary things of General Jackson. It can't +be possible that all are true!" + +"It is possible. They're all true--and more. I tell you, Gordon, when +you hear anything wonderful about Stonewall Jackson just you believe it. +Don't ask any questions, or reasons but believe it." + +"I think I shall," said Gordon, convinced, "but don't forget, Kenton, +that we've got a mighty man here, too. You can't be with General Lee +long without feeling that you're in the presence of genius." + +"And they're friends, not jealous of each other. You could see that at a +glance." + +"The coming of Jackson is like dawn bursting from the dark. I feel, +Kenton, that McClellan's time is at hand." + +Harry slept a little after a while, but when he awoke the generals were +still in council in the great room. + +"I let you sleep because I saw you needed it," said Gordon with a smile, +"but I think they're about through in there now. I hear them moving +about." + +General Jackson presently called Harry and they rode away. The young +aide was sent back to the valley army with a message for it to advance +as fast as possible in order that it might be hurled on McClellan's +flank. Others carried the same message, lest there be any default of +chance. + +While the army of Jackson swept down by Richmond to join Lee it was lost +again to the North. At Washington they still believed it in the valley, +advancing on Fremont or Shields. Banks and McDowell had the same belief. +McClellan was also at a loss. Two or three scouts had brought in reports +that it was marching toward Richmond, but he could not believe them. + +The Secretary of War at Washington telegraphed to McClellan that the +Union armies under McDowell, Banks, Fremont and Shields were to be +consolidated in one great army under McDowell which would crush Jackson +utterly in the valley. At the very moment McClellan was reading this +telegram the army of Jackson, far to the south of McDowell, was driving +in the pickets on his own flank. + +Jackson's men had come into a region quite different from the valley. +There they marched and fought over firm ground, and crossed rivers +with hard rocky banks. Now they were in a land of many deep rivers that +flowed in a slow yellow flood with vast swamps between. Most of it was +heavy with forest and bushes, and the heat was great. At night vast +quantities of mosquitoes and flies and other insects fed bounteously +upon them. + +The Invincibles lifted up their voices and wept. + +"Can't you persuade Old Jack to take us back to the valley, Harry?" said +Happy Tom. "If I'm to die I'd rather be shot by an honest Yankee soldier +than be stung to death by these clouds of bloodsuckers. Oh, for our +happy valley, where we shot at our enemy and he shot at us, both +standing on firm ground!" + +"You won't be thinking much about mosquitoes and rivers soon," said +Harry. "Listen to that, will you! You know the sound, don't you?" + +"Know it! Well, I ought to know it. It's the booming of cannon, but it +doesn't frighten these mosquitoes and flies a particle. A cannon ball +whistling by my head would scare me half to death, but it wouldn't +disturb them a bit. They'd look with an evil eye at that cannon ball as +it flew by and say to it in threatening tones: 'What are you doing here? +Let this fellow alone. He belongs to us.'" + +"Which way is McClellan coming, Harry?" asked St. Clair. + +"Off there to the east, where you hear the guns." + +"How many men has he?" + +"Anywhere from a hundred thousand to a hundred and thirty thousand. +There are various reports." + +Langdon, who had been listening, whistled. + +"It doesn't look like a picnic for the Invincibles," he said. "When I +volunteered for this war I didn't volunteer to fight a pitched battle +every day. What did you volunteer for, Harry?" + +"I don't know." + +The three laughed. Jackson's famous order certainly fitted well there. + +"And you don't know, either," said Happy Tom, "what all that thunder +off there to the south and east means. It's the big guns, but who are +fighting and where?" + +"There's to be a general attack on McClellan along the line of the +Chickahominy river," said Harry, "and our army is to be a part of the +attacking force, but my knowledge goes no further." + +"Then I'm reckoning that some part of our army has attacked already," +said Happy Tom. "Maybe they're ahead of time, or maybe the rest are +behind time. But there they go! My eyes, how they're whooping it up!" + +The cannonade was growing in intensity and volume. Despite the sunset +they saw an almost continuous flare of red on the horizon. The three +boys felt some awe as they sat there and listened and looked. Well they +might! Battle on a far greater scale than anything witnessed before in +America had begun already. Two hundred thousand men were about to meet +in desperate conflict in the thickets and swamps along the Chickahominy. + +Richmond had already heard the crash of McClellan's guns more than once, +but apprehension was passing away. Lee, whom they had learned so quickly +to trust, stood with ninety thousand men between them and McClellan, and +with him was the redoubtable Jackson and his veterans of the valley with +their caps full of victories. + +McClellan had the larger force, but Lee was on the defensive in his own +country, a region which offered great difficulties to the invader. + +Harry and his comrades wondered why Jackson did not move, but he +remained in his place, and when Harry fell asleep he still heard the +thudding of the guns across the vast reach of rivers and creeks, swamps +and thickets. When he awoke in the morning they were already at work +again, flaring at intervals down there on the eastern horizon. The whole +wet, swampy country, so different from his own, seemed to be deserted +by everything save the armies. No rabbits sprang up in the thickets and +there were no birds. Everything had fled already in the presence of war. + +But the army marched. After a brief breakfast the brigades moved down +the road, and Harry saw clearly that these veterans of the valley were +tremulous with excitement. Youthful, eager, and used to victory, they +were anxious to be at the very center of affairs which were now on a +gigantic scale. And the throbbing of the distant guns steadily drew them +on. + +"We'll get all we want before this is through," said Dalton gravely to +Harry. + +"I think so, too. Listen to those big guns, George! And I think I can +hear the crack of rifles, too. Our pickets and those of the enemy must +be in contact in the forest there on our left." + +"I haven't a doubt of it, but if we rode that way like as not we'd +strike first a swamp, or a creek twenty feet deep. I get all tangled up +in this kind of a country." + +"So do I, but it doesn't make any difference. We just stick along with +Old Jack." + +The army marched on a long time, always to the accompaniment of that +sinister mutter in the southeast. Then they heard the note of a bugle +in front of them and Jackson with his staff rode forward near a little +church called Walnut Grove, where Lee and his staff sat on their horses +waiting. Harry noticed with pride how all the members of Lee's staff +crowded forward to see the renowned Jackson. + +It was his general upon whom so many were looking, but there was +curiosity among Stonewall's men, too, about Lee. As Harry drew back a +little while the two generals talked, he found himself again with the +officers of the Invincibles. + +"He has grown gray since we were with him in Mexico, Hector," he heard +Colonel Leonidas Talbot say to Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire. + +"Yes, Leonidas, grayer but stronger. What a brow and eye!" + +St. Clair and Langdon, who had never seen Lee before, were eager. + +"Is he the right man for Old Jack to follow, Harry?" asked Happy Tom. + +"I don't think there's any doubt of it, Happy. I saw how they agreed the +first time they met, and you can see it now. You'll find them working +together as smooth as silk. Ah, here we go again!" + +"Then if it's as you say I suppose it's all up with McClellan, and I +needn't trouble my mind about the matter any more. Hereafter I'll just +go ahead and obey orders." + +The words were light, but there was no frivolity in the minds of the +three. Despite the many battles through which they had already gone +their hearts were beating hard just then, while that roaring was going +on on the horizon, and they knew that a great battle was at hand. + +Lee and his staff rode toward the battle, and then, to the amazement of +his men, Jackson led his army into the deep woods away from the sound of +the thundering guns which had been calling to them so incessantly. Harry +was mystified and the general vouchsafed no word, even to his own staff. +They marched on through woods, across fields, along the edges of swamps, +and that crash of battle grew fainter behind them, but never died out. + +"What do you think it means?" Harry whispered to Dalton. + +"Don't know. I'm not thinking. I'm not here to think at such times. All +the thinking we need is going on under the old slouch hat there. Harry, +didn't we go with him all through the valley? Can't we still trust him?" + +"I can and will." + +"Same here." + +The army curved about again. Harry, wholly unfamiliar with the country, +did not notice it until the roar of the battle began to rise again, +showing that they were coming nearer. Then he divined the plan. Jackson +was making this circuit through the woods to fall on the Northern flank. +It was the first of the great turning movements which Lee and Jackson +were to carry through to brilliant success so often. + +"Look at the red blaze beyond those bushes," said Dalton, "and listen +how rapidly the sound of the battle is growing in volume. I don't know +where we are, but I do know now that Old Jack is leading us right into +the thick of it." + +The general rode forward and stopped his horse on the crest of a low +hill. Then Harry and Dalton, looking over the bushes and swamps, saw a +great blue army stationed behind a creek and some low works. + +"It's McClellan!" exclaimed Dalton. + +"Or a part of him," said Harry. + +It was a wing of the Northern army. McClellan himself was not there, but +many brave generals were, Porter, Slocum and the others. The batteries +of this army were engaged in a heavy duel with the Southern batteries +in front, and the sharpshooters in the woods and bushes kept up a +continuous combat that crackled like the flames of a forest fire. + +Harry drew a long breath. + +"This is the biggest yet," he said. + +Dalton nodded. + +The soldiers of Jackson were already marching off through the woods, +floundering through deep mud, crossing little streams swollen by heavy +rains, but eager to get into action. + +It was very difficult for the mounted men, and Harry and Dalton at last +dismounted and led their horses. The division made slow progress and +as they struggled on the battle deepened. Now and then as they toiled +through the muck they saw long masses of blue infantry on a ridge, and +with them the batteries of great guns which the gunners of the North +knew so well how to use. + +Their own proximity was discovered after a while, and shell and bullets +began to fly among them, but they emerged at last on firm ground and on +the Northern flank. + +"It's hot and growing hotter," said Dalton. + +"And we'll help increase the heat if we ever get through these +morasses," said Harry. + +He felt the bridle suddenly pulled out of his hand, and turned to catch +his runaway horse, but the horse had been shot dead and his body had +fallen into the swamp. Dalton's horse also was killed presently by a +piece of shell, but the two plunged along on foot, endeavoring to keep +up with the general. + +The fire upon them was increasing fast. Some of the great guns on the +ridge were now searching their ranks with shell and shrapnel and many a +man sank down in the morass, to be lost there forever. But Jackson never +ceased to urge them on. They were bringing their batteries that way, +too, and men and horses alike tugged at the cannon. + +"If we ever get through," said Harry, "we're bound to do big things." + +"We'll get through, never fear," said Dalton. "Isn't Old Jack driving +us?" + +"Here we are!" Harry shouted suddenly as his feet felt firm ground. + +"And here's the whole division, too!" exclaimed Dalton. + +The regiments and brigades of Jackson emerged from the forest, and with +them came six batteries of cannon which they had almost carried over the +swamp. The whole battlefield now came into sight, but the firing and the +smoke were so great that it seemed to change continuously in color +and even in shape. At one moment there was a ridge where none had been +before, then where Harry had seen a creek there was only dry land. But +he knew that they were illusions of the eyes, due to the excited brain +behind them. + +Harry saw the six batteries of Jackson planted in a long row on the +hard ground, and then open with a terrific crash on the defenders of +the ridge. The sound was so tremendous that he was deafened for a few +moments. By the time his hearing was restored fully the batteries fired +again and the Northern batteries on the hill replied. Then the mass of +infantry charged and Harry and Dalton on foot, waving their swords and +wild with excitement, charged with them. + +The plans of Lee and Jackson, working together for the first time in a +great battle, went through. When Lee heard the roar of Jackson's guns on +the flank he, too, sent word to his division commanders to charge with +their full strength. In an instant the Northern army was assailed both +in front and on the side, by a great force, rushing forward, sure of +victory and sending the triumphant rebel yell echoing through the woods +of the Chickahominy. + +Harry felt the earth tremble beneath him as nearly a hundred thousand +men closed in deadly conflict. He could hear nothing but the continued +roar, and he saw only a vast, blurred mass of men and guns. But he was +conscious that they were going forward, up the hill, straight toward the +enemy's works, and he felt sure of victory. + +He had grounds for his faith. Lee with the smaller army, had +nevertheless brought superior numbers upon the field at the point of +action. Porter and Slocum were staunch defenders. The Northern army, +though shattered by cannon and rifle fire, stood fast on the ridge until +the charging lines were within ten feet of them. Then they gave way, +but carried with them most of their cannon, reformed further back, and +fought again. + +Harry found himself shouting triumphantly over one of the captured +guns, but the Southern troops were allowed no time to exult. The sun was +already sinking over the swamps and the battlefield, but Lee and Jackson +lifted up their legions and hurled them anew to the attack. McClellan +was not there when he was needed most, but Porter did all that a man +could do. Only two of his eighty guns had been taken, and he might yet +have made a stand, but the last of Jackson's force suddenly emerged from +the forest and again he was struck with terrible impact on the flank. + +The Northern army gave way again. The Southern brigades rushed forward +in pursuit, capturing many prisoners, and giving impulse to the flight +of their enemies. Their riflemen shot down the horses drawing the +retreating cannon. Many of the guns were lost, twenty-two of them +falling into Southern hands. Some of the newer regiments melted entirely +away under an attack of such fierceness. Nothing stopped the advance of +Lee and Jackson but the night, and the arrival of a heavy reinforcement +sent by McClellan. The new force, six thousand strong, was stationed in +a wood, the guns that had escaped were turned upon the enemy, Porter and +Slocum rallied their yet numerous force, and when the dark came down the +battle ceased with the Northern army in the east defeated again, but not +destroyed. + +As Harry rode over the scene of battle that night he shuddered. The +fields, the forests and the swamps were filled with the dead and the +wounded. Save Shiloh, no other such sanguinary battle had yet been +fought on American soil. Nearly ten thousand of the Southern youths had +fallen, killed or wounded. The North, standing on the defensive, had not +lost so many, but the ghastly roll ran into many thousands. + +That night, as had happened often in the valley, the hostile sentinels +were within hearing of each other, but they fired no shots. Meanwhile, +Lee and Jackson, after the victory, which was called Gaines' Mill, +planned to strike anew. + +Harry awoke in the morning to find that most of the Northern army was +gone. The brigades had crossed the river in the night, breaking down the +bridges behind them. He saw the officers watching great columns of +dust moving away, and he knew that they marked the line of the Northern +march. But the Southern scouts and skirmishers found many stragglers in +the woods, most of them asleep or overpowered by weariness. Thus they +found the brilliant General Reynolds, destined to a glorious death +afterward at Gettysburg, sound asleep in the bushes, having been lost +from his command in the darkness and confusion. The Southern army rested +through the morning, but in the afternoon was on the march again. Harry +found that both St. Clair and Langdon had escaped without harm this +time, but Happy Tom had lost some of his happiness. + +"This man Lee is worse than Jackson," he lamented. "We've just fought +the biggest battle that ever was, and now we're marching hot-foot after +another." + +Happy Tom was right. Lee and Jackson had resolved to give McClellan no +rest. They were following him closely and Stuart with the cavalry hung +in a cloud on his flanks. They pressed him hard the next day at White +Oak Swamp, Jackson again making the circular movement and falling on his +flank, while Longstreet attacked in front. There was a terrible battle +in thick forest and among deep ravines, but the darkness again saved the +Northern army, which escaped, leaving cannon and men in the hands of the +enemy. + +Harry lay that night in a daze rather than sleep. He was feverish and +exhausted, yet he gathered some strength from the stupor in which he +lay. All that day they marched along the edge of a vast swamp, and they +heard continually the roar of a great battle on the horizon, which they +were not able to reach. It was Glendale, where Longstreet and one of +the Hills fought a sanguinary draw with McClellan. But the Northern +commander, knowing that a drawn battle in the enemy's country was +equivalent to a defeat, continued his retreat and the Southern army +followed, attacking at every step. The roar of artillery resounded +continuously through the woods and the vanguard of one army and the rear +guard of the other never ceased their rifle fire. + +Neither Harry nor his young comrades could ever get a clear picture +of the vast, confused battle amid the marshes of the Chickahominy, +extending over so long a period and known as the Seven Days, but it was +obvious to them now that Richmond was no longer in danger. The coming +of Jackson had enabled Lee to attack McClellan with such vigor and +fierceness that the young Northern general was forced not only to +retreat, but to fight against destruction. + +But the Union mastery of the water, always supreme, was to come once +more to the relief of the Northern army. As McClellan made his retreat, +sometimes losing and sometimes beating off the enemy, but always leaving +Richmond further and further behind, he had in mind his fleet in the +James, and then, if pushed to the last extremity, the sea by which they +had come. + +But there were many staunch fighters yet in his ranks, and the Southern +leaders were soon to find that they could not trifle with the Northern +army even in defeat. He turned at Malvern Hill, a position of great +strength, posted well his numerous and powerful artillery, and beat off +all the efforts of Lee and Jackson and Longstreet and the two Hills, and +Armistead and the others. More than five thousand of the Southern troops +fell in the fruitless charges. Then McClellan retreated to the James +River and his gunboats and the forces of the North were not to come as +near Richmond again for nearly three years. + +The armies of Lee and Jackson marched back toward the Southern capital, +for the possession of which forty thousand men had fallen in the Seven +Days. Harry rode with Dalton, St. Clair and Langdon. They had come +through the inferno unhurt, and while they shared in the rejoicings +of the Virginia people, they had seen war, continued war, in its most +terrible aspects, and they felt graver and older. + +By the side of them marched the thin ranks of the Invincibles, with the +two colonels, erect and warlike, leading them. Just ahead was Stonewall +Jackson, stooped slightly in the saddle, the thoughtful blue eyes +looking over the heads of his soldiers into the future. + +"If he hadn't made that tremendous campaign in the valley," said Dalton, +"McClellan allied with McDowell would have come here with two hundred +thousand men and it would have been all over." + +"But he made it and he saved us," said Harry, glancing at his hero. + +"And I'm thinking," said Happy Tom Langdon, glancing toward the North, +"that he'll have to make more like it. The Yankees will come again, +stronger than ever." + + + +Appendix: Transcription notes: + +This etext was transcribed from a volume of the 21st printing + + +The following modifications were applied while transcribing the printed +book to e-text: + + While the other books in this series are consistently printed with + a hyphen in "lieutenant-colonel", some chapters in this book were + printed with and some without. I added the hyphen where missing in + chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 14. + + chapter 1 + - Page 20, para 10, changed "its" to "it's" + + chapter 2 + - Page 45, para 6, removed extraneous quotation mark + + chapter 6 + - Page 132, para 3, moved a comma - my general policy is not to + add/remove/move commas, even though I often find commas which + seem to me out of place, but this one was just too bad to ignore + + chapter 8 + - Page 159, para 2, fixed typo ("enmy") + - Page 167, para 5, missing quotation mark + + chapter 10 + - Page 211, para 4, missing quotation mark + - Page 216, para 6, changed "his section" to "this section" + + chapter 11 + - Page 225, para 4, fixed typo ("Generel") + + chapter 12 + - Page 249, para 4, fixed typo ("exerienced") + - Page 261, para 4, fixed typo ("woud") + - Page 262, para 1, removed excess quotation mark + + chapter 13 + - Page 277, para 3, missing quotation mark + - Page 292, para 3, apostrophe printed instead of quotation mark + + chapter 14 + - Page 298, para 4, changed "Its" to "It's" + - Page 312, para 6, missing quotation mark + - Page 314, para 4, changed "." to ":" + - Page 315, para 5, removed excess period + + chapter 15 + - Page 329, para 5, fixed typo ("painly") + - Page 331, para 1, fixed typo ("caried") + - Page 331, para 11, changed apostrophe to quotation mark + + Limitations imposed by converting to plain ASCII: 8-bit characters + were converted to their 7-bit equivalents: + - chapter 9, page 186, "melee" + - chapter 11, page 241, "Themopylae" ("ae" ligature) + + +I did not modify: + + - As with all the books in this series, commas often seem to me to be + missing or misplaced. Often one comma is printed where either no + comma or two commas would seem more appropriate, for example: + + A pleasant month for Harry, and all the young staff officers passed + at Winchester. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Scouts of Stonewall, by Joseph A. Altsheler + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL *** + +***** This file should be named 6094.txt or 6094.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/9/6094/ + +Produced by Ken Reeder + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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