CHAPTER III
JACKSON MOVES
It was impossible for Harry to restrain a vivid feeling of exultation.He was in the open, and he was leaving the Northern cavalry far behind.Nor was it likely that any further enemy would appear now between himand Jackson's army. Chance had certainly favored him. What a gloriousgoddess Chance was when she happened to be on your side! Theneverything fell out as you wished it. You could not go wrong.
The horse he rode was even better than the one he had lost, and a pairof splendid pistols in holsters lay across the saddle. He could accountfor two enemies if need be, but when he looked back he saw no pursuersin sight, and he slowed his pace in order not to overtax the horse.
Not long afterwards he saw the Southern pickets belonging to thevanguard of the Invincibles. St. Clair himself was with them, andwhen he saw Harry he galloped forward, uttering a shout.
St. Clair had known of the errand upon which Harry had gone withSherburne, and now he was alarmed to see him riding back alone, wornand covered with dust.
"What's the matter, Harry?" he cried, "and where are the others?"
"Nothing's the matter with me, and I don't know where the others are.But, Arthur, I've got to see General Jackson at once! Where is he?"
Harry's manner was enough to impress his comrade, who knew him so well.
"This way," he said. "Not more than four or five hundred yards.There, that's General Jackson's tent!"
Harry leaped from his horse as he came near and made a rush for thetent. The flap was open, but a sentinel who stood in front put up hisrifle, and barred the way. A low monotone came from within the tent.
"The General's praying," he said. "I can't let you in for a minute ortwo."
Harry took off his hat and stood in silence while the two minuteslasted. All his haste was suddenly gone from him. The strong affectionthat he felt for Jackson was tinged at times with awe, and this awe wasalways strongest when the general was praying. He knew that the prayerwas no affectation, that it came from the bottom of his soul, like thatof a crusader, asking forgiveness for his sins.
The monotone ceased, the soldier took down his rifle which was held likea bar across the way, and Harry, entering, saluted his general, who wassitting in the half light at a table, reading a little book, which thelad guessed was a pocket Bible.
Harry saluted and Jackson looked at him gravely.
"You've come back alone, it seems," he said, "but you've obeyed myinstructions not to come without definite news?"
"I have, sir."
"What have you seen?"
"We saw the main army of General McClellan crossing the Potomac atBerlin. He must have had there a hundred thousand men and three orfour hundred guns, and others were certainly crossing elsewhere."
"You saw all this with your own eyes?"
"I did, sir. We watched them for a long time. They were crossing on abridge of boats."
"You are dusty and you look very worn. Did you come in contact with theenemy?"
"Yes, sir. Many of their horsemen were already on this side of theriver, and this morning I was pressed very hard by a troop of theircavalry. I gained a wood, but just at the edge of it my horse waskilled by a chance shot."
"Your horse killed? Then how could you escape from cavalry?"
"Chance favored me, sir. I dodged them for a while in the woods andunderbrush, helped by gullies here and there, and when I came to theedge of the wood only a single horseman was near me. I hid behind atree and knocked him out of the saddle as he was riding past."
"I hope you did not kill him."
"I did not. He was merely stunned. He will have a headache for a dayor two, and then he will be as well as ever. I jumped on his horse andgalloped here as straight and fast as I could."
A faint smile passed over Jackson's face.
"You were lucky to make the exchange of horses," he said, "and you havedone well. The enemy comes and our days of rest are over. Do you knowanything of Captain Sherburne and his troop?"
"Captain Sherburne, under the urgency of pursuit, scattered his menin order that some of them at least might reach you with the news ofGeneral McClellan's crossing. I was the first detached, and so I knownothing of the others."
"And also you were the first to arrive. I trust that Captain Sherburneand all of his men will yet come. We can ill spare them."
"I truly hope so, sir."
"You need food and sleep. Get both. You will be called when you areneeded. You have done well, Lieutenant Kenton."
"Thank you, sir."
Harry, saluting again, withdrew. He was very proud of his general'scommendation, but he was also on the verge of physical collapse.He obtained some food at a camp fire near by, ate it quickly, wrappedhimself in borrowed blankets, and lay down under the shade of an oak.Langdon saw him just as he was about to close his eyes, and called tohim:
"Here, Harry, I didn't know you were back. What's your news?"
"That McClellan and the Yankee army are this side of the Potomac.That's all. Good night."
He closed his eyes, and although it was near the middle of the day,with the multifarious noises of the camp about him, he fell into thedeep and beautiful sleep of the tired youth who has done his duty.
He was still asleep when Captain Sherburne, worn and wounded slightly,came in and reported also to General Jackson. He and his main force hadbeen pursued and had been in a hot little brush with the Union cavalry,both sides losing several men. Others who had been detached before theaction also returned and reported. All of them, like Harry, were toldto seek food and sleep.
Harry slept a long time, and the soldiers who passed, making manypreparations, never disturbed him. But the entire Southern army underLee, assisted by his two great corps commanders, Jackson and Longstreet,was making ready to meet the Army of the Potomac under McClellan.The spirit of the Army of Northern Virginia was high, and the news thatthe enemy was marching was welcome to them.
When Harry awoke the sun had passed its zenith and the cool Octobershadows were falling. He yawned prodigiously, stretched his arms,and for a few moments could not remember where he was, or what he hadbeen doing.
"Quit yawning so hard," said Happy Tom Langdon. "You may get your mouthso wide open that you'll never be able to shut it again."
"What's happened?"
"What's happened, while you were asleep? Well, it will take a long timeto tell it, Mr. Rip Van Winkle. You have slept exactly a week, and inthe course of that time we fought a great battle with McClellan, weredefeated by him, chiefly owing to your comatose condition, and havefallen back on Richmond, carrying you with us asleep in a wagon.If you will look behind you you will see the spires of Richmond.Oh, Harry! Harry! Why did you sleep so long and so hard when we neededyou so much?"
"Shut up, Tom. If ever talking matches become the fashion, I meanto enter you in all of them for the first prize. Now, tell me whathappened while I was asleep, and tell it quick!"
"Well, me lad, since you're high and haughty, not to say dictatorialabout it, I, as proud and haughty as thyself, defy thee. George,you tell him all about it." Dalton grinned. A grave and serious youthhimself, he liked Langdon's perpetual fund of chaff and good humor.
"Nothing has happened, Harry, while you slept," he said, "except thatthe army, or at least General Jackson's corps, has been making ready fora possible great battle. We're scattered along a long line, and GeneralLee and General Longstreet are some distance from us, but our generalsdon't seem to be alarmed in the least. It's said that McClellan willsoon be between us and Richmond, but I can't see any alarm about thateither."
"Why should there be?" said St. Clair, who was also sitting by. "Itwould make McClellan's position dangerous, not ours."
"Arthur puts it right," said Langdon. "When we go to our tents, showhim the new uniform you've got, Arthur. It's the most gorgeous affairin the Army of Northern Virginia, and it cost him a whole year's payin Confederate money. Have you noticed, Har
ry, that the weakest thingabout us is our money? We're the greatest marchers and fighters in theworld, but nobody, not even our own people, seem to fall in love withour money."
"I suppose that General Jackson is now ready to march whenever the wordshould come," said St. Clair. "The boys, as far as I can see, havereturned to their rest and play. There's that Cajun band playing again."
"And it sounds mighty good," said Harry. "Look at those LouisianaFrenchmen dancing."
The spirits of the swarthy Acadians were irrepressible. As they haddanced in the great days in the valley in the spring, now they weredancing when autumn was merging into winter, and they sang their songsof the South, some of which had come from old Brittany through NovaScotia to Louisiana.
Harry liked the French blood, and he had learned to like greatly thesemen who were so much underestimated in the beginning. He and hiscomrades watched them as they whirled in the dance, clasped in oneanother's arms, their dark faces glowing, white teeth flashing and blackeyes sparkling. He saw that they were carried away by the music and thedance, and as they floated over the turf they were dreaming of their farand sunny land and the girls they had left behind them. He had beenreared in a stern and more northern school, but he had learned longsince that a love of innocent pleasure was no sign of effeminacy orcorruption.
"Good to look on, isn't it, Harry?" said St. Clair.
"Yes, and good to hear, too."
"Come with me into this little dip, and I'll show you another sightthat's good to see."
There was a low ridge on their right, crested with tall trees anddropping down abruptly on the other side. A little distance on roseanother low ridge, but between the two was a snug and grassy bowl,and within the bowl, sitting on the dry grass, with a chessboard betweenthem, were Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel HectorSt. Hilaire. They were absorbed so deeply in their game that they didnot notice the boys on the crest of the bank looking over at them.
Colonel Leonidas Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire hadnot changed a particle--to the eyes, at least--in a year and a half ofcampaigning and tremendous battles. They may have been a little leanerand a little thinner, but they were lean and thin men, anyhow. Theiruniforms, although faded and worn, were neat and clean, and as each saton a fragment of log, while the board rested on a stump between, theywere able to maintain their dignity.
It was Colonel Talbot's move. His hand rested on the red king and hepondered long. Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire waited without a sign ofimpatience. He would take just as long a time with his knight or bishop,or whichever of the white men he chose to use.
"I confess, Hector," said Colonel Talbot at length, "that this movepuzzles me greatly."
"It would puzzle me too, Leonidas, were I in your place," saidLieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire; "but you must recall that just beforethe Second Manassas you seemed to have me checkmated, and that I haveescaped from a most dangerous position."
"True, true, Hector! I thought I had you, but you slipped from my net.Those were, beyond all dispute, most skillful and daring moves you made.It pays to be bold in this world."
"Do you know," whispered St. Clair to Harry, "that this unfinished gameis the one they began last spring in the valley? We saw them playingit in a fence corner before action. They've taken it up again at leastfour or five times between battles, but neither has ever been able towin. However, they'll fight it out to a finish, if a bullet doesn't getone first. They always remember the exact position in which the figureswere when they quit."
Colonel Talbot happened to look up and saw the boys.
"Come down," he said, "and join us. It is pleasant to see you again,Harry. I heard of your mission, its success and your safe return.Hector, I suppose we'll have to postpone the next stage of our gameuntil we whip the Yankees again or are whipped by them. I believe Ican yet rescue that red king."
"Perhaps so, Leonidas. Undoubtedly you'll have plenty of time to thinkover it."
"Which is a good thing, Hector."
"Which is undoubtedly a good thing, Leonidas."
They put the chess men carefully in a box, which they gave to an orderlywith very strict injunctions. Then both, after heaving a deep sigh,transformed themselves into men of energy, action, precision andjudgment. Every soldier and officer in the trim ranks of theInvincibles was ready.
But action did not come as soon as Harry and his friends had thought.Lee made preliminary movements to mass his army for battle, and thenstopped. The spies reported that political wire-pulling, that bane ofthe North, was at work. McClellan's enemies at Washington were active,and his indiscreet utterances were used to the full against him.Attention was called again and again to his great overestimates of Lee'sarmy and to the paralysis that seemed to overcome him when he was in thepresence of the enemy. Lincoln, the most forgiving of men, could notforgive him for his failure to use his full opportunity at Antietam anddestroy Lee.
The advance of McClellan stopped. His army remained motionless whileOctober passed into November. The cold winds off the mountains sweptthe last leaves from the trees, and Harry wondered what was going tohappen. Then St. Clair came to him, precise and dignified in manner,but obviously anxious to tell important news.
"What is it, Arthur?" asked Harry.
"We've got news straight from Washington that McClellan is no longercommander of the Army of the Potomac."
"What! They've nobody to put in his place."
"But they have put somebody in his place, just the same."
"Name, please."
"Burnside, Ambrose E. Burnside, with a beautiful fringe of whiskersalong each side of his face."
"Well, we can beat any general who wears side whiskers. After all,I'm glad we don't have McClellan to deal with again. Wasn't thisBurnside the man who delayed a part of the Union attack at Antietamso long that we had time to beat off the other part?"
"The same."
"Then I'm thinking that he'll be caught between the hammer and the anvilof Lee and Jackson, just as Pope was."
"Most likely. Anyhow, our army is rejoicing over the removal ofMcClellan as commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac. That'ssomething of a tribute to McClellan, isn't it?"
"Yes, good-bye, George! We've had two good fights with you, Seven Daysand Antietam, with Pope in between at the Second Manassas, and now,ho! for Burnside!"
The reception of the news that Burnside had replaced McClellan wasthe same throughout the Army of Northern Virginia. The officers andsoldiers now felt that they were going to face a man who was far lessof a match for Lee and Jackson than McClellan had been, and McClellanhimself had been unequal to the task. They were anxious to meetBurnside. They heard that he was honest and had no overweening opinionof his own abilities. He did not wish to be put in the place ofMcClellan, preferring to remain a division or corps commander.
"Then, if that's so," said Sherburne, "we've won already. If a manthinks he's not able to lead the Army of the Potomac, then he isn't.Anyhow, we'll quickly see what will happen."
But again it was not as soon as they had had expected. The Northernadvance was delayed once more, and Jackson with his staff and a largepart of his force moved to Winchester, the town that he loved so much,and around which he had won so much of his glory. His tent was pitchedbeside the Presbyterian manse, and he and Dr. Graham resumed theirtheological discussions, in which Jackson had an interest so deep andabiding that the great war rolling about them, with himself as a centralfigure, could not disturb it.
The coldness of the weather increased and the winds from the mountainswere often bitter, but the new stay in Winchester was pleasant, likethe old. Harry himself felt a throb of joy when they returned to thefamiliar places. Despite the coldness of mid-November the weather wasoften beautiful. The troops, scattered through the fields and in theforest about the town, were in a happy mood. They had many deadcomrades to remember, but youth cannot mourn long. They were there inease and plenty again, under a commander who
had led them to nothing butvictory. They heard many reports that Burnside was marching and that hemight soon cross the Rappahannock, and they heard also that Jackson'sadvance to Winchester with his corps had created the deepest alarm inWashington. The North did not trust Burnside as a commander-in-chief,and it had great cause to fear Jackson. Even the North itself openlyexpressed admiration for his brilliant achievements.
Reports came to Winchester that an attack by Jackson on Washington wasfeared. Maryland expected another invasion. Pennsylvania, rememberingthe daring raid which Stuart had made through Chambersburg, one of hercities, picking up prisoners on the way, dreaded the coming of a farmightier force than the one Stuart had led. At the capital itself itwas said that many people were packing, preparatory to fleeing into thefarther North.
But Harry and his comrades thought little of these things for a fewdays. It was certainly pleasant there in the little Virginia town.The people of Winchester and those of the country far and widedelighted to help and honor them. Food was abundant and the crisp coldstrengthened and freshened the blood in their veins. The fire andcourage of Jackson's men had never risen higher.
Jackson himself seemed to be thinking but little of war for a day ortwo. His inseparable companion was the Presbyterian minister,Dr. Graham, to whom he often said that he thought it was the noblest andgrandest thing in the world to be a great minister. Harry, as his aide,being invariably near him, was impressed more and more by hisextraordinary mixture of martial and religious fervor. The man whoprayed before going into battle, and who was never willing to fight onSunday, would nevertheless hurl his men directly into the cannon's mouthfor the sake of victory, and would never excuse the least flinching onthe part of either officer or private.
It seemed to Harry that the two kinds of fervor in Jackson, the martialand the religious, were in about equal proportions, and they alwaysinspired him with a sort of awe. Deep as were his affection andadmiration for Jackson, he would never have presumed upon the slightestfamiliarity. Nor would any other officer of his command.
Yet the tender side of Jackson was often shown during his last days inhis beloved Winchester. The hero-worshipping women of the South oftenbrought their children to see him, to receive his blessing, and to saywhen they were grown that the great Jackson had put his hands upon theirheads.
Harry and his three comrades of his own age, who had been down near thecreek, were returning late one afternoon to headquarters near the manse,when they heard the shout of many childish voices.
They saw that he was walking again with the minister, but that he wassurrounded by at least a dozen little girls, every one of whom demandedin turn that he shake her hand. He was busily engaged in this task whenthe whole group passed out of sight into the manse.
"The Northern newspapers denounce us as passionate and headstrong,with all the faults of the cavaliers," said St. Clair. "I only wishthey could see General Jackson as he is. Lee and Jackson come muchnearer being Puritans than their generals do."
Harry that night, as he sat in the little anteroom of Jackson's quartersawaiting orders, heard again the low tone of his general praying.The words were not audible, but the steady and earnest sound came tohim for some time. It was late, and all the soldiers were asleep or atrest. No sound came from the army, and besides Jackson's voice therewas none other, save the sighing of the winds down from the mountains.
Harry, as he listened to the prayer, felt a deep and overwhelming senseof solemnity and awe. He felt that it was at once a petition and apresage. Sitting there in the half dark mighty events wereforeshadowed. It seemed to him that they were about to enter upon astruggle more terrible than any that had gone before, and those hadbeen terrible beyond the anticipation of anybody.
The omens did not fail. Jackson's army marched the next morning,turning southward along the turnpike in order to effect the junctionwith Lee and Longstreet. All Winchester had assembled to bid themfarewell, the people confident that the army would win victory, butknowing its cost now.
There was water in Harry's eyes as he listened to the shouts and cheersand saw the young girls waving the little Confederate flags.
"If good wishes can do anything," said Harry, "then we ought to win."
"So we should. I'm glad to have the good wishes, but, Harry, whenyou're up against the enemy, they can't take the place of cannon andrifles. Look at Colonel Talbot and Lieutenant-Colonel St. Hilaire.See how straight and precise they are. But both are suffering from adeep disappointment. They started their chess game again last night,Colonel Talbot to make the first move with his king, but before he coulddecide upon any course with that king the orders came for us to getready for the march. The chessmen went into the box, and they'll haveanother chance, probably after we beat Burnside."
They went on up the valley, through the scenes of triumphs remembered sowell. All around them were their battlefields of the spring, and therewere the massive ridges of the Massanuttons that Jackson had used soskillfully, not clothed in green now, but with the scanty leaves ofclosing autumn.
Neither Harry nor any of his comrades knew just where they were going.That secret was locked fast under the old slouch hat of Jackson, andHarry, like all the others, was content to wait. Old Jack knew where hewas going and what he meant to do. And wherever he was going it was theright place to go to, and whatever he meant to do was just the thingthat ought to be done. His extraordinary spell over his men deepenedwith the passing days.
As they went farther southward they saw sheltered slopes of themountains where the foliage yet glowed in the reds and yellows of autumn,"purple patches" on the landscape. Over ridges to both east and westthe fine haze of Indian summer yet hung. It was a wonderful world,full of beauty. The air was better and nobler than wine, and the creeksand brooks flowing swiftly down the slopes flashed in silver.
There were no enemies here. The people, mostly women andchildren--nearly all the men had gone to war--came out to cheer them asthey passed, and to bring them what food and clothing they could. TheValley never wavered in its allegiance to the South, although greatarmies fought and trod back and forth over its whole course through allthe years of the war.
They turned east and defiled through a narrow pass in the mountains,where the sheltered slopes again glowed in yellow and gold. Jackson,in somber and faded gray, rode near the head of the corps on hisfaithful Little Sorrel, his chin sunk upon his breast, his eyesapparently not seeing what was about them, the worn face somber andthoughtful. Harry knew that the great brain under the old slouchhat was working every moment, always working with an intensity andconcentration of which few men were ever capable. Harry, followingclose behind him, invariably watched him, but he could never readanything of Jackson's mind from his actions.
Then came the soldiers in broad and flowing columns, that is, theyseemed to Harry, in the intense autumn light, to flow like a river ofmen and horses and steel, beautiful to look on now, but terrible inbattle.
"We're better than ever," said the sober Dalton. "Antietam stopped usfor the time, but we are stronger than we were before that battle."
"Stronger and even more enthusiastic," Harry concurred. "Ah, there goesthe Cajun band and the other bands and our boys singing our great tune!Listen to it!"
"Southrons hear your country call you; Up, lest worse than death befall you! To arms! To arms! To arms in Dixie! Lo! all the beacon fires are lighted-- Let all hearts now be united! To arms! To arms! To arms in Dixie!"
The chorus of the battle song, so little in words, so great in itsthrilling battle note, was taken up by more than a score of thousand,and the vast volume of sound, confined in narrow defiles, rolled likethunder, giving forth mighty echoes. Harry was moved tremendously andhe saw Jackson himself come out of his deep thought and lift up his facethat glowed.
"It's certainly great," said Dalton to Harry. "It would drag a manfrom the hospital and send him into battle. I know now how the Frenchrepublican troops on the m
arch felt when they heard the Marseillaise."
"But the words don't seem to me to be the same that I heard at Bull Run."
"No, they're not; but what does it matter? That thrilling music isalways the same, and it's enough."
Already the origin of the renowned battle song was veiled in doubt,and different versions of the words were appearing; but the music neverchanged and every step responded to it.
The army passed through the defile, entered another portion of thevalley, forded a fork of the Shenandoah, crossed the Luray Valley,and then entered the steep passes of the Blue Ridge. Here they foundautumn gone and winter upon them. As the passes rose and the mountains,clothed in pine forest, hung over them, the soft haze of Indian summerfled, and in its place came a low, gray sky, somber and chill. Sharpwinds cut them, but the blood flowed warm and strong in their veins asthey trod the upward path between the ridges. Once more a verse of thedefiant Dixie rolled and echoed through the lofty and bleak pine forest:
"How the South's great heart rejoices At your cannon's ringing voices; To arms! For faith betrayed, and pledges broken, Wrongs inflicted, insults spoken To arms! Advance the flag of Dixie."
Now on the heights the last shreds and patches of autumn were blown awayby the winds of winter. The sullen skies lowered continually. Flakesof snow whirled into their faces, but they merely bent their headsto the storm and marched steadily onward. They had not been calledJackson's Foot Cavalry for nothing. They were proud of the name,and they meant to deserve it more thoroughly than ever.
"I take it," said Dalton to Harry, "that some change has occurred in theNorthern plans. The Army of the Potomac must be marching along in a newline."
"So do I. The battle will be fought in lower country."
"And we will be with Lee and Longstreet in a day or two."
"So it looks."
Jackson stopped twice, a full day each time, for rest, but at the end ofthe eighth day, including the two for rest, he had driven his men onehundred and twenty miles over mountains and across rivers. They alsopassed through cold and heavy snow, but they now found themselves inlower country at the village of Orange Court House. The larger town ofFredericksburg lay less than forty miles away. Harry was not familiarwith the name of Fredericksburg, but it was destined to be before longone that he could never forget. In after years it was hard for him topersuade himself that famous names were not famous always. The name ofsome village or river or mountain would be burned into his brain withsuch force and intensity that the letters seemed to have been theresince the beginning.
It lacked but two days of December when they came to Orange Court House,but they heard that the Northern front was more formidable and menacingthan ever. Burnside had shown more energy than was expected of him.He had formed a plan to march upon Richmond, and, despite thealterations in his course, he was clinging to that plan. He had at theleast, so the scouts said, one hundred and twenty thousand men and fourhundred guns. The North, moreover, which always commanded the water,had gunboats in the Rappahannock below Fredericksburg, and they would be,as they were throughout the war, a powerful arm.
Harry knew, too, the temper and resolution of the North, the slow,cold wrath that could not be checked by one defeat or half a dozen.Antietam, as he saw it, had merely been a temporary check to theConfederate arms, where the forces of Lee and Jackson had fought offat least double their number. The Northern men could not yet boast ofa single clean-cut victory in the battles of the east, but they werecoming on again as stern and resolute as ever. Defeat seemed to serveonly as an incentive to them. After every one, recruits poured downfrom the north and west to lift anew the flag of the Union.
There was something in this steady, unyielding resolve that sent a chillthrough Harry. It was possible that men who came on and who neverceased coming would win in the end. The South--and he was sanguine thatsuch men as Lee and Jackson could not be beaten----might wear itself outby the very winning of victories. The chill came again when he countedthe resources pitted against his side. He was a lad of education andgreat intelligence, and he had no illusions now about the might of theNorth and its willingness to fight.
But youth, in spite of facts, can forget odds as well as loss. Thedoubts that would come at times were always dispelled when he lookedupon the glorious Army of Northern Virginia. It was now nearly eightythousand strong, with an almost unbroken record of victory, trustingabsolutely in its leadership and supremely confident that it could whipany other army on the planet. Its brilliant generals were gathered withJackson or with Lee and Longstreet. They were as confident as theirsoldiers and no movement of the enemy escaped them. Stuart, with hisplume and sash, at which no man now dared to scoff, hung with hishorsemen like a fringe on the flank of Burnside's own army, cutting offthe Union scouts and skirmishers and hiding the plans of Lee.
Messengers brought news that Burnside would certainly cross theRappahannock, covered by the Union artillery, which was always farsuperior in weight and power to that of the South. Harry heard that thepassage of the river would not be opposed, because the Southern armycould occupy stronger positions farther back, but he did not knowwhether the rumors were true.
The word now came, and they went forward from Orange Court House towardFredericksburg to join Lee and Longstreet. When they marched toward theSecond Manassas they had suffered from an almost intolerable heat anddust. Now they advanced through a winter that seemed to pour upon themevery variety of discomfort. Heavy snows fell, icy rains came andfierce winds blew. The country was deserted, and the roads beneath therain and snow and the passage of great armies disappeared. Vast muddytrenches marked where they had been, and the mud was deep and sticky,covering everything as it was ground up, and coloring the whole armythe same hue. Somber and sullen skies brooded over them continually.Not even Jackson's foot cavalry could make much progress through such asea of mud.
"A battle would be a relief," said Harry, as he rode with theInvincibles, having brought some order to Colonel Talbot. "There'snothing like this to take the starch out of men. Isn't that so, Happy?"
"It depresses ordinary persons like you, Harry," replied Langdon,"but a soul like mine leaps up to meet the difficulties. Mud as anobstacle is nothing to me. As I was riding along here I was merelythinking about the different kinds we have. I note that this Virginiamud is tremendously sticky, inclined to be red in color, and I shouldsay that on the whole it's not as handsome as our South Carolina mud,especially when I see our product at its best. What kind of mud do youhave in Kentucky, Harry?"
"All kinds, red, black, brown and every other shade."
"Well, there's a lot of snow mixed with this, too. I think that at thevery bottom there is a layer of snow, and then the mud and the snow comein alternate layers until within a foot of the top, after which it's allmud. Harry, Old Jack doesn't believe it's right to fight on Sunday,but do you believe it's right to fight in winter, when the armies haveto waste so much strength and effort in getting at one another?"
He was interrupted by the mellow tones of a bugle, and a brilliant troopof horsemen came trotting toward them through a field, where the mud wasnot so deep. They recognized Stuart in his gorgeous panoply at theirhead and behind him was Sherburne.
Stuart rode up to the Invincibles. Colonel Leonidas Talbot andLieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire gravely saluted the brilliantapparition.
"I am General Stuart," said Stuart, lifting the plumed hat, "and Iam glad to welcome the vanguard of General Jackson. May I ask, sir,what regiment is this?"
"It is the South Carolina regiment known as the Invincibles," saidColonel Talbot proudly, as he lifted his cap in a return salute,"although it does not now contain many South Carolinians. Alas! most ofthe lads who marched so proudly away from Charleston have gone to theirlast rest, and their places have been filled chiefly by Virginians.But the Virginians are a brave and gallant people, sir, almost equalin fire and dash to the South Carolinians."
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br /> Stuart smiled. He knew that it was meant as a compliment of the firstclass, and as such he took it.
"I think, sir," he said, "that I am speaking to Colonel Leonidas Talbot?"
"You are, sir, and the gentleman on my right is the second in commandof this regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Hector St. Hilaire, a most noblegentleman and valiant and skillful officer. We have met you before,sir. You saved us before Bull Run when we were beleaguered at a fortin the Valley."
"Ah, I remember!" exclaimed Stuart. "And a most gallant fight you weremaking. And I recognize this young officer, too. He was the messengerwho met me in the fields. Your hand, Mr. Kenton."
He stretched out his own hand in its long yellow buckskin glove, andHarry, flushing with pride, shook it warmly.
"It's good of you, General," he said, "to remember me."
"I'm glad to remember you and all like you. Is General Jackson near?"
"About a quarter of a mile farther back, sir. I'm a member of his staff,and I'll ride with you to him."
"Thanks. Lead the way."
Harry turned with Stuart and Sherburne and they soon reached GeneralJackson, who was plodding slowly on Little Sorrel, his chin sunk uponhis breast as usual, the lines of thought deep in his face. GeneralStuart bowed low before him and the plumed hat was lifted high. Theknight paid deep and willing deference to the Puritan.
Jackson's face brightened. He wished plain apparel upon himself,but he did not disapprove of the reverse upon General Stuart.
"You are very welcome, General Stuart," he said.
"I thank you, sir. I have come to report to you, sir, that GeneralBurnside's army is gathering in great force on the other side of theRappahannock, and that we are massed along the river and back ofFredericksburg."
"General Burnside will cross, will he not?"
"So we think. He can lay a pontoon bridge, and he has a great artilleryto protect it. The river, as you know, sir, has a width of about twohundred yards at Fredericksburg, and the Northern batteries can sweepthe farther shore."
"I'm sorry that we've elected to fight at Fredericksburg," said GeneralJackson thoughtfully. "The Rappahannock will protect General Burnside'sarmy."
Stuart gazed at him in astonishment.
"I don't understand you, sir," he said. "You say that the Rappahannockwill protect General Burnside when it seems to be our defense."
"My meaning is perfectly clear. When we defeat General Burnside atFredericksburg he will retreat across the river over his bridge orbridges and we shall not be able to get at him. We will win a greatvictory, but we will not gather the fruits of it, because of ourinability to reach him."
"Oh, I see," said Stuart, the light breaking on his face. "You considerthe victory already won, sir?"
"Beyond a doubt."
"Then if you think so, General Jackson, I think so, too," said Stuart,as he saluted and rode away.