CHAPTER IX. A PRISONER.

The party round the fire were just about to disperse when the captain of

Vincent's troop approached. He took the horn of spirits and water that

Vincent held up to him and tossed it off.

"That is a stirrup-cup, Wingfield."

"What! are we for duty, captain?" Vincent asked as he rose to his feet.

"Yes; our troop and Harper's are to muster. Get the men together

quietly. I think it is a serious business; each of the regiments furnish

other troops, and I believe Stuart himself takes the command."

"That sounds like work, indeed," Vincent said. "I will get the troop

together, sir."

"There are to be no trumpet calls, Wingfield; we are to get off as

quietly as possible."

Most of the men were already fast asleep, but as soon as they learned

that there was a prospect of active work all were full of life and

animation. The girths of the saddles were tightened, swords buckled on,

and revolvers carefully examined before being placed in the holsters.

Many of the men carried repeating rifles, and the magazines were filled

before these were slung across the riders' shoulders.

In a few minutes the three troops were mounted and in readiness for a

start, and almost directly afterward Colonel Jones himself rode up and

took the command. A thrill of satisfaction ran through the men as he did

so, for it was certain that he would not himself be going in command of

the detachment unless the occasion was an important one. For a few

minutes no move was made.

"I suppose the others are going to join us here," Vincent said to the

officer next him.

"I suppose so," he replied. "We lie in the middle of the cavalry brigade

with two regiments each side of us, so it is likely enough this is the

gathering place. Yes, I can hear the tramping of horses."

"And I felt a spot of rain," Vincent said. "It has been lightning for

some time. I fear we are in for a wet ride."

The contingent from the other regiments soon arrived, and just as the

last came up General Stuart himself appeared and took his place at the

head of the party, now some 500 strong. Short as the time had been since

Vincent felt the first drop, the rain was now coming down in torrents.

One by one the bright flames of the fires died down, and the darkness

became so intense that Vincent could scarcely see the officer on his

right hand.

"I hope the man who rode up with the general, and is no doubt to be our

guide, knows the country well. It is no joke finding our way through a

forest on such a night as this."

"I believe Stuart's got eyes like a cat," the officer said. "Sometimes

on a dark night he has come galloping up to a post where I was in

command, when one could scarcely see one's hand before one. It never

seems to make any difference to him; day or night he rides about at a

gallop."

"He trusts his horse," Vincent said. "That's the only way in the dark.

They can see a lot better than we can, and if men would but let them go

their own way instead of trying to guide them they would seldom run

against anything. The only thing is to lie well down on the horse's

neck, otherwise one might get swept out of the saddle by a bough. It's a

question of nerve, I think not many of us would do as Stuart does, and

trust himself entirely to his horse's instinct."

The word was now passed down the line that perfect silence was to be

observed, and that they were to move forward in column, the ranks

closing up as much as possible so as not to lose touch of each other.

With heads bent down, and blankets wrapped round them as cloaks, the

cavalry rode off through the pouring rain. The thunder was clashing

overhead, and the flashes of the lightning enabled them to keep their

places in close column. They went at a rapid trot, and even those who

were ready to charge a body of the enemy, however numerous, without a

moment's hesitation, experienced a feeling of nervousness as they rode

on in the darkness through the thick forest on their unknown errand.

That they were going northward they knew, and knew also, after a short

time, that they must be entering the lines of the enemy. They saw no

signs of watch-fires, for these would long since have been quenched by

the downpour. After half an hour's brisk riding all knew by the sharp

sound of the beat of the horses' hoofs that they had left the soft track

through the forest and were now upon a regular road.

"Thank goodness for that!" Vincent said in a low tone to his next

neighbor. "I don't mind a brush with the enemy, but I own I don't like

the idea that at any moment my brains may be knocked out by the branch

of a tree."

"I quite agree with you," the other replied; "and I fancy every man felt

the same."

There was no doubt as to this. Hitherto no sound had been heard save the

jingling of accouterments and the dull heavy sound of the horses' tread;

but now there could be heard mingled with these the buzz of voices, and

occasionally a low laugh. They were so accustomed to wet that the

soaking scarce inconvenienced them. They were out of the forest now, and

felt sure of their guide; and as to the enemy, they only longed to

discover them.

For another hour the rapid advance continued, and all felt sure that

they must now have penetrated through the enemy's lines and be well in

his rear. At last they heard a challenge of sentry. Then Stuart's voice

shouted, "Charge!" and at full gallop they rode into the village at

Catlet's Station on the Orange and Alexandria railroad, where General

Pope had his headquarters. Another minute and they were in the midst of

the enemy's camp, where the wildest confusion reigned. The Federal

officers rushed from their tents and made off in the darkness; but the

soldiers, who were lying on the line of railroad, leaped to their feet

and opened a heavy fire upon their invisible foes. Against this the

cavalry, broken up in the camp, with its tents, its animals, and its

piles of baggage, could do little, for it was impossible to form them up

in the broken and unknown ground.

The quarters of Pope were soon discovered; he himself had escaped,

leaving his coat and hat behind. Many of his officers were captured, and

in his quarters were found a box of official papers which were

invaluable, as among them were copies of his letters asking for

reinforcements, lists giving the strength and position of his troops,

and other particulars of the greatest value to the Confederates. No time

was lost, as the firing would set the whole Federal army on the alert,

and they might find their retreat cut off. Therefore placing their

prisoners in the center, and taking the box of papers with them, the

cavalry were called off from the camp, and without delay started on

their return ride.

They did not take the road by which they had come, but made a long

detour, and just as daylight was breaking re-entered the Confederate

lines without having encountered a foe from the time of their leaving

Catlet's Station. Short as their stay in the camp had been, few of the

men had returned empty handed. The Northern army was supplied with an

abundance of excellent food of all descriptions, forming the strongest

possible contrast to the insufficient rations upon which the Confederate

troops existed, and the troopers had helped themselves to whatever they

could lay hands upon in the darkness and confusion.

Some rode in with a ham slung on each side of their saddle, others had

secured a bottle or two of wine or spirits. Some had been fortunate

enough to lay hands on some tins of coffee or a canister of tea,

luxuries which for months had been unknown to them save when they were

captured from the enemy. The only article captured of no possible

utility was General Pope's coat, which was sent to Richmond, where it

was hung up for public inspection; a wag sticking up a paper beside it,

"This is the coat in which General Pope was going to ride in triumph

into Richmond. The coat is here, but the general has not yet arrived."

The Confederates had lost but two or three men from the fire of the

Federal infantry, and they were in high spirits at the success of their

raid. No sooner had General Lee informed himself of the contents of the

papers and the position of the enemy's forces than he determined to

strike a heavy blow at him; and General Jackson, who had been sharply

engaged with the enemy near Warrenton, was ordered to make a long

detour, to cross the Blue Ridge mountains through Thoroughfare Gap, to

fall upon Pope's rear and cut his communications with Washington, and if

possible to destroy the vast depot of stores collected at Manassas.

The cavalry, under Stuart, were to accompany him. The march would be a

tremendous one, the danger of thus venturing into the heart of the

enemy's country immense, but the results of such an expedition would, if

successful, be great; for Lee himself was to advance with his army on

Pope's flank, and there was therefore a possibility of the utter defeat

of that general before he could be joined by the army marching to

reinforce him from Fredericksburg.

It was on Monday the 25th of August that Jackson started on his march,

ascending the banks of the Rappahannock, and crossed the river at a

ford, dragging his artillery with difficulty up the narrow and rocky

road beyond. There was not a moment to be lost, for if the news reached

the enemy the gorge known as Thoroughfare Gap would be occupied, and the

whole object of the movement be defeated. Onward the force pushed,

pressing on through fields and lanes without a single halt, until at

night, hungry and weary but full of spirit, they marched into the little

town of Salem, twenty miles from their starting-place. They had neither

wagons nor provisions with them, and had nothing to eat but some ears of

corn and green apples plucked on the road.

It was midnight when they reached Salem, and the inhabitants turned out

in blank amazement at the sight of Confederate troops in that region,

and welcomed the weary soldiers with the warmest manifestations. At

daylight they were again upon the march, with Stuart's cavalry, as

before, out upon each flank. Thoroughfare Gap was reached, and found

undefended, and after thirty miles' marching the exhausted troops

reached the neighborhood of Manassas. The men were faint from want of

food, and many of them limped along barefooted; but they were full of

enthusiasm.

Just at sunset, Stuart, riding on ahead, captured Bristoe, a station on

the Orange and Alexandria Railroad four miles from Manassas. As they

reached it a train came along at full speed. It was fired at, but did

not stop, and got safely through to Manassas. Two trains that followed

were captured; but by this time the alarm had spread, and no more trains

arrived. Jackson had gained his point. He had placed himself on the line

of communication of the enemy, but his position was a dangerous one

indeed. Lee, who was following him, was still far away. An army was

marching from Fredericksburg against him, another would be despatched

from Washington as soon as the news of his presence was known, and Pope

might turn and crush him before Lee could arrive to his assistance.

Worn out as the troops were, it was necessary at once to gain possession

of Manassas, and the 21st North Carolina and 21st Georgia volunteered

for the service, and, joined by Stuart with a portion of his cavalry,

marched against it. After a brief contest the place was taken, the enemy

stationed there being all taken prisoners. The amount of arms and stores

captured was prodigious: Eight pieces of artillery, 250 horses, 3

locomotives, and tens of thousands of barrels of beef, pork, and flour,

with an enormous quantity of public stores and the contents of

innumerable sutlers' shops.

The sight of this vast abundance to starving men was tantalizing in the

extreme. It was impossible to carry any of it away and all that could be

done was to have at least one good meal. The troops therefore were

marched in and each helped himself to as much as he could consume, and

the ragged and barefooted men feasted upon tinned salmon and lobsters,

champagne and dainties of every description forwarded for the use of

officers. Then they set to work to pile the enormous mass of stores

together and to set it on fire. While they were engaged at this a

brigade of New Jersey troops which had come out from Washington to save

Manassas was attacked and utterly routed. Ewell's division had remained

at Bristoe, while those of Hill and Jackson moved to Manassas, and in

the course of the afternoon Ewell saw the whole of Pope's army marching

against him.

He held them in check for some hours, and thus gave the troops at

Manassas time to destroy completely the vast accumulation of stores, and

when Stuart's cavalry, covering the retreat, fell back at nightfall

through Manassas, nothing but blackened cinders remained where the

Federal depots had been situated. The blow to the Northerners was as

heavy as it was unexpected. Pope had no longer either provisions for his

men or forage for his cattle, and there was nothing left for him but to

force his way past Jackson and retire upon Washington.

Jackson had now the option of falling back and allowing the enemy to

pass, or of withstanding the whole Federal army with his own little

force until Lee came up to the rescue. He chose the latter course, and

took up a strong position. The sound of firing at Thoroughfare Gap was

audible, and he knew that Longstreet's division of Lee's army was hotly

engaged with a force which, now that it was too late, had been sent to

hold the gorge. It was nearly sunset before Pope brought up his men to

the attack. Jackson did not stand on the defensive, but rushed down and

attacked the enemy--whose object had been to pass the position and press

on--with such vigor that at nine o'clock they fell back.

An hour later a horseman rode up with the news that Longstreet had

passed the Gap and was pressing on at full speed, and in the morning his

forces were seen approaching, the line they were taking bringing them up

at an angle to Jackson's position. Thus their formation as they arrived

was that of an open V, and it was through the angle of this V that Pope

had to force his way. Before Longstreet could arrive, however, the enemy

hurled themselves upon Jackson, and for hours the Confederates held

their own against the vast Federal army, Longstreet's force being too

far away to lend them a hand. Ammunition failed, and the soldiers fought

with piles of stones, but night fell without any impression being made

upon these veterans. General Lee now came up with General Hood's

division, and hurled this against the Federals and drove them back. In

the evening Longstreet's force took up the position General Lee had

assigned to it, and in the morning all the Confederate army had arrived,

and the battle recommenced.

The struggle was long and terrible; but by nightfall every attack had

been repulsed, and the Confederates, advancing on all sides, drove the

Northerners, a broken and confused crowd, before them, the darkness

alone saving them from utter destruction. Had there been but one hour

more of daylight the defeat would have been as complete as was that in

the battle of Bull Run, which had been fought on precisely the same

ground. However, under cover of the darkness the Federals retreated to

Centreville, whence they were driven on the following day.

In the tremendous fighting in which Jackson's command had for three long

days been engaged, the cavalry bore a comparatively small part. The

Federal artillery was too powerful to permit the employment of large

bodies of cavalry and although from time to time charges were made when

an opportunity seemed to offer itself, the battle was fought out by the

infantry and artillery. When the end came Jackson's command was for a

time hors de combat. During the long two days' march they had at least

gathered corn and apples to sustain life; but during these three days'

fighting they had had no food whatever, and many were so weak that they

could no longer march.

They had done all that was possible for men to do; had for two days

withstood the attack of an enemy of five times their numbers, and had on

the final day borne their full share in the great struggle, but now the

greater part could do no more, thousands of men were unable to drag

themselves a step further, and Lee's army was reduced in strength for

the time by nearly 20,000 men. All these afterward rejoined it; some as

soon as they recovered limped away to take their places in the ranks

again, others made their way to the depot at Warrenton, where Lee had

ordered that all unable to accompany his force should rendezvous until

he returned and they were able to rejoin their regiments.

Jackson marched away and laid siege to Harper's Ferry, an important

depot garrisoned by 11,000 men, who were forced to surrender just as

McClellan with a fresh army, 100,000 strong, which was pressing forward

to its succor, arrived within a day's march. As soon as Jackson had

taken the place he hurried away with his troops to join Lee, who was

facing the enemy at the Antietam river. Here upon the following day

another terrible battle was fought; the Confederates, though but 39,000

strong, repulsing every attack by the Federals, and driving them with

terrible slaughter back across the river.

Their own loss, however, had been very heavy, and Lee, knowing that he

could expect no assistance, while the enemy were constantly receiving

reinforcements, waited for a day to collect his wounded, bury his dead,

and send his stores and artillery to the rear, and then retired

unpursued across the Rappahannock. Thus the hard-fought campaign came to

an end.

Vincent Wingfield was not with the army that retired across the

Rappahannock. A portion of the cavalry had followed the broken Federals

to the very edge of the stream, and just as they reined in their horses

a round shot from one of the Federal batteries carried away his cap, and

he fell as if dead from his horse. During the night some of the

Northerners crossed the stream to collect and bring back their own

wounded who had fallen near it, and coming across Vincent, and finding

that he still breathed, and was apparently without a wound, they carried

him back with them across the river as a prisoner.

Vincent had indeed escaped without a wound, having been only stunned by

the passage of the shot that had carried away his cap, and missed him

but by the fraction of an inch. He had begun to recover consciousness

just as his captors came up, and the action of carrying him completely

restored him. That he had fallen into the hands of the Northerners he

was well aware; but he was unable to imagine how this had happened. He

remembered that the Confederates had been, up to the moment when he

fell, completely successful, and he could only imagine that in a

subsequent attack the Federals had turned the tables upon them.

How he himself had fallen, or what had happened to him, he had no idea.

Beyond a strange feeling of numbness in the head he was conscious of no

injury, and he could only imagine that his horse had been shot under

him, and that he must have fallen upon his head. The thought that his

favorite horse was killed afflicted him almost as much as his own

capture. As soon as his captors perceived that their prisoner's

consciousness had returned they at once reported that an officer of

Stuart's cavalry had been taken, and at daybreak next morning General

McClellan on rising was acquainted with the fact, and Vincent was

conducted to his tent.

"You are unwounded, sir?" the general said in some surprise.

"I am, general," Vincent replied. "I do not know how it happened, but I

believe that my horse must have been shot under me, and that I must have

been thrown and stunned; however, I remember nothing from the moment

when I heard the word halt, just as we reached the side of the stream,

to that when I found myself being carried here."

"You belong to the cavalry?"

"Yes, sir."

"Was Lee's force all engaged yesterday?"

"I do not know," Vincent said. "I only came up with Jackson's division

from Harper's Ferry the evening before."

"I need not have questioned you," McClellan said. "I know that Lee's

whole army, 100,000 strong, opposed me yesterday."

Vincent was silent. He was glad to see that the Federal general, as

usual, enormously overrated the strength of the force opposed to him.

"I hear that the whole of the garrison of Harper's Ferry were released

on parole not to serve again during the war. If you are ready to give me

your promise to the same effect I will allow you to return to your

friends; if not, you must remain a prisoner until you are regularly

exchanged."

"I must do so, then, general," Vincent said quietly. "I could not return

home and remain inactive while every man in the South is fighting for

the defense of his country, so I will take my chance of being

exchanged."

"I am sorry you choose that alternative," McClellan said. "I hate to see

brave men imprisoned if only for a day; and braver men than those across

yonder stream are not to be found. My officers and men are astonished.

They seem so thin and worn as to be scarce able to lift a musket, their

clothes are fit only for a scarecrow, they are indeed pitiful objects to

look at; but the way in which they fight is wonderful. I could not have

believed had I not seen it, that men could have charged as they did

again and again across ground swept by a tremendous artillery and

musketry fire; it was wonderful! I can tell you, young sir, that even

though you beat us we are proud of you as our countrymen; and I believe

that if your General Jackson were to ride through our camp he would be

cheered as lustily and heartily by our men as he is by his own."

Some fifty or sixty other prisoners had been taken; they had been

captured in the hand-to-hand struggle that had taken place on some parts

of the field, having got separated from their corps and mixed up with

the enemy, and carried off the field with them as they retired. These

for the most part accepted the offered parole; but some fifteen, like

Vincent, preferred a Northern prison to promising to abstain from

fighting in defense of their country, and in the middle of the day they

were placed together in a tent under a guard at the rear of the camp.

The next morning came the news that Lee had fallen back. There was

exultation among the Federals, not unmingled with a strong sense of

relief; for the heavy losses inflicted in the previous fighting had

taken all the ardor of attack out of McClellan's army, and they were

glad indeed that they were not to be called upon to make another attempt

to drive the Confederates from their position. Vincent was no less

pleased at the news. He knew how thin were the ranks of the Confederate

fighting men, and how greatly they were worn and exhausted by fatigue

and want of food, and that, although they had the day before repulsed

the attacks of the masses of well-fed Northerners, such tremendous

exertions could not often be repeated, and a defeat, with the river in

their rear, approachable only by one rough and narrow road, would have

meant a total destruction of the army.

The next morning Vincent and his companions were put into the train and

sent to Alexandria. They had no reason to complain of their treatment

upon the way. They were well fed, and after their starvation diet for

the last six weeks their rations seemed to them actually luxurious. The

Federal troops in Alexandria, who were for the most part young recruits

who had just arrived from the north and west, looked with astonishment

upon these thin and ragged men, several of whom were barefooted. Was it

possible that such scarecrows as these could in every battle have driven

back the well-fed and cared-for Northern soldiers!

"Are they all like this?" one burly young soldier from a western state

asked their guard.

"That's them, sir," the sergeant in charge of the party replied. "Not

much to look at, are they? But, by gosh, you should see them fight! You

wouldn't think of their looks then."

"If that's soldiering," the young farmer said solemnly, "the sooner I am

back home again the better. But it don't seem to me altogether strange

as they should fight so hard, because I should say they must look upon

it as a comfort to be killed rather than to live like that."

A shout of laughter from the prisoners showed the young rustic that the

objects of his pity did not consider life to be altogether intolerable

even under such circumstances, and he moved away meditating on the

discomforts of war, and upon the remarks that would be made were he to

return home in so sorrowful a plight as that of these Confederate

prisoners.

"I bargained to fight," he said, "and though I don't expect I shall like

it, I sha'n't draw back when the time comes; but as to being starved

till you are nigh a skeleton, and going about barefooted and in such

rags as a tramp wouldn't look at, it ain't reasonable." And yet, had he

known it, among those fifteen prisoners more than half were possessors

of wide estates, and had been brought up from their childhood in the

midst of luxuries such as the young farmer never dreamed of.

Among many of the soldiers sympathy took a more active form, and men

pressed forward and gave packets of tobacco, cigars, and other little

presents to them, while two or three pressed rolls of dollar notes into

their hands, with words of rough kindness.

"There ain't no ill feeling in us, Rebs. You have done your work like

men and no doubt you thinks your cause is right, just as we does; but

it's all over now, and maybe our turn will come next to see the inside

of one of your prisons down south. So we are just soldiers together, and

can feel for each other."

Discipline in small matters was never strictly enforced in the American

armies, and the sergeant in charge offered no opposition to the soldiers

mingling with the prisoners as they walked along.

Two days later they were sent by railway to the great prison at Elmira,

a town in the southwest of the State of New York. When they reached the

jail the prisoners were separated, Vincent, who was the only officer,

being assigned quarters with some twenty others of the same rank. The

prisoners crowded round him as he entered, eager to hear the last news

from the front, for they heard from their guards only news of constant

victories won by the Northerners; for every defeat was transformed by

the Northern papers into a brilliant victory, and it was only when the

shattered remains of the various armies returned to Alexandria to be

re-formed that the truth gradually leaked out. Thus Antietam had been

claimed as a great Northern victory, for although McClellan's troops had

in the battle been hurled back shattered and broken across the river,

two days afterward Lee had retired.

One of the prisoners, who was also dressed in cavalry uniform, hung back

from the rest, and going to the window looked out while Vincent was

chatting with the others. Presently he turned round, and Vincent

recognized with surprise his old opponent Jackson. After a moment's

hesitation he walked across the room to him.

"Jackson," he said, "we have not been friends lately, but I don't see

why we should keep up our quarrel any longer; we got on all right at

school together; and now we are prisoners together here it would be

foolish to continue our quarrel. Perhaps we were both somewhat to blame

in that affair. I am quite willing to allow I was, for one, but I think

we might well put it all aside now."

Jackson hesitated, and then took the hand Vincent held out to him.

"That's right, young fellows," one of the other officers said. "Now that

every Southern gentleman is fighting and giving his life, if need be,

for his country, no one has a right to have private quarrels of his own.

Life is short enough as it is, certainly too short to indulge in private

animosities. A few weeks ago we were fighting side by side, and facing

death together; to-day we are prisoners; a week hence we may be

exchanged, and soon take our places in the ranks again. It's the duty of

all Southerners to stand shoulder to shoulder, and there ought to be no

such thing as ill-feeling among ourselves."

Vincent was not previously aware that Jackson had obtained a commission.

He now learned that he had been chosen by his comrades to fill a vacancy

caused by the death of an officer in a skirmish just before Pope fell

back from the Rappahannock, and that he had been made prisoner a few

days afterward in a charge against a greatly superior body of Federal

cavalry.

The great majority of the officers on both sides were at the

commencement of the war chosen by their comrades, the elections at first

taking place once a year. This, however, was found to act very badly. In

some cases the best men in the regiment were chosen; but too often men

who had the command of money, and could afford to stand treat and get in

supplies of food and spirits, were elected. The evils of the system were

found so great, indeed, that it was gradually abandoned; but in cases of

vacancies occurring in the field, and there being a necessity for at

once filling them up, the colonels of the regiments had power to make

appointments, and if the choice of the men was considered to be

satisfactory their nominee would be generally chosen.

In the case of Jackson, the colonel had hesitated in confirming the

choice of the men. He did not for a moment suspect him to be wanting in

courage; but he regarded him as one who shirked his work, and who won

the votes of the men rather by a fluent tongue and by the violence of

his expressions of hatred against the North than by any soldierly

qualities.

Some of the officers had been months in prison, and they were highly

indignant at the delays that had occurred in effecting their exchange.

The South, indeed, would have been only too glad to get rid of some of

their numerous prisoners, who were simply an expense and trouble to

them, and to get their own men back into their ranks. They could ill

spare the soldiers required to guard so large a number of prisoners, and

a supply of food was in itself a serious matter.

Thus it was that at Harper's Ferry and upon a good many other occasions

they released vast numbers of prisoners on their simple paroles not to

serve again. The North, however, were in no hurry to make exchange; and

moreover, their hands were so full with their enormous preparations that

they put aside all matters which had not the claim of urgency.