Part 26 (1/2)
There was little need of these stirring exhortations; for the men were as eager for the fight as the officers, and laughed with genuine glee at the pitiful aspect of the runaways. They advanced in line of battle to the support of the hard-pressed troops in front of them, and poured a withering fire into the enemy. With that fiendish yell which the Southern soldiers invariably use in the hour of battle, they rushed forward with a fury which was madness, and into which no fear of death entered.
”They are coming!” shouted Somers, as the legions of rebellion surged down upon the line, yelling like so many demons, as though they expected the veterans to be vanquished by mere noise. ”Stand steady, my men!”
”That reminds me of the Russian advance at Magenta,” said Captain de Banyan, who happened to pa.s.s near the spot where Somers stood.
”The Austrians, you mean,” replied Somers, trying to keep as cool and unmoved as his companion.
”Excuse me; I meant the Austrians,” replied the captain. ”The fact is----Forward, my brave fellows!” roared he as the order came down the line.
The enemy had been temporarily checked, and the brigade advanced to pursue the advantage gained. They poured another terrible volley into the rebels; when a regiment of the latter, infuriated by whiskey and the fierce goadings of their officers, rushed down with irresistible force upon a portion of the Union line, and succeeded in making a partial break in our regiment. The only remaining line officer in one of the companies where the rupture occurred was wounded at this critical moment, and borne under the feet of the excited combatants.
”Lieutenant Somers, take command of that company!” shouted the colonel, as he dashed towards the imperiled portion of the line.
Somers made haste to obey the order when the line was giving way before the impetuous charge. He felt that the safety of the whole army depended upon himself at that momentous instant, and that on the salvation of the army rested the destiny of his country. What was the life of a single man, of a hundred thousand even, compared with the fearful issue of that moment? It was the feeling of the young soldier, and he was ready to lay down his life for the flag which symbolized the true glory of the nation.
”Rally round me!” he cried, as he discharged his revolver into the breast of a brave captain who was urging his company forward with the most unflinching resolution. ”Down with them!” he shouted, as he waved his sword above his head.
”Hurrah!” roared a brave sergeant near him, and the cry was taken up by the gallant fellows who had been pressed back by sheer force of numbers.
”Forward!” shouted Somers, as he dashed down a bayonet, which would have transfixed him on the spot if he had not been on the alert.
The men rallied, and stood boldly up to the work before them. They were inspired by the example of the young lieutenant; and the rebel regiment slowly and doggedly retired, leaving many of their number dead or wounded on the field, and a small number as prisoners in the hands of Somers's new command.
After alternate repulses and successes, the rebels were signally defeated and driven back. It was a sharp and decisive struggle; but again had the army been saved from destruction, and the long line of army wagons still pursued its way in safety towards the waters of the James.
Again had the rebel general's brilliant calculation failed. His troops, maddened by the fires of the whiskey demon, had done all that men or fiends could do; but the trained valor of the Army of the Potomac had again saved the country. Onward it marched towards the goal of safety under the sheltering wings of the gunboat fleet in the river.
All night long the men marched, with frequent intervals of rest, as the movements of the army trains required them. There was no sleep, even after that hard-fought battle; no real rest from the exciting and wearing events of the day. There was little or no food to be had; and the fainting soldiers, though still ready to fight and march in their weakness, longed for the repose of a few hours in camp. But not yet was the boon to be granted. On the following morning, our regiment arrived at Malvern Hills, where they were again formed in line of battle, in readiness to receive the menacing hosts of the rebels.
”We are all right now, Somers,” said Captain de Banyan while they were waiting for the onset.
”Not quite yet, captain. Don't you see those signal-flags on the houses yonder?”
”They mean something, of course. I did not intend to say there will be no fighting; only, that we have a good position, and all the rebels in the Confederacy can't start us now.”
”Those flags indicate that the rebels are moving.”
”Let them come; the sooner the better, and the sooner it will be over.
Hurrah!” exclaimed the captain, as the inspiring strains of the band in the rear saluted his ears.
Cheer after cheer pa.s.sed along the extended lines as the notes of the ”Star-spangled Banner” thrilled the hearts of the weary, fainting soldiers. The bands had not been heard during the operations in front of Richmond; and their music, as Sergeant Hapgood expressed it, ”sounded like home.”
”That does me good, Somers,” continued the captain. ”There's nothing like music for the nerves. It wakes men up, and makes them forget all their troubles. Forward, the light brigade!” he added, flouris.h.i.+ng his sword in the air. ”I suppose you know that poem, Somers?”
”Of course; I know it by heart; read it in school the last day I ever went.”
”Did you, indeed?”