Part 15 (1/2)
But Grant told Bowen that he would treat only with Pemberton, and after delays General Pemberton came out. General Grant went forward to meet him. The two stood alone under a tree within seventy yards of the Confederate lines and talked.
Chance or fortune presented a startling coincidence. Almost at the very moment that Grant and Pemberton met under the tree Pickett's men were rising to their feet and preparing for the immortal but fatal charge at Gettysburg. While the cannon had ceased suddenly at Vicksburg they were thundering from many score mouths at Gettysburg. Fortune was launching two thunderbolts upon the Confederacy at the same moment. They were to strike upon fields a thousand miles apart, and the double blow was to be mortal.
But d.i.c.k knew nothing of Gettysburg then, nor was he to know anything until days afterward. He certainly had no thought of the East while he watched the two generals under the tree. d.i.c.k's comrades were with him, but so intense was their curiosity that none of them spoke. Thousands of men were gazing with the same eagerness, and the Southern earthworks were covered with the defenders.
It was one of the most dramatic scenes in d.i.c.k's life, the two men under the tree, and the tens of thousands who watched. n.o.body moved. It seemed that they scarcely breathed. After the continuous roar of firing the sudden silence was oppressive, and d.i.c.k felt the blood pounding in his ears.
The heat was close and heavy. Black clouds were floating up in the west, and lightning glimmered now and then on the horizon. Although the storm threatened no one noticed. All eyes were still for Grant and Pemberton. After a while each returned to his own command, and there was an armistice until the next day, when the full surrender was made, and Grant and his officers rode into Vicksburg. At the same time Lee was gathering his men for the retreat into the South from the stricken field of Gettysburg. It was the Fourth of July, the eighty-seventh anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and no one could have possibly conceived a more striking celebration.
As soon as d.i.c.k was free for a little s.p.a.ce he hurried to the ravine, and, as before, found there the open door. He pa.s.sed in without hesitation.
The light as of old filtered into the room, and Colonel Woodville lay just as before in bed with his great bald head upon the pillow. Miss Woodville sat beside the bed, reading aloud from Addison. d.i.c.k's step was light, but the colonel heard him and held up a finger. The lad paused until Miss Woodville, finis.h.i.+ng a long sentence, closed the book. Then the colonel, raising a little the great white thatch of his eyebrows, said: ”Young sir, you have returned again, and, personally, you are welcome, but I do not conceive how you can stand the company you keep. My daughter informs me that the Yankees are in Vicksburg, and I have no reason to doubt the statement.”
He paused, and d.i.c.k said: ”Yes, Colonel, it's true.”
”I suppose we must endure it. I should have gone myself and have offered my sword to General Grant, but this confounded leg of mine is still weak.”
”At least, sir, we come with something besides arms. May I bring you rations?”
”You are generous, young man, and my daughter and I appreciate the obvious nature of your errand here. Speaking for both of us, a little food will not be unwelcome.”
”Tell me first, what has become of your nephew. Has he escaped from the city?”
”He slipped out nearly a week ago, and will join his father's regiment in Bragg's command. That scoundrel, Slade, is gone too. Since the city had to be surrendered I would gladly have made you a present of Slade, but it's out of my power now.”
d.i.c.k soon returned with ample food for them and helped them later, when they moved to quarters outside in the sh.e.l.l-torn city. d.i.c.k saw that they were comfortable, and then his mind turned toward Tennessee. Detachments from Grant's army were to be sent to that of Rosecrans, who was now heavily threatened by Bragg, and the Winchester regiment, which really belonged with him, was sure to go.
The order to march soon came, and it was welcome. The regiment, or rather what was left of it, promptly embarked upon one of the river steamers and started northward.
As they stood on the deck and looked down at the yellow waters in which d.i.c.k had swum on his trusty plank Warner said: ”I've news of importance. It arrived in a telegram to General Grant, and I heard it just as we were coming on board.”
”What is it?” asked d.i.c.k.
”General Lee was defeated in a great battle at a little place called Gettysburg in Pennsylvania, and has retreated into Virginia.”
”Gettysburg and Vicksburg!” exclaimed d.i.c.k. ”The wheel has turned nearly 'round. The Confederacy is doomed now.”
”I think so, too,” said Warner.
CHAPTER XII. AN AFFAIR OF THE MOUNTAINS
Although they were on board one of the fastest steamers in the Union service, d.i.c.k and his comrades had a long journey by river. But it was not unpleasant. They enjoyed the rest and ease after the weeks of fighting and service in the trenches before Vicksburg. The absence of war and the roar of cannon and rifles was like a happy dream between days of fighting. As they went northward on the great river it almost seemed as if peace had returned.
Warner studied his algebra and two other books of mathematics which he was lucky enough to find on board. Pennington slept a great deal of the time.
”I learned it on the plains from the Indians,” he said. ”When they don't have anything to do they sleep and gather strength for the hour of need. I think the time is coming soon when they won't let me sleep at all, and then I can draw on the great supply I have in stock.”
”Likely enough it's near,” said d.i.c.k dreamily. ”They say Bragg has a great army now, and you know that, while Rosecrans is slow he's pretty sure. Thomas and McCook and the others are with him, too. I expect to see 'Pap' Thomas again. He's a general to my liking.”
”And to mine, too,” said Pennington, ”but we can talk about him later on, because I'm going to sleep again inside of a minute.”
d.i.c.k was not averse to silence, as he, too, was half asleep; that is, he was in a dreamy stage, and he was at peace with the world and his fellow men. From under drooping eyelids he was vaguely watching the low sh.o.r.es of the Mississippi, and the great ma.s.s of yellow waters moving onward from the far vague forests of the North in their journey of four thousand miles to the gulf.
Like all boys of the great valley, d.i.c.k always felt the romance and spell of the Mississippi. It was to him and them one of the greatest facts in the natural world, the grave of De Soto, the stream on which their fathers and forefathers had explored and traded and fought since their beginnings. Now it was fulfilling its t.i.tanic role again, and the Union fleets upon its bosom were splitting the Confederacy asunder.
He, too, fell asleep before long. Warner glanced at his comrades who slept so well on a hard bench, and his look was rather envious. He returned his beloved algebra to his pocket, leaned back on the bench also, and, although he had not believed it possible, slept also inside of five minutes. Colonel Winchester pa.s.sing smiled sympathetically, but his glance lingered longest on d.i.c.k.
After days on the water the regiment disembarked, marched more days across the country, joining other regiments on the way, and reached the rear guard of the army of Rosecrans, which was already marching southward in the direction of Chattanooga to meet that of Bragg. They advanced now over the c.u.mberland mountains through a country wild and thinly inhabited. The summer was waning, but it was cool on the mountains and in the pa.s.ses, nor was it so dry as the year before, when they fought that terrible battle at Perryville in Kentucky.
d.i.c.k was glad to be again in the high country, the land of firm soil and of many clear, rus.h.i.+ng streams. Heart and lungs expanded, when he looked upon the long ridges, clothed in deep forest, and breathed the pure air that blew down from their summits. Yet his dream of peace was over. As they advanced through the forests and pa.s.ses they were hara.s.sed incessantly by sharpshooters on the slopes, who melted away before them, but who returned on the very heels of the vain pursuit to vex them again with bullets.
They heard soon that the most daring of these bands was led by a man named Slade, and d.i.c.k's pulse took a jump. He felt in a curious sort of way that this man Slade was still following him. It seemed more than a decree of chance that their fates should be intertwined. He hoped that Slade would never hear how he had been hidden in that hole in the ravine with the Woodvilles. Trouble could come of it for gallant young Victor Woodville, and even for his uncle. He was sure that Victor was now with Bragg and they might meet face to face again.
As they rode through a defile and came into a wide valley they saw before them an extensive Union camp, and they were overjoyed to learn that it was the division of Thomas, the general to whom they were to report. d.i.c.k had once received the personal thanks of Thomas, and the grave, able man inspired him with immense respect, mingled with affection.
He stood before Thomas in his tent that evening, Colonel Winchester having yielded to his request to take him with him when he reported the arrival of his regiment. Thomas, usually so taciturn, delighted the soul of the lad by remembering him at once.
”It was you, Lieutenant Mason, who came to me there in the Kentucky mountains with the dispatches,” he said, ”and you were also with us at Perryville and Stone River.”
”I was, sir,” said d.i.c.k, flus.h.i.+ng with pride.
”And you were with General Grant at the taking of Vicksburg! It was a great exploit, and it has lifted us up mightily. But I'm glad to have you back along with Colonel Winchester and the rest of his brave lads. I think you'll see action before long, action perhaps on a greater scale than any witnessed hitherto in the West.”
d.i.c.k saluted and withdrew. He knew that a young lieutenant must not stay too long in the presence of a commanding general and he quickly rejoined Warner and Pennington.
”How's the old man?” asked Pennington, with the familiarity of youth, which was not disrespectful in the absence of the ”old man.”
”'Pap' Thomas is looking well,” replied d.i.c.k. ”I fancy that his digestion was never better. He did not act in a belligerent way, but I think he's hunting for a fight.”
”Since you and Warner and I have arrived he can begin it.”
”I think it's coming,” said d.i.c.k earnestly. ”Often you can feel when things are moving to some end, and I'm sure that we'll measure strength again with Bragg before the autumn has gone far.”
The valley in which the camp lay was green and beautiful, and a deep, clear little river from the mountains, ran rus.h.i.+ng, through it. The three lads lay on their blankets near the bank and listened to the musical sweep of the stream. Pennington suddenly sprang up and hailed: ”Hey, Ohio, is that you? Come here!”
A tall youth emerged from the dusk and looked at them inquiringly.
”Ohio,” said Pennington, ”don't you remember your friends?”
The long, lean lad looked again, and then he was enthusiastically shaking hands with each in turn.
”Remember you!” he exclaimed. ”Of course I do. If it hadn't been so dark I'd have seen you and called to you first. I'm glad you're alive. It's a lot to live in these times. I tried to find out about you fellows but couldn't. We came in a detachment ahead of you. But if you'll invite me, I'll stay awhile with you and talk.”
They offered him a blanket and he stretched out upon it, turning his eyes up to the sky, in which the stars were now coming.