A Lieutenant at Eighteen Part 11

Captain Gordon and Colonel Halliburn were behind the farmer's house, where they had retired, not to avoid the bullets of the enemy, but to obtain a position where they could see without being seen. The horse of the former stood on a knoll, from which his rider could look over the corner of the low building, and the latter was at his side. Both of them saw the captain of the company fall from his horse.

"Ripley fired that shot," said the colonel. "He was never known to miss his aim when he had fair play."

"That was a good beginning, at any rate," added the captain.

"But why don't the next man in the line fire?" mused the commander of the Home Guard, uttering his thought.

They could not know then the reason; but they learned afterwards that the lieutenant had ordered them not to do so, as he wished to observe the effect of the death of the captain, for he had not moved after he fell. The company seemed to be staggered by the event for the s.p.a.ce of a minute. The men all turned their heads towards the woods; and as no shot followed the first one at once, they might have inferred that the fatality to the commander had been the work of an a.s.sa.s.sin.

This view was immediately confirmed by the captain's successor; for he ordered four troopers to dismount, and go into the woods in search of the murderer. But they did not reach the edge of the forest before fire was opened upon them, and every one of them dropped dead or wounded.

The rifle was a terribly effective weapon in the hands of the sharpshooters. The company had certainly fallen into an ambush. The troopers could do nothing on their horses in the woods, and for the moment they were practically helpless.

The fire continued all along the line of riflemen, one discharge at a time, so that no two men should aim at the same soldier or officer; and all along the detachment every one seemed to bring down his man. The lieutenant saw the havoc made in his command; but Captain Gordon did not give the order for his company to advance on the plan he had arranged.

The battle appeared to be fighting itself without any a.s.sistance from the summit of the hill, and it was evident that the enemy had no knowledge of any force outside of the forest.

"That lieutenant has just given an order, but I could not make out what he said," observed the colonel. "He is in a tight place, and you have set a very ugly trap for that company to fall into, Captain Gordon."

"The a.s.sistance of your company, Colonel, has given me a very decided advantage," replied the captain.

"And you have made excellent use of it. My men are safe in the woods, and the lieutenant seems to be losing his time."

"You can see what his order meant now, for his men are dismounting.

They are going into the woods to clean out the enemy, and that is really the only thing he can do," replied Captain Gordon. "It will be time for me to put a finger in the pie very soon, for the protection of your men, if for nothing else."

"You need not trouble your head about the riflemen, for they all have legs; and even Ripley, the oldest man among them, can use his walking-pins as well as any of them. They will retreat through the woods, using their rifles as they retire."

Every alternate man of the company was dismounted, giving the bridle-rein of his horse to one mounted. They double-quicked into the forest; but they began to drop, to cling to the trees for support, or to retire from the field before the observers on the hill lost sight of them. Still Captain Gordon did not give the word to advance.

"Isn't it time for this company to move forward?" asked the colonel.

"Not quite; it is best to wait a short time, till the cavalrymen get a little farther into the woods," answered the captain. "Your men are firing quite rapidly now, and are evidently retiring in good order."

"I am not at all concerned about them. They can keep behind the trees, firing as they retreat. The riflemen have hunted through that forest, which extends five or six miles to the north, and they have known every acre of it for years. They are quite at home there; and they will not fall into any creek or mud-hole, as the enemy would without a guide."

"They are brave men, and they have done good work this morning. But it is now time for my company to make a move; for I will not leave your guards to do all the fighting," added Captain Gordon, as he descended from the knoll, followed by his companion.

He had already explained to his two lieutenants in command of the platoons what they were to do at a signal sounded by the bugler. The captain rode to the top of the hill, though he did not expose himself to the fire of the enemy, who were still unaware of his presence.

Stufton was near the head of the column, and he gave him the order to sound the advance. He did it with full lungs. Lieutenant Lyon, commanding the second platoon, gave the order to march, and his men started at a trot, which was immediately changed to a gallop. The farmer's fence had been removed by order of the captain when he had arranged his plan for the action; and Deck, on the right flank of his command, took to the field, where they had plenty of s.p.a.ce, though recent rains had turned the soil into soft mud. But the speed was kept up in spite of this impediment till the head of the platoon reached the left, or foot, of the Confederate company.

In response to the bugle signal, Lieutenant Belthorpe advanced upon the head of the enemy's column, deploying to the side of the road, and continuing till they filled up the s.p.a.ce to the foot of Deck's force.

The enemy had discharged their carbines, or other pieces, at random, and apparently without orders; but they inflicted no injury upon the flying hors.e.m.e.n. Deck was the first to give the order to charge; but he had been prohibited by the captain, to whom some one had reported the young lieutenant's custom of leading his men into action, from placing himself in front of his men when he went in upon a charge, unless in a case of actual emergency.

Deck promised to obey this order, and he did so in the advance of his platoon; and when he ordered the charge upon the left of the enemy's column, he was on its right. Every man of the Confederates was enc.u.mbered with an extra horse, though as they confronted the Union cavalrymen he rid himself of his charge; and thus turned loose, the animals were soon wandering wherever they found an opening. Deck had very nearly his full complement of men, and so had Tom Belthorpe; for the soldiers of the Home Guard had been detailed to guard the baggage-wagons, and picket the rear of the column. One-half of the Confederates had been sent into the woods, and by this time they had advanced a considerable distance in pursuit of the riflemen.

The enemy were at present doubly outnumbered; and though they realized the fact, they fought as though they had been contending man for man.

Indeed, they contended desperately against the odds before them, and deserved victory for their steady valor. But with them then it was a "lost cause," and through no fault of their own. Before the Union column had reached the position a.s.signed to them, the lieutenant in command had sent his bugler into the forest to sound the retreat for the portion of the company pursuing the riflemen.

As he returned, the officer shouted at him to give the signal for the charge, and his men promptly responded to it. The fighting then became furious on both sides. The second lieutenant in front of Deck's men was a n.o.ble-looking young man, who fought like a lion at bay, and defended himself with great skill from the two Union troopers that a.s.sailed him in front; but it was an unequal conflict, and presently he was wounded in the sword-arm, so that he could no longer use his sabre with that hand, and grasped it with his left. He struck with it several times; but he could not handle his weapon as he had before, and he was soon cut near the shoulder of his left arm, receiving a wound which entirely disabled him.

Deck, filled with admiration for the brave young officer, ordered one of the men to lead the horse of the wounded soldier out of the crowd, which he did, conducting him to the side of the Union lieutenant. It was soon reported along the line that the first lieutenant of the Confederates had been disabled, and had retired from the field. By this time the crack of the rifles was again heard in the forest, though at a considerable distance from the road. The captain interpreted these sounds as the retreat of the force of the enemy sent into the woods, the riflemen shooting them down as they retired.

Before this force, more than decimated by the sharpshooters, could reach the road, however they hurried, the other half of the company had been driven to the verge of the forest; but they realized that they were thoroughly beaten, and that any further resistance meant nothing but slaughter. The orderly sergeant of the company, who succeeded to the command, shouted to Lieutenant Belthorpe that he was ready to surrender. Tom repeated the words to the captain, and Stufton was ordered to give the proper signal to bring the attack to an end.

"You have fought like a hero, sir, and I am sorry for you; but you are my prisoner," said Deck to the wounded lieutenant when he was conducted to his side.

"I surrender," replied the prisoner faintly; and it was evident to Deck that he was in great pain from the wound in his shoulder.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "THEY LAID HIM ON THE GRa.s.s JUST AS THE RECALL WAS SOUNDED." _Page 141._]

The Union lieutenant called a man to a.s.sist him in dismounting the officer. They laid him on the gra.s.s just as the recall was sounded, and proceeded to remove his coat. The blood was flowing freely from both of his wounds, and he was quite faint. But Deck saw at once that the wound was not fatal; and he sent word to the Confederate surgeon, who was attending to the men that were brought into the field in the rear of the column, that he was needed for the officer of his command.

In the meantime, Deck tied up the worst wound of the prisoner with his handkerchief, and did what he could to stop the flow of blood. He used some of the rags with which his mother had supplied him; but the surgeon promptly appeared.

"I am sorry to see you wounded, Lieutenant Lawrence," said the doctor, as he observed the pale face of the young officer; and then gave him a medicine gla.s.s full of a dark fluid, which was probably brandy.

"It was a hard fight, Doctor," replied the sufferer.

"But Lieutenant Lawrence has fought like the bravest of the brave, and I am sorry for his misfortune," added Deck.

"Who may you be, sir? I see that you wear the uniform of the blue,"

said the surgeon, looking him in the face.

"He is a Yankee officer; but he has been kind to me, and had me brought out of the fight when I was utterly disabled," said the wounded officer, apparently revived by the stimulant he had taken. "I am grateful to him for his kindness."

"I am Lieutenant Lyon of the Riverlawn Cavalry," replied Deck. "This gentleman's bravery and skill excited my admiration; and I have done the little I could for him."

"I thank you, Lieutenant Lyon, for what you have done for my friend; and if you are an enemy, you are a n.o.ble one, and I honor you for your Christianity on the battle-field," replied the surgeon, as he took the hand of Deck and pressed it warmly. "I reckon all the Yankee officers are not like you, Lieutenant."

"Those in my squadron are," answered Deck.

"Your name is Lyon. I have heard of the Riverlawn Cavalry in Edmonson County, where I have an uncle; and I was thinking you were the major in command of it," added the surgeon, still at work on his patient.

"That is my father," replied the lieutenant.

Life Knox came to Deck at this moment, to announce that another force of cavalry was approaching from the direction of Jamestown, though he had not been able to make out what it was, whether friend or foe.

CHAPTER XI

THE APPROACH OF ANOTHER CAVALRY FORCE

The soldiers on both sides were already engaged in removing the dead to the side of the road next to the woods, and the wounded to the respective hospitals, which had been established in the fields of the farmer. The riflemen had heard the recall, and followed the defeated cavalrymen, bearing their wounded, and handed them over to the surgeon, who had called in three medical students to his aid. Lieutenant Ripley had handled his sharpshooters so skilfully that not a single man had been killed, and only three had been wounded.

He had kept his force behind the trees, and fought the enemy at long range, in which the carbines and other firearms were not effective; and this policy explained the absence of all fatalities in Ripley's force.