Nurse and Spy in the Union Army Part 6

"CAMP AT EWELL'S FARM, "Three miles beyond Williamsburg, "_May 10th--5 a. m._

"From the information reaching me from every source, I regard it as certain that the enemy will meet us with all his force on or near the Chickahominy. They can concentrate many more men than I have, and are collecting troops from all quarters, especially well disciplined troops from the South. Casualties, sickness, garrisons and guards have much reduced our numbers, and will continue to do so. I shall fight the rebel army with whatever force I may have, but duty requires me to urge that every effort be made to reinforce me, without delay, with all the disposable troops in Eastern Virginia, and that we concentrate all our forces, as far as possible, to fight the great battle now impending, and to make it decisive. It is possible that the enemy may abandon Richmond without a serious struggle, but I do not believe he will; and it would be unwise to count upon anything but a stubborn and desperate defense--a life and death contest. I see no other hope for him than to fight this battle, and we must win it. I shall fight them whatever their force may be; but I ask for every man that the department can send me. No troops should now be left unemployed. Those who entertain the opinion that the rebels will abandon Richmond without a struggle are, in my judgment, badly advised, and do not comprehend their situation, which is one requiring desperate measures.

I beg that the President and Secretary will maturely weigh what I say, and leave nothing undone to comply with my request. If I am not reinforced it is probable that I will be obliged to fight nearly double my numbers strongly entrenched."

Four days later he writes:

"I will fight the enemy, whatever their force may be, with whatever force I may have, and I believe that we shall beat them; but our triumph should be made decisive and complete. The soldiers of this army love their Government, and will fight well in its support. You may rely upon them. They have confidence in me as their general, and in you as their President. Strong reinforcements will at least save the lives of many of them; the greater our force the more perfect will be our combinations, and the less our loss. For obvious reasons I beg you to give immediate consideration to this communication, and to inform me fully, at the earliest moment, of your final decision."

A few days' rest after the fatigues of the battle, and the glorious news of the evacuation of Norfolk and the total annihilation of the Merrimac, had a wonderful effect upon the spirits of our troops; they seemed inspired with new courage and enthusiasm. Hitherto I have said nothing concerning that great bugbear, the Merrimac. Perhaps some of my "blue-nose" readers are not so well posted with regard to the origin and structure of this formidable rebel battery as the Americans are, and it may be interesting to some to listen to a brief description of it.

"Upon the burning and evacuation of the Norfolk Navy Yard the steam frigate Merrimac was scuttled and sunk, by order of Commodore Macaulay.

This was one of the most magnificent ships in the American navy, being rated as a forty-gun frigate, of four thousand tons burden. She was built in Charlestown, Ma.s.sachusetts, in 1856, and was considered one of the finest specimens of naval architecture then afloat. She was two hundred and eighty-one feet long, fifty-two feet broad, and drew twenty-three feet of water. Her engines were of eight hundred horse power, driving a two-bladed propeller fourteen feet in diameter, and so adjusted as to be raised from the water when the vessel was driven by wind alone. Her armament consisted of twenty-four nine-inch sh.e.l.l guns, fourteen eight-inch, and two one hundred-pound pivot guns. This magnificent structure was raised by the rebels and cut down, leaving only the hull, which was exceedingly ma.s.sive and solid. Over this they constructed a sloping shield of railroad iron, firmly plaited together, and extending two feet under the water. Its appearance was much like the slanting roof of a house set upon a ship's hull, like an extinguisher, the ends of the vessel, fore and aft, projecting a few feet beyond this roof. The gun-deck was completely inclosed by this shield, and nothing appeared above it but a short smoke-stack and two flag-staffs."

An eye witness gives the following account of the first appearance and conflict of the Merrimac: "About noon of Sat.u.r.day, the eighth of March, 1862, this monster was seen coming around Craney Island from Norfolk, accompanied by two other war vessels, the Jamestown and Yorktown, and quite a little fleet of armed tugs. The Merrimac, with her imposing retinue in train, headed for Newport News, where there was a national garrison, guarded by the sailing frigates the c.u.mberland, of one thousand seven hundred and twenty-six tons, and the Congress, of one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven tons burden. The Merrimac steamed majestically along, as if conscious of resistless strength, and as she pa.s.sed the Congress discharged a single broadside into the doomed ship, and then, leaving her to the attention of the Jamestown and Yorktown, made directly for the c.u.mberland. When the Merrimac was within a hundred yards of the two frigates, they both discharged their tremendous broadsides against her armor.

"The mailed monster quivered a moment under the fearful concussion, but every ball glanced from her sloping shield like the wooden arrows of the Indian from the hide of the crocodile. Her ports were all closed. Not deigning to pay any attention to the fierce but harmless a.s.sault of the two frigates, she rushed straight forward upon her prey. The formidable national battery at Newport News opened, with all its immense guns, at point-blank range, and these solid shot and sh.e.l.ls also glanced harmlessly away. On rushed the silent Merrimac, with not a soul on board to be seen, true as an arrow, and with all the power of her irresistible weight, plunged headlong with a fearful crash into the side of the helpless frigate. The iron prow of the a.s.sailant struck the c.u.mberland amidships, crushing in her side with a mortal gash. Then, reversing her engine, and not even annoyed by the cannon b.a.l.l.s rattling against her impervious mail, she retraced her steps a few rods for another b.u.t.t.

"As she drew back she turned her broadside to the wounded victim, and hurled into her bosom a merciless volley of shot and sh.e.l.ls. The ponderous missiles tore through the crowded ship, hurling her ma.s.sive guns about her decks, and scattering mutilated bodies in all directions. Again gathering headway, she crowded on all steam and made another plunge at the c.u.mberland. She struck directly upon the former wound, and crushed in the whole side of the ship as if it had been a lattice work of laths.

"Timbers as strong as nature and art could make them, were snapped and crushed like dry twigs. As the sun went down, that night, over Hampton Roads, every Union heart in the fleet and in the fortress throbbed with despair. There was no gleam of hope. The Merrimac was impervious to b.a.l.l.s, and could go where she pleased. In the morning it would be easy work for her to destroy our whole fleet. She could then sh.e.l.l Newport News and Fortress Monroe at her leisure, setting everything combustible in flames, and driving every man from the guns.

"'That morrow! How anxiously we waited for it! how much we feared its results! At sundown there was nothing to dispute the empire of the seas with the Merrimac, and had a land attack been made by Magruder then, G.o.d only knows what our fate would have been.' All at once a speck of light gleamed on the distant wave; it moved; it came nearer and nearer, and at ten o'clock that night the Monitor appeared. 'When the tale of brick is doubled, Moses comes.' I never more firmly believed in special providences than at that hour. Even skeptics were converted, and said, 'G.o.d has sent her.' But how insignificant she looked; she was but a speck on the dark blue wave at night, and almost a laughable object by day. The enemy call her a 'cheese-box on a raft,' and the comparison is a good one." But insignificant as she appeared, she saved the Union fleet, silenced the rebel monster, and eventually caused her to commit suicide. No wonder then that the news of the death of this formidable foe caused great rejoicing among the Union troops.

Orders were issued to continue the advance up the Peninsula; and as the jubilant troops were engaged in striking tents and making the necessary preparations consequent upon a hurried march, "The Battle Song of the Republic" was being sung with enthusiasm throughout the encampment by thousands of manly voices, and every loyal heart seemed inspired by the glorious sentiments which it contained.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grape of wrath is stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword; His truth is marching on.

CHORUS--Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

His truth is marching on.

I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps; They have builded Him an altar in the evening's dews and damps; I can read his righteous sentence by the dim and flaming lamps; His day is marching on, etc.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel: As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal; Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel, Since G.o.d is marching on, etc.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat; O, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!

Our G.o.d is marching on, etc.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, With a glory in his bosom that transfigures you and me: As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, While G.o.d is marching on, etc.

The roads were so indescribably bad at this time that the army could make but little progress. I remember it required thirty-six hours for one train to accomplish the distance of five miles. However, after several days wading through mud and water, the troops reached the White House, where a portion of the army remained for a time, while the advance guards pushed on to the Chickahominy River, and established headquarters at Bottom's Bridge--its further progress being impeded by the destruction of the bridge by the rebels.

"The position of the troops were as follows: Stoneman's advance-guard one mile from New Bridge; Franklin's corps three miles from New Bridge, with Porter's corps in advancing distance in its rear; Sumner's corps on the railroad, about three miles from the Chickahominy, connecting the right with the left; Keyes' on New Kent road, near Bottom's Bridge, with Heintzelman's corps at supporting distance in its rear." The ford was in possession of the federal troops, and a reconstruction of the bridge was immediately commenced.

On the 24th of May the two following despatches were received by Gen.

McClellan from the President: "I wish you to move cautiously and safely.

You will have command of McDowell precisely as you indicated in your despatch to us."

"In consequence of Gen. Banks' critical position, I have been compelled to suspend Gen. McDowell's movement to join you. The enemy are making a desperate push upon Harper's Ferry, and we are trying to throw Gen.

Fremont's force, and part of Gen. McDowell's, in their rear!"

On the 25th, the President also sent the following to McClellan: "The enemy is moving north in sufficient force to drive Gen. Banks before him; precisely in what force we cannot tell. He is also threatening Leesburg and Geary on the Mana.s.sas Gap Railroad, from north and south; I think the movement is a general and concerted one--such as would not be if he was acting upon the purpose of a very desperate defense of Richmond. I think the time is near when you must either attack Richmond or give up the job, and come to the defense of Washington. Let me hear from you instantly."

To which McClellan replied: "Telegram received. Independently of it, the time is very near when I shall attack Richmond. The object of the movement is probably to prevent reinforcements being sent to me. All the information obtained agree in the statement that the ma.s.s of the rebel troops are still in the vicinity of Richmond. I have no knowledge of Banks' position and force, nor what there is at Mana.s.sas; therefore cannot form a definite opinion as to the forces against him. I have two corps across Chickahominy, within six miles of Richmond; the others on this side at other crossings, within same distance, and ready to cross when bridges are completed."

CHAPTER XI.

ANOTHER DISGUISE--I BECOME AN IRISH PEDDLER--FEVER AND AGUE--A NIGHT OF SUFFERING IN THE SWAMP--RETROSPECTION--LOST IN THE SWAMP--CANNON MY GUIDES--A SICK REBEL--I FIND SOMETHING TO EAT--MY NEW PATIENT--SYMPATHY FOR SUFFERING--TALK WITH A DYING REBEL--A WILLING DETENTION--EXTEMPORIZING A LIGHT--THE LAST HOUR--SOLDIERS OF CHRIST--THE CHAMBER OF DEATH.

While all these preparations were going forward, I was meditating another visit to the rebel camp. It was not safe for me to attempt to palm myself off again on the rebels as a colored boy. In the first place, I should be in danger of being recognized as the cowardly picket who deserted his post--a crime worthy of death; and in the next place, I should be in imminent danger of blistering my hands again--a thing which I felt particularly anxious to avoid, especially in performing labor that would enable the enemy more successfully to repel the attacks of the Federals.

Now a new disguise was necessary, and I decided to abandon the African relation, and a.s.sume that of the Hibernian. Having had this in view before leaving Williamsburg, I procured the dress and outfit of an Irish female peddler, following the army, selling cakes, pies, etc., together with a considerable amount of brogue, and a set of Irish phrases, which did much toward characterizing me as one of the "rale ould stock of bog-trotters."

The bridges were not finished across the Chickahominy when I was ready to cross the river, so I packed up my new disguise in my cake and pie basket, and my horse, "Frank," and I took a bath in the cool water of the Chickahominy. After swimming my n.o.ble steed across the river, I dismounted, and led him to the edge of the water--gave him a farewell pat, and let him swim back again to the other side, where a soldier awaited his return. It was now evening; I did not know the precise distance to the enemy's picket line, but thought it best to avoid the roads, and consequently I must spend the night in the swamp, as the only safe retreat. It required some little time to don my new disguise, and feel at home in the clothes. I thought the best place for my debut was the "Chickahominy swamp." I did not purpose, this time, to pa.s.s the enemy's lines in the night, but to present myself at the picket line, at a seasonable hour, and ask admission as one of the fugitives of that section flying from the approach of the Yankees, which was a usual thing.

In crossing the river I had my basket strapped on my back, and did not know that all it contained was completely drenched, until I required to use its contents. It was, therefore, with feelings of dread and disappointment that I discovered this sad fact, for I had been suffering from slight ague chills during the day, and feared the consequences of spending the night in wet clothing, especially in that malaria-infested region. However, there was no alternative, and I was obliged to make the best of it. I had brought a patch-work quilt with me from the hospital, but that, too, was wet. Yet it kept off some of the chill night air, and the miasmatic breath of that "dismal swamp." The remembrance of the sufferings of that night seem to be written upon my memory "as with a pen of iron." There I was, all alone, surrounded by worse, yes, infinitely worse, than wild beasts--by blood-thirsty savages--who considered death far too good for those who were in the employment of the United States Government.

That night I was attacked by severe chills--chills beyond description, or even conception, except by those who have experienced the freezing sensation of a genuine ague chill. During the latter part of the night the other extreme presented itself, and it seemed as if I should roast alive, and not a single drop of water to cool my parched tongue; it was enough to make any one think of the "rich man" of the Bible, and in sympathy with his feelings cry to "Father Abraham" for a.s.sistance. My mind began to wander, and I became quite delirious. There seemed to be the horrors of a thousand deaths concentrated around me; I was tortured by fiends of every conceivable shape and magnitude. Oh, how it makes me shudder to recall the scenes which my imagination conjured up during those dark weary hours!

Morning at last came, and I was aroused from the horrible night-mare which had paralyzed my senses through the night, by the roar of cannon and the screaming of sh.e.l.l through the forest.

But there I was, helpless as an infant, equally unable to advance or retreat, without friend or foe to molest or console me, and nothing even to amuse me but my own thoughts. I looked upon the surrounding scenery, and p.r.o.nounced it very unromantic; then my eye fell upon my Irish costume, and I began to remember the fine phrases which I had taken so much pains to learn, when the perfect absurdity of my position rushed over my mind with overwhelming force, and the ludicrousness of it made me, for the moment, forget my lamentable condition, and with one uncontrollable burst of laughter I made that swamp resound in a manner which would have done credit to a person under happier circ.u.mstances, and in a better state of health.

That mood soon pa.s.sed away, and I began a retrospection of my past life.

It certainly had been an eventful one. I took great interest in carefully tracing each link in the chain of circ.u.mstances which had brought me to the spot whereon I now lay, deserted and alone, in that notorious Chickahominy swamp. And ere I was aware of it, I was sighing over a few episodes in my past history--and mentally saying, well, only for this intense love of adventure, such and such things "might have been," and I should now be rejoicing in the honorable t.i.tle of ---- ----, instead of "wasting my sweetness on the desert air," in the wilderness of the Peninsula.

Of all the sad words, of tongue or of pen, The saddest are these--"_it might have been_."

The cannonading was only the result of a reconnoissance, and in a few hours ceased altogether. But not so my fever and chills; they were my constant companions for two days and two nights in succession. At the end of that time I was an object of pity. With no medicine, no food, and consequently little strength; I was nearly in a state of starvation. My pies and cakes were spoiled in the basket, in consequence of the drenching they had received in crossing the river, and now I had no means of procuring more. But something must be done; I could not bear the thought of thus starving to death in that inglorious manner; better die upon the scaffold at Richmond, or be shot by the rebel pickets; anything but this.

So I thought and said, as I rallied all my remaining strength to arrange my toilette preparatory to emerging from my concealment in the swamp.

It was about nine o'clock in the morning of the third day after crossing the river, when I started, as I thought, towards the enemy's lines, and a more broken-hearted, forlorn-looking "Bridget" never left "ould Ireland,"

than I appeared to be that morning. I traveled from that time until five o'clock in the afternoon, and was then deeper in the swamp than when I started. My head or brain was completely turned. I knew not which way to go, nor did I know east from west, or north from south.

It was a dark day in every sense of the word--and I had neither sun nor compa.s.s to guide me. At five o'clock the glorious booming of cannon reverberated through the dense wilderness, and to me, at that hour, it was the sweetest and most soul-inspiring music that ever greeted my ear. I now turned my face in the direction of the scene of action, and was not long in extricating myself from the desert which had so long enveloped me.

Soon after emerging from the swamp I saw, in the distance, a small white house, and thither I bent my weary footsteps. I found it deserted, with the exception of a sick rebel soldier, who lay upon a straw-tick on the floor in a helpless condition. I went to him, and a.s.suming the Irish brogue, I inquired how he came to be left alone, and if I could render him any a.s.sistance. He could only speak in a low whisper, and with much difficulty, said he had been ill with typhoid fever a few weeks before, and had not fully recovered when General Stoneman attacked the rebels in the vicinity of Coal Harbor, and he was ordered to join his company. He partic.i.p.ated in a sharp skirmish, in which the rebels were obliged to retreat; but he fell out by the way, and fearing to fall into the hands of the Yankees, he had crawled along as best he could, sometimes on his hands and knees, until he reached the house in which I found him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAKING HOE-CAKE FOR A SICK REBEL.--Page 153.]

He had not eaten anything since leaving camp, and he was truly in a starving condition. I did not dare say to him "ditto"--with regard to poor "Bridget's" case--but thought so, and realized it most painfully. He also told me that the family who had occupied the house had abandoned it since he came there, and that they had left some flour and corn-meal, but had not time to cook anything for him. This was good news for me, and exhausted as I was, I soon kindled a fire, and in less than fifteen minutes a large hoe-cake was before it in process of baking, and a sauce-pan of water heating, for there was no kettle to be found. After searching about the premises, I found some tea packed away in a small basket, with some earthearn ware, which the family had forgotten to take with them. My cake being cooked, and tea made, I fed the poor famished rebel as tenderly as if he had been my brother, and he seemed as grateful for my kindness, and thanked me with as much politeness, as if I had been Mrs. Jeff Davis. The next important item was to attend to the cravings of my own appet.i.te, which I did without much ceremony.