The Sword of Antietam: A Story of the Nation's Crisis Part 21

They wandered back toward their own command and the obliging guide pointed out to them a house which the Confederate generals had made their headquarters. They saw Colonel Winchester entering it, and thanking the clerk, followed him.

Union officers were already in the house looking with curiosity at the chairs and tables that Jackson and Lee and Longstreet had occupied. d.i.c.k caught sight of a small package lying on one of the tables, but another man picked it up first. As he did so he looked at d.i.c.k and said in triumph:

"Three good cigars that the rebels have left behind. Have one, Mason?"

"Thanks, but I don't smoke."

"All right, I'll find someone else who does."

He pulled off a piece of paper wrapped around them, threw it on the floor and put the cigars in his pocket. d.i.c.k was about to turn away when he happened to glance at the wrapping lying on the floor.

His eyes were caught by the words written in large letters:

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY OF NORTH--

Something seemed to shoot through his brain. It was like a flash of warning or command and he obeyed at once. He picked up the paper and smoothed it out in his hand. The full line read like the headline in a newspaper:

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA.

September 9, 1862.

Then with eyes bulging in his head he read:

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA.

September 9, 1862.

Special Orders, No. 191.

The army will resume its march tomorrow, taking the Hagerstown road.

General Jackson's command will form the advance, and after pa.s.sing Middletown with such portions as he may select, take their route toward Sharpsburg, cross the Potomac at the most convenient point and by Friday morning take possession of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, capture such of them as may be at Martinsburg, and intercept such as may attempt to escape from Harper's Ferry.

General Longstreet's command will pursue the main road as far as Boonsborough, where it will halt with the reserve supply and baggage train of the army.

General McLaws with his own division and that of General R. H. Anderson will follow General Longstreet. On reaching Middletown will take the route to Harper's Ferry, and by Friday morning possess himself of the Maryland Heights and endeavor to capture the enemy at Harper's Ferry and vicinity.

d.i.c.k stopped a moment and gasped.

"Come on," called the man with the cigars, "there is nothing more to be seen here."

"Wait a moment," said d.i.c.k.

Perhaps it was his duty to rush at once with it to a superior officer, but the spell was too strong. He read on:

General Walker with his division, after accomplishing the object on which he is now engaged, will cross the Potomac at Cheek's Ford, ascend its right bank to Lovettsville, take possession of Sundown Heights, if practicable, by Friday morning, Key's Grove on his left, and the road between the end of the mountains and the Potomac on his right. He will, as far as practicable, co-operate with General McLaws and General Jackson, and intercept the retreat of the enemy.

General D. H. Hill's division will form the rear-guard of the army, pursuing the road taken by the main body. The reserve artillery, ordinance and supply trains, etc., will precede General Hill.

d.i.c.k gasped and he heard someone calling again to him to come, but he read on:

General Stuart will detach a squadron of cavalry to accompany the commands of Generals Longstreet, Jackson and McLaws, and with the main body of the cavalry will cover the route of the army, bringing up all the stragglers that may have been left behind.

The commands of General Jackson, McLaws and Walker, after accomplishing the objects for which they have been detached, will join the main body of the army at Boonsborough or Hagerstown.

Each regiment on the march will habitually carry its axes in the regimental ordnance wagons, for use of the men at their encampments, to procure wood, etc. R. H. CHILTON, a.s.sistant Adjutant General.

d.i.c.k clutched the paper in his hands and for the moment his throat seemed to contract so tightly that he could not breathe. Then he felt a burst of wild joy.

One of the most extraordinary incidents in the whole history of war had occurred. He knew in an instant that this was Lee's general orders to his army, and that at such a time nothing could be more important.

Evidently copies of it had been sent to all his division commanders, and this one by some singular chance either had not reached its destination, or had been tossed carelessly aside after reading. Found by those who needed it most wrapped around three cigars! It was a miracle! Nothing short of it! How could the Union army be defeated after such an omen?

It was the copy intended for the Southern general, D. H. Hill--he denied that he ever received it--but it did not matter to d.i.c.k then for whom it was intended. He saw at once all the possibilities. Lee and Jackson had divided their army again. Emboldened by the splendid success of their daring maneuver at Mana.s.sas they were going to repeat it.

He looked again at the date on the order. September 9th! And this was the 13th! Jackson was to march on the 10th. He had been gone three days with the half, perhaps, of Lee's army, and Lee himself must be somewhere near at hand. The Union scouts could quickly find him and the ninety thousand veterans of the Army of the Potomac could crush him to powder in a day. What a chance! No, it was not a chance. It was a miracle. The key had been put in McClellan's hand and it would take but one turn of his wrist to unlock the door upon dazzling success.

d.i.c.k saw the war finished in a month. Lee could not have more than twenty or twenty-five thousand men with him, and Jackson was three or four days' march away. He clutched the order in his hand and ran toward Colonel Winchester.

"Here, take it, sir! Take it!" he exclaimed.

"Take what?"

"Look! Look! See what it is!"

Colonel Winchester took one glance at it, and then he, too, became excited. He hurried with it to General McClellan, and that day the commander-in-chief telegraphed to the anxious President at Washington:

"I have all the plans of the rebels, and will catch them in my own trap, if my men are equal to the emergency."

The shrewd Lincoln took notice of the qualifying clause, "if my men are equal to the emergency," and sighed a little. Already this general, so bold in design and so great in preparation was making excuses for possible failure in action--if he failed his men and not he would be to blame.

CHAPTER VIII. THE DUEL IN THE Pa.s.s

d.i.c.k carried the news to Pennington who danced with delight.

"We've got 'em! we've got 'em!" he cried over and over again.

"So we have," said d.i.c.k, "we'll be marching in a half hour and then the trap will shut down so tight on Robert Lee that he'll never raise the lid again."

It was nearly noon, and they expected every moment the order to start, but it did not come. d.i.c.k began to be tormented by an astonished impatience, and he saw that Colonel Winchester suffered in the same way.

The army showed no signs of moving. Was it possible that McClellan would not advance at once on Lee, whom the scouts had now located definitely?

The hot afternoon hours grew long as they pa.s.sed one by one, and many a brave man ate his heart out with anger at the delay. d.i.c.k saw Sergeant Whitley walking up and down, and he was eager to hear his opinion.

"What is it, sergeant?" he asked. "Why do we sit here, twiddling our thumbs when there is an army waiting to be taken by us?"