B00EF19YY8 EBOK, page 17
“Thank the lord. It is getting dark and I couldn’t have driven them much further.”
The General himself rode out to greet us with a company of his cavalry. “Well done boys! I’ll have these delivered to the Quartermaster myself.” As I told him of our raid he wrote out a receipt for the cattle. “Tell the Captain he and Major Mosby are doing fine work. Will you bivouac with us tonight? We would be honoured.”
I leaned in to speak quietly, “As would we sir but the captain is trying to trap a hundred Yankee cavalry armed with Henry carbines so he needs all the help he can get.”
“He surely does. Well God speed young man.” He paused, “Are you the one they call Lucky Jack?”
“I am sir.”
“Well stay lucky, we need all the luck we can get.”
Even though we were tired we just rubbed down our horses,watered and fed them with grain and then remounted to head back north. We chewed on venison jerky to ease the hunger pangs. We had found that, so long as you chewed something, your stomach thought you had been fed.
We reached Annie’s well after dark but Danny was watching for us and Scout did not bark. “You boys will be plumb tuckered out I expect.”
“Too right Danny.” I handed him the receipt from Stuart. “General Jeb seemed pleased.”
“As he should be.” He gestured with his head. “Annie left some stew for you boys. It’s in the Dutch oven.”
Even though we were desperate for our beds we devoured the stew and home made sour dough bread. We all fell asleep over our dirty plates. We were awoken by the noise of the rest of the boys moving around. David, ever polite, said, “Sorry boys. The captain said not to wake you but…”
“I know. And we did get a couple of hours sleep. Come on boys rise and shine. The Wildcats go to war again!”
Harry threw his metal plate at my head, “You Irish are just too damned cheerful.”
By the time we had dressed and thrown water on our faces the rest of the men were assembled and mounted. Danny galloped in, “You were right, Captain, They sent forty men towards Sharpsburg and another forty to Harper’s Ferry. There are about fifteen left in their camp.”
“Then let us ride to Harper’s Ferry.”
One of the recruits, Paul, asked me, “How will we now where to attack them, Corporal?”
“The thing is they can go anywhere once they have crossed over the river and they will spend all day looking for us because that is where we hid last year but when they come back, they have to come down this road and we can just wait.”
We halted just half a mile from the river. The road crossed a wooded ridge. The Union boys would have to approach a blind summit and then the road jinked left. It was a perfect place for an ambush. The Yanks would think they were safe as they were close both to Harper’s Ferry and their own base and they would be relaxed and off guard.
Captain Boswell and Sergeant Murphy took their men to hide behind the trees on the road below the summit. Harry and I had our men on the Charles Town side. It would be our task to open fire when the lead pair reached us. In that way we could surround them with an enfilading fire. The others would attack the men on their side of the summit. Once we had built small barricades with fallen logs to afford us some protection I allowed our men to have a sleep for a couple of hours. Harry and I knew we needed our men as alert as possible. We had surprise on our side but we would be outnumbered two to one and this time the cavalry would not be using sabres.
I had just dozed off, or so it felt, when Dago roused me. “Jack, it’s the Yankee cavalry. They are coming.”
We all cocked our carbines and rested them on the logs. A steady platform for our guns could be the difference between success and failure. Our advantage lay in our first three shots before they could react, draw their weapons and fire back. We were deadly silent and we could hear the jangle of their horse furniture and the buzz of tired conversation. I was on the extreme end of the line on the left and it would be Harry and I who initiated the ambush. I saw the two officers at the front and could hear their conversation.
“I don’t care what the Major said, John. These raiders will be near Kearneysville. There were no cattle tracks leading to the Ferry.”
“Yes sir but there were no tracks leading to Kearneysville either. How many raiders do you reckon there were?”
“Well the reports said forty but I would estimate they would need at least fifty to have done the damage they did. It is a good thing we have these Henrys or I wouldn’t fancy meeting fifty reb raiders.”
The Yankee captain was close enough to me for me to touch when I fired. A heartbeat later, and the lieutenant was also flung from his horse. My second shot hit the space where the standard bearer had been before Dago shot him. I saw the puff of smoke from the Yankees as I fired my third shot and then I heard Danny yell, “Cease fire!”
When the smoke cleared, I saw three dead horses and ten dead and dying men. We had little time to waste as the noise would have been heard in Harper’s Ferry and Charles Town. “Quick boys, strip the bodies of anything valuable.”
I went to the dead Captain and took his Army Colt and saw, to my disgust that he did not have a Henry carbine; and they said I was lucky! He did have an expensive sabre, a fine watch and two twenty dollar gold pieces. It more than made up for the lack of a carbine.
Danny led the rest of the men over the rise and I saw that we had three horses in tow. He grinned at me. We got three more on the other side and there are half a dozen who will be wounded. Get your men moving, Jack. We have a ways to go.”
We left the road three hundred yards from the rise. There was a long lick of water about forty yards wide and four hundred yards long. We rode through the water, it only came up to our boots but it would cause them a problem trying to find our where we emerged. We kept going south with the river to our left and a low ridge to our right. We wanted them to think we had returned to Berryville. When we hit the Charles Town road we used it for fifty yards and then headed back to Annie’s. We did not ride in column but in single file. Once we reached the woods leading to her land we all split up and went in every direction through the trees each of us trying to find a route which did not leave tracks. It would take a better tracker than the Yankees possessed to follow us.
When we reached Annie’s we were proud of our actions and the result. The Union had sent their best after us and we had beaten them. We still had supplies taken from Sharpsburg and we ate well. Annie’s larder was as well stocked as any rich industrialist in the north and we enjoyed a hearty meal. The captain addressed us all after we had eaten.
“I do not want to put this good lady into any more jeopardy. Tomorrow we make our last raid in this area and then we will hightail it back to Winchester. I am anxious to report to the general and discover what he has planned for us.”
I, for one, was disappointed. I saw no reason why we couldn’t stay in the area. The enemy had yet to do anything to harm us and I saw no reason for that to change. Harry was less convinced. “We all know that you ride your luck Jack but one of these days these Yankees will get the drop on us and then…”
Jed and Dago were sent out early the next day to view the cavalry from the hill overlooking their billets. When they returned it was with good news. “Looks like they just left ten men in camp, the wounded and a couple of others. The rest headed south towards Berryville.”
“Right boys saddle up.” The captain went to see Annie. “Thank you dear lady. We will not inconvenience you any more. Remember if things get tough here, just ask for me and I will find somewhere safe for you until this unpleasantness is over.”
“You are a kind man Captain and I will miss you and my boys.” She kissed him on the check and then did the same to Dago and me. To me she said, “May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.” And she grabbed me and cuddled me until I thought I would burst. “You do remind me of my boy and I hope that someone looks after him too.”
I was sad to be leaving Annie. She had been like another mother to me. She was carved out of kindness and love. Leaving that rock of a woman we rode through the woods and reached the hillside overlooking the billet. There was naught to be gained by caution and we galloped in with pistols cocked. As soon as they saw us the sentries dropped their guns and raised their hands above their heads.
“Sergeant, search the tents for papers. Harry, leave the tents for the wounded but burn the rest.” He grinned at me. “Jack, take the boots and the weapons off these lads. Then search the camp for ammunition.” The captain turned to his four men. “Gather the spare horses.”
One of the wounded raised himself on one arm as I was collecting the boots. “You the boys who cold cocked us yesterday?”
I looked over at him. He was little more than a boy.”We were that son, Boswell’s Wildcats.”
“Where are the rest of your boys? There were twice as many of you yesterday.”
I winked at Dago who was shaking his head. “They are off chasing your Major and the rest of you Yankees.” The boy shook his head in awe.
By the time we left there was just the infirmary standing and the rest was an inferno. I was delighted to find that there was a huge quantity of ammunition for my two Army Colts. I had found that they were more powerful than the lighter Navy Colt. We headed south on the pike, riding through Charles Town and the shocked citizens.
As we left we congratulated ourselves on our success. We had beaten the vaunted Yankee cavalry twice and not lost a man. We rode all morning and were approaching the Berryville Pike when the day went from joy to despair. We suddenly found ourselves facing the rest of the cavalry who were hunting us.
Chapter 12
Jack
The road had taken a turn and come towards a slight rise so that neither the Union cavalry nor we could see each other. The first we knew was when Copper neighed. That was always a sign of danger and I whipped out my Army Colt in anticipation of danger. The rest of the troop had learned to watch me and every hand reached for a gun so that, when we crested the rise and saw the sixty horsemen we were, at least armed. The captain reacted quicker than the Union officers. “Charge!” If we were riding faster than the enemy then we had a chance of breaking through.
We spurred our horses and all of us took a different target. My Army Colt boomed and bucked but I saw the bugler fall to his death despite the hurried nature of the shot. I cocked and fired a second time, hitting the trooper who was trying to draw his Henry from beneath his leg; his Colt would have been quicker and that error of judgement cost him his life. I almost shook my head in despair. In this kind of action you wanted your pistols and we had them ready. As soon as it was empty I drew my second Army Colt and kept firing. Suddenly a trooper appeared out of nowhere, almost next to me and I saw, less than two yards away the gaping barrel of an Army Colt. It looked as big as a nine pound cannon! I saw the flash and felt it strike me and then I was in the middle of smoke. I put my hand to my cheek, expecting to come away with blood but, instead, it came away black- a misfire.
I was now charging blindly because of the smoke and confusion, I shouted, “Wildcats! Yeehaw!” The cry was taken up and I knew that I was not alone and then suddenly there was no one left before me. I reined Copper in and looked over my shoulder. I could see horses and men lying in pools of blood and gore on the pike. Some of the bodies had fallen over and onto the wall which lined the roadway. Although they were mainly blue I saw a couple of grey coats among the dead.
“Keep firing!”
I heard the captain’s command and I fired for all I was worth. When I had fired all of my Colts I heard the command. “Form up and follow me!”
The captain led us at a trot south on the pike. I dropped to the rear, which was my usual position; partly to watch and listen for pursuit and partly to see who had fallen. My heart sank when I counted the survivors: the captain, Danny, Harry, Dago, Jed, David, Jimmy, Davy and Johnny. With me that made just ten. The rest were now empty saddles trotting dutifully behind their fellows.
I turned to look at the road behind and the dead comrades we had left. I heard the voice from behind me. “Unless you want to join them Jackie boy, let’s get the hell out of there.” Danny’s voice brought me back to reality and, grabbing the reins of the horses I kicked Copper round to follow Harry and the others. We rode in silence to Winchester. Each man tended to his own wounds as we rode. We could not slow down for we didn’t know if the Yank cavalry would follow us.
We reined in next to the old courthouse. Normally we would have found somewhere to camp but not after the disaster of the Berryville Pike. We tied our horses up and went into the tavern which was on Main Street. No-one spoke until we were inside and then Danny said, “Beers and a whisky chaser for all of us.” He slapped down a handful of coins and we stood, each man lost in his own thoughts. When the drinks came we all took off our hats and at a nod from Danny picked up the whisky. “Here’s to the dead! God bless you boys!” We threw the whisky down and inverted the glasses and then took a swallow from the beer.
The toast released the tension. It was Dago who spoke first. “I think we killed more of them than they did of us Captain Boswell.”
Jed wiped his moustache with the back of his hand and said, “Damn straight we did. I was at the back and I counted at least fifteen we hit. They’ll remember the Wildcats.”
The captain finally spoke, “The trouble is each one we lost is worth ten of the damned Yankees. I just keep getting good boys killed.”
Danny put his huge arm around the captain’s shoulder. “All of us fight for you Captain Boswell knowing that we might die but we are doing good work. Jesus, we took on three times our number and bested them. We have a regiment tied up watching for us and they think there are over fifty of us. That is some achievement captain and no mistake. If they had more men like us and Mosby the war would be over! And it is just feckin annoying that it took so long for them to realise that!”
We finished our beer in silence and then the captain waved his arm around and more beers were pulled. Then Danny laughed, “And what about Lucky Jack here? Bejesus he’s the only man I know to look down the barrel of a Colt before it is fired and survive!”
Everyone laughed and I self consciously wiped my face with a bar towel. “I thought I was dead too! It was a weird experience!”
Danny pointed up to the sky and, crossing himself, said, “Sure and someone is looking out for you and that’s no error!”
We reported to General Stuart who was delighted with the results of our raids and the supplies we had acquired. The captain had taken Danny and Harry and me with him. He was even more impressed by the losses we had caused. I could see that he was curious about Captain Boswell’s reaction.
“But James you have completed an outstanding patrol. You should be proud of yourself.” He was shaking his head in disbelief that Captain Boswell could be so upset by a handful of dead men.
“But general I have lost almost twenty of my boys since the war started.”
General Stuart shook his head, “My dear fellow, twenty dead men against your successes? It is negligible.”
The captain’s face was infused with a look of pain. “But their faces haunt me at night.”
I could see that General Stuart did not understand how this could be so and it was one of the differences between the two men. The captain cared about each of his men while to the General the men he lost were a means to an end. I knew who I would rather follow. The general seemed to dismiss the captain’s concerns with a wave of his hand. “We cannot afford for you to go back to Charleston to recruit men. There are many men in the Valley who would love to serve with Boswell’s Wildcats. Mosby has had great success recruiting men for his raiders. We will have some posters made and you can select while you are here. Now that you have the captured Henry carbines and the other weapons then you can equip your men just as well here as back in Carolina. You need to promote your sergeant here to lieutenant. We want at least forty raiders this time, not just twenty!” With that we were dismissed and we began to recruit soldiers to replace the dead.
Danny became a lieutenant and Harry and me were promoted to sergeant. Dago and Jed became corporals. It felt like we were losing something. The men’s opinions of each of us would not change but the bigger we became the less effective we appeared to be. Perhaps that was just me, I don’t know but the skirmish at Berryville marked the low point for me in my time with Boswell’s Wildcats. Looking back on it now I can see that it was all tied up with leaving Annie and losing the men. It seemed I couldn’t hang on to anything I really cared about and that set me thinking about Caitlin. Where was she and was she surviving?
The posters were put all over the town and we soon had a line of young men wishing to join what they thought was an exciting force. The captain insisted that the four of us, officers and sergeants alike, interview the prospective troopers. We relied heavily on Danny, or as we now ribbed him, Lieutenant Murphy, for he had chosen all of the previous men and he had not chosen poorly yet.
Some were easy to weed out. They had the shifty look of someone who was out for a fast buck; they were the criminals who believed the lies about us being murderers and bank robbers. Some were patently unfit while others couldn’t ride. We asked the thirty ones who made it beyond the initial inspection to wait while we went through all of the applicants. Dago, Jed and the other boys spent some time chatting to these thirty and, when we began to ask more probing questions we had their opinion to guide us. Gradually we weaned out the weaker ones and selected the better ones until there was just one young man left. He was shorter than the rest and had the most flamboyant moustache I have ever seen that was not worn by a general. His name was Cecil Mulrooney although he did not pronounce it as we did, rather he made the first syllable sound like ‘cease’. When the captain called him Cecil he snapped, “My name is Cecil!” I thought that Danny was going to punch him. The young man went on. “It’s a family name and I will lay out any man who mocks me for it!” He balled his fists ready to fight.
