The Young Sharpshooter at Antietam

by Everett T. Tomlinson

The young soldier was awakened suddenly, and as he opened his eyes, at first he was unable to say where he was. Rays of the early sunlight were streaming through the open spaces in the walls, but stronger than the impression produced by the morning was that of the sounds which he heard from the road.

It was plain that horses and men were outside the building, and if he could judge from the noise there were many of both.

Alarmed as Noel was by what he heard, he nevertheless quickly arose and cautiously looked through the place where the window had been.

The sight which greeted his eyes was one which might well have startled a bolder man than the young soldier. A troop of cavalry had halted at the fork in the road and were preparing their breakfast. There were at least fifty men in the band, and from their actions Noel concluded they were in no immediate fear of discovery or attack. The men were not noisy, but they were joking with one another, and plainly were interested in the preparations which were being made for their morning meal. Indeed, the odor of the bacon which was being broiled over the several fires which had been kindled, made him aware that he, too, had eaten little since he had fled from his pursuers early the preceding day.

Occasional words were overheard, and it was not difficult for the young soldier to conclude that the men before him belonged to a troop of Stuart's cavalry, and that apparently they were in no immediate fear of the Federal troops.

As the young soldier looked about him in the morning light he saw that the building in which he had slept was old and dilapidated. One corner of the roof had fallen, and the place was so small that no one passing would believe that many could be concealed within its walls. At all events, its appearance of desolation undoubtedly was his strongest protection, he thought. Not one of the cavalrymen would think of inspecting a place around which the bushes and weeds were growing and within which no one was likely to seek refuge.

His admiration for the men before him became stronger as he continued to watch their activities. Not only were they well trained, but their horses were wonderful animals. Some of them showed the effect of the labors of the campaign, but it was clear that both men and horses made up a carefully selected body.

Noel, as has been said, was peering anxiously from one corner of the little window. An exclamation of surprise almost escaped his lips when suddenly he discovered two men approaching from the branch road, and he was convinced that one was Levi, the former sutler in the camp at Harper's Ferry, and the other was the husband of Sairy Ann's sister.

It became evident to the young watcher that the arrival of both men was expected. At all events, an orderly ran forward to meet them, and it was plain from the conversation which followed that neither of the newcomers was a stranger to him.

Noel's desire to see and hear more became intense. Soon after the arrival of the sutler and his companion, patrols were established in the three roads. The chief comfort that Noel had at the time was the conviction that his hiding-place, in view of the interest which the arrival of the two men had created, was not likely to receive the attention of the cavalrymen.