CHAPTER V.
About the 20th of June the army crossed the Blue Ridge, and moved quietly towards the beleaguered capital; but the men did not know any more about their destination than the enemy, who never knew, until his artillery boomed upon McClellan’s flank at Richmond, that Jackson had left the Valley. On arriving at Charlottesville, Capt. White, now entirely recovered from the effects of his wound, rejoined his company, and it now appeared that the little band of scouts and couriers was to be the foundation upon which a larger command was to be built up, for here the news was received that Capt. George W. Chiswell, of Maryland, was on the march from that State with a full company to join White’s Cavalry, and all the boys began to look forward to the time when the irksome duty of waiting upon the Generals and playing telegraph for an army, was to be exchanged for the more congenial and pleasant one of once more scouting on the frontier. Encamped at Charlottesville they had seen a battalion of men commanded by Major John Scott, of Fauquier Co., Va., and organized by that officer to act as Partisan rangers. It seemed that mainly through the influence of Major Scott, a bill had been introduced into the Confederate Congress, and which afterwards became a law, authorizing the formation of such bands, and offering premiums in captured property for an independent border warfare upon the outposts and communications of the enemy’s army, and this idea struck the minds of White’s men very forcibly as containing the very principle upon which their company had been formed, and the one they most desired to have applied to their own particular case, and they believed that in strict justice, Capt. White could get the authority under the law to become a Partisan, as soon as his command was large enough to justify it, and all hailed with joyful acclamation the report that Maryland men were coming to join them; in fact the advance guard of the company met them at Charlottesville in the persons of Ed. J. Chiswell, Sam. White, Frank. Williams and Elijah Viers.
Some anecdotes of Gen. Jackson, and the manner in which he was regarded by his men, and the enemy too, were current in the army during this campaign, and were true in idea if not in detail. Before leaving camp at Mount Meridian, an order was issued instructing the men not to tell what or whose troops they were, and to answer all questions on the subject with Gen. Ewell’s abomination, "don’t know," as a precaution against the enemy getting a knowledge of Jackson’s movement from the Valley. One day the General saw a soldier crossing a field towards some cherry trees, and as the great abundance of cherries along the route had caused any amount of straggling, he resolved to make an example of this man. So riding up to him he inquired, “What division do you belong to?” "Don’t know," said the soldier. “What brigade?” asked the General; and again the soldier replied, "don’t know." “Well,” asked Jackson, “what regiment do you belong to?” thinking he had now found an answerable question; but again the man replied, "don’t know," and with some asperity of tone the General exclaimed, “What do you know, sir?” when the cute “gray jacket” answered—"I know that old Stonewall ordered me not to know anything, and damned if I ain’t going to stick to it."
The General turned and rode away without a word, smiling at the extremely literal construction of orders which had saved the soldier from the punishment he had meditated for him.
Gen. Jackson got aboard the cars at Louisa C. H., to go to Richmond, and took a seat in the same car in which a Yankee Major, who had been captured among some of the raiding parties on the Rail Road, was being carried also to Richmond.
The Major entered into conversation with the quiet officer, not knowing, of course, who he was talking to, and began explaining to him the absolute certainty of McClellan’s capture of the Confederate capital. After listening for some time to the manner in which each division of Lee’s army was tied up by a stronger force from the other side, “Stonewall” ventured the remark, "But suppose Jackson’s army should move from the Valley and strike McClellan in flank and rear while he is engaging Lee in front." “Oh,” said the Major, "there’s no danger of that, Jackson has been badly crippled in his engagements in the Valley, and is now hemmed in closely by Fremont’s army, so that he can’t move." “But,” persisted the Confederate, “suppose he should getaway and come to Richmond.” "No, I say it’s no use to talk about that," said the Major, "for he can’t get away, it is impossible." “Yes,” said the other, “and I say it is possible, for he has already whipped Fremont, and his army will be in front of Richmond in less than twenty-four hours.” The Yankee looked at him a moment, and with an anxious expression asked, “Who are you, sir?” “I am Gen. Jackson,” replied the hero; upon which the Major smacked his hands together exclaiming, “Whipped again, by God!” and at once subsided into silence.
When the army of Jackson reached its position and it was plain to everybody that the time had come for the great battle, the men who had followed “Stonewall” all over the Valley, and had seen his banner wave in triumph on every field, were rendered still more proud of their great leader by seeing, about noon on the day of “Cold Harbour,” the men whose names were already encircled with a halo of glorious deeds performed during the war, ride up and report to Gen. Jackson for instruction.
Longstreet, A. P. Hill, Magruder, and Stuart, all acknowledged the solemn soldier as their superior, and took his orders for the day’s work.
That day’s work too was a sad and bloody one, and when night ended the conflict, many were the corpses strewn over the carnage-stained ground, and terrible arose the groans and shrieks of mangled men; but the enemy still held the front and all thought the morning sun must look down on a repetition of the same unchristian work.
Gen. Ewell was found about midnight by the men who were sent to him to relieve the couriers who had passed with him through "Cold Harbour’s" baleful death-fires, lying along his lines, which were drawn close up to the enemy, waiting for some sign to commence anew the work of slaughter; but when daylight broke over the battle lines the men in blue had disappeared, and soon after, Gen. Lee found one of White’s boys and sent him to find Gen. Stuart and take him to the Commander-in-chief.