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[Illustration: "SERGEANT FRONKLYN DRAGGED THE FORM OF LIEUTENANT LYON
OUT OF THE MÊLÉE." _Page 299._]
_The Blue and the Gray on Land_
A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN
BY
OLIVER OPTIC
AUTHOR OF "THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD, FIRST
AND SECOND SERIES" "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES" "THE GREAT WESTERN
SERIES" "THE WOODVILLE STORIES" "THE ONWARD AND UPWARD
SERIES" "THE LAKE SHORE SERIES" "THE YACHT-CLUB SERIES"
"THE RIVERDALE STORIES" "THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES"
"THE BLUE AND THE GRAY--AFLOAT" "A MISSING
MILLION" "A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN" "A YOUNG
KNIGHT-ERRANT" "STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD"
"THE YOUNG NAVIGATORS" "UP AND DOWN
THE NILE" "ASIATIC BREEZES" "ACROSS
INDIA" "HALF ROUND THE WORLD"
ETC., ETC., ETC., ETC., ETC.
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY LEE AND SHEPARD
_All rights reserved_
LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN
TO
MY PATRIOTIC FRIEND
MRS. SARA WHITE LEE
THE MASSACHUSETTS REGENT
OF THE
DAUGHTERS OF THE REVOLUTION
THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY AND CORDIALLY
DEDICATED
PREFACE
"A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN" is the third of the series of "The Blue and
the Gray--on Land." The stirring events of thirty-four years ago, when
the first gun of the Great Rebellion awoke the nation from its slumber
of thirteen years of peace, transformed the older boys of the day into
men. Thousands of them who lacked three or four years of their
majority, and some of them even six or seven years of it, flocked to
the standard of the imperilled Union. While the volunteers were in
considerable numbers over the military age, those who were not yet out
of their teens were earnest in their desire to be enrolled in the ranks
of the loyal army, and in one way or another surmounted the obstacle of
their tender age.
The youth of the hero of this volume is not contrary to the facts set
forth in the official records of the States; neither does his
appearance in a squadron of cavalry constitute an improbability, nor
his promotion from the rank of second lieutenant to that of first
lieutenant, nor even his appointment on the staff of a brigadier-general.
In the rosters of three regiments of cavalry, preserved in the archives
of a certain State, the name of a young man of seventeen is given as a
first lieutenant; two of eighteen as captains; one of the same age as
first lieutenant; and three more of that age as second lieutenants.
Deck Lyon's rank, therefore, is not exceptional.
Since the close of the war many high schools in the larger cities, and
many other educational institutions, have taught military drill and
evolutions in their regular courses; and the students have been
organized as companies, battalions, and regiments, and are thus trained
in actual practice as officers, from a corporal to a colonel, and as
privates, for service in the field if we should again unfortunately be
involved in a war with a foreign or domestic enemy.
The important battle of Mill Springs, or Logan's Cross Roads as it is
indifferently called in the official reports of the government, is
introduced in the story, though not in its minute details. The
Riverlawn Cavalry are present, and take part in the action, and the
command of the principal character renders important service on the
outskirts of the battle-field; and the squadron, either as a whole or
in detachments, was busily employed. The State was overrun by lawless
hordes of ruffians, of which Shaler, the latest historian of the State,
writes as follows:--
"Deserters from both armies formed bands of outlaws called
guerillas. These wretches, without commanders from either army,
sheltered in the great forests that abound in nearly all parts of
the State, were often strong enough to overcome the domestic
forces, and were guilty of many outrages. They brought back to
Kentucky the evils of its struggle with the Indians. Men again
tilled their fields with their muskets by their sides, and slept in
expectation of combat. During this and the following year these
parties were hunted down, and, when captured, hanged without mercy.
Still their numbers, their daring, and their swift movements, made
the struggle as difficult and as bloody as in any year during the
last century."
The Riverlawn Cavalry was largely employed in operations against
these irregular bodies of marauders; and there were so many of them
that the force was kept constantly occupied. The cavalry had plenty
of exciting experience; and the hero, in command of his platoon on
detached service, proved himself to be not only a brave officer,
but a skilful strategist.
Compared with the States farther north, Kentucky had a terrible
experience in the earlier years of the war, in her desperate
struggle with Confederate and domestic enemies; and she is
certainly entitled as a Union State to greater honor and respect
for her loyalty and fidelity to the Union, and for sending so large
a number of troops as she did "to the front," than any other loyal
State.
WILLIAM T. ADAMS.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I.
GRACE MORGAN AND HER TREASURE-CHEST 15
CHAPTER II.
PREPARATIONS FOR DECISIVE ACTION 28
CHAPTER III.
THE LIEUTENANT BAGS HIS GAME 41
CHAPTER IV.
A REFRACTORY GUERILLA CHIEF 54
CHAPTER V.
LIEUTENANT LYON ENCOUNTERS ANOTHER ENEMY 67
CHAPTER VI.
A SMART SKIRMISH IN THE ROAD 80
CHAPTER VII.
THE BATTLE AT THE BREEDINGS FORT 92
CHAPTER VIII.
BEFORE THE BATTLE OF MILL SPRINGS 105
CHAPTER IX.
PREPARING FOR ANOTHER BATTLE IN THE ROAD 118
CHAPTER X.
THE SHARPSHOOTERS OF MILLERSVILLE 131
CHAPTER XI.
THE APPROACH OF ANOTHER CAVALRY FORCE 144
CHAPTER XII.
A NEW COMPANY OF MOUNTED RIFLEMEN 156
CHAPTER XIII.
A NIGHT IN A JAIL AT JAMESTOWN 169
CHAPTER XIV.
THE AIDE-DE-CAMP OF THE GENERAL 182
CHAPTER XV.
THE ATTEMPTED ESCAPE OF A WAGON-TRAIN 195
CHAPTER XVI.
AN IMAGINARY AND A REAL BATTLE 208
CHAPTER XVII.
THE OVERWHELMING DEFEAT OF THE ENEMY 221
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE FLAG OF TRUCE ON THE MEADOW 234
CHAPTER XIX.
THE RIVERLAWN CAVALRY ON THE FLANK 247
CHAPTER XX.
THE FLOWING TIDE OF THE ENEMY'S RETREAT 260
CHAPTER XXI.
DECK FINDS HIMSELF IN A TIGHT PLACE 273
CHAPTER XXII.
A LIEUTENANT AMONG THE "MISSING" 286
CHAPTER XXIII.
WITHIN THE CONFEDERATE LINES 299
CHAPTER XXIV.
A NIGHT ADVENTURE ON THE CUMBERLAND 311
CHAPTER XXV.
A BOAT VOYAGE DOWN THE GREAT RIVER 324
CHAPTER XXVI.
FOUR FUGITIVES FROM THE BATTLE-FIELD 337
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE OWNER OF THE MANSION ON THE HILL 349
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE FIGHT BEGINS AT GROVE-HILL MANSION 362
CHAPTER XXIX.
A NEW METHOD OF OPERATIONS 375
CHAPTER XXX.
THE SURRENDER OF CAPTAIN GRUNDY 387
CHAPTER XXXI.
AN UNEXPECTED RE-ENFORCEMENT 399
CHAPTER XXXII.
DECK LYON'S PLAN OF BATTLE 411
CHAPTER XXXIII.
THE DEFEAT AND SURRENDER OF THE GUERILLAS 424
CHAPTER XXXIV.
THE GATHERING OF A NEW COMMAND 437
CHAPTER XXXV.
A FIRST LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN 450
CHAPTER XXXVI.
SCOUTING IN THE ENEMY'S COUNTRY. 463
ILLUSTRATIONS
"SERGEANT FRONKLYN DRAGGED THE FORM OF LIEUTENANT LYON OUT OF THE
MÊLÉE" _Frontispiece_
ILLUSTRATED TITLE
"COME DOWN, OR YOU ARE A DEAD MAN" _Page_ 64
"THEY LAID HIM ON THE GRASS JUST AS THE RECALL WAS SOUNDED" 141
"HE SOON DISCOVERED HIS LIEUTENANT RIDING AT THE HEAD OF HIS
PLATOON" 210
"THE SHARPSHOOTERS RUSHED DOWN THE DECLIVITY" 262
"THE BALL STRUCK HIM IN THE HEAD" 388
"THE UNWELCOME VISITORS POINTED THEIR WEAPONS" 461
A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER I
GRACE MORGAN AND HER TREASURE-CHEST
"Are you an honest man, sir?" asked a very pretty young woman, not more
than twenty years old, as she stopped in the open field in front of
Sergeant Life Knox of the Riverlawn Cavalry, as it was generally
called, though the squadron belonged to a numbered regiment in
Kentucky.
The non-commissioned officer was a tall Kentuckian, over six feet high,
lank and raw-boned. He looked at the young woman, and a smile lighted
up his thin face.
"I reckon I am, Miss; I never robbed a bank, or stole a poor woman's
last dollar," he replied, thinking it was a queer question if the lady
proposed to trust him on his own recommendation.
"Are you a Confederate soldier, for I see that you wear a uniform?"
continued the young woman, looking behind her with a timid glance.
"I am not!" protested Life with earnestness enough to prove that he
meant all that he said. "Don't you see that I wear the uniform of the
United States army? and, Hail Columby! if I ain't a Union man from the
smallest nail in the heel of my boot to the top hair on my Kentucky
skull!"
"You won't rob me if I tell you the truth, will you?" asked she very
simply, and evidently agitated by painful doubts.
"No, indeed, Missy! I wouldn't do that even if you didn't tell me the
truth; not if you lied to me till you was black in the face," replied
the sergeant warmly. "But what difference does it make to you whether I
am honest or not? I am forty-two, and I reckon you don't think of
marrying me without my mother's consent."
"I am very serious, sir, and I hope you will not make fun of me,"
pleaded the young woman with a deep blush on her face, as she looked
behind her and listened.
"I wouldn't say a sassy thing to you for half a Kentucky county; but
you asked me a queer question. I'll do anything I kin for you. I reckon
I'm an honest man; and I don't reckon you kin find anybody in my county
that would say I'm not honest."
"That's enough; you look like an honest man, and I believe you," added
the fair woman, as she took from under her clothing a hard-wood box
about eight inches long by four in width and depth.
From the effort it required for her to handle it, Life judged that it
was quite heavy. It was bound with straps of brass, screwed to the
wood; and the sight of it was enough to convince the sergeant that it
contained something valuable. Her strange question seemed to be
explained by this supposition.
"What is your name, Missy?" asked Life, becoming very sedate all at
once; for, rough as his manners were, he had a kind heart, and would
not trifle with the feelings of any one.
"My name is Grace Morgan," replied the lady, looking behind her once
more, as though she dreaded some peril in that direction.
"Be you afeerd of sunthin', that you keep lookin' over yender?"
inquired the cavalryman in kindly tones. "What is it? Tell me all about
it."
"You say you are a Union man?" she inquired doubtfully.
"Bet your life on't! I'm orderly sergeant of the fust company of the
Riverlawn Cavalry. What's it all about?" asked Life, very tenderly for
him.
"Stephen Halliburn, who lives about half a mile over there, is my
guardian. About twenty Confederate soldiers, or guerillas, I don't know
which, are plundering his house and stable, and they say they will have
his money if they have to pull his house down to find it," answered
Grace, trembling, and glancing frequently behind her, as though she
were in mortal terror of the approach of the enemy.
"Oh, ho, Grace! That's what's the matter, ain't it? We'll soon fix the
gorrillas, or the soldiers, whatever they may be," replied Life, as he
looked earnestly in the direction of the road, a few rods distant from
the spot.
"But I can't carry this chest any farther. I am worn out bringing it so
far; for I have been so frightened that all the strength has gone out
of me," said Grace, as she placed the box on a rock near her. "I am
terribly afraid that Mr. Halliburn will be killed or badly hurt; for he
is a Union man, and speaks out just what he thinks."
"We will do what we can for him," added Life, still looking in the
direction of the road, and listening for sounds from the north.
"But you are only a single man; and what can you do against twenty
ruffians?" asked the Kentucky girl, who still trembled, and did not
seem to believe that the stalwart cavalryman could do anything to aid
Mr. Halliburn.
"About fifty on us," added Life quietly, still looking and listening.
"I'm a scout sent out ahead of half the fust company marchin' this way.
I left my horse in the road, to come over this way and take a look, for
I had an idee I heerd sunthin' on the left."
"Perhaps you heard the ruffians who are plundering my guardian,"
replied Grace, brightening up when she learned that fifty Union
soldiers were in the neighborhood. "He is a dear good man, and I love
him as though he were my father. I would not have left him if he had
not insisted that I should do something with the chest, which contains
all his money and papers. I can't carry it any farther, for it is very
heavy."
"And what were you gwine to do with it?" inquired Life, looking into
her pretty face.
"I was going to carry it over to the house of Colonel Ben Halliburn, my
guardian's brother, as he told me to do."
"All right, Missy; I'll tote it over to the road, and report to the
leftenant as soon as he comes up with the men," added Life as he picked
up the treasure-chest.
It was heavy, as the young woman had said, though it was a light load
for the powerful Kentuckian; and he concluded at once that it must
contain a considerable amount of gold. In the distracted condition of
the State very few had any confidence in the banks, and some had turned
their bills into coin for any emergency that might arise. Before he
reached the road he saw another scout getting over the fence.
"Get on your hoss agin, Fronklyn!" shouted Life, who walked with long
and hurried strides, so that Grace had to run in order to keep near
him.
The story of the bearer of the chest had fully aroused him by this
time; and he was ready for action, whether it was in a fight, or in the
service of the fair maiden, though there was hardly a fibre of
sentimentalism in his composition. When he reached the road, Sergeant
Fronklyn had mounted his horse, and was waiting for orders from the
chief scout.
"Ride back like a streak o' lightnin', and tell Leftenant Lyon that the
gorrillas is cleanin' out a house over yender!" said Life in hurried
speech. "How fur back is the platoon?"
"Not more than half a mile," said Fronklyn.
"Go it, and don't let the grass grow under your hoss's irons!"
The other scout went off at the fastest gallop of his steed, and soon
disappeared beyond a turn in the road. The Riverlawn Cavalry had been
enlisted, drilled, and mustered into the loyal army at the plantation
of Noah Lyon, who had inherited the property under the will of his
elder brother. The raising of hemp and horses had made the deceased
brother, Colonel Duncan Lyon, a rich man, as worldly possessions were
gauged in this locality. His property had been fairly divided among his
heirs. The plantation had been given to his younger brother, greatly to
the dissatisfaction of the elder one.
Titus Lyon, the other surviving brother, was an entirely different kind
of man from Noah, as the original owner of Riverlawn was well aware
when he gave the place to his younger brother. All of them had come
from New Hampshire, the colonel in his early manhood, and Titus a few
years before Noah. The latter was a man of character, with lofty
principles, while his living brother was far from being a high-toned
person. He had always been what is called "a moderate drinker," and his
politics had always been the opposite of Noah's in the North.
Titus believed that he ought to have been born a rich man. He was a
mason by trade, and had gone to Kentucky to establish himself in this
business. For a time he did very well. He fawned upon and tried to
flatter his brother; but he drank more whiskey than ever. When the
colonel's health began to fail him, he looked forward to the possession
of Riverlawn. When it went to Noah he was mortally offended, and an
unhappy feud grew into being, though it was altogether on the side of
Titus.
The dissatisfied brother, apparently as much to spite Noah, who was an
enthusiastic Union man, cast in his lot with the Secessionists. With
the money he had received from his deceased brother's estate he became
a leader among them. They were bullies and ruffians for the most part,
operating at first in the interests of neutrality, the governor's
favorite scheme, and in the end falling very naturally into the ranks
of the enemies of the Union. Titus raised a company of Home Guards, in
which thousands of the citizens of the State were organized, some on
one and some on the other side of the question.
Titus was ambitious, and he was chosen captain of his company. He
displayed more energy and activity than he had ever manifested in his
business, and spent his money recklessly in fitting out and arming his
recruits. He purchased a considerable quantity of muskets, cannon, and
revolvers, with the ammunition for them. He concealed these military
supplies in a "sink," or cave, till he could organize his command. One
of Noah's sons discovered them while exploring the creek that flowed by
Riverlawn.
When the discovery was reported to his father, Major Lyon, as he was
courteously called before he was entitled to this handle to his name,
immediately decided that his duty to his country required him to take
possession of the arms and munitions. They were all removed to a
building prepared for their reception at Riverlawn. Captain Titus knew,
or suspected, that his brother had taken the military supplies, and his
wrath knew no bounds. When the Union men held a meeting in a
schoolhouse the smouldering fire was fanned into a blaze. The ruffians,
led on by their captain, marched upon Riverlawn, proposing to burn the
mansion and hang its owner to a tree on the lawn, though Titus denied
that he had any such intention, and declared that he had prevented his
followers from committing this outrage.
Major Lyon had heard of the threats against him and his property, and
he was prepared for the marauders. With the aid of his neighbors, and
arming his negroes, he fought the "Battle of Riverlawn," defeating and
dispersing the ruffians. Then, as arranged at the Union meeting, he
proceeded to raise a company of cavalry. The enthusiasm among the loyal
people was immense, and two companies were enlisted and mustered in.
Against his wishes he was chosen major of the battalion.
Levi Bedford was his overseer. He was a Tennessee Unionist in whom the
planter had unbounded confidence. When the major left his home in
command of the squadron of two companies, Levi took charge of his
family and estate. This family consisted of a daughter Hope, and a son
Dexter, now a lieutenant at eighteen. Noah had brought up in his family
from their early childhood the children of a brother who died penniless
in Vermont. Artemas, always called Artie, was sixteen, and a soldier in
one of the companies. Dorcas, the adopted daughter, was eighteen. They
had always been a happy family; and all the young people called Noah
and his wife, who treated them as their own, father and mother.
The squadron had been on detached duty. Their first service was to
protect a railroad bridge which Captain Titus's company and a troop of
Texan cavalry had been sent to destroy in order to prevent the
transportation of Union forces to Bowling Green. The Texans were
thoroughly defeated, and the Home Guards surrounded, beaten, and
captured. The major's brother was sent with them to the North, where he
had the opportunity to repent and get sober. His two sons, Alexander
and Orlando, half starved and disgusted, had fled from Bowling Green;
and when their mother and sisters went back to the North, the two boys
had enlisted in the Riverlawn Cavalry.
The next service of the squadron was in repressing guerilla outrages;
and they took part in the small battle of Munfordsville. When it was
known that the Confederates were marching into Kentucky from the south
and east, the squadron was sent to take part in the operations in this
quarter. The command arrived at Columbia, from which Major Lyon sent
the first company towards Mill Springs, where the enemy were reported
to be, by the way of Liberty and Miltonville. The second company were
to proceed by Millersville and Jamestown, with the same objective point
in view.