LIEUTENANT LYON ENCOUNTERS ANOTHER ENEMY
Surrounded by double their own number of soldiers, armed with the best
weapons, the marauders imprisoned in the upper story of the mansion
could not help realizing that their situation was hopeless. They had
not offered to come to the assistance of Captain Coonly when he was in
the gripe of the stalwart sergeant; for the carbines of the cavalrymen
still covered them, and they saw that they would be shot down if they
attempted to descend the stairs without orders, or fired upon their
assailants in the hall.
The captain was conducted into the sitting-room, and a man was placed
at the door to keep watch of him. But he was harmless by this time; as
Win expressed it, "the fun had all gone out of him." Deck began to
think he had spent time enough over the affair; and he was in a hurry
to return to the Millersville Road.
"Up-stairs there!" he called to the ruffians, who remained there
because they could not escape without the certainty of being shot
whether they attempted to leave by the windows or the stairs. "Is
there any officer among you?"
"Lieutenant Billock is here," replied one of them.
"Let him show himself."
"That is my name," responded a fellow nearly as big as Life Knox at the
head of the stairs.
"Your commander is a prisoner, and you rank next to him. What do you
propose to do, fight or surrender?" Deck inquired of him.
"What can I do?" asked the big fellow; and he had not the air of a
fighting-man, in spite of his ample proportions.
"That is for you to decide," answered Deck.
"We are surrounded by double our own number, and caged here like a lot
of mules. Give me five minutes to talk to the boys," returned the
guerilla lieutenant.
"All right; but not a minute more than five," added the officer of
cavalry, as he looked at his watch.
"What are you gwine to do with 'em when you get 'em?" asked Life in a
low tone.
"Turn them over to Captain Gordon when I have done my share of the
job," answered Deck.
"We have concluded to surrender," said Lieutenant Billock at the head
of the stairs. "I don't see 's we kin help ourselves under the
sucumstances."
"Very well; I shall hold you as prisoners, and treat you as I did your
captain. Call in six more men, Life."
This additional force, carbine in hand, was stationed in the hall by
the officer, with orders to shoot any man who resisted or tried to
escape; and the orders were given in a loud tone, so that the prisoners
on the floor above could hear them.
"Now you will form a line up there, and march down in single file, six
feet apart. Each man will deposit all his weapons on the floor, and go
into the room on the left, after his arms are tied behind him,"
continued Deck.
The prisoners said nothing, and obeyed the order in silence. Lieutenant
Billock came first. The bugler was ordered to see that every one put
all his arms on the floor, and assist him in doing so. Two men tied his
arms behind him, and led him to the sitting-room. All the others
followed him, and were served in the same manner. Twenty-two men were
counted when the ceremony was finished. The bugler was ordered to blow
the Assembly, and the whole platoon gathered in front of the mansion,
which faced the east.
Lieutenant Lyon appeared to have studied up his plan, for he was ready
to take the next step as soon as all the prisoners had been secured. He
next formed his men in two ranks, reaching from the mansion to the
fence, where the ruffians had hitched their horses, retaining the
sergeant and half a dozen soldiers in the hall, where he stood himself.
Then he sent half the prisoners out-doors, with their arms still
secured behind them, and directed Life in what manner to mount and
otherwise dispose of them.
The sergeant called ten men from the ranks to assist him, and each one
of them took a ruffian in his charge. Life had Captain Coonly in his
own hands. As the prisoners pointed out their own horses, they were
conducted to the fence. The cord or strap was then loosened from the
left wrist of each, but remained fastened to the right. They were then
required to mount their steeds, which were a sorry-looking set of
animals.
"Now you are all right," said Life when the captain was in his seat in
the saddle.
"Why don't you take this strap from my right wrist?" asked the
prisoner.
"Beca'se I kin make a better use on't," replied the sergeant, taking
the strap in his hand, and making it fast to the crupper strap behind
the rider.
It was drawn back far enough to prevent the prisoner from reaching it
with his left hand. This was a device of Deck himself; and he had
treated a prisoner in this manner once before, and it had succeeded
admirably, though his man was disposed to resist. Life looked over the
work the men had done, and changed some of it when necessary. Half of
the cavalrymen were then sent for their horses.
They returned mounted in a few minutes, and were placed in charge of
the prisoners, under Corporal Tilford. The other half of the ruffians
were then mounted in the same manner, and the rest of the platoon went
for their steeds in the grove; while orderly Sergeant Life formed the
platoon, with the prisoners in the centre, and half a dozen soldiers on
their flanks, to check the ambition of any who attempted to escape. All
was ready for the march to the Millersville Road, and Deck went in to
bid adieu to Mr. Halliburn and his wife.
"I sincerely hope that you will have no more visits from such
ruffians," said he as he took the hand of the ex-clergyman. "I am
confident this gang will not molest you again. I had my men search them
as they laid down their arms, and they found a few trinkets, which I
passed over to Mr. Milton."
"All we had of any great value was in the treasure-chest which Grace
carried away before the servants of sin entered the mansion. I am under
such a load of obligation to you, Lieutenant Lyon, that I shall never
be able to repay or reciprocate your kindness to us in our distress;
but I thank you with all my heart, and I shall pray daily for you, that
you may be saved from peril and temptation in this world, and that we
may meet in the happy land beyond the grave."
Mrs. Halliburn expressed herself in the same terms; and the young
officer hastened away, attended by Win Milton, who was going to the
home of Colonel Halliburn, to assure himself of the safety of Grace
Morgan.
"What shall we do with all these guns and pistols, Lieutenant?" asked
Win, as he pointed to the pile of them in the hall.
"Anything you like; I don't want them. I advise you to conceal them
under the hay in your stable. There must be some servants about this
house, though I have not seen one," said Deck.
"There are about thirty of them; but they all fled at the approach of
the guerillas. They will all come back now that the danger is over."
The lieutenant mounted his horse, and placed himself at the head of the
column, with Win at his side, still acting as guide. Deck then gave the
order to march. Milton conducted the platoon to the road by an open
field most of the way, and the soil afforded a better footing for the
horses.
"What does all that mean, Lieutenant?" asked Win, as they came to a
little hill which gave them a view of the road for a considerable
distance. "There is a company of cavalry coming down the road at a
headlong gallop!"
"Probably the first platoon of our company," replied Deck.
At the same moment Sergeant Fronklyn and Sandy Lyon rode furiously
across the field, and halted in front of them, having just returned
from their mission to the mansion of Colonel Halliburn.
"Confederate cavalry!" shouted Fronklyn, when he was a considerable
distance from the column.
"Battalion--halt!" shouted Deck in his loudest tones.
"It is a small platoon, and perhaps it is a part of the enemy
Lieutenant Belthorpe engaged at Breedings. The men look as though they
were running away from a force behind them."
"How many of them are there, Fronklyn?" asked Deck hurriedly.
"Not more than thirty, if as many as that," answered the sergeant.
"Life!" called the lieutenant. "Select ten men, and guard the
prisoners," he added.
The sergeant took the men from the rear of the column, and Deck ordered
the rest of the platoon to march at a gallop. The officer rode at a
pace the other horses could not equal, and reached the road far in
advance of his command. He wanted a few minutes to examine the
situation; but the enemy were within fifty rods of him. At a glance he
counted six fours, which made twenty-four men besides the officer.
By the time the lieutenant had made his momentary survey of the
approaching force, his platoon reached the road, Win Milton with them.
The company's baggage-train had arrived, and had halted about twenty
rods to the south of the place where Fronklyn had thrown down the fence
when he saw the command were coming. The wagons were guarded by ten
men, who had been taken from both companies at Columbia; for Major Lyon
had learned there that several counties were overrun with guerillas and
foragers, the latter sent out from General Zollicoffer's Confederate
force at Mill Springs.
The baggage-guard had been ordered up by Fronklyn, and they were
approaching as Deck dashed into the road. If a dozen war-elephants had
waddled into the road instead of Deck's command, they could hardly have
created more surprise than this force of United States cavalry. The
officer in command of the force promptly ordered a halt when he was
within twenty rods of his enemy, for he could not help recognizing the
uniform of the loyal army.
The young lieutenant had reined in his horse and come to a halt as soon
as he reached the road, where he had a full view of the coming
detachment. Milton joined him as the men dashed into the road, with
Life, who had detailed Corporal Tilford, with the ten men, to guard the
prisoners. Deck, profiting by the solemn injunctions of his father when
his promotion went into effect, struggled to keep cool and
self-possessed. His first impulse was to charge the approaching enemy;
and he would have done so if the Confederates had not halted, and given
him time to look over his surroundings.
As he took in the situation, he was perfectly satisfied that he could
easily defeat the enemy, and the only fear he had was that the
detachment would escape. His force was now nearly double that of the
Confederates in numbers, and would be more than that if he called in
the guard of his prisoners.
"Do you know that force, Win?" he asked as the guide rode up to him.
"I do. They wear the blue and the gray, and they are Tennessee
cavalry," replied Milton. "Fronklyn was right."
Deck had a field-glass slung over his shoulder, and he directed it to a
point beyond the enemy; for he wished to ascertain if Tom Belthorpe's
platoon was in pursuit; but the road was too crooked to enable him to
see any distance, for it was bordered in places by walnut forests.
"I don't quite understand this thing," said Deck, musing, as he
strained his vision to discover another force at the north. "Captain
Gordon was with the detachment that went to Breedings; and if he
defeated the Confederates, as he must have done, I don't see how he
happened to permit them to escape, for he had better horses than the
men in front of us ride, and the captain and Lieutenant Belthorpe are
wide-awake officers."
"But both of them are strangers in these counties, while the
Tennesseeans are probably well acquainted with the country. Zollicoffer
has to feed his army on the supplies gathered from the region around
him, and his foragers have learned the geography of this part of the
State. At any rate, his officers can obtain plenty of guides," replied
Milton; "and this one had a better knowledge of the roads and the paths
across the country."
Fearful that the Confederate commander would avail himself of his
knowledge, and thus elude him, Deck sent Life with ten men into the
field on the left, and Fronklyn with the same number into that on the
right. The enemy did not seem to like this movement, though it weakened
the force in front of him about one-half. The officer arranged his men
so that they extended entirely across the road, and then in a voice
that might have been heard half a mile, he ordered a charge.