ON THE PENINSULA.
The scene between Captain Somers and his son was very affecting and very
exciting; and if the soldiers had all been uncles and first cousins of the
parties, they could not have manifested more interest on the joyous
occasion. The father wept, and the son wept; for each, amid the terrible
experience of these troublous times, had hardly expected to meet the
other.
For several minutes they held each other by the hand, laughing and weeping
alternately, and neither being able to express the intense emotions which
agitated him. The men shouted and laughed in full sympathy with the
reunited sire and son.
"I'm glad to see you, Tom," said Captain Somers, as he wiped away the
tears that were sliding down upon his grizzly beard. "I haven't cried
before for thirty years; I'm ashamed of it, Tom, but I can't help it."
"I didn't expect to find you here, father, and clothed in the rebel
uniform; but I'm glad to see you in any uniform," replied the soldier boy.
"So you're in the army, Tom," continued the father, gazing with
satisfaction at the neat appearance of the sergeant.
"Yes, sir; I enlisted within a fortnight after we heard that the traitors
had bombarded Fort Sumter."
"I see you've got three stripes on your arm."
"Yes, Cap'n Somers," said Hapgood; "Tom was made a sergeant for gallant
conduct on the river in December; and he deserved his promotion too."
"I'm glad to see you with that uniform on your back, Tom; and glad to hear
that you have behaved well."
"I was in the battle of Bull Run, father, and was taken prisoner, but I
got away."
"Well, Tom, we'll hear about that bimeby," said the old man, stopping and
looking nervously into the face of his son. "I want to ask a great many
questions, Tom, but I hardly dare to do it. You know I haven't heard a
word from home since I left, and it's almost a year now."
"You needn't be afraid, father; the folks are all well. I have got a heap
of letters at the camp, and you shall read them all as soon as we get
there."
"Is your mother well, Tom?"
"First rate."
"And John?"
"Yes, sir; but he's gone into the navy. He was bound to be in the fight
any how."
"John's a chip of the old block. He wanted to snuff the salt water afore
he was a week old. John's a good sailor, and he ought to have a good lay
wherever he goes," added the father.
Captain Somers and Tom sat upon the ground for half an hour, until the
fugitive from the rebel army was in some degree rested after the hard run
he had had through the woods. The soldiers gathered around them, as much
interested as though they had been members of the Somers family. Tom's
father had a multitude of questions to ask about Pinchbrook and its
people, all of which were answered to his satisfaction.
The sergeant thought it was time for the party to move on, and his father
declared that he was able to walk any distance which would bring him
nearer to the home of his wife and children. The order was given, and the
little band resumed its march.
"How have you been all this time, father?" asked Tom, as he walked along
by the side of Captain Somers.
"I've been pretty fairly most of the time. I'm tough and hardy, or I
should have been dead afore this time. We've been half starved and half
frozen in the camp; but I managed to live through it, hoping and expecting
to get away from those rascally rebels."
"Where have you been all the time?" asked Tom. "Have you been in the rebel
army long?"
"About four months; but I may as well begin at the beginning, and tell you
the whole story," added the captain. "I got to Norfolk all right, and was
there when the news came up that the rebels had taken Sumter. Every body
was mad, and I was as mad as the rest of them, though not exactly in the
same way. I let on a little with my tongue, and came pretty near being
tarred and feathered, and I think I should have been, if your uncle Wyman
hadn't interfered."
"Did he settle with you, father?"
"After a while he did. He had some fifteen thousand dollars in New York,
which had just been sent over from England, and as he was secesh, he was
terribly afeard the Lincoln government would confiscate it; so he settled
with me, and gave me a power of attorney to draw his money, pay myself,
and take care of what was over. I've got the papers safe in my waistbands
now."
"Good! Glory, hallelujah!" shouted Tom. "We can pay off old Pemberton now,
for it goes against my grain to owe a dollar to a traitor. But if uncle
Wyman is a rebel, and I suppose he is, I hope the government will
confiscate what's over after you have paid yourself."
"Well, I don't know. We will see about that bimeby. He used me fair, and I
don't wish him any harm; but I hate his principles. Well, just then, Tom,
when I had got my accounts squared, the rascals took my vessel, and sunk
it in the channel to keep the Union fleet out. My pipe was out then, and I
couldn't do any thing more. I hung round the city of Norfolk till I saw
there was no chance to get out in that direction; and then I left. I was
up near Bull Run--the rebels call it Manassas--when the battle was fought;
but our folks got licked so badly, that it was no use to try to get
through there.
"I tried half a dozen times to crawl through, and had nearly starved to
death in the woods; but some rebel cavalry pickets spied me out, called me
a traitor, and sent me back. My money was all gone by this time, and I
went over to Norfolk again. Your uncle Wyman told me I had better keep
quiet where I was, for just as sure as his name was Somers, the North
would all fall to pieces in less than six months. He expected the rebel
army would be in New York afore long, and I should be a great deal better
off where I was. He tried to get a pass to send me through the rebel
lines, but he couldn't do it.
"Things went on in this way till your uncle Wyman went to Charleston on
business, and I haven't seen him from that day to this. The rebels tried
to make me go into their navy, but I wouldn't do it, of course; but when I
couldn't do any other way, I went into the army, hoping I should be sent
to the front, and find a chance to get away. I've been watching ever
since, but I never happened to get within twenty miles of the Union
pickets before. But here I am, and I'm perfectly satisfied with the past,
though I've suffered a good deal in one way and another."
By the time Captain Somers had finished his narrative, the party arrived
at the camp. Tom was reprimanded very gently for detaching himself from
the main body of the regiment; but when he reported the events of his
excursion, as he had safely returned with his command, nothing more was
said about his adventure.
At the camp the Union refugee was provided with comfortable clothing; his
hair and beard were trimmed down to decent proportions, and he was
otherwise purged of the barbarisms of the rebel camp. But even then he did
not look like the stout, hearty, healthy Captain Somers who sailed from
Boston in the Gazelle nearly a year before. He was haggard and emaciated
from anxiety and semi-starvation.
Captain Somers was warmly welcomed by the members of Company K, who came
from Pinchbrook; and when his physical wants had been satisfied, he was
sent to General Hooker, to communicate to him such intelligence as he
possessed in regard to the position and numbers of the rebel army. He
remained at the camp but two days, at the end of which time he was sent to
Washington, and from there hastened to his home in Pinchbrook. A letter
from Tom, announcing the joyful intelligence of his return, had preceded
him.
In ten days after parting with his father, the sergeant received a full
and glowing account of the reception of Captain Somers, who became quite a
lion in Pinchbrook for the time being. He received his money as he passed
through New York, though not without the aid of a government order which
he had procured in Washington, and only the amount that was actually due
to him, for uncle Wyman's funds were then in process of being confiscated.
The only drawback upon his father's happiness was the absence of John, who
had been drafted into a vessel bound to the South. He had not seen him for
a year, and another year would probably elapse before he could expect to
realize this pleasure. But the captain's patriotism had been intensified a
hundred fold by his bitter experience in Virginia; and while his twin sons
were gallantly serving their country in the army and the navy, he was
willing to sacrifice the yearnings of his paternal heart, and he hoped and
prayed that they might do their duty faithfully.
Tom's regiment remained on the Potomac but a short time after the event we
have related. Sharper and sterner experience was before these tried
soldiers, and the first indications of active service were greeted with
joyous enthusiasm. Suddenly the camp was broken up, and the order to march
given. The men wondered and speculated upon their destination, and though
the prophets of the regiments gave them certain information in regard to
the direction they were to take, most of them were incredulous. One
declared they were going to Richmond by the way of Fredericksburg;
another, by the way of Manassas; and a third was positive, from hints he
had seen in the newspapers, that they were going down the valley of the
Shenandoah, to take the capital of Rebeldom on the flank and rear.
While the prophets and wise men were speculating, the regiment marched on;
and to the astonishment of all, and to the utter confusion of the seers,
they were embarked in a transport--the steamer Napoleon--bound no one knew
where. One regiment and half of another belonging to the brigade were
huddled on board of this one steamer. Every foot of standing room was
occupied, and, of course, the boys were not very comfortably quartered;
but, as Tom expressed it, there was music ahead, and the brave hearts on
board were ready to stand any thing if they could only get a fight out of
the rebels. The mortification of their defeat at Bull Run still hung
heavily on their spirits, and they were panting for an opportunity to
retaliate upon the foe, and win the laurels they had lost upon that
disastrous field.
The prophets, though their failure to foretell the coming event had cast
them into disgrace, were still ready to volunteer an opinion. They
declared that the transports were bound to North Carolina, to follow up
Burnside's successes; but most of the men were content to wait till the
future should develop itself.
The troops were eager for active duty, and if they could get into the
field and strike a heavy blow at the rebellion, they did not care where it
was. They had unbounded confidence in the young general who was to
organize victory for them, and they were willing to obey orders, and leave
every thing to him.
It "thundered all around" them. Roanoke, Pea Ridge, Newbern, Winchester,
Donelson, were a succession of Union victories, which inspired them with
zeal and courage to endure all hardships, and face any peril which might
be in their path.
The transport descended the Potomac, and came to anchor in the bay, where
they lay one day; the steamer then continued on her course, and landed her
troops in Cheseman's Creek, an indentation of the peninsula between the
York and James Rivers. After lying in camp a few days, they marched again,
and Tom learned that the regiment was before Yorktown, which had been
strongly fortified by the rebels to resist the advance of the Union army.