THE MEETING WITH NELSON.
Never was there a hotter race run in Kentucky. Neck and neck the horses
ran, neither seemingly able to gain an inch on the other. The goal grew
alarmingly near. Each rider bent over the neck of his flying steed, and
urged him on with word and spur. The tree was scarcely twenty yards
away. "Now, Prince, if ever," cried Fred. The horse seemed to
understand. With a tremendous effort, he plunged forward, and passed the
goal half a length ahead.
[Illustration: He plunged forward, and passed the Goal half-a-length
ahead.]
"Won!" cried Fred, but his huzzah died on his lips. The excitement of
the race had made the boys careless, and they ran into a squad of
horsemen who were passing along the other road. Fred came nearly
unhorsing the leader of the squad, a heavy-set, red-faced man with bushy
hair that stood up all around his large head. He was dressed in the
uniform of an officer of the United States navy. As for Calhoun, he
entirely unhorsed a black groom, who was bringing up the rear of the
squad.
The darky scrambled to his feet unhurt, and forgetting his fright in his
enthusiasm, shouted: "Golly, massa, dat was a race, suah. Dat a hoss
woth habin'." Like a true Kentucky negro, he loved a fine horse, and
gloried in a race.
But with the officer, it was different. As soon as he could quiet his
horse, he let fly such a volley of oaths that the boys sat on their
horses too dumfounded to say a word. The officer swore until he was out
of breath, and had to stop from sheer exhaustion.
At the first opportunity, Fred took off his hat and politely said:
"We beg a thousand pardons, sir, but I was racing for the old flag, and
had to win, even if I had had to run over the commander-in-chief of the
army, instead of a lieutenant of the navy."
"Lieutenant of the navy! lieutenant of the navy!" roared Nelson, for it
was he, "I will show you, young man, I command on dry land, as well as
on the water," and the air once more grew sulphurous.
"Really," dryly remarked Fred, "if you fight as well as you swear,
Kentucky will soon be clear of rebels."
Nelson's companions roared with laughter. As for Nelson, his face
twitched for a moment, and then he, too, commenced to laugh.
"It is a good thing for you, young man," he exclaimed, "that you don't
belong to the army or I would have you tied up by the thumbs. As it is,
will you tell me what you meant by saying that you were racing for the
old flag and had to win?"
"Why, sir, my cousin, here, challenged me for a race, saying if he won
the South would triumph; but if I won, the old flag would be victorious.
So you see, sir, I had to win, even if I had had to run clear over you.
You ought to thank me for winning the race, instead of swearing at me
for jostling your dignity a little."
Nelson chuckled.
All of this time Calhoun, after soothing his horse, had been a quiet
spectator of the scene. He felt nettled over losing the race, and was
not in the best of humor.
"So," said Nelson, turning to Calhoun, "you ran for the South to win,
did you? Might have known you would have been beaten. What have you got
to say for yourself, anyway, you ---- little rebel?"
Calhoun's eyes flashed. Drawing himself proudly up, he said: "I am no
rebel. I am a Kentuckian, and am for the neutrality of Kentucky."
"Neutrality of Kentucky," sneered Nelson; "of whom did you learn that
twaddle, youngster? Neutrality is a plea of cowards to hide their
disloyalty."
Calhoun grew deadly pale. He forgot everything in his passion, as he
fairly hissed:
"And you are Lieutenant Nelson, are you? That recreant son of Kentucky,
who, in spite of her pledge of neutrality, the pledge of a sovereign
State, is violating that pledge by raising troops to subjugate a brave
and heroic people. You are the Benedict Arnold of Kentucky. If I had my
way, you would hang from the nearest tree. Cowards are they who would
keep the pledge of neutrality given by the State? You lie, and boy that
I am, I hurl defiance in your face," and tearing a riding glove from his
hand, he hurled it with all the force he could summon into the face of
the astonished Nelson.
For a moment Nelson was speechless with rage; then mechanically he
reached for the pistol in his holster. With a sharp exclamation, Fred
spurred his horse between the angry man and Calhoun, and striking down
Nelson's arm, cried: "How dare you! For shame, to shoot a boy!" Then
turning to Calhoun, he gave the sharp command, "Go! go at once!"
Calhoun obeyed, and boy and horse were off like a shot; without a word
of apology, Fred followed. Nelson made a movement as if to pursue, but
at once reined up his horse. The look of anger soon passed from his
face; he began to chuckle, and then to laugh.
Turning to one of his staff, he exclaimed: "Gad! Lieutenant, I came
nearly forgetting myself and shooting that boy. It would have been an
outrage. He has the grit, the true Kentucky grit. I am proud of both of
those boys. I shall keep my eye on them. What soldiers they would make!"
Such was General William Nelson, fiery, erratic, and oftentimes cruel,
but at all times ready to acknowledge true courage and manliness in his
worst enemy. To him, more than to any other one man, does the government
owe the fact that Kentucky was saved to the Union. In the face of the
fiercest opposition he never faltered in his purpose of raising troops,
and the most direful threats only nerved him to greater exertion.
The two boys looking back, and seeing that they were not pursued,
brought their horses to a trot and began to talk of their adventure.
"Fred," said Calhoun, "you are the first to get in your work on that
oath. I believe the brute would have shot me if it had not been for
you."
"You certainly gave him great provocation, Cal. It was very
ungentlemanly in him to attack you, a boy, as he did, but these are war
times. My! but you did go for him, Cal; you really looked grand in your
fiery indignation. I could not help admiring you, even if you were
foolish. It is a wonder he did not shoot you, for Nelson is a man of
ungovernable temper when aroused."
"He would have shot me, Fred, if it had not been for your brave
interference. Come to think about it, I could not blame him much, if he
had shot me; for I could not have offered him a greater insult than I
did. I was hasty and excited; you were cool and collected. Fred, I thank
you."
"No more of that, my boy. But, Cal, try and govern your tongue. Your
hasty speech and temper will get you in serious trouble yet."
"I gave the villain no more than he deserved. There is no other man in
Kentucky doing as much as Nelson to overthrow the sovereignty of the
State; there is no other man doing as much to array one portion of our
people against the rest; and if bloodshed comes, no man will be more to
blame than he. He should be arrested and hanged as a traitor to
Kentucky, and I am glad I told him so."
"Calhoun," answered Fred, "you have heard neutrality talked so much you
are blind to the real facts. Nelson was right when he said neutrality
was but a blind for secession. If Kentucky is saved to the Union, it
will be saved by the efforts of such men as he. There can be no middle
ground; you must be for or against the Union."
"I confess," answered Calhoun, "while I have been talking neutrality, my
real sympathy has been with the South. Down with coercion, I say, and
death to all renegades like Nelson."
Fred smiled. "How about renegades like myself, Cal? But I am glad to
hear you expressing your true sentiments; it shows you are honest in
them, at least."
"Fred, why can't you think as I do? You are too honest, too brave, to
side with Abolitionists and mudsills. They are a dirty, low, mischievous
set, to say the least. There can be but one issue to the war. The whole
dirty crew will run like cravens before the chivalric gentlemen of the
South."
"Don't be too sanguine, Cal, about the running. Do you think such men as
Nelson, Fry, Bramlette, Woodford, and a host of others I might name,
are cowards?"
"Oh! I didn't mean the few Kentuckians who are espousing the Union
cause, but the riff-raff and scum of the North."
"You will find the men you call the 'riff-raff and scum of the North,'
are just as earnest, just as brave, as the sons of the South."
"Do you think so?"
"Why not? Are we not of the same blood, the same language? This idea
that the people of the South are a superior race to the people of the
North is one simply born of our pride and arrogance. But you ask me why
I side with the North. Because the North battles for the old flag;
because it loves freedom. Cal, do you think a just God will ever let a
Confederacy be successful whose chief corner-stone is human slavery?"
Calhoun flushed and muttered: "They are nothing but niggers, and the
Bible upholds slavery."
"We will not argue that. My great-grandfather on my mother's side fell
on Bunker Hill. Our great-grandfather fought at Yorktown; our
grandfather was with Jackson at New Orleans. All fought under the old
flag; all fought for freedom, not for slavery. Now, do you think I can
raise my hand to help destroy the Union they helped to found, and then
to perpetuate? I cannot do it. You think differently, but let us
remember our oaths and be friends, even unto death."
"Do you think I can forget it, after what you have just done for me?
But see, the sun is getting low; let us stop this discussion and hurry
up."
Judge Pennington, the father of Calhoun, resided in Danville, and the
two boys soon cantered up to his door. Fred did not put up his horse, as
he was to return home. After tea the boys sauntered down to the hotel to
see what was going on. There they met Nelson and his party. Their first
impulse was to go away, pretending not to notice him, but that would
have been cowardly; so they walked up to him, apparently unconcerned as
to what might happen. To their surprise, Nelson held out his hand, and
laughingly said:
"How are you, my young Hotspurs; and so you want to see me hanged, do
you?" addressing Calhoun. "Well, my boy, better men than I may be hanged
before this trouble is over; and many as brave a boy as you will kiss
mother for the last time. My boy, if it needs be that we must die, would
it not be better to die under the folds of the old flag than under the
bastard stars and bars?"
Calhoun turned away; he dared not trust himself to speak, so Fred, not
to have his cousin appear rude, said: "Lieutenant, let me once more
apologize for running into you. I am very sorry we were so careless."
"No apology is necessary, my son. A boy who runs a race for the Union
and wins need not apologize. I would know you better, lad; Kentucky has
need of all such as you."
Just then an orderly rushed up to Nelson and excitedly said something
in a low tone. Nelson uttered an exclamation of surprise, turned
abruptly, and rapidly walked to the telegraph office, where a dispatch
was placed in his hands. He glanced at it, turned pale, and brave man
though he was, his hand shook as though stricken with palsy. Silently he
handed the dispatch to Colonel Fry, who stood by his side. As the
Colonel read it, great drops of sweat stood out on his forehead. "Great
God!" was all that he said.
"Fry," said Nelson, huskily, "see Colonel Bramlette, who is fortunately
in Danville; gather up all other Union officers that you may see, and
meet me at once in my room at the hotel."
It was a group of panic-stricken officers who gathered in Nelson's room
at the hotel. Here is the dispatch that had created such consternation:
CINCINNATI, July 21, 6 P. M.
LIEUTENANT WM. NELSON:
Our army has been disastrously beaten at Bull Run, and are in full
retreat for Washington. That city may be in possession of the enemy
before morning.
ANDERSON.
When the dispatch was read, not a word was spoken for a moment, and then
Colonel Fry asked if it was not possible to keep the dispatch secret.
"No use," replied Nelson; "it has already passed through the hands of a
score of disloyal operators."
"I knew," spoke up a young lieutenant, "that those miserable Eastern
Yankees would not stand up before the Southern soldiers. We might as
well disband and go home; all is lost."
"Lost! lost!" thundered Nelson, turning on the young lieutenant like a
tiger. "Go home, you craven, if you want to; all is not lost, and will
not be lost until every loyal son of Kentucky is slain. We have enough
men at Dick Robinson, poorly armed and equipped as they are, to hold
Central Kentucky. With such colonels as Fry, Bramlette, Garrard Wolford,
and the host of gallant officers under them, I defy the devil and all
the Secessionists in the State to wrest Central Kentucky from us."
And with loud huzzahs the officers present swore to stand by Nelson, and
come what might, they would hold Central Kentucky for the Union. How
well that pledge was kept history tells.
"It is not for Central Kentucky, I fear," continued Nelson; "it is for
Louisville. Can we save that city for the Union? It must be saved. The
loyal men there must save it, at all hazards. They must know that we are
standing firm in Central Kentucky. But how? The telegraph is in the
hands of the enemy. Any word I sent would be known at once. Oh! I have
it, Fry; send for that light-haired boy I was talking with at the hotel.
Have him here right away."
Fred Shackelford was found just as he was mounting his horse to return
home. Wondering what Nelson wanted with him, he accompanied the
messenger to that officer's room, where they found him pacing up and
down the apartment like a caged lion.
"Where is your companion?" abruptly asked Nelson of Fred.
"At home; he lives here," answered Fred.
"Where is your home?"
"A few miles out on the Richmond road."
"Your name?"
"Frederic Shackelford."
"Frederic, you have a good horse?"
"Yes, sir; one of the best and fastest in Kentucky."
"Good; now Frederic, you told me that you loved the Union."
"Yes, sir. I promised my mother on her deathbed ever to be faithful to
the old flag."
"Would Kentucky had more such mothers. A boy like you never breaks a
promise to a mother. Frederic, do you want to do your country a great
service, something that may save Kentucky to the Union?"
"What is it, sir?"
"To take some important dispatches to Louisville. Can you make
Nicholasville by ten o'clock? A train leaves there at that hour for
Lexington, thence to Louisville, arriving early in the morning."
Fred looked at his watch. "It is now seven," he said. "Yes, I can make
Nicholasville by ten o'clock, if I have the dispatches right away."
"They will be ready in ten minutes," said Nelson, turning away.
In less than ten minutes the dispatches were given to Fred with
instructions to place them at the earliest possible moment in the hands
of James Speed, Garrett Davis, J. T. Boyle, or any one of a score of
loyal Louisvillians whose names were handed him on a separate sheet of
paper.
Fred mounted his horse and rode away, and soon the swift beating of his
horse's hoofs on the dusty turnpike died away in the distance.