THE BATTLE BEGUN AT THE CROSS-ROADS
Deck and Artie Lyon were not veterans in military service; but on
several occasions during the preceding six months they had been within
the reach of flying bullets. They had not become hardened to the
whizzing, boring sound they make in their passage through the air, for
they carried wounds and death in their train; but they had considered
and talked about the chances of being hit, and fully realized the
possible consequences.
"We are in the hands of the good Lord," Noah Lyon used to say; "and if
it be his will that we suddenly pass the portals that divide the seen
from the unseen, or that we languish for weeks or months upon the couch
of pain, we can only submit to the divine will; and all we have to do is
faithfully to discharge our duty to God and our country. God and our
country! Let this be our watchword, boys; and with it on our tongues
and in our hearts, we ought to fear no danger."
Some appear to be brave in mere bravado, and the pride of many gives
them courage: but the bravest men are those who are earnestly devoted to
the discharge of their duty; for principle generates courage when it is
founded upon religious faith. It was in this firm reliance that the
father had schooled his sons. He was a faithful apostle, and they were
loving disciples.
"Where are you hit, Deck?" asked Artie, full of anxiety in regard to his
brother, though he could see that he was not very severely wounded.
"Right in the arm, half-way between the wrist and the elbow," replied
Deck with a smile; for the time had come for him to feel something of
what had only been talked about before. "It won't amount to much, though
it doesn't feel good."
"Let me see it, and I will fix it up as well as I can," added Artie, as
he wheeled his horse till he was at the side of his companion.
The noble steeds stood as quietly as though they understood what had
occurred, while Artie rolled up the sleeve of the jacket, and disclosed
the wound. The fond and devoted mother had provided each of them with a
bandage and a handful of lint, and she had even practised them in doing
up a leg and an arm. Artie wiped away the blood, and then applied the
lint, around which he wound the bandage, as he had been instructed.
"It is not a bad wound, as you say, Deck, and I hope you will never have
a worse one," said Artie, as he pinned the end of the bandage.
"Thank you, Artie, and you are quite a surgeon," replied Deck, as he
straightened out his arm. "That feels better, though it is still rather
warm. But we have business on our hands, and we can't fool away any more
time. What do you suppose the presence of those two fellows here means?"
"There is only one thing that it can mean," replied Artie, as he
strained his vision to take in whatever might be seen in the direction
from which the two scouts had come. "There must be a body of cavalrymen
not far behind them."
"I don't understand this business," added Deck. "Let's ride up the
slope, and then we can see the enemy if there is any there."
"It won't take both of us to do that. We know, if everybody in the
company does not, that there is a company of Texan Rangers camped about
three miles from Mr. Barkland's plantation. From their odd uniform we
have a right to believe these two scouts belonged to that company. Very
likely the captain of it is up to some mischief; and if a part of the
force should come over here after Captain Truman has departed to join
our first company, they could undo all that has been done, burn the
bridge, and recapture all the prisoners."
"That's so!" exclaimed Deck, taking in the argument of his brother, and
fully agreeing with it.
"As you are wounded, I will ride up the slope, and see what is to be
seen, while you hurry back as fast as Ceph will take you to Captain
Truman, and tell him all about it," suggested Artie.
"All right; go ahead!" returned Deck, as he wheeled his horse, while
Artie galloped up the slope, which was quite gentle for half a mile.
When the latter reached the spot where the Texan had fallen, he saw that
he was not dead, though the blood was oozing from a wound in his
breast. His horse was quietly feeding on the bushes at the side of the
road; but Artie could not stop to do anything for his wounded enemy,
though his heart was big enough to do everything in his power. He rode
on at the highest speed of Dolly, as he called her, though she had had
another name before he made her acquaintance. He reached the top of the
hill, if it could be called such, and the spot commanded a view of the
country for several miles.
It was not a plain which opened to him, for the prospect was bounded by
a range of hills several miles distant, the intervening space having a
sort of rolling surface. The first object that attracted his attention
was a horseman, riding at full gallop up a slope about a mile distant
from him. He concluded that he was the scout whose companion had fallen
from his horse when he fired his carbine. He must have stopped by the
way, or ridden more slowly than at present, or he would have been out or
sight in the time he had taken.
Artie had halted on the crown of the slope, for it was useless to go any
farther. He could see the country for at least two miles; and it was
not prudent for him to proceed alone. He sat upon his horse considering
what he should do next. The only course left open to him was to return
to the south road; but if an enemy was approaching by the east road, as
the presence of the two scouts indicated, it was important that he
should ascertain the fact.
He kept his eyes busily engaged in wandering along the whole horizon to
the east and south of him. If Captain Truman's command were not wanted,
it would be an error to detain them. On the other hand, the result of
the morning's work would be all undone if the enemy should advance after
the larger portion of the second company had been withdrawn. It was a
perplexing question for a boy of eighteen to settle; and he realized the
responsibility that had accidentally, as it were, fallen upon him.
If he was not at the cross-road when Deck returned from his visit to the
camp at the bridge, Captain Truman would march his men up the slope,
when they might be needed in the vicinity of the planter's house. He
decided to compromise with the circumstances, and wait a reasonable time
for some evidence of an advance on the part of the Texans. The two
scouts had come from beyond the elevation where he stood; and unless
they were simply messengers or spies, there must be a force behind them.
As spies, they would not have appeared in full uniform.
When he had waited perhaps ten minutes, he discovered something moving
over the top of one of the hills south-east of him. With the utmost
eagerness he observed the spot. He could not make out anything that
looked like a road. But presently the moving object became more definite
to his gaze. He wished he had his father's field-glass; but all he could
do was to watch and wait. In a few minutes more the moving object
resolved itself into a body of mounted men. They were marching along the
summit of an elevation, and he saw them begin the descent.
While still in sight the troop halted, and Artie concluded that the
scout who had escaped had come up with them, and was making his report.
But he could not leave yet; for it was important that he should report
the strength of the enemy, as well as his actual presence in the
vicinity. The young cavalryman had a full view of the valley into which
the troop were descending; and as soon as they marched again he
estimated, and even counted, the number of men.
The Texans did not compel him to wait a great while, for they resumed
the march at full gallop. They had been moving at a very moderate gait
when Artie first saw them. The report of the scout doubtless assured the
officer in command that a force of Union cavalry was located near the
bridge, and he was hurrying his men forward to meet it. Artie had seen
enough to assure him of the approach of an enemy, and he started on his
return to the cross-road. He had seen the whole of the force, and had
estimated its number at forty-four men in the ranks; for he had counted
eleven sections of four in each.
Dolly had had quite a rest while he was observing the approach of the
enemy; and, as soon as he had obtained the facts, he was in a hurry. He
urged his steed forward at her best speed. He reached the cross-road
just as Deck appeared there; for the information he brought perplexed
the captain not a little in regard to his duty under the changed
circumstances, and he had been detained to answer a great many
questions.
"Where is Captain Truman?" shouted Artie, as soon as he was within
speaking distance of his brother.
"He will be here in a few minutes with his men," replied Deck, who had
also remained, to have his wound properly dressed by the surgeon. "Have
you seen the enemy, Artie?"
"I have; and they are within a mile and a half of here now," replied
Artie. "They are advancing with all speed, and they will be here in a
few minutes."
"Here is the captain," added Deck; and a minute later the troopers were
halted.
"Here is Artie, Captain Truman; and he has big news for you," said Deck,
who appeared to have forgotten that he was wounded.
"Your report, Artie," demanded the captain.
"The Texan Rangers--at least, that is what I suppose they are--will be
here in ten or fifteen minutes, if they don't stop by the way."
"Is it a large force?" asked the captain, with some anxiety visible on
his face.
"Forty-four men, as I estimated them, besides the officers."
"We outnumber them, then. But I am ordered to report at the planter's
house," said the officer, who appeared to be musing upon the situation.
He was not an experienced officer; and his mind was charged with the
idea that the soldier must obey his superior officer, though his
intellect was broad enough, and he had read in his military books that
one in command of a force must use judgment and discretion. This was
what he was thinking of when he alluded to his orders, which he would
not have done if the boys had not been the sons of the major, and he was
on very intimate terms with them.
"But, if you obey your orders, the bridge will be destroyed, and the"--
"I don't intend to obey them; I am not quite blind, my boy," interposed
Captain Truman, with a smile on his face. "Less than fifty men, you say,
Artie. I made up my mind, from what Deck said, that if there was a force
approaching from that direction, the enemy were divided, and were coming
to the bridge by the two roads."
"There must be more than forty-four men in the whole company, besides
the officers," added Artie.
"No doubt of it," replied the captain, looking about him.
Then he called for Lieutenant Gadbury, and sent him, with thirty men,
back to the field where they had been concealed to await the attack of
the Home Guards on the bridge. Then he ordered the rest of the men,
about forty in number, to unsling their carbines, and formed them across
the south road. In a somewhat longer time than Artie had predicted, the
head of the enemy's column, arrived at the top of the hill, where they
halted.
A couple of officers appeared in front of the troop, and seemed to be
surveying the situation. They could see the railroad bridge, and that it
had not been destroyed by another division of the Confederates. But they
could not see the camp that had been established at the side of the
structure, for it was on much lower ground. They could also see the
cavalry of Captain Truman, stationed about six feet apart, so that they
extended both ways on the crossing along the south road.
The Union cavalry doubtless looked like a small force to the officers
who observed it. They had the reputation of being bold and brave men,
and the order to attack was not long withheld. The officer in command
led his men down the hill at full gallop, the men yelling like so many
demons; for, at this early stage of the war, the troops of the enemy had
acquired the notion that these hideous cries would intimidate their
foes; but they did not in this instance.
"Now, my boys, this will be no fool's play!" shouted Captain Truman at
the top of his lungs. "These troopers are not Home Guards; and there
will be fighting, and no child's play. Stand up to it like men--like
Kentuckians, and, above all, like Union men!"
The soldiers responded with a hearty cheer; and they kept it up till the
enemy were within gunshot range, where they halted. They were formed
across the road, but with only half-a-dozen men in a rank, so that they
were still clustered in a rather solid mass. In this condition they
delivered their first volley. One of the Union men dropped from his
saddle, and only one. If others were wounded, they said nothing. The
fire was promptly returned; but, so far as could be seen, with no
greater effect than that of the Rangers.
The Union men, as ordered, continued to fire at will; and it was soon
evident that their carbines were superior to those in the hands of the
enemy, for they discharged at least twice as many shots. The report of
the muskets had brought the force of Lieutenant Gadbury into the rear of
the enemy, and both divisions of the company were pouring bullets into
them.