SHOWING WHAT HE WAS MADE OF.
There came a Sabbath morning,--one of the loveliest of all the year. The
sun rose upon a cloudless sky, the air was laden with the fragrance of
locust and alder blossoms, the oaks of the forest were changing from the
gray of winter to the green of summer. Beneath their wide-spread
branches were the tents of a great army; for after the capture of Fort
Donelson the troops sailed up the Tennessee, and were preparing to
attack the Rebels at Corinth.
Paul was lying in his tent, thinking of home, of the calmness and
stillness there, broken only by the chirping of the sparrows and robins,
the church-bell, the choir, and the low voices of the congregation. How
different from what was passing around him, where the drummers were
beating the reveille! He was startled from his waking dream by a sudden
firing out among the pickets. What could it mean? It grew more furious.
There was confusion. He sprang to his feet and looked out to see what
was the matter. Soldiers were running through the camp.
"What is the row?" he asked.
"The Rebels are attacking us."
It did not take him long to dress; but, while pulling on his boots, a
bullet tore through the tent-cloth over his head.
The camp was astir. Officers shouted, "Fall in!" Soldiers, waking from
sound sleep, buckled on their cartridge-boxes, seized their guns, and
took their places in the ranks before they were fairly awake. The
drummers beat the long-roll, the buglers sounded the signal for saddling
horses, the artillery-men got their guns ready, cavalry-men leaped into
their saddles, baggage-wagons went thundering towards the river. There
was a volley of musketry, and then a deeper roar from the artillery, and
the terrible contest of the day began, which became more terrific from
morning till noon, from noon till night, with deafening rolls of
musketry, with the roaring of a hundred cannon, with the yelling of the
Rebels and the cheering of the soldiers of the Union, as the tempest
surged through the forest, up and down the ravines, around Shiloh
church, in the old cotton-fields, up to the spring where the country
people were accustomed to eat their Sunday dinners, down to the
Tennessee River, where the gunboats were waiting for the hour when they
could open with their great guns.
Paul was in the storm, riding through the leaden hail which fell all
around him, pattering upon the dead leaves, cutting down the twigs of
the hazel-bushes, and scarring the trees,--riding along the lines
carrying messages to General Sherman, who was fighting like a tiger by
the church, with the bullets piercing his clothes,--to McClernand, who
was near by,--to Wallace, to Prentice, to Hurlburt, to Stuart,--riding
where shells were bursting, where solid shot cut off great branches from
the trees, splintered the trunks, ploughed the ground, whirled men and
horses into the air, tearing them limb from limb, and then passed away
with weird howlings. He breathed the thick smoke as it belched from the
cannon's mouth, and felt the hot flashes on his face. He stood beside
his commander, General Grant, while waiting for orders, and beheld him
when tidings of disaster were brought in,--that General Prentice and
hundreds of his men were captured,--that the line was broken, and the
men were falling back. He could hear the triumphant shouts of the
Rebels.
Yet amid it all he saw that General Grant was cool and collected. "We
will whip them yet," he said. Paul felt stronger after that, and
resolved to die rather than be beaten. But how slowly dragged the hours!
The sun seemed to stand still in the western sky. How hard to see the
poor wounded men, thousands of them, borne to the rear, their feet
crushed, their legs broken, their arms torn and mangled, and to know
that there were other thousands lying upon the ground where they had
fallen, and the strife still going on around them! Other thousands who
were not wounded were leaving the ranks, exhausted and disheartened.
"Lieutenant Parker, you will select a line along this ravine, throw up
such defences as you can, bring up those thirty-two pounders from the
river, and put them in position. They can't cross this. We will beat
them here," said General Grant.
Sometimes in battle minutes are of priceless value; momentous decisions
must be made at once. Then men show what they are made of. Those are
the trial moments of life. Paul galloped along the ravine. He saw that
it was wide and deep, and that, if the Rebels could be kept from
crossing it, the battle would be won; for it was their object to reach
the steamboat-landing, where General Grant had all his supplies of food.
There were five great iron cannon at the landing. There, also, crouching
under the river-bank, to avoid the shot and shell, were thousands of
fugitives, who had become disheartened, and who had left their comrades
to be overpowered and driven back. He saw the situation of affairs in an
instant. His brain was clear. He made up his mind instantly what to do.
"Here, you--men!" he shouted. "Each of you shoulder one of those empty
pork-barrels, and carry it up the bluff." But not a man stirred. His
indignation was aroused; but he knew that it was not a time for
argument. He drew his revolver, pointed it at a group, and said, "Start!
or I'll shoot you." It was spoken so resolutely that they obeyed. He
told them how, if they could hold that position, the Rebels would be
defeated,--how a few minutes of resolute work would save the army. He
saw their courage revive. They dug a trench, cut down trees, rolled up
logs, filled the barrels with dirt, and worked like beavers. Others
wheeled up the great guns, and Paul put them into position. Others
brought shot and shell, and laid them in piles beside the guns. The
storm was coming nearer. The lines were giving way. Regiments with
broken ranks came straggling down the road.
"Bring all the batteries into position along the ravine," said General
Grant. Away flew half a dozen officers with the orders, and the
batteries, one after another, came thundering down the road,--the horses
leaping, the artillery-men blackened and begrimed, yet ready for another
fight.
"Get anybody you can to work the thirty-twos," said Colonel Webster, the
chief of artillery, to Paul.
"I can sight a cannon," said a surgeon, who was dressing wounds in the
hospital. He laid down his bandages, went up and patted one of the guns,
as if it were an old friend, ran his eye along the sights, and told the
gunners what to do.
It was sunset. All day long the battle had raged, and the Union troops
had been driven. The Rebels were ready for their last grand charge,
which they hoped would give them the victory. Onward they came down the
steep bank opposite, into the ravine. The Union batteries were ready for
them,--Captain Silversparre with his twenty-pounders, Captain Richardson
and Captain Russell with their howitzers, Captain Stone with his
ten-pounders, Captain Taylor, Captain Dresser, Captain Willard, and
Lieutenant Edwards,--sixty or more cannon in all. A gunner was lacking
for one of the great iron thirty-twos. Paul sprang from his horse, and
took command of the piece.
The long lines of the Rebels came into view. "Bang! bang! bang! bang!"
went the guns. Then half a dozen crashed at once,--the great thirty-twos
thundering heavier than all the others. Shells, solid shot, and canister
tore through the ravine, rolling back the Rebel lines, drenching the
hillsides with blood, turning the brook to crimson, and the fresh young
leaves to scarlet. O the wild commotion,--the jarring of the earth, the
deep reverberations rolling far away, and the shouts of the cannoneers!
"Give them canister!" shouted Paul to the cannoneers, and the terrible
missiles went screaming down the ravine. The bullets were falling
around him, singing in his ears, but he heeded them not. But O how
painful it was to see a brother officer torn to pieces by his side! Then
how glorious to behold, through the rifts in the battle-cloud, that the
Rebels were flying in confusion through the woods. Then there came a
cheer. General Nelson had arrived with reinforcements, and Buell's whole
army was near. The thirty-two-pounders, the howitzers, and the batteries
had saved the day, and the victory was won. And now, as night came on,
the gunboats joined, throwing eleven-inch shells into the woods among
the Rebel troops, which added discomfiture to defeat. And when the
uproar, the noise, and the confusion had died away, how good to thank
God for the victory, and for the preservation of his life! How
gratifying to receive the thanks of his commander on the field,--to be
mentioned as one who had done his duty faithfully, and who was deserving
of promotion!
After the battle he was made a captain, and had greater responsibilities
resting upon him. He was called upon to take long rides, with the
cavalry, on expeditions into the enemy's country. Sometimes he found
himself alone in the dark woods of Mississippi, threading the narrow
paths, swimming rivers, wading creeks, plunging into swamps,--at other
times, with his comrades, sweeping like a whirlwind through the Southern
towns, in pursuit of the retreating foe, riding day and night, often
without food, but occasionally having a nice supper of roast chicken
cooked by the bivouac-fire in the forest. Sometimes he spread his
blanket beneath the grand old trees, and had a rest for the night; and
often, when pursued by the enemy, when there was no time to stop and
rest, he slept in his saddle, and dreamed of home. So he spent the
months which followed that terrible battle, obtaining information which
was of inestimable value. Thus he served his country,--at Corinth, at
Memphis, and at Vicksburg, where, through the long, hot, weary, sickly
months, the brave soldiers toiled, building roads, cutting trenches,
digging ditches, excavating canals, clearing forests, erecting
batteries, working in mud and water, fighting on the Yazoo, and at last,
under their great leader, sweeping down the west side of the
Mississippi, crossing the river, defeating the enemy in all the battles
which followed, then closing in upon the town and capturing it, after
months of hardship and suffering. How hard this work! how laborious,
and wearing, and dangerous!
Paul found little time to rest. It was his duty to lay out the work for
the soldiers, to say where the breastworks should be thrown up, where
the guns should be placed in position. In the dark nights he went out
beyond the picket-lines and examined the hills and ravines, while the
bullets of the Rebel sharpshooters were flying about his ears, and in
the daytime he was riding along the lines while the great guns were
bellowing, to see if they were in the best position, and were doing
their proper work. At length there came a morning when the Rebels raised
a white flag, and Vicksburg surrendered. It was the glorious reward for
all their hardship, toil, suffering, and endurance. How proudly the
soldiers marched into the city, with drums beating, bands playing, and
all their banners waving! It was the Fourth of July, the most joyful day
of all the year. There were glad hearts all over the land,--ringing of
bells and firing of cannon, songs of praise and thanksgivings; for not
only at Vicksburg, but at Gettysburg, the soldiers of the Union had won
a great victory.