AND COCKING MAINS.
|The union army followed closely after the rebel one, and for more than
a hundred miles the chase was continued. Sometimes the advance of the
pursuers was not more than a mile or two from the rear of the pursued. A
retreating army always has the advantage, as it has a clear road, while
the advancing one must carefully reconnoiter the ground to prevent
falling into ambuscades. Then, too, the retreating force can forage
upon the country, where there is anything to be obtained in it, and by
clearing it of provisions and supplies of every kind make it a difficult
matter for the pursuers to feed themselves, unless by waiting for
the wagon-trains, which are always an encumbrance and hinder rapid
movements.
General Price did not stop to form ambuscades or otherwise engage the
advance of General Curtis, but kept straight on toward the southwest
till he formed a junction with McCulloch at Cross Hollows in northern
Arkansas. Cross Hollows is a curious sort of a place, and is well
described by its name. The rolling and hilly country is suddenly broken
by a series of ravines that spread out from a common center like the
rays of a star. Ravines in this part of the country are generally known
by the more prosaic name of “Hollows,” and the crossing of the hollows
gives the name to the locality.
The main road from Springfield to Fayetteville and the southwest
traverses the center of the hollows. A short distance before reaching
the hollows it crosses a fine stream of water, which bears the name of
Sugar Creek. The water of Sugar Creek is pure, like that of a mountain
brook. In its shallow parts it is without color, but wherever it attains
a depth of thirty inches or more it is deeply tinged with blue. This is
the character of the streams generally through that section of country,
and when one looks down from a height upon the valley of one of these
streams the effect of the pools of blue alternating with the white water
of the shallow portions and the green of the enclosing banks forms a
very pretty picture.
Down to that time none of the union forces in southwest Missouri had
ever crossed the line into Arkansas. General Vandever's brigade was
leading the advance of the infantry column, a half mile or so behind the
cavalry, and Jack and Harry were as far in front as they were permitted
to go. When the head of the column reached the line a halt was
ordered, the regiments were closed up, and preparations were made for
commemorating the invasion of the seceded state in an imposing manner.
For some days the bands had been practicing the music of “The Arkansas
Traveler,” one of the far-seeing officers of the staff having supplied
the leaders with the score. After the column had been halted two of the
bands were brought forward and stationed on each side of the road, where
a post marked the boundary between Missouri and Arkansas. When all
was ready the bands started up “The Arkansas Traveler,” and with their
rifles at right-shoulder shift, and in column of fours the infantry
filed past. As each company crossed the frontier a loud cheer was given,
and the greatest enthusiasm prevailed. To add to the good spirits of the
men the news of the fall of Fort Donelson reached them and spread like
wildfire on their first night in camp on the soil of Arkansas.
Price and McCulloch united their forces at Cross Hollows and made a
stand against the union advance, though evidently not a serious one, as
there was only a slight skirmish, after which the rebels retired in
the direction of Fayetteville twenty-two miles further on. The cavalry
division pursued them to that point, but the infantry halted at Cross
Hollows. Even at Fayetteville the rebels did not feel strong enough to
make a fight, but continued their retreat after a short resistance over
the Boston Mountains in the direction of Fort Smith, where for a long
time the United States government had formerly maintained a military
post.
The rebels had accumulated at Fayetteville a considerable supply of
bacon, corn and other materials for feeding their army, and when our
troops arrived most of the storehouses containing these supplies were on
fire. It was afterward ascertained that the burning of these storehouses
had been the cause of a serious dispute between Price and McCulloch--a
renewal of their quarrel at the time of the Wilson's Creek campaign.
Price wanted to leave these supplies for the use of the union army, and
he argued as follows: We've got to retreat, and the union army is going
to stay here till we drive them out. They are in our country, and more
than two hundred miles from their base. They will forage on the country
for a large part of their supplies, and if we leave this bacon and corn
they will have just so much less to take from the people, who are our
people, and not theirs. Arkansas is a seceded state, and the Yankees and
Dutch won't have any compunctions about living on the state that they
might have in Missouri, which they claim to be still in the union, and
are trying to keep there. The easier it is for them to find their living
the easier it will be for Arkansas.
On this line of argument Price opposed the destruction of the supplies.
McCulloch opposed his view of the matter, and said it was no part of
their business to help feed the Yankee army, and what happened to the
people was simply the fortune of war. The quarrel reached its height and
came near a fighting point when McCulloch accused Price of disloyalty to
the South and a willingness to see Arkansas subjugated by the Northern
troops.
Price was overruled and the stores were set on fire. His prediction was
verified, as the union forces foraged right and left among the people,
and certainly caused them much more hardship than would have been the
case had the supplies fallen into our hands. Which of them was right in
the argument the reader may decide for himself. Certainly the question,
like most matters on which men differ, had two well-defined sides.
McCulloch's army had spent the winter at Cross Hollows, where it erected
buildings capable of lodging eight or ten thousand men. When the rebels
retired from Cross Hollows these buildings were set on fire, and by the
time our troops arrived all but half a dozen of them had been consumed.
The ashes remained to mark the spot, and the positions of the smoking
ash-heaps showed that the cantonment was laid out with the regularity of
a carefully-platted town.
[Illustration: 187]
The Third Illinois Cavalry, which was attached to General Vandever's
brigade, followed closely upon the heels of the enemy after the skirmish
at Sugar Creek, and pushed on in the direction of Fayetteville. A single
company was retained by the general for scouting purposes, and to this
company Jack and Harry were temporarily attached. The youths were among
the first to enter the rebel cantonment and try to save what they could
from the flames.
Harry's sharp eyes fell upon some chickens, of which a hundred or more
were running wildly about the place.
The slaughter of the innocents began at once; chickens were not abundant
in that part of the country, and Harry thought a fine fowl would be very
welcome at the general's mess-table that evening, and he was also of the
opinion that a similar bird would taste well for himself and Jack.
He secured two, and remarked to Jack that they were the thinnest birds
of the kind he had yet come across. “But they're chickens, anyhow,” said
he, “and if they're too tough for broiling they will do well in a stew.”
Jack was equally fortunate in his chicken hunt, but his second bird was
a surprise that caused his eyes to open very wide.
“Just look at this,” said he to Harry, as he pointed to the legs of the
fowl; “wonder what this means?”
The objects that arrested his attention were a pair of steel “gaffs” as
sharp as needles, and attached by straps and cords to the legs of the
chicken; they were hollow at the base, so that they passed over the
natural spurs of the bird.
“I never saw anything like this,” said Jack, “and don't believe it grows
there.”
“Nor I either,” replied Harry. “Here comes the general; let's show it
to him and find out what it's all about.”
Jack ran to General Vandever and exhibited his discovery. The latter
immediately ordered the slaughter of the chickens to cease, and it was
stopped at once, but not till two-thirds of the number about the camp
had fallen.
“These are game cocks,” said the general, “and they're kept for fighting
purposes. I heard that the Third Louisiana had a lot of game cocks,
and were keeping them here for amusing themselves. They come from a
chicken-fighting region, and this is one of their favorite sports. They
get up matches, on which they bet heavily, and then the fighting-cocks
are equipped with these spurs or gaffs, and put in the ring against
each other. The bird that can first pierce the other with these gaffs
generally wins the fight, as a well-directed blow with them is fatal.
“Probably we interrupted a fight,” the general continued. “This bird was
certainly all ready for the ring, and if you look around you 'll find
another similarly equipped and about to proceed to business.”
Sure enough, the antagonist of the bird was found in the hands of a
soldier; at any rate, there was another chicken with the gaffs on that
had been killed before his character was known. Game chickens are not
considered edible except in case of emergency. Those that had been
killed were, however, duly served up, as it was thought extravagant to
waste anything in the chicken line at that particular time. It was as
Harry had predicted, the chickens were not good for broiling, but they
did fairly well when stewed, especially when the stewing continued all
night.
The birds that were saved from slaughter were the source of much
amusement to the officers while the army remained in camp at Cross
Hollows. Almost every day there was a cock-fight in front of one of the
tents, but it was generally bloodless, as nobody knew anything about
handling the birds, and the steel gaffs were never used. The names
of the rebel leaders were given to the fighters, and it was a common
occurrence to have Beauregard pitted against Jeff Davis, Price against
McCulloch, or Lee against Johnston. General Vandever turned two of
the birds over to the care of Jack and Harry. Harry's pet was called
Magruder, and Jack's received the fighting name of Breckinridge.
In the first encounter Breckinridge tore three feathers out of
Magruder's neck and otherwise disabled him, so that Harry lost his
wager. But as betting in money was not in order, and the stakes
consisted only of army crackers, the youths' losses were not heavy.
One after another the fighting-chickens went to the cooking-pots, as
they were not securely guarded and several of the officers had negro
servants. There is a traditional affinity between the negro and the
chicken, an affinity which results in the absorbing of the latter by
the former. Some of the negro servants were good foragers, and ran
considerable risk in their search for supplies, as we shall see later
on.