The Texican Way Page 10

  “Corporal, what is your name?”

  “Sir, my name is Hiram Miller.”

  “Miller, my own briefing on this mission was very abrupt due to the time constraints. I know that you were sent to kill or capture General Robert E Lee and that your major ceased sending in cables to HQ after Waco. Tell me in your own words what happened.”

  “Sir, we wuz sent down under Major Hunt, Lieutenant Shannon and Sergeant Whelan. Sergeant Whelan did not know what our mission was c’os he done tol’ me so. I kinda doubt that the lieutenant knew what wuz goin’ on ‘cos he come along to gain experience and the Major treated him wuss than a defaulter. Only the Major knew our mission and every town we come to he done disappear fer a coupla hours. The guys figure he likes t’visit the local whorehouses.”

  “So did the major give you no instructions about the objective of your mission?”

  “All he done tell us is that we gotta bring back a mighty important prisoner and he ain’t even done that until after we left Waco.”

  “So what happened to the major?”

  “The rebs laid an ambush fer us. They done killed the Major and the sergeant and Onega, our Indian guide. The Major done split our force afore he went into that canyon. He sent the lieutenant with a detachment to circle around to the northern end and he left the corporal with a detachment at the southern end and the rest o’ us went into the canyon, we done see a campfire up in the northern ha’f and Major sent me and my detachment to the base o’ the cliff t’ git behind them as is in the camp. That is what done saved us ‘cos there wuz the damnest sniper I ever did see up on that there cliff and he took out Major, sergeant, Indian guide and several men. When it wuz all over we done went lookin’ fer the lieutenant but he wuz gunned down by one o’ them rebels afore he run back up the canyon and git hisself shot by our boys holed up in the canyon.”

  “How many rebels attacked your troop?”

  “I cain’t rightly say but it sure seemed like a full company.”

  “Did you give chase?”

  “No sir, we wuz busy re-grouping an’ every one of our officers wuz dead.”

  “What happened after that?”

  “We took the spare horses o’ all the dead and sold ‘em in Shreveport fer the money fer provisions. Ain’t got a good price fer ‘em since they wuz all Rebel army branded. Then we got lost and wandered around until we finally find someone done give us proper directions.”

  “To whom were you planning to report when you got back to base?”

  “I suppose, sir, we jus’ report to the colonel. I ain’t thunk on it too much.”

  “Very well, corporal, mount up and let’s move!”

  By the time, they were back in Union-held territory, the squad was in complete harmony with their new officer. They liked him and that meant that they were loyal to him.

  “It sure is good to be under a real professional that knows what the hell he’s doing.” Commented ‘Doc’ Calvin, an ex-school-teacher, now a cavalry trooper.

  “Yeah,” said another. “He’s real young too, ain’t he? Younger’n Lieutenant Shannon but that don’t make no never-mind, you c’n see he knows what he’s about.”

  This was the time to change out of Southern uniform and back into Northern blue.

  Daniel felt uncomfortable in his northern jacket and boots with civilian pants and a civilian hat and a red bandana instead of a yellow one.

  “Sir,” one of the men said to him. ”You ain’t got no sword. This here useta belong to Lieutenant Shannon. I wuz keepin’ it fer a souvenir but I figure it’ll look better with you seein’ as we is comin’ home in defeat.”

  “Thank you, Harmon, that is most kind of you. I shall return it to you when I get the chance but you men must not think that you are coming home in defeat. Not many men have penetrated as far into enemy territory as have you and still are here to tell the tale.”

  They rode into barracks with their heads held high. Daniel went in to report to the Colonel.

  Colonel Bridges had been a college professor in civilian life. He was a very intelligent man but army protocols and procedures bored and irritated him.

  He returned Daniel’s salute casually and looked him up and down.

  “Now who would you be lieutenant? Had I been a martinet, I would be remarking on your strange state of uniform dress.”

  “Sir, I am Lieutenant Daniel of the fourth. I was sent to bring back the remnants of your troop that had been sent out under Major Hunt, Lieutenant Shannon and Sergeant Whelan. I traveled in civilian clothing and lost some of my uniform on the way.”

  “So where is Major Hunt, lieutenant?”

  “I fear that Major Hunt, Lieutenant Shannon and Sergeant Whelan are all dead sir.”

  “I take it that you have a written report?”

  “Yessir, here it is with as many of the facts that I was able to garner from the men as possible.”

  “Excellent, I shall read it and call you again for further questions. In the meantime, I will cable your unit and ask for you to be assigned to me. I am desperately short of officers. Collect a new uniform from the quartermaster sergeant and then report to Captain Hamilton. He will be your immediate superior.”

  Daniel considered whether this was the right time to fade into the horizon but decided to play it out a little longer to see what he could learn. At the first sign that any suspicion fell upon him, he could always disappear. He was not averse to taking a gamble.

  He collected a full uniform and a dress uniform for formal occasions and properly dressed he reported to Captain Hamilton.

  “Lieutenant, have we not met somewhere before?” Captain William J Hamilton the third enquired.

  “I do not believe so, sir.”

  “Are you sure? West Point, perhaps?”

  “No sir, I am not a West Pointer.”

  “Possibly a ball in Washington? Your face is most familiar to me but I am unable to place it.”

  “I assure you sir that I have never been to Washington.”

  Hamilton shrugged. “I am sure that it will come to me. Let me welcome you to my troop, lieutenant. As soon as I heard that you would be serving with me I enquired about you from the men that you brought back. I must say that they all think extremely well of you. My first name is William, my friends call me Bill. What is yours?”

  Daniel was stymied for a moment and then said “My friends call me Dan.”

  “Ah! I gather you have one of those first names that are unpleasant to use, well ‘Dan’ it shall be. The colonel asked me to send you back to him after we had met.”

  Daniel marched directly over to the colonel.

  “Sir, Captain Hamilton said that you wished to see me?”

  “Ah, yes Daniels. I have obtained permission for you to be transferred to my regiment. I see that you are in fact a brevet captain so I have decided to put you over Major Hunt’s troop. They tell me that you have a good deal of back-pay due: they had you missing in action. I suppose that was the story they put out while you wandered around Texas? Your full name is Archibald Daniels, I see, how do you like to be called?”

  “Just Dan sir!”

  “Welcome to the regiment, Dan. I shall pass the disappointment on to Bill Hamilton. He was looking forward to having a second-in-command.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Life in the Union forces was very different from that in the Confederate army. The daily routine was more regimented. When not on patrol, a lot of time was spent in drilling and weapons handling.

  Daniel was not getting anywhere tracking down the traitor in President Davis’s team. It appeared that the order for Major Hunt’s team to go South came from Washington. Why Major Hunt was chosen for the job was a mystery. Daniel knew that Hunt had been a very competent officer but there must have been hundreds of equally competent men
available to Washington, so why Hunt?

  Daniel spent a lot of time in the signal shack looking through past messages.

  “Dan, you seem to have a strong interest in telegraphy.” The colonel remarked one day in the mess.

  “Yes sir, I do. The whole process of transmitting messages over great distances fascinates me. I constantly marvel at the wonders of modern science.”

  “Perhaps you might be willing to learn how to use the Morse method? It can be very valuable and few cavalry officers show an interest in its use.”

  “Certainly, colonel, I will start taking lessons from our signaler immediately with your permission.”

  “Freely granted, my boy, freely granted.” The colonel liked Daniel very much and did not hide it.

  To maintain his opportunity for full access to messages received and sent from the regiment, Daniel began to learn the Morse method very actively. He often offered to spell the telegrapher during quiet periods because this gave him unrestricted access to copies of all messages in the shack. He soon traced the actually messages that contained the orders for Major Hunt to ride south. They did not contain anything that Daniel did not already know but a message had arrived for the colonel a few days before the order. That message was all in numbers and quite incomprehensible to Daniel but he copied out every letter in the message and pushed the copy into his inner hatband.

  When he returned to his quarters he spent many hours trying to decipher the message but to no avail. He did manage to ascertain that each group of numbers was set out in the same pattern. First there was a four digit number then a single digit that was always a ‘1’ or a ‘2’ then there was a two digit number that never exceeded ‘50’ and then a single digit number that never exceeded ‘9’.

  He was still puzzling this out when there was a knock on his door. He stuffed his workings under his pillow and opened his door. It was Captain William J Hamilton the third.

  “Dan, there is to be a Cotillion to be given by the colonel for his daughter who will be arriving here the day after tomorrow. All officers will be attending and a number of the townspeople have also been invited. You may bring a lady if you so wish.”

  “I regret that I have no lady of my acquaintance living nearby, Bill.”

  “Ah, do not fret my friend! Believe me there are some outstanding beauties living hereabouts and most of them will be attending. The real question for you is: are you able to dance?”

  “I am certainly able to dance many of the older dances. I cannot speak for some of the newer fads. From my observation some are quite complex and require practice and dedication that is beyond my skill.”

  “Never fear! Young ladies love to instruct personable men on the intricacies of the latest dances. You will enjoy yourself immensely. I take it that you will be attending and that you will share a carriage with me?”

  “As long as I am not nominated as officer of the day, I shall.”

  “Well, that is why I am here. I have been charged with the task of proposing an officer of the day and I need to find someone that is unlikely to want to attend. I am moved to suggest the logistics officer. I do not believe that he inclines to the ladies.”

  “I hope that you do not mention that in his hearing I would hate to have to serve as your second.”

  “No, do not misunderstand me. The man is long-married and holds it sinful to enjoy himself if his wife is not present to disapprove.”

  Daniel had his dress uniform pressed and saw to it that his formal shoes were highly polished.

  Over the next few days the entire regiment was in a fever of excitement over the forthcoming celebration.

  The great evening arrived and Bill and Dan took carriage to the venue, being by design among the first to arrive so that they could observe the young ladies as they arrived and be sure to get an early place on the appropriate dance cards.

  There were two surprises for Daniel on that evening. The first came early when he beheld the Colonel’s daughter: a beauteous young lady with long fair hair and eyes that seemed to fill her face. He moved quickly to the front of the line and was gratified when the Colonel presented him to her as ‘one of my most promising young officers’. He took the opportunity to ask for a place upon her card and was inordinately pleased when she gave him two. Her name was Melissa.

  He would have liked to stay by her side but as she was with her father it was not appropriate so he wandered inside looking for Bill Hamilton. He bowed to a number of the young ladies as they passed by and he received the right sort of glances telling him that he would be welcome to ask for places on their cards. Before he could act upon these silent invitations his eye fell upon Captain William J Hamilton the third who was proudly escorting Miss Arabella Fairfield into the ballroom. Arabella, the woman who would not tolerate him entering her home wearing a Federal jacket was now on the arm of a Union officer attending a ball given by a Union officer. That was his second surprise.

  He ducked behind a pillar as they went by and he heard Bill Hamilton say:

  “I cannot see Dan anywhere but you must meet him, Miss Arabella. He is the epitome of an officer and a gentleman.”

  Daniel pondered on what he should do next. He could spend all evening avoiding Arabella but if she caught sight of him she might well give the game away. It would be better to catch her alone and tell her what he was about.

  Unfortunately Arabella was a very attractive girl and she was soon surrounded by a large number of young officers all clamoring for a place on her list.

  There was no way that Daniel could get her on her own to explain why he was now in Union uniform under the name of Captain Archibald Daniels.

  Once the music started playing, Daniel became even more desperate for soon he would have to claim his dance with Melissa Bridges and then Arabella might spot him on the dance floor.

  Arabella suddenly started walking toward him so he dodged into an unlit passageway and stood quietly in the semi-darkness. A shadow passed over the light issuing from the ballroom and he felt the presence of someone else in the darkened passageway.

  “Well, Daniel, were you not going to come over and ask for a place on my list?” Arabella asked.

  “Arabella, I have been trying to get to you with no-one else around. I was scared that you might blurt out something like ‘What are you doing in that Yankee uniform?’”

  “Very well then: what are you doing in that Yankee uniform?”

  “I am on a mission for the Confederacy. I am now Captain Archibald Daniels but I prefer people to call me Dan. If we can meet in town one of these days I’ll tell you the whole story.”

  “I have kept two dances for you: number 5 and number 8. Perhaps you would tell me all about what has been happening with you, then.” She said sweetly as she slipped out of the passageway and disappeared into the crowd.

  Daniel bowed at Melissa Bridges and she smiled and offered him her hand.

  “Captain Daniels, I have been looking forward to meeting you because my father has told me so much about you.”

  “I cannot imagine what the Colonel would have to say about me, Ma’am. I am just one of his officers and the most recently arrived one at that.”

  “Ah, you are too modest, Captain. How many officers can boast that they penetrated into the heart of the Confederacy and brought out twenty men whose mission had ended so disastrously. My father has hinted that there will probably be a medal in it for you.”

  “Ma’am you really should not believe every little rumor that you hear.”

  “What? Not even when the rumor is told me by my father?” she mocked him joyfully.”In addition to all that you dance very well indeed, Captain or may I call you Archibald?”

  “Oh, please ma’am whatever you do, do not call me that! My friends call me Dan.”

  “So then shall I but in return you must call me Meliss
a and not ma’am”

  “It will be my privilege and my pleasure Melissa. Shall you be staying with us for any length of time?”

  “My father wishes me to go to finishing school in London but that shall be a month or two away yet.”

  “May I hope to see you again in that time?”

  “I shall be most upset with you if you did not. I like to ride every morning at seven o’clock so you could meet me at the main gate at that time.”

  “Except on the days when I am duty officer, I will be waiting for you.”

  When the music ended she reminded him that they still had the seventh dance together.

  He wandered around until he saw a great deal of activity in the card room and was drawn to watch the play.

  There was much money lying on the table and the main action appeared to be between a major, unknown to Daniel, and Captain William J Hamilton the third. The major had been drinking heavily and his judgment appeared to be affected since he was plunging heavily, pushing up the betting as if he held a royal flush.

  Bill Hamilton was an extremely cool player. He always seemed relaxed and amenable to risking his money which was possible, since his father owned a large steelworks that was heavily into army contracts.

  The major lost the hand and immediately started raving about card-sharping but drunk or no he avoided accusing anyone in particular. Fortunately he was cleaned out so he withdrew from the table and Daniel took his place.

  Daniel played his usual quiet game, watching the cards, when suddenly he realized that the fifth dance was about to commence and he threw in his hand and went off to find Arabella.

  She was seated surrounded by admirers and sipping a cooled punch. He walked up to her and bowed. She excused herself from her disappointed admirers and offered Daniel her hand.

  “Now, Daniel Beauregard, tell me what you have been doing since I saw you last.”

  He gave her a bland military report before the dance came to an end on how he had met General Lee and had been commissioned as a lieutenant and had conducted the General as far as Waco.