Chapter Two
Gen. Jeb Stuart pulled off his poncho, water streaming on to the floor. Mud was clinging to his boots as he stomped them on the entry way rug.
'God, what a mess out there,' he sighed. Looking up he saw the disapproving glance of his commander at his choice of words. 'Sorry, sir.'
Gen. Robert E. Lee motioned for Stuart to come to the table. Gen. James 'Pete' Longstreet was by Lee's side, sipping from a cup of coffee; on the other side of Lee stood Gen. John Bell Hood, newly promoted to command of the reorganized Second Corps. The room was dimly lit-half a dozen candles around the table-the small house at the edge of Rockville abandoned at the approach of Confederate forces and now serving as Lee's headquarters. Jed Hotchkiss, chief cartographer for the Army of Northern Virginia, stood behind Lee, his map of the area spread out on the table.
Lee, sighing, rubbed his eyes. He was tired, having been up all day riding slowly, weaving his way through the bogged-down ranks of his exhausted army, which had been slogging for six weary days to mate less than sixty miles. His uniform was soaked clean through, change of clothes lost somewhere back on the road, the headquarters wagon stuck in the mud.
Col. Walter Taylor, Lee's aide, offered Stuart a cup of coffee, which the general took eagerly, blowing on the edge of the tin cup and then sipping.
'Your report, General Stuart,' Lee asked, putting his glasses back on to look up at his young cavalier.
'As ordered, sir, I rode a circuit of their outer fortifications and started back here as soon as it got dark. It was a difficult ride, sir. The Yankees have destroyed every bridge, mill dams are blown, one of my men drowned trying to ford a stream. Dozens of horses are crippled-broken legs, mostly-had to destroy them.'
'Did you get any prisoners?' Lee asked.
'Yes, sir. Six men. Three from the First Maine Heavy Artillery, two from the First New York, and one officer, a captain, shoulder straps indicate staff, but he's as tight as a clam, won't say a word. The enlisted men were well fed, arrogant, said they hope we attack.'
'Their strength?'
'Still not sure, sir. It was impossible to try and develop the situation, to trigger an open skirmish outside their fortifications. No regimental flags were shown.'
'Smart on their part,' Lee said, 'keep us guessing.'
'We did pick up a lot of newspapers in a post office at Beltsville, Washington papers mostly, printed this morning, a
'Sounds about right,' Longstreet said quietly.
'It also said that Lincoln's ordering up reinforcements from as far away as Charleston.'
'The fortifications?' Hotchkiss asked.
Stuart nodded to the army cartographer.
'Your maps are excellent sir. Just as you indicated. They're damn …, excuse me, sir, they are massive. Ditching ten feet deep, abatis, earthen walls twenty feet high in places. The fortresses are all within mutual support of each other, and connected by communication trenches. One of the heavy-artillery prisoners said they've got thirty-pounders, even some eight-inch guns, Columbiads, heavy mortars, and hundred-pound rifled Parrott guns in them. It was hard to see through the rain. Fields of fire are well laid out, each fortress covered on flanks by its neighbors. There are no weaknesses anywhere along that line, sir. They most likely have good interior roads as well and can shift to meet any threat.'
As he spoke, Stuart traced out on Hotchkiss's map the perimeter of fortifications guarding the landward approach to Washington.
'Well manned?' Lee asked.
'Again, sir, hard to tell in the rain. I pushed skirmishers forward at three points and they were met with brisk firing, no lack of ammunition; they were firing heavy guns at my skirmish line from half a mile out.'
Lee nodded. Of course they would. The stockpile of equipment in the capital would be unaffected by what happened to the Army of the Potomac, and their gunners would be eager to get some shots in, their first chance for real shooting since the war started.
'I placed a brigade to cover the Rockville Road, another on the Seventh Street Road, and ordered two more brigades down to cut the Blandenburg Road, the railroad to Baltimore, and anchor our line down to Uniontown. By tomorrow morning the city will be completely cut off.'
'Thank you, General Stuart, you've fulfilled your orders handsomely.'
'Sir, I must tell you this will be one hard nut to crack. It makes our works around Richmond pale in comparison.'
'The difference is,' Hood interjected, 'it is us doing the attacking, not McClellan. We'll put in the best infantry in the world against third-rate garrison troops.'
'Still, sir, when you get a look at those fortifications,' Stuart replied, 'well, it will be a hard nut, as I said.'
'Do you suggest we not attack then?' Hood asked.
Stuart looked at Lee.
Lee took his glasses off again and rubbed his eyes. The hour was late, he was tired. Without asking, Walter put a fresh cup of coffee on the table beside him, and Lee sipped from it meditatively for several minutes.
'Gentlemen, the hour is late,' Lee finally said. 'We've had another hard day of marching. The rain and mud are exhausting all of us. I think we should get our rest Tomorrow, General Hood, Major Hotchkiss, and I will go forward to survey the lines ourselves. General Stuart, I would like for you to join us. General Longstreet, I ask that you stay here to oversee the movement of the army.'
'One final thing, sir,' Stuart said, and, fishing into his breast pocket, he pulled out a soggy, folded up newspaper and spread it out on the table.
'A Washington newspaper, sir, this morning.' Stuart pointed to a column on the front page.
Adjusting his glasses, Lee leaned over to read it
'Halleck has been removed from all command positions and is retiring; Gen. Ulysses Grant is in command and is reported to already be in Cairo, Illinois, with his troops following.'
Lee scanned the rest of the front page for a moment Reports on rioting in northern cities, a rumor that Stanton was to be fired, a report that thirty thousand reinforcements were rushing to the aid of Washington, that four batteries of guns surrounded the Capitol and two more guarded the White House. He sifted through the densely packed columns, some of it hard to read, the ink smeared, and then took his glasses off.
'I don't know this Grant,' Lee said, looking around at his staff, 'but his reputation is known.'
'Sir, I don't think fighting against Pemberton, or even General Johnston, is indicative of his ability against us,' Hood interjected.
'Still, I wish I knew more of him.'
'It'll be weeks before he can mount anything effective,' Longstreet said, leaning over the table to scan the newspaper.
'That is why we must act quickly, decisively, without hesitation,' Lee replied.
He drained the rest of his coffee and put the cup down. He did not need to say another word. There was something in his gesture that indicated dismissal, and one by one the three generals bid good night and left, the sound of rain drumming down, echoing in the room as the door swung open. A humid breeze filled the room. As the door closed, the room regained a warm feel as the fireplace drove out the humidity.
Taylor and Hotchkiss hesitated and Lee smiled.
