The knock on the door was in code-three taps, three times. Sitting in the semidarkness with George Kane, one of the city's former commissioners of police, ex-mayor George Brown looked up nervously. He moved to blow out the coal oil lamp on the table between them, but Kane shook his head.
'Do that and they'll come barging in.' 'What if it's Federals?' Kane forced a smile.
'Then it's back to prison. Go answer the door.' Brown stood up, his wife standing at the top of the stairs looking down at him, eyes wide. 'Stay up there,' he hissed.
He went to the door, checked to see that the chain latch was hooked in place, undid the bolt and cracked it open. 'The Honorable George Brown?' The man standing on the steps was wrapped in a dark cloak, broad-brimmed hat pulled down low over his eyes. He smelled of horse sweat
'Who is asking for him?' Brown asked.
'A friend.'
'How can I be certain?'
'Mr. Brown, I don't know any of the damn silly passwords, but I beg you, let me in.' 'I'm armed,' Brown said.
'You should be, on a night like this; now please let me in.'
He hesitated, the man in the doorway looking around nervously. A patrol marched with shouldered rifles, passed on a side street, a crowd of several dozen behind them, shouting, obviously drunk.
'Damn it, sir, don't leave me standing out here.'
The stranger opened the top button of his cloak and Brown caught a glimpse of a uniform collar. It was light-colored, not the dark blue of a Union jacket, which looked black at night.
Brown unhooked the chain and opened the door wider. The lone man slipped in, Brown latching the door shut behind him.
'This way,' Brown announced and pointed to the parlor. Kane was on his feet, hand in one pocket of his trousers. 'Who is it?' Kane asked.
The man stood in the doorway and looked around cautiously.
'Sir, I will have to ask who you are first'
'This is a friend of mine,' Brown interjected, 'and you are a guest in my house. So please, no more tomfoolery, identify yourself.'
'Sir, I am Lieutenant Kirby of General Stuart's staff and with the First Maryland Cavalry, Confederate States of America. I grew up here in Baltimore; my father worked on Mr. Howard's newspaper as a typesetter. If you wish for verification, I know where Mr. Howard is and will find him, but I would prefer not to be back out on the street'
Kirby unbuttoned his cloak, revealing a stained jacket of the Confederate army, and reached into his breast pocket
Kane stiffened slightly at the move. Kirby slowed and drew out a sealed envelope, with several matches welded to the paper in the wax seal so that it could be destroyed quickly.
'Sir, this is a letter of introduction from General Stuart. It is not addressed to you for obvious reasons, but I was instructed to place it in your hands.'
Brown took the envelope, broke the seal, and read the contents. It was the standard sort of letter, asking for the kind reception of the bearer, some general platitudes, nothing more. Brown looked carefully at the signature.
'I regret to say I do not know General Stuart's hand,' Brown said cautiously.
'We didn't expect you to, sir.'
'How did you get here?' Kane asked
'I was part of a troop sent forward to gather information about the defenses of this city. The men are all Marylanders and we know this place well. My orders were that, given the opportunity, I was to try and slip into the city and establish contact with you.'
'In uniform?' Brown asked, a bit incredulous.
'He's no fool,' Kane interjected 'If captured, he's a soldier and cannot be hanged as a spy. Most likely your cover was that you were just sneaking through to visit a dying mother or auntie. Is. that it?'
Kirby grinned boyishly and nodded
'And your passage in here?'
'Sir, I don't mink I should tell you my exact path. But as a boy I used to come out of the city to hunt and fish, so I know my way about It didn't get dicey until the last ten blocks or so. Loyal League patrols are out in force, raising a ruckus, many of them drunk. I bluffed my way past one group; it cost me the bottle of whiskey I had in my pocket I fear though there could be violence before much longer; they seem frightened.'
'They are frightened, Lieutenant Kirby, and perhaps you can enlighten us as to why. We were visited by the guard this afternoon and ordered to stay inside after dark under threat of arrest If more than two of us are seen together, we will be arrested as well for conspiracy to incite rioting.'
'The real message is a verbal one, Mr. Brown. I am ordered first of all to find out whatever you and your friends can share with me about the current state of military affairs in Baltimore. Size of the garrison, state of readiness, and armaments. The political situation as well. And finally to ask if you would be willing to place yourself at the disposal of our forces for a service, which as of yet cannot be discussed'
Brown finally started to warm to him. The young lieutenant looked and sounded sincere; his enthusiasm for this shadowy work was clearly evident
'What news, first?' Kane asked, warming up as well.
'We're coming,' Kirby said with a grin. 'I can't tell you exactly how or when, but the army is on the march, heading straight to Baltimore. By this time tomorrow this city will be free of the Yankee tyranny.'
Brown and Kane looked at each other and broke into grins. Brown, with a flourish, opened a sideboard and produced a thick-cut glass decanter and three heavy tumblers. Pouring three shots of brandy, he passed them around and silently held his glass aloft
To hell with the ban on saying it' Kane snapped, 'here's to the glorious Confederacy.'
Brown looked over at Kirby. If this was indeed some sort of elaborate trap, to get the two of them to utter a so-called traitorous oath, Kane had just done it Kirby simply grinned
To the glorious Confederacy,' the lieutenant said drained the glass, then was hit an instant later by a spasm of coughing.
To the glorious Confederacy' Brown whispered still not quite sure if he could believe what was happening. A little more than two years ago he had been dragged out and arrested his right to habeas corpus denied incarcerated without charges in Fort McHenry, and then transported like a common slave, to Fort Warren up in Boston. There he had languished for over a year before finally being released last fall. Never an apology, never a comment about what he had been charged with, just sent home with a stern warning that if he ever uttered a word against the Union, it would be back to prison, and this time they would throw away the keys.
Hundreds of others in Baltimore and eastern Maryland had endured the same fate, recalling to many of them the worst of the tyranny of kings, and a stunned disbelief that the principles of the Constitution could be so basely abused. If anything, the Federal government's abuse of power was proof positive of the righteousness of the Confederate cause.
It had, up to this moment, broken the spirit of the city of Baltimore, a place of fear, with armed bands patrolling the street, a place where ruffians lorded over them, their women were insulted in the street, and none dared to speak in what was now a Southern town under the fist of a foreign power.
God willing, that was about to change at last The day of liberation was at hand. The city had been seething with rumors ever since Union Mills, waiting, hoping. Though all understood the need to take Washington first, still there had been consternation that not a single brigade of Jeb Stuart's famed cavaliers had made the attempt to free Baltimore as well. If this boy was to be believed though, they were coming at last!
He set his glass back down.
Kirby nodded.
'Now please tell me what you think might be helpful to General Stuart'
'The guard,' Kane started. 'The Loyal League. I would guess it numbers around five thousand. They're good at beating up defenseless old men and terrorizing women, but against any kind of disciplined military force? They'll scurry like rabbits.'
