The Blue and the Gray; Or, The Civil War as Seen by a Boy Read online

  The Soldier's Farewell..................................180

  Troops Going to Manila..................................373

  Uncle Ned...............................................149

  United States Military Wagon............................035

  Warning the Inhabitants.................................332

  Wesley Merritt and His Staff............................199

  West Point..............................................293

  What Caused the War-The Negro and Cotton................057

  Wounding of General Stonewall Jackson...................178

  INTRODUCTION.

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  OOKS without number have been written upon the Civil War. There willprobably be many more, for it is a fruitful theme. Many of them arefaithful and accurate presentations of the great deeds done in thatwar. But whether large or small, they are all imbued with a desireto perpetuate that love of our country which should become one of theabsorbing passions of the soul. It is a truth worth remembering--thatthe man who is a traitor to his country will be a traitor to all therelations of life.

  Our land, young as it is, has received an awful baptism of fire andblood. It sprang into being amid the anguish of the Revolution, andbefore it had achieved a century of freedom, it was plunged into oneof the saddest conflicts which ever desolated a nation--the conflictbetween brothers, speaking the same tongue, living under the samegovernment, and enjoying the same great privileges. But from thatterrible ordeal it has emerged, and we are once more one in aim andpurpose, and have taken our stand among the proudest nations of theearth, their equal in intelligent achievements, religion and progress.

  The little book we offer our young readers is the simple story, toldin plain language, of a boy who was really in the army--one who left apleasant home, as did thousands of others, a mere lad, loving his nativeland, knowing her need of strong hands and willing hearts to defend her.His purpose was noble, his mind fresh and ready for impressions; thescenes of those days are as ineffaceable as though written on marble,and not even the corroding touch of time can eat them away. So thepresent volume has been penned, that the boys and girls who read itspages may know of the hardships and self-sacrifice of the boys of thosedays--how cheerfully they enlisted to uphold the "starry flag," whosefolds shall ever "float o'er the land of the free, and the home of thebrave."

  There are other lessons to be taught, as well as that of courage alone;the lessons of patriotism, of sacrifice, of respect for a governmentthat offers to all its protection so long as they obey its just andequitable laws. No one doubts the courage of our boys, but they mustremember that there is a higher quality than mere bravery--regard forhuman life, that' it be not destroyed wantonly, a respect for others'rights and opinions, a readiness to submit to discipline, a willingnessto yield up life when honor and duty demand it. All these thoughts wereimpressed upon the boy of our story, and made him a grander man fortheir lessons, when the pursuits of peace claimed him.

  To the boys and girls whose fathers and friends fought that a greatprinciple should live, to those whose dear ones fell in battle, or diedof wounds, to all who read this true history of one boy's life in thearmy, we send forth this picture, the type of a true soldier, who didnot love war for its noise and glitter, but who conscientiouslyfought the battles of his country because he revered her beneficentinstitutions. It was there that he was taught what true freedom meant,and through all his trials, his privations, he kept his faith in God andhumanity undimmed.

  Such was our boy, and of such material heroes are made.

  The Publishers

  THE CIVIL WAR AS SEEN BY A BOY.

  CHAPTER I. THE BEGINNING OF WAR.

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  HE early {017}spring days of 1861 were dreams of beauty. The skiessmiled blandly upon the earth, and every heart was glad that the longwinter was over, and the charms of outdoor life could be enjoyed oncemore. Surely nature had done her part in making men happy.

  A spirit of unrest and uncertainty, however, brooded in the air. Thelong conflict between opposing ideas, which had waged so long andbitterly in politics and churches, and through the columns of the press,had come to a focus, and dread murmurs were abroad, of an impending war,and its attendant horrors. Men looked in each other's faces, and asked,with sad forebodings--"What is coming next?"

  The South made ample preparations to seize two South Carolina forts,Moultrie and Sumter, as early as December, 1860.

  Lieutenant-Colonel Gardner was the commander of Fort Moultrie, and,loyal to the government, he sent to Washington asking for reinforcementsto help him hold that fort. This request offended the Southern membersof Congress, who construed it into an insult, and demanded his removal.This demand was acceded to by Secretary of War Floyd, and Major RobertAnderson of Kentucky was appointed to supersede Colonel Gardner.

  Major Anderson, {018}faithful to the trust reposed in him by thegovernment, soon decided that Fort Moultrie could not be held againsta vigorous assault, and he moved his garrison secretly to Sumter, afortress across the harbor. This fort could not be approached by land,and, consequently, from this fact, was deemed more secure against anyopposing force. The undertaking was a dangerous one. The harbor was fullof guard boats, vigilant and watchful, and only their supposition thatthe little rowboats containing Major Anderson and his men were laborersgoing to the other fort to work on it, prevented their detection andarrest.

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  Moultrie's guns had been trained to protect this transfer in case theMajor's intention was discovered, and the fort, whose defense renderedthe gallant Anderson immortal, was occupied by his troops at only twentyminutes' notice! We think that was the quickest "moving time" on record.

  A siege gun which was turned upon Fort Sumter is shown on page 20.Its carriage is broken, and it was thus rendered useless by theConfederates, when they abandoned the fort in 1864.

  France {019}and England would not acknowledge the South as anindependent nation, but the Confederate government did all possible tobring this about by sending Messrs. James M. Mason of Virginia and JohnSlidell of Louisiana to London and Paris with the hope that their claimswould be recognized. Henry Ward Beecher, when in the height of his fame,afterward went to England, addressing immense audiences, and settingforth the true condition of American affairs.

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  The hope of the Southerners was that the government would allow apeaceable withdrawal of the dissatisfied States, and that no bloodshedwould be necessary, but as time went by and the most active preparationsfor keeping them in the Union were made by the general government, theycommenced hostilities, and the first gun of the war was fired by theConfederates under General Beauregard on the morning of April 12, andwhile the officers and men within the fort were eating their breakfast,a perpetual bursting {020}of shells and shot kept them awake to the factthat the peace had been broken, and war had begun.

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  After breakfast the force was divided up into firing parties andthe first reply on the part of the Union was made by Captain Abner{021}Doubleday. But their guns were very light.

  A bombardment followed, and on the 14th of April, 1861, General RobertAnderson evacuated the fort.

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  Blockade running was so common it became necessary to fit out out anexpedition to close the most valuable of the openings, Hatteras Inlet.The first expedition projected for this purpuse was fitted out nearFortress Monroe and was under the command of Flag Officer Silas H.Stringham. The engagement lasted three hours with a complete victory forStringham, and several blockade runners entered the inlet and werecaptured.

  The news fell like a pall upon the North. It was impossible so many andold man urged, that Americans, our own people could be so disloyal. Whyhad they done it? What did it mean? And when, in consequence of thisact, President Lincoln ordered them to disperse within twenty days, andcalled for 75,000 men from the various States, to enlist to "suppressthis combination against the laws," t
he response came swiftly.

  In every town and village the patriotic fires were kindled, and boys andold men pressed on, side by side, willing to give their lives, if needbe, to uphold their country's flag.

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  Many {023}a smooth-cheeked lad, loved dearly and tenderly reared, wentforth from his home, never again to enter its portal. Alas, for thosesad days!

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  Recruiting went swiftly on. Speech-making and passionate appeals to thepeople were heard in every quarter of the North.

  Women could not fight, but they could organize sewing societies, andwork untiringly for those who had gone to the front. Many an articlefound its way to the army that was useful, and when blood had beenspilled, these same patient and tearful women sent lint, and bandages,and medicines, for the sick and wounded.

  As the call for soldiers awoke the boys and men of the North, so did alike summons from their leaders arouse the spirit of the South. They hadorators in their midst, whose tones swayed them, and they, too, enlistedto form an army which should repel the "encroachments" of those whomthey deemed their enemies.

  Boys went forth from luxurious homes, and stood shoulder to shoulderwith the humblest, clad in the gray, all equally ready to sacrifice lifeand home to their idea of duty.

  One {024}lad, in his Western home, a dreamer thus far, the light of hiswidowed mother's life, heard the war cry, and the blood tingled in hisveins as he listened to stirring arguments day by day, and saw one afteranother of his companions leave their homes to join the forces that werebeing hurried forward to headquarters.

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  He felt that{025} he must go with them. Why not? His eye was as keen,his brain as clear, his arm as strong to do whatever his countryrequired of him, as were theirs.

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  This longing haunted him by day and night, until it became unbearable.He went to his mother, and with earnest words begged her to send him.Alas, that mother was not equal to the task. {026}She was loving,gentle and shrinking, and when he urged her to let him go, her answerwas--"Ralph, you know not what you ask. Do you forget that I am aSouthern woman, whose childhoods days were spent in that beautifulcountry? All my people are there. Would you have me send my boy away tofight those I love, and whose feelings I must share? You are asking toogreat a sacrifice at my hands."

  "Mother, it is true that you were born and educated there. But didyou not love my father so dearly that you left your home and all yourfriends to come to the North with him, where I was born?"

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  A tender smile flitted across her still beautiful face. "Yes, I did lovehim," she said softly to herself, "and I honor his memory. What shall Ido?--I cannot forget my dear childhood's home. It is too hard a questionfor me to decide."

  "Let me decide for you, mother. You surely love your Northern home andfriends. The people of the South have fired upon our forts in Charlestonharbor, and driven the garrison away. I, too, am a Southerner in manyways. Are you not my mother, and do you not know I honor every thoughtor wish of yours?"

  "There must be some other way to bring them back, rather than byfighting. War is a cruel and unnatural alternative. Why, they will befiring upon their own people--like brothers in one family falling out,and seeking to do each other deadly harm." {027}

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  Ralph {028}was silent. His heart burned with patriotic fire, and itseemed to him that it was his duty to help swell the numbers of thosewho were ready to respond to the President's call. But he also knew thathis mother loved her early home, and that it seemed to her unnaturalfor him to be so ready to take up arms against "her people," and herespected her too deeply to wound her willingly. That mother had beengently born, and when she met the young Northern lawyer, she had lovedhim from the first, and cheerfully shared his humble but peaceful home.She was now left alone in the world, with her three girls and this boy,the youngest. The fortunes of war were too varying. She might never seehim again, and how could she live without him?

  To Ralph was presented a problem that he was called unexpectedly tosolve. He pondered over it in the silence of night, and in the busyhours of day. Was it right to fly in the face of his beloved mother'sprejudices by joining the Federal forces? On the one hand he felt thathe, too, was Southern in feeling and in birth. His father was a Northernman, and he would uphold the old flag; but which side it was his duty tojoin, he could not determine. He was resolved to go into one of the twoarmies. In the crisis that had come, it was clearly every one's duty tocome to the front.

  The boy talked with every one whom he could interest. He was not ableto study out the problem alone. One of his schoolmates had the prouddistinction of having an uncle who was a commissioned officer, and hetook the bold step of meeting him one day when he was walking past hishome.

  "Sir," he said timidly, "may I speak to you?"

  "Certainly," the officer replied. And then and there he poured forth hisdoubts, his desire to do what was right, his mother's objections--all,he told the waiting gentleman whose opinion he so desired.

  The officer laid his hand kindly on the boy's shoulder.

  "Your wish does you credit. The fortunes of war are too varying for meto decide for you. Try and work out the proper answer yourself, and mayyou be helped to make a wise decision."

  Alas, {029}the question was too hard for a boy like him to answer. Hewas humbly trying to see where his duty lay, and then he was ready toenlist on whichever side called him. On one hand was his mother and herearly teachings, on the other his dead father, with all his views. "Whatside would _he_ choose were he here?" was the ever-recurring thought inhis anxious brain.

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  But after weeks of this long, weary struggle, he decided to join theUnion army. His mother saw that he believed he was shirking a duty, andthat he longed for action.

  She thought she would make one more effort to change his purpose. Shesaid to him suddenly one day, when she saw his troubled face: "Ralph,you are only seventeen. You have never been away from your home, andknow nothing about hardships and privations. Do you think you could facea cannon, and know that its deadly mouth might lay you low on the field,mangled and torn?"

  "Oh, mother, I never think of such things. If I enlist, I must take mychances with the rest. I want to go with the other boys. Eddie Downingand George Martin have and are going into camp to-morrow, at Readville."

  "But will the government accept you? Eddie and George are three or fouryears older than you. There are plenty of men, without taking a boy whois his mother's chief comfort."

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  "I am strong and well. When I come back, you will be the proudestmother in the land, to think you sent your boy away. I may go with yourblessing, may I not? That will protect me."

  The {031}boy's eyes were moist with emotion. His mother, with a sigh,gave her reluctant consent, and though many a bitter tear was shed inthe loneliness of her room, she bravely hid them from the boy she loved.

  Now that the decision was final, she made every preparation for thecomfort of the boy who was to leave them so soon. His sisters weptcontinually--not a very cheerful parting, but Ralph was the idol of hishome.

  "Mother," he said to her a day or two after she had given her consent,"do not worry about me. I shall do my duty. This war _can't_ last long.Then I'll come back to you, and stay at home as long as I live, dependon that."

  His beaming face half reassured her, and she began to share hisenthusiasm. He was enrolled as a soldier. Although his youth was atfirst objected to, his earnestness carried the day, and he was told toreport at Camp Hale at once.

  He was a real soldier at last! A genuine soldier, who must fight. Hedid not belong to the would-be soldiers, such as they used to call the"militia," who simply paraded on the open green, or turned out on dressoccasions, with the curious for an audience, who would watch and beastonished at their evolutions and their showy uniforms, when the Fourthof July or kindred days made their demands upon them.
r />   In his neat-fitting suit of blue, the cap setting jauntily upon hishead, his musket in hand, and his belt with its bayonet buckled aroundhim, he looked so manly that a thrill of pride flashed o'er his mothersface, as she looked at her boy, her Ralph, in his "soldier clothes."

  But when the day came for him to leave the only home he had ever known,and he turned to take a last look at its plain walls, his heart almostfailed him. His beloved mother stood in the doorway, her hands pressedover her face, while she strove to keep back the choking sobs, as shebade her boy--"Good-bye, and may God bless and protect you." Thosesolemn words came back to Ralph in many a lonely hour, and brought himconsolation and support.

  Thus, {032}in many homes, both North and South, were the heartstringstorn, as mothers and sisters bade farewell to the boys in blue and gray,who went to the front, to lay down their lives for duty's sake.

  Ralph was a proud boy when he joined his companions in camp, wearingthe blue uniform, with its shining buttons bearing the U. S. stamp uponthem.

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  He was naturally retiring, but now he felt as if the eyes of the worldwere upon him. He had taken an important step, and he would show hisfriends and that great big world that he knew exactly what he was doing.

  Camp life was one continual drill--so it seemed to him. Readville was aquiet little town, but its people were ablaze with patriotism, and the"boys in blue" were the recipients of perpetual admiration. Every movethey made was noticed and approved, and it is not to be wondered at ifsome of them did greedily swallow considerable flattery, which led themto assume quite lofty airs.