The Rock of Chickamauga | Page 4

funny," said Warner thoughtfully, "that we've already got so far
south in the western field. We can't be more than two or three hundred

miles from the Gulf. Besides, we've already taken New Orleans, the
biggest city of the South, and our fleet is coming up the river to meet us.
Yet in the East we don't seem to make any progress at all. We lose
great battles there and Fredericksburg they say was just a slaughter of
our men. How do you make it out, Dick?"
"I've thought of several reasons for it. Our generals in the West are
better than our generals in the East, or their generals in the East are
better than their generals in the West. And then there are the rivers. In
the East they mostly run eastward between the two armies, and they are
no help to us, but a hindrance rather. Here in the West the rivers, and
they are many and great, mostly run southward, the way we want to go,
and they bring our gunboats on their bosoms. Excuse my poetry, but it's
what I mean."
"You must be right. I think that all the reasons you give apply together.
But our command of the water has surely been a tremendous help. And
then we've got to remember, Dick, that there was never a navy like ours.
It goes everywhere and it does everything. Why, if Admiral Farragut
should tell one of those gunboats to steam across the Mississippi
bottoms it would turn its saucy nose, steer right out of the water into
the mud, and blow up with all hands aboard before it quit trying."
"You two fellows talk too much," said Pennington. "You won't let
President Lincoln and Grant and Halleck manage the war, but you want
to run it yourselves."
"I don't want to run anything just now, Frank," rejoined Dick. "What
I'm thinking about most is rest and something to eat. I'd like to get rid,
too, of about ten pounds of Mississippi mud that I'm carrying."
"Well, I can catch a glint of white pillars through those trees. It means
the 'big house' of a plantation, and you'll probably find somewhere back
of it the long rows of cabins, inhabited by the dark people, whom we've
come to raise to the level of their masters, if not above them. I can see
right now the joyous welcome we'll receive from the owners of the big
house. They'll be standing on the great piazza, waving Union flags and
shouting to us that they have ready cooling drinks and luxurious food

for us all."
"It's hardly a joke to me. Whatever the cause of the war, it's the
bitterness of death for these people to be overrun. Besides, I remember
the words of that old fellow in the blacksmith shop before we fought
the battle of Stone River. He said that even if they were beaten they'd
still be there holding the land and running things."
"That's true," said Warner. "I've been wondering how this war would
end, and now I'm wondering what will happen after it does end. But
here we are at the gate. What big grounds! These great planters
certainly had space!"
"And what silence!" said Dick. "It's uncanny, George. A place like this
must have had a thousand slaves, and I don't see any of them rushing
forward to welcome their liberators."
"Probably contraband, gone long ago to Ben Butler at New Orleans. I
don't believe there's a soul here."
"Remember that lone house in Tennessee where a slip of a girl brought
Forrest down on us and had us cut pretty nearly to pieces."
"I couldn't forget it."
Nor could Colonel Winchester. The house, large and low, stood in
grounds covering an area of several acres, enclosed by a paling fence,
now sagging in many places. Great stone posts stood on either side of
the gateway, but the gate was opened, and it, too, sagged.
The grounds had evidently been magnificent, both with flowers and
forest trees. Already many of the flowers were blooming in great
luxuriance and brilliancy, but the walks and borders were untrimmed.
The house was of wood, painted white with green shutters, and as they
drew nearer they appreciated its great size, although it was only two
stories in height. A hundred persons could have slept there, and twice
as many could have found shade in the wide piazzas which stretched
the full length of the four sides.

But all the doors and shutters were closed and no smoke rose from any
chimney. They caught a glimpse of the cabins for the slaves, on lower
ground some distance behind the great house. The whole regiment
reined up as they approached the carriage entrance, and, although they
were eight hundred strong, there