Chapter Twelve

Daniel did not wait. He set out immediately with Star and one packhorse. He rode hard until darkness fell and then he slept until dawn before riding all of the next day also.

Riding Star was easy because the stallion had a long easy walking stride that ate up the miles so that the packhorse had to struggle to stay up with him.

Daniel ate in the saddle and fed his horses a grain diet that gave them the energy to keep going until the night when they grazed on grass until Daniel continued his journey.

When he reached Dallas he made enquiries about the general and his escort of two troops of cavalry but no-one seemed to have heard about them let alone seen them.

He enquired at the telegraph office but drew another blank.

He decided to proceed to Texarkana where he felt certain that he would hear news of the General’s progress.

The trip was long and lonely. He enquired about the two troops of cavalry but nowhere on his journey did anyone acknowledge that they had passed that way.

At Little Rock a store owner told him:

“Cain’t say as I have heard o’ two troops of cavalry but I did hear one man say that he came across the sorriest bunch of cavalry men he ever did see traveling north. But he says that they are less than a full troop and the strange thing is they ain’t heading for Virginia and there was no officer in charge o’ them.”

“Did he say where they were headed?”

“Yeah, they asked him for directions to Tulsa. Man, were them boys lost!”

Daniel left Little Rock headed for Tulsa making enquiries on the way about the lost troop. It is hard to travel with a bunch of twenty men and not be noticed, particularly as they had to buy provisions from time to time so Daniel did not find it difficult to pick up their trail.

He did not know exactly why he was following them. There was some idea at the back of his mind that he wanted to track down the source of the orders that sent this troop after the General. Perhaps, if he was really lucky, he might be able to identify the traitor in President Jefferson Davis’s office.

He was certainly travelling quicker than the lost troop so he ought to be able to catch them in the next day or two.

In fact, he caught up with them later that same day. He had no well-formulated plan in mind and because he came upon them so suddenly he did not have time to concoct one.

They were sitting in a listless group smoking tobacco and debating among themselves what to do next. They replied to his greeting in a desultory manner.

“Who is in charge here?”

“Ain’t nobody in charge here mister our officers wuz kilt in action.” A man with a single stripe declared.

“So why are you wandering around out here? Shouldn’t you have reported to the nearest army depot?”

“We’s tryin’ to get back to our unit in Tulsa, mister.”

Daniel seated himself down with them.

“I am Lieutenant Daniel of the Fourth Cavalry of the US Army. I’ve been chasing you men since Waco in Texas.”

“US Army? What you want with us? We’s Confederate cavalry.” The spokesman said.

“Stop kidding around, corporal. I know very well who you are and I’ve come to get you back to base.”

“We ain’t admitting nothing until you prove to us who you say you are.”

By way of answer, Daniel exposed his US army cavalry boots and then dug into his kitbag and pulled out the lieutenant’s jacket with the bullet hole over the heart.

“Is that proof enough for you?”

“How come you is out of uniform?”

“Same reason that you are all in Confederate uniform and liable to be shot as spies and say ‘sir’ when you address me.” Daniel said harshly.

The man shot to his feet and said “Yessir!”

“Very well men, what is the situation here. How are your supplies? Ammunition?

State of health? Condition of horses?”

“Sir, we ain’t got no money. We been eating whatever we c’n find, The horses ain’t had nothing but grass fer two weeks and we is lost.” He paused. “Oh, yes sir also we is down to the last few rounds of ammunition.”

“Just as well that I came when I did. Corporal , mount up let’s get moving.”

The morale of the men lifted immediately. The change was almost tangible.

Daniel rode them to the nearest village where he bought provisions and made the men launder their clothing and press it into respectability. He changed back into his Confederate uniform and when they left the village they looked and behaved like trained soldiers.

“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.”