Battle Cry of Freedom

Battle Cry of Freedom

An Alphonso Clay Mystery of the Civil War

Book Two

Jack Martin

To my parents, Wanda and Jack Martin, the authors of my being. You are forever missed

Prologue

The Mephistopheles

of Wall Street

The thin, bearded man dressed in a black frock coat sat at the ornate wood desk, steadily writing instructions with his new-fangled reservoir pen to a congressman whose vote he had purchased. Wasting time by having to dip his writing implement every few words was not for him.

The room was filled with rich yet subdued decorations and furniture: not the garish clutter that crowded so many upper-class rooms in the mid Nineteenth Century. Suddenly, the clock over his mantelpiece softly chimed, and he carefully placed his pen beside his document as he counted the strokes of the clock. There were twelve of them. Softly, with an economy of movement, he rose from his desk. Closing the door of his study behind him, the tall, dark man quietly entered a room down the hall.

He stood in the doorway, watching the young sleeping woman gently breathe in and out, watching the angelic baby in the cradle by the bed. He shook his head slightly in bemusement. He was a man who believed in money and power, and little else. He had seen numerous times how shallow human relations were when money was involved, what betrayals of the most important trusts were possible. He thought that he perfectly understood the nature of the universe, and was completely free of sentiment and illusions of affection. Yet, little more than two years ago, this woman had entered his life, a woman who, although intelligent, seemed naively unconcerned with his sinister reputation—a woman genuinely unimpressed by his growing wealth and power. She gave him simple, unconditional love, and joined her fate to his without reserve. She heard the rumors of his unsavory activities, the mutterings against the Mephistopheles of Wall Street, and dismissed them as the products of jealous and disappointed competitors.

With genuine amazement, he had found himself responding with emotions he had felt would never be his. Now, he stared at his angelic wife as she slept, and the perfect little boy she had given him, and wondered briefly if the gods of money and power were all there was. They were almost all there was, he decided. That was why he would go outside just after midnight to meet the woman.

The meeting was the purest business. He would never feel the stirrings for anyone else that he felt for his adored wife. However, he was determined not to allow the smallest shadow from the darker side of his world of business to penetrate the oasis he had created inside the walls of his home. Smiling ruefully, he quietly shut the door.

Silently, he descended the wide stairway to the front door. Glancing about to make sure no servants were up to see him, he went out into the night, softly latching the door behind him. Reaching the sidewalk, he turned to look at the façade of the Italianate mansion he had bought more for his family than himself. The bricks seemed to flicker in and out of existence due to the uncertain fluttering of the gaslights that illuminated the street facing Gramercy Park. He glanced up and down the avenue; aside from the retreating back of a policeman turning into 26th Street, he was quite alone. Hunching his shoulders against the chill of the autumn night, he crossed the street and walked quickly along the sidewalk that bounded the gated park. Turning the corner, he entered a pool of black shadow cast by a large elm tree at the edge of the park.

You are late, Mr. Gould, came a liquid, seductive murmur from the shadow. I had almost decided to leave. Had to shoo a soiled dove away. It would not do for there to be a witness to our … connection.

Strumpets on the street where my family lives, muttered Jay Gould. I will take it up with Mayor Wood. He will see to it that the police discourage them from leaving the parts of New York where they belong.

The woman in the shadow laughed with genuine amusement. Yes, Mr. Gould. We cannot have common whores near Gramercy Park. There can only be higher class criminals, such as us.

You forget yourself, Miss Duval, replied Jay Gould coldly. The fact you have performed many a valuable service for me has not made you any less my employee. Respect is in order.

The woman again laughed softly and stepped from the deepest part of the shadow. Gould’s eyes had adjusted somewhat to the dark, and even in the dim illumination from a distant gaslight, he could take an objective pride in the tall, raven-haired beauty that was his creation. Even her very name was his creation. He shook his head with wonder at the transformation.

During one of his nocturnal rambles, the feral guttersnipe whom he had found crouching over the body of a richly dressed man, clutching a billfold in one hand and a bloody knife in the other, had been named Brigid Doyle. In the thickest of brogues, she had hissed threats at Gould, saying she would kill rather than hang, kill rather than go back to the nunnery until she got the pox. Gould did not fear death. He knew the seeds of consumption were already in him, and that death was his lot sooner rather than later. Instead of quaking with fear, he stared directly into the eyes of the cold-blooded murderess and saw the potential for a very useful instrument.

He spoke calm words to Brigid Doyle and made her an offer of a new life if she would perform services of a certain nature for him. She had begun to laugh and had started to respond that she knew what those services would be, but looking into the black, expressionless eyes of Jay Gould, she stopped. She nodded and accompanied him away from the body of the murdered banker.

Brigid Doyle had become Teresa Duval; the brogue replaced by careful diction that gave some indication of the learning she had absorbed like a sponge; the coarse woolen shift gave way to expensive clothes easily worn. With satisfaction in the soundness of his original judgment, Gould found that his creation was a natural actress who could easily pass as coming from any social class, any part of the country. Most importantly, she was perfectly willing to perform tasks of an illegal nature up to and including the removal of inconvenient rivals, provided the price was right. He was immensely proud of his creation, but was aware that she was potentially dangerous to the operator, like all powerful devices. It is time to remind her who the master is, he thought to himself decidedly.

Miss Duval, our relationship has been mutually beneficial, as well you know. However, you are showing a distressing tendency to forget who the master is and who the servant is. Remember who is who, and you can continue to profit from our association. That includes those transactions you have been making on the market for your own account in a false name, thinking I would not learn of them. I care little if you play pilot fish to my shark, so long as you do as you are told, and are discrete.

There was a feline hiss from the woman in the shadows; she had never dreamed Gould would learn of her trading on what she discovered in the course of her assignments. Softly, ominously, she stepped toward Gould out of the shadows. Her hand started to make a movement toward a cunningly concealed pocket in her frock; but she stopped herself. Gould stood calmly, as if engaged in a conversation with an acquaintance in a public place. She smiled, a dangerous, glittering smile.

Mr. Gould, you really should be careful about surprising me. I tend to react by instinct to … the unexpected. Of course, I imagine if something untoward happened to you, documents would find their way to the police. I would have to depart suddenly, with only a portion of what I have gained. I would rather not do that.

Just so, said Gould, nodding. You realize, Miss Duval, you have just demonstrated why I value you so highly. You respond quickly, with utter ruthlessness, but you never forget to use your brain. You need not conceal from me the fact you are building your own fortune on the sly and intend to leave my service when complete independence is within your reach. I expected that and have no fear of your … retirement. You have performed so many distasteful tasks for me that you will never try to double-cross me with the authorities: that is, not unless you want to go back to the kind of life you led when I found you, fleeing from town to town, living in slums, dreading the policeman’s whistle. So much better to become a society lady in a large city, respected and envied by all who know you. A few more years working for me, and that will be within your grasp.

The woman’s posture was stiff; it was obvious that she hated being any man’s tool. However, she took a couple of deep breaths, an actor’s trick she had learned, and found the rage that was always with her, retreating into its inner hiding places. Very well, Mr. Gould. In any event, I have done some planning, and I am willing to undertake the task we discussed the other night. The only issue is the price.

Three thousand dollars, Miss Duval.

I distinctly remember the figure of five thousand being mentioned when last we met.

It was indeed. Several times, in fact. But not by me.

There is more risk than is ordinary. Armies will be on the move. In the heat of battle, I will not be able to count on the sanctity of my sex being respected, even by so-called gentlemen of the South. Furthermore, there will be expenses that cannot be anticipated. You will expect them to be met out of my fee.

Gould sighed. Well, Miss Duval, you do provide a quality product. Four thousand then. Half now, half upon your return. My final offer.

Duval made a show of hesitation, concealing her glee. Very well, she said with feigned reluctance, we have a deal.

Gould reached into the side pocket of his frock coat and tossed a thick envelope to the woman, who caught it deftly and made it disappear. Two thousand in greenbacks, he said.

Duval released one of her liquid, chilling laughs. Already counted out? You expected me to Jew you up!

Of course, Miss Duval. Now, how do you expect to get to Knoxville?

Courtesy of the Sanitary Commission, Mr. Gould. They have finally broken down and agreed to accept female nurses, providing they are of good moral character. Her voice suddenly shifted into an unpleasant New England twang. It seems that when Miss Teresa Duval, a devout Methodist who learned a great deal of practical medicine while on a mission to convert the Modoc, offered her services to the Commission, they were delighted to have her. The letter of recommendation from the Reverend Perry was all that was necessary. Her willingness to go to such an exposed site as Knoxville made them put aside all chivalrous concerns. Not many want to go to Knoxville just now.

Gould frowned. I assume the letter is a forgery. Someone might check on that.

Duval threw her head back and laughed heartily, heartlessly. Oh, let them, Mr. Gould. There was indeed a Reverend Alpheus Perry, heading a mission to the Indians of northern California. However, inquiries will take weeks to cross the plains; and when they do, all that will be found is that the Modoc are quite set in their ways, and resent preachers. The good reverend was separated from his hair early this summer. That would be the end of any inquiries.

So, your transportation is all arranged?

Almost. The Commission has provided me with a ticket as far as Louisville. Thanks to Forrest’s cavalry, that’s as far as regular trains go towards Knoxville. I was told to go see Mr. Roosevelt, the head of the New York Sanitary Commission; he has some special dispensation to issue passes that will gain me free transport in military convoys to Chattanooga; from there, I will manage somehow to get into Knoxville. I will do that first thing tomorrow, and be on my way. However, I must admit to being curious, Mr. Gould. Why Knoxville?

Gould stared steadily at his agent, weighing factors, and then shrugged slightly. "I suppose it would be best if you knew the factors driving my decision.

You know that I expected Grant to come to grief outside Vicksburg this summer, and sold short, counting on a general decline in shares and rise in gold. When he unexpectedly took Pemberton’s entire army, I suffered … considerable losses. Thinking that this was the beginning of the Confederacy’s end, I then shifted many of my investments to expect a rise in shares and a fall in gold. I did not anticipate that the timid Meade would allow Lee to escape to Virginia after Gettysburg, or that the bungler Rosecrans would allow his army to be ambushed and nearly destroyed at Chickamauga. Again I suffered … considerable losses. Gould stared coldly at Duval for a moment. Incidentally, I found that you had done exactly the opposite of me and gained considerably over the last few months with your much more modest investments.

Duval smiled sweetly. Just because I’m a woman does not mean I don’t pay attention to the war. The newspapers scream about what a butcher Grant is, but I noticed that heavy as his casualties were, he never lost. Never. The man would take Vicksburg. I also noticed that no matter how much the newspapers praised Rosecrans, he had never truly won a battle on his own. Never. I did not know exactly where or when, but I was certain he would lead the Army of the Cumberland into disaster sooner or later.

Gould was not amused, but he was objective enough to appreciate independent thinking in his subordinates. Well, well. Live and learn, I suppose. Your … insights into such matters makes you even more suitable for what I have in mind. Now it is at least conceivable that the South may fight this war to a standstill and establish independence. It is also conceivable that the bunglers in Washington will finally put their house in order. My sources indicate Grant will shortly be appointed commander of all Union forces in the Mississippi Valley and that Rosecrans will be dismissed from his post at the Army of the Cumberland. However, I cannot get a definitive opinion on how likely it is that Grant will take hold and turn things around; this is a much larger command than he has ever held. Anyone else in American history, for that matter. Your job will be to give me advance knowledge of how the winds are blowing, who will win, who will lose. Having such knowledge ahead of the rest of Wall Street will not only allow me to recoup my losses, it will allow me to ascend to even greater levels of wealth, which of course means greater levels of power.

Why is Knoxville the key place, Mr. Gould? Why not Chattanooga? That’s where the Army of the Cumberland is under siege.

True, but my … usual sources in Washington have indicated that Grant is going to Chattanooga in person. You are quite right in indicating Grant has a history of success; if he is personally present, I believe the Confederates will not succeed in taking Chattanooga, despite the supply situation. Nevertheless, Knoxville remains under the command of Ambrose Burnside and his Army of the Ohio.

That fool who ordered the insane charge at Fredericksburg, and that comical Mud March, when he commanded the Army of the Potomac? I would have thought Lincoln would have given him the chop a long time ago.

"Abe apparently has something of a soft spot for the man. Must have to do with the fact that he never tries to evade his responsibility for the disasters under his command. Besides, Burnside seems to do well enough in small commands; the Army of the Ohio is nowhere near as large as the Army of the Potomac, and Lincoln’s shelves are pretty bare of even mediocre generals. However, it still might be the fatal mistake of the war to put Burnside in Knoxville. All you have to do is look at a map; if the Confederates take Knoxville, they can drive straight north to the Ohio River. Rough country for an army to move through, it’s true; but once they are on the Ohio, they will be in the land of milk and honey, all the food, fodder, and horses they could desire. And if they move fast, they can move west, take Cincinnati, and starve out the Armies of the Cumberland and of the Ohio. Or they could move east, take Philadelphia and Baltimore, and starve out Washington and the Army of the Potomac. Either way, such victories would give England and France the excuse they have been looking for to recognize the Confederacy and break the Union blockade. Confederate independence would be inevitable. So you see, I must know what is happening in Knoxville."

Very well, Mr. Gould. In the unlikely event that I am situated to push events one way or the other, I assume you wish me to push them toward a Union victory.

Assume no such thing, Miss Duval. I don’t care a fig for whether the Union is preserved or the slaves free. Only fools believe in causes; only great fools die for them. I want certainty. If events in Knoxville are so narrowly balanced that you can push them, push them toward certainty, whichever way that tends. Remember to use the code I gave you during that St. Louis assignment. Telegraph something innocuous to me, just putting in the code word for North if the Union is certain to win, South if otherwise. Is that clear?

To her surprise, Duval found her anger trying to fight its way out of the place where she usually confined it. Although she liked to think she was as cynical as Gould, she found herself harboring a visceral hatred for the South—and rage at the financier’s in­difference concerning a Rebel victory. As she fought to control her anger, she suddenly realized the Southern aristocrats reminded her too much of the gilded English landlords and their brutal land agents who had … She shook her head slightly, mastered her fury, and simply replied Very clear, Mr. Gould. You will hear from me only when I have something useful to report. Smiling dangerously, she stepped lightly backward into the deeper shadows cast by the tree.

Jay Gould blinked, stared hard, but could see no sign of Teresa Duval.

Gould stood for a moment, amazed at how quickly his agent had faded from view. Then he turned and walked quickly back to his mansion, forcing himself not to look back. He felt a chill that was not entirely from the cool night air.

Teresa Duval forced her way through the milling confusion of the train station, fighting the exasperation that was rising in her. The next train to Cincinnati was due to leave in half an hour, and if she was not on it, she would lose a whole day. Her railway pass was not the problem; that assured her free passage anywhere there was scheduled service. Unfortunately, she would still need the signed pass from the head of the New York Sanitary Commission that would get her into army-occupied Chattanooga. She had not found him in his office; the clerks finally suggested he might have been called down to the railway station, as there were rumors that an entire trainload of wounded from Chickamauga was arriving, and he might have wanted to organize their care.

Gradually, the distant sounds of screaming became audible. Looking toward the source of the noise, she saw well-dressed men and women moving away from a distant platform, casting uneasy glances over their shoulders. Duval strode toward the platform through the retreating crowd and encountered a hellish scene.

Alongside the platform lay a tired-looking locomotive and about twenty cattle-cars, steam hissing from the engine like the dying gasps of a wounded beast. Pairs of rough-looking men in shirtsleeves scurried continuously into the cattle cars, only to stagger out carrying stretchers between them, those stretchers containing objects that moaned piteously, screamed in agony, or lay ominously still. The stretcher-bearers would make their way to one of the waiting horse-drawn ambulances, quickly unload their burden, and as the ambulance pulled away to the crack of the driver’s whip, they would scurry back to one of the cattle cars to repeat the process.

Presiding over the pandemonium, gesturing like a general on a battlefield, was a tall, fully-bearded man of about thirty, dressed in clothes that obviously came from an exclusive tailor. The man’s handsome face seemed distorted with rage as he frantically directed the unloading of the human wreckage of war. Near him stood a small boy of about five who peered at the spectacle, not in horror or fear, but with lively interest. The child stumbled into the way of one of the stretcher-bearers without apparently seeing him. The man accidentally shoved the boy aside roughly, and with a muttered curse continued his grim task without breaking stride. Glaring at the orderly, the tall bearded man drew the child toward him and tried to hug him in a way that would cover the boy’s eyes, but the child eagerly shrugged himself away from the man’s embrace and peered about with curiosity.

Duval could see that now was not the ideal time to approach the bearded man, but she had little choice; it was now or throw herself at least a day behind schedule. She smoothed her black frock, ran a hand over her head to make sure that her luxuriant hair remained pulled into a tight, unattractive bun, and bustled up to the bearded man. Mr. Roosevelt, I assume? she said in a business-like New England twang.

The tall man turned to her with a distracted air. Ah, yes, miss. And you are?

Teresa Duval, of the Methodist Chapel for Christian Propagation. Sir, I know this is a bad time to approach you, but I am going to Chattanooga to tend to the wounded, and I need your counter-signature on the pass they gave me at Sanitary Commission headquarters.

Miss, can’t this wait? interrupted Roosevelt, in a distracted voice. They did not tell us that this train of poor souls was on its way—more victims of Rosecrans’ criminal incompetence. I did not know until the last moment, and my son was with me. He should not be witness to this. Before I could send him home … Teddy? Teddy!

The child had wandered over where two overworked bearers had lowered their burden for a moment while they caught their breath. A wild-eyed young man lay on the stretcher, his right arm ending in a bloody wad of bandages somewhere between the shoulder and the elbow. The child leaned over and peered closely at the stump, then looked at the wounded soldier and said, By golly, you’re a hero! You gave an arm for the Union. Bully!

A hero! shouted the wounded man. You don’t know nothin’, kid! Do you know what it’s like to feel the bone in your arm smashed into a dozen pieces by an ounce of lead? Do you know what it feels like when they saw away your arm, and watch them carry it away while you’re screaming with pain? To hell with the Union! How am I goin’ work the plow? Who’s goin’ feed my little ones, and my woman? And all for nothin’! Rosie ran, and me and everyone like me had to pay for the dance. And what does the Union care I’m busted up for life? What does anyone in the Union care? Who will remember in a year what I gave for the Union?

I will remember, said the child solemnly, as Roosevelt hurried forward to draw his son away from the unbalanced casualty.

Ah kid, you’ll forget. They’ll all forget.

Roosevelt tried to grab his son’s hand, but the child shrugged it off angrily. I promise you I will remember. What’s your name?

The veteran had suddenly calmed and looked at the squinting child with amazement. Jesse Worth, the wounded man said in a quiet voice.

Mr. Jesse Worth, I promise you that Teddy Roosevelt will remember what you gave for the Union, for as long as he lives. Then slowly, and with exaggerated care, the five-year old clumsily saluted the wounded soldier.

A strange look in his tear-filled eyes, Worth awkwardly returned the salute with his left hand. The elder Roosevelt gestured toward the bemused stretcher-bearers who carried the wounded man gently to the nearest ambulance. Father looked down at son with an expression of the purest love. Sensing this was her best opportunity to get her precious pass, Duval spoke.

That was a remarkable performance by your son, sir, she said briskly. He has a great future ahead of him.

He is a wonderful child, Miss Duval. However, he will have to be content with a more … secluded life. His health is not good, and besides, the way he keeps bumping into things and not noticing the obvious …" Roosevelt trailed off, and sadly made a vague gesture toward his head with one hand, while with the other, he gave his child a fierce hug.

Nonsense, she responded in a simulated New England briskness. Look how he squints. He is nearsighted. Have you tried getting him some spectacles?

The elder Roosevelt looked startled; it was obvious the idea had not previously occurred to him. Well, perhaps a visit to the right doctor …

In any event sir, I know you are distracted by these poor men. However, their brethren in Chattanooga may need medical help very soon, if rumors are true. She reached into her reticule and thrust a piece of paper at the bearded man. Sign the pass, and I will be on my way to minister, in a Christian way, to their medical needs, and you can continue your duties here.

They were both distracted by an agonized scream from inside one of the cattle cars. Reflexively the elder Roosevelt hugged the child close, as if to protect him from the horror of war, but the younger Roosevelt peered eagerly toward the noise, anything but horrified. Distractedly, the bearded man pulled a pencil from his inner pocket and scrawled a signature on Duval’s paper. Go and do good work, Miss Duval. May God grant this end soon.

Half an hour later, in a crowded second-class compartment of a train pulling out of the station, Teresa Duval smiled grimly at the memory of the elder Roosevelt’s prayer. The fool actually prayed to God, she thought as she chuckled. He did not realize that God was gone from this sorry world, and the Devil was now holding sway. The world was filled with chaos, and a woman with no scruples could go far. Very far indeed. She gazed out of the window at the New York cityscape and dreamed of the day when all that would be hers, when she would answer to no man ever again, least of all Jay Gould.

A silvery laugh escaped her lips without her knowing it. The portly commercial traveler sitting on the bench across from her heard the laugh and privately decided he was changing compartments at the next station.

Chapter 1

The Cracker Line

General George Thomas scanned the present for duty rosters again by the flickering light of an oil lamp, and then he read the quartermaster’s report on provisions. He was tempted to crumple the documents into balls and fling them into the corner of the large parlor of the house serving as headquarters, Army of the Cumberland. Still, he controlled the temptation and laid them on the corner of the table where his clerk would find them at dawn. He shifted uneasily in his camp chair; the pain in his back from the silly fall he had taken on a railway platform months ago simply would not go away, and only in the rare moments when he was alone did he permit himself the luxury of groaning.

He stood up and stretched gingerly, a stab of pain shooting through his lower back for a moment. Need to work out the kinks now, when no one can see, he thought. It is vital that a general show no weakness in front of those he commands; if he weakens, his men weaken. Rosecrans surely proved that.

From his standing position, he glanced at the papers again, although he had no need; he had memorized the figures. 42,175 men present and accounted for, including the wounded and sick. 10,578 horses and mules. About two hundred fifty thousand army crackers, the twice-baked flat squares of iron-hard bread that sometimes would break teeth but without which the army would starve. About eighty thousand pounds of salt beef and pork. No vegetables of any kind, not even the despised dried desiccated vegetables. Going to see scurvy soon, thought Thomas grimly.

At the normal rate of consumption, there was enough to feed the army for no more than five days. He had placed the shattered army on half-rations, so this would last ten days at most. No reserves of forage at all for the animals, nothing but what could be scrounged from the neighborhood of Chattanooga. Soon they would begin to die, and the wagons and the cannon of the Army of the Cumberland would become useless dead weight.

He walked over to the parlor window and looked out moodily. Not much to see; the rain continued its steady fall, the pair of sentries in their India-rubber capes dimly visible to the side by the light of a single oil lamp hanging from the veranda roof. He could not see beyond the dimly-lit front yard. Even if it were daylight, the steady rain would have limited his vision to a few hundred feet. Still, in his mind’s eye he could see all too clearly for miles and miles.

He could see Braxton Bragg’s victorious Confederate army out there, perched triumphantly on the high ridges that formed a huge semicircle around the besieged city of Chattanooga. He could see the batteries of cannon mounted high on Lookout Mountain, completely dominating the Tennessee River and preventing supplies and reinforcements from flowing easily upriver. He could even see the muddy track that snaked northward out of Chattanooga, mockingly left unguarded by the Confederates: a hundred miles through howling wilderness, devoid of forage for the animals hauling the army’s wagons, seas of mud alternating with