"'No,' replied the General; 'he will only need to watch one of them now.' The conversation then turned on Peter's trip into Canada.
"I inquired if he saw Mr. and Mrs. Whitcomb. He said that he spent one night at their house; said they were nice old people, very religious, and lovely in every respect; that they were very proud of their children and spoke of James as a brave and good boy. They knew nothing whatever about his having been in trouble. When he told them that he knew him and that he was on duty with Gen. Anderson, they were delighted, and asked many questions about the army, our prospects, etc. They spoke of Seraine as their lovely daughter; knew about her mission, her fondness for Henry, and, in fact, gave him much information about Henry prior to the war that we did not know. Altogether his stay with them was very pleasant. After hearing about these good people, in whom we all felt an interest, I insisted on his now giving us a full report of what he had found out about the situation in Canada in reference to the conspiracy and conspirators.
"He stated that on leaving Detroit, Mich., he went directly to Windsor, and while there became acquainted with several gentlemen, one from Chicago in particular by the name of John Wall. Peter, having learned all about the Golden Circle, their signs, passwords, etc., had no trouble in making himself known, and, as he represented that he was from Nashville, Tenn., he got along without being suspected by any one. Wall and he became friends at once, and as they had rooms adjacent at the hotel they were together the first night in Peter's room until very late. Wall knew all about Morganson's raid, but not about his failure and capture. Peter learned that on his way home from the Detroit papers.
Wall told Peter that he feared Morganson would not succeed in obtaining many recruits, as the authorities in Canada at the head of the organization had not furnished the arms that were promised to their friends in Indiana and Ohio; that he was at that time there for the purpose of procuring arms for Illinois, and that he had been sent there to see Mr. Jacob Thomlinson and a Mr. C. C. Carey on that business. He said he was to have the arms smuggled through to Chicago, where they would be subject to the orders of one Mr. N. Judy Cornington, and that the intention was to release the prisoners at Chicago and Bock Island at a time to be agreed upon for Camp Chase, Chicago, and other places.
At this point Gen. Anderson inquired if Wall was a man about five feet eight inches in height, heavy build, gray eyes and light hair mixed with gray, about half and half. Peter replied in the affirmative. The General said:
"'He is the same man Wall that I met in company with Cornington, Buckner and Eagle when I was in Chicago on my voyage of discovery.'
"'No doubt of it,' said Peter. Peter continued by saying that Wall gave him full particulars as to what was intended. He said that so soon as arms could be procured and the prisoners released it would be made so hot for the Abolitionists, as he called the Union men, that they would be glad to call their army back from the South in order to protect themselves against fire and plunder in the North; that men were now organizing to burn many of the cities North, and if that did not bring the Abolitionists to terms other methods would be resorted to, but that the destruction of property would be effective, as the North cared more for their property than they did for the Government. The next day they met a man by the name of Tucker, who was on his way to Montreal, where he was to meet Jacob Thomlinson and Mr. Carey, in order to consult with them about what was to be done in the direction mentioned by Wall.
"He said that arms must be procured at once; that the friends North were ready but that no means had yet been provided so that they could act.
He thought that if Jacob Thomlinson did not have the arms in Canada he should at once proceed or send to England for them; that he was ready himself to perform the journey. To this Wall replied 'That is all that is wanted in Illinois.' Tucker said that already men were in England procuring and preparing material only recently discovered that would burn up all the cities of the North without endangering the parties applying it, and should this fail something else must be resorted to; that the Confederacy could not and must not fail. He was in favor of assassinating every leading man North if absolutely necessary to procure their independence.
"Peter met several other Southern men while in Canada, as well as quite a number of Northern men, who were in the conspiracy, and said that they all seemed to be imbued with the same feeling and spirit--a determination to have the rebellion succeed at no matter what cost. In their desperation he thought they would resort to any means, no matter how destructive, barbarous, or murderous. He left Wall and Tucker, and visited one or two other places, and then returned, as he thought he was meeting too many Southern men who might afterwards recognize him. His statement only strengthened what we already had reason to believe.
Peter also said that this man Tucker and Wall placed great reliance in Valamburg, of Ohio, and Thomas A. Strider and Bowen, of Indiana, and felt sure that they would arouse the people of the North against the Administration to such an extent that the war men would be put out by the people, and anti-war men put in their places, so that a recognition of the Southern Confederacy would be assured. The only thing that seemed to alarm them was the success of Silent at Victor's Hill and Meador at Gotlenburg. They said they had fears that these two men were their greatest enemies, and would relieve from the Union army all the officers who were not Abolitionists. They seemed to mean all who were opposed to the Administration. They appeared to understand but two classes of men in the North--their sympathizing friends, and Abolitionists.
"I made Peter write out his statement and leave it with me. I sent it to the President, and soon received his thanks through his Secretary.
"Two days later Gen. Anderson and Peter left for their commands, and on their arrival at the Army of the Center they were most enthusiastically received by officers and men. An officer said:
"'General, you had to go home to get a chance at the rebs.'
"'Yes,' the General replied, 'Morganson and his men were merely visiting up North during the vacation.'
"The General found his staff officers, orderlies, and old Ham at his Headquarters. When he had seen them all and inquired as to their welfare, he told James Whitcomb about Peter having seen his parents.
This delighted the boy very much to think that any of us should care enough about him to seek out his father and mother. Ham, being present, concluded that it was about his time to say a word, so he inquired of the General about Martha. The General told him that she was well, and sent love to him, and said she prayed for his safety.
"Ham laughed and said: 'I's not killed yet, but I 'spec' I will be some day; for de nex' time I's gwine right into de fight, so I is. I jes'
tell you, Marsa Gen'l, I done sleep on dis, and jes' make up my mind dat I fight dem Sesh de berry nex' time we git at em.'
"'Well, Ham,' said the General, 'I am not sure that we will need you to do any fighting; but we would like it if you would stay around where we could find you, the next battle in which we are engaged. Will you do that?'
"'Yes, sah! I will, no mistake, dis time.' He got up pretty close to the General, and said, 'Marsa Gen'l, you didn't tole Marfa 'bout I hidin' in de bush, did you?'
"'No, Ham; we said nothing about it to any one.'
"'Thank you, Marsa Gen'l; thank you, sah. I go now an' look after de hoses; I guess dey hungry.'
"'All right, Ham,' said the General; 'go on.'
"Gen. Rosenfelt at this time was reorganizing and putting his army in shape for a forward movement.
"Gen. Papson had been home, and had just returned and was changing some of his divisions. In this change he had assigned some three more regiments to Gen. Anderson, thereby making his division very strong.
After the reorganization had been completed, Rosenfelt called several of his Generals together at his Headquarters and talked over the proposition to advance upon the enemy, and found perfect unanimity among them in favor of an early advance. He then said to them that he should move within ten days. His Quartermasters and Commissaries were put to work and were busily engaged in procuring supplies and having them loaded into the several corps and division train-wagons. Everything was active in camp. The horses and mules were being re-shod, and the sound of many anvils could be heard both by day and by night. Officers were supplying their mess-chests and obtaining extra supplies, as they supposed there would not be another opportunity very soon. At this time the Army of the Center numbered some 60,000 effective men, and was in splendid condition as to health, but had grown somewhat lazy after so long a rest in camp with nothing to do. Gen. Biggs, who was in his front, had scattered his forces very much, and while he had fewer infantry than Rosenfelt, he had more cavalry. His cavalry, however, had been diminished by the silly exploit of Morganson, who, as we know, had been captured with many of his men, and those who were not captured had concluded that raiding was unprofitable and did not return to Bigg's army again. His force was divided about as follows: Polkhorn was at Shell-town with about 20,000 men; Harding was at Waterhouse, to the right some distance, with some 10,000 men; and at Tullahoming, with about 15,000 men, lay Chatham in a well-intrenched position, his cavalry to the front and left of his army about 8,000 strong. Gen. Bertram, who surrendered Dolinsburg to Gen. Silent, was now holding Knoxburg and Chatteraugus with some 18,000 men, about equally divided between the two places.
"Rosenfelt was now compelled to attack his intrenched position or move to the left, thereby endangering his communication to the rear. This was somewhat perplexing to him. In marching forward he would be obliged to leave forces behind him to guard his communications, thereby constantly diminishing his strength, while the enemy in falling back would lose none of his strength. Looking at the situation after he was ready, he again concluded not to move. This caused a terrible clamor both in and out of the army. Finally he was ordered peremptorily to move forward against the enemy. He obeyed the order, the army was put in motion, and a forward movement began. The question was how to out maneuver Biggs. A feint was made on Shelltown, which lay in the direct route of his march.
This caused Biggs to concentrate his forces at this point. While this movement was being made our main forces were moved by rapid marches to Munster on the enemy's right, which jeopardized his communications with Chatteraugus and the valley south.
"Biggs now finding his forces flanked, and seeing the danger of being cut off from a junction with Bertram, fled precipitately over the mountains to Fayette. Rosenfelt finding that Biggs had retreated in such hot haste, was deceived into the belief that Biggs had gone into Georgia at or near Romulus, and on finding that Bertram had left Chatteraugus with his command, concluded that the enemy were re-enforcing the rebel army in the East, and therefore thought to push on with force enough to attack and defeat him, at the same time holding the strong points in the rear. So he sent Gen. Critsinger with his corps to Chatteraugus, and with the rest of his force marched over the mountain into the valley, intending to have the larger portion of Critsinger's Corps join him in the valley, and then to move south. Instead, however, of Gen. Biggs having sent any portion of his army to re-enforce the rebel army in the East, he was concentrating all his forces at Fayette and quietly awaiting re-enforcements from the East. Gen. Longpath, with a corps of 20,000 men, was moving on railroad cars as rapidly as possible to the support of Biggs. Gen. Rosenfelt was now on the road between Bridgeton and Fayette without any knowledge as to the whereabouts of Biggs, and yet he was now within fifteen miles of him, and Biggs with somewhere about 80,000 men was lying in wait for Rosenfelt's advance. During this afternoon a lady came into camp and asked to be shown to Gen.
Rosenfelt's Headquarters. When she appeared to the General he at once recognized Mrs. Houghton, who had made such a trip just before the battle of Murphy's Hill, in order to give the General the movements of the enemy on his right the night before the assault. The General was exceedingly glad to see her. She was invited to partake of soldiers'
fare, and was very pleasantly entertained. As soon as she could get an opportunity she said to the General:
"'Are yot going to meet Gen. Biggs with your army?'
"The General responded: 'Yes, if I can ever find him.'
"'Well, General, if you continue marching in the direction that you are now going, you will find him to-morrow.'
"The General laughed and said, 'I hope so; but, my dear lady, he is near Romulus.'
"'No, General, he is not; he is at Fayette.'
"'At Fayette?' said the General with astonishment. 'You say he is at Fayette?'
"'Yes, sir, I do; I saw his camp this day; I was not in the camp, but in sight of it. I have been at Smallwood, some fifteen miles south of Fayette, and know that Gen. Long-path, with his corps from Gen. Law's command in Virginia has joined Biggs. The last of these troops passed on yesterday for Fayette, and I was told by a well-informed person that the corps would increase Bigg's army to between eighty and ninety thousand men.'
"'Impossible!' said Rosenfelt; 'he would not have more than sixty thousand with these.'
"'Yes; but, General, you must know that 20,000 of the Victor's Hill paroled prisoners captured by Gen. Silent have been collected together and organized into a corps under Gen. Stephenson, and are now in camp with Biggs.'
"'Is that so?' inquired Rosenfelt.
"'Yes, General; what I have stated is true, and I hope you will believe me this time. I once before took the chances of my life to give you correct information, and had you believed my statement as then made to Gen. Papson many a poor soldier might be living to-day who sleeps beneath the sod. I come now as I did then, merely because I love my country, and for no other reason. These rebels treat me kindly and never ask me a question which would indicate their suspicion of me. I do not dislike them personally, but I am an inborn Union woman, would make any sacrifice for the preservation of our Government. General, you are in the greatest danger of having your army destroyed. If I were a man and a General in command of this army I would fall back at once to Chatteraugus and make resistance, as they are sure to attack you in a very short time. The understanding with them is that they must crush your army before re-enforcements arrive to your support from the Army of the West, that army having cleared that portion of the country of the enemy.'
"Rosenfelt said: 'If you had seen the army and made an estimate of its strength, I would then have no doubt, but I am persuaded that you are mistaken as to the whole rebel army being at Fayette. They say so to you, but there is merely a force there to impede my march. It is a mere outpost. Their main army is at Romulus, Ga.'
"'Well, General, I should not like very much to see you move on this outpost at Fayette, and I beseech you to send your scouts and find out the exact situation before you make any further movement, as I assure you that you will not proceed very far on this road without a great battle, and one that you will have cause to remember the rest of your life.'
"And so he has."
"The General said: 'Well, it is best to proceed with great caution at all times, and inasmuch as I know you feel sure of what you say, and having given very correct information heretofore, I will halt for the day and send my cavalry to Fayette and let them clear the town of the rebels.'
"'Mrs. Houghton laughed and said: 'General, you had better give orders to have what will be left of them (if you should send them there with such orders) return and let you know which road will be left to you to march on, which ever direction you may wish to go.'
"'Yes,' said the General, 'you seem to think we will not be strong enough for the enemy.'
"'General, he has a great army.'
"Gen. Rosenfelt concluded that perhaps he had better be prepared, so he placed Gen. McCabe's Corps on the right, Gen. Critsinger in the center; Gen. Papson being some ten miles to his left near Cherokee Run, was allowed to remain. His cavalry, under Gen. Straiter, was ordered to take the main road to Fayette, and to enter the town if possible; but at all events to feel the enemy and ascertain his position and force. The cavalry were late in getting in motion, and when they had gone some ten miles the darkness of the night impeded any rapid movement. But their orders were such that they must move on. Soon they struck the rebel pickets, who retired before them. Finally they approached the rebel camp which was lighted and stretching out for miles to the east and south.
The rebels had discovered the approach of the cavalry and sent two regiments of infantry on a side road to their rear, who opened on them from an unsuspected quarter. This forced Gen. Straiter to strike off to his left, following a road leading from Fayette to the old Mission House. By doing this he made his escape with small loss, but was completely cut off from his retreat back to Rosenfelt's Headquarters.
He traveled all night and struck the left of Gen. Papson's Corps at daylight, giving this information to Papson, which was at once sent to Rosenfelt. Messengers were sent with all dispatch to inform him of the situation, and not only so, but to say that it looked as though the enemy were about moving, and Gen. Papson thought they would be most likely to strike our left. This Rosenfelt did not credit, as he could not see, if they intended an attack, why they would not attack our right. In this he was mistaken. The enemy were intending to turn our left, take possession of the Mission House road, and interpose between Chatter-augus and our army, secure Chatteraugus and Bridgeton, thereby taking possession of the lines of railroad between there and Nashua, forcing Rosen felt away from his base of supplies, and, eventually, to destroy and capture his army.
"Gen. Papson, taking in the situation, ordered one of his divisions, with Straiter's tired cavalry, at once on and across the road in rear of Cherokee Run, holding two of the main crossings, at the same time notifying Rosenfelt of his position and the reasons for it. In the meantime Rosenfelt had concluded that the information given him by Mrs.
Houghton was in part correct. Having said this much to her, she asked to be permitted to go into Chatteraugus, which she could do by crossing over in the rear of the army to the Mission House road. Her request was granted, and she started on her way. She had not traveled far before she heard cannonading. She was then sure that the battle had begun.
Rosenfelt was greatly perplexed. Finally he agreed to Papson's suggestions, and ordered Crit-singer's Corps to the left, and to join on to Papson's right. By this time he could hear the sound of artillery in the distance, but held McCabe, believing that the attack would most likely be made on that road and on his right. Gen. Papson, seeing that one brigade of the enemy had advanced to the crossing on Cherokee Run, did not hesitate, but ordered Gen. Anderson to attack it, which he did at once. The contest was a sharp one, but the enemy were driven back very much broken up, with heavy loss in killed and wounded. Papson then threw Palmerston's division in on the extreme left, on high ground, covering the road and crossing well with artillery. In the afternoon a strong force under Polkhorn advanced, and furiously attacked the two divisions under Anderson and Palmerston. The contest raged for over an hour.
"Palmerston was driven from his position, and our cavalry, which had been posted on his left, was broken into fragments. Gen. Anderson changed front with his left brigade and struck Polkhorn in flank and forced him back on his main line. Palmerston was now supported by Sherlin's division and his former position retaken. By this time Longpath had come up on Polkhorn's left and had assailed violently Critsinger's left, and after a severe struggle, in which the loss was great on both sides, our lines gave way and the rebels came through and down the slope of the hill in perfect swarms. Papson, quietly and coolly, as if in church, threw a portion of his corps into the breach and checked the advance.