Joseph Altsheler - The Rock of Chickamauga - A Story of the Western Crisis

“The Rock of Chickamauga,” presenting a critical phase of the great struggle in the west, is the sixth volume in the series, dealing with the Civil War, of which its predecessors have been “The Guns of Bull Run,” “The Guns of Shiloh,” “The Scouts of Stonewall,” “The Sword of Antietam” and “The Star of Gettysburg.” Dick Mason who fights on the Northern side, is the hero of this romance, and his friends reappear also.

THE GUNS OF BULL RUN.

THE GUNS OF SHILOH.

THE SCOUTS OF STONEWALL.

THE SWORD OF ANTIETAM.

THE STAR OF GETTYSBURG.

THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA.

THE SHADES OF THE WILDERNESS.

THE TREE OF APPOMATTOX.

HARRY KENTON, A Lad Who Fights on the Southern Side.

DICK MASON, Cousin of Harry Kenton, Who Fights on the Northern Side.

COLONEL GEORGE KENTON, Father of Harry Kenton.

MRS. MASON, Mother of Dick Mason.

JULIANA, Mrs. Mason’s Devoted Colored Servant.

COLONEL ARTHUR WINCHESTER, Dick Mason’s Regimental Commander.

COLONEL LEONIDAS TALBOT, Commander of the Invincibles, a Southern Regiment.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL HECTOR ST. HILAIRE, Second in Command of the Invincibles.

ALAN HERTFORD, A Northern Cavalry Leader.

PHILIP SHERBURNE, A Southern Cavalry Leader.

WILLIAM J. SHEPARD, A Northern Spy.

DANIEL WHITLEY, A Northern Sergeant and Veteran of the Plains.

GEORGE WARNER, A Vermont Youth Who Loves Mathematics.

FRANK PENNINGTON, A Nebraska Youth, Friend of Dick Mason.

ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, A Native of Charleston, Friend of Harry Kenton.

TOM LANGDON, Friend of Harry Kenton.

GEORGE DALTON, Friend of Harry Kenton.

BILL SKELLY, Mountaineer and Guerrilla.

TOM SLADE, A Guerrilla Chief.

SAM JARVIS, The Singing Mountaineer.

IKE SIMMONS, Jarvis’ Nephew.

AUNT “SUSE,” A Centenarian and Prophetess.

BILL PETTY, A Mountaineer and Guide.

JULIEN DE LANGEAIS, A Musician and Soldier from Louisiana.

JOHN CARRINGTON, Famous Northern Artillery Officer.

DR. RUSSELL, Principal of the Pendleton School.

ARTHUR TRAVERS, A Lawyer.

JAMES BERTRAND, A Messenger from the South.

JOHN NEWCOMB, A Pennsylvania Colonel.

JOHN MARKHAM, A Northern Officer.

JOHN WATSON, A Northern Contractor.

WILLIAM CURTIS, A Southern Merchant and Blockade Runner.

MRS. CURTIS, Wife of William Curtis.

HENRIETTA CARDEN, A Seamstress in Richmond.

DICK JONES, A North Carolina Mountaineer.

VICTOR WOODVILLE, A Young Mississippi Officer.

JOHN WOODVILLE, Father of Victor Woodville.

CHARLES WOODVILLE, Uncle of Victor Woodville.

COLONEL BEDFORD, A Northern Officer.

CHARLES GORDON, A Southern Staff Officer.

JOHN LANHAM, An Editor.

JUDGE KENDRICK, A Lawyer.

MR. CULVER, A State Senator.

MR. BRACKEN, A Tobacco Grower.

ARTHUR WHITRIDGE, A State Senator.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States.

JEFFERSON DAVIS, President of the Southern Confederacy.

JUDAH P. BENJAMIN, Member of the Confederate Cabinet.

U. S. GRANT, Northern Commander.

ROBERT E. LEE, Southern Commander.

STONEWALL JACKSON, Southern General.

PHILIP H. SHERIDAN, Northern General.

GEORGE H. THOMAS, “The Rock of Chickamauga.”

ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, Southern General.

A. P. HILL, Southern General.

W. S. HANCOCK, Northern General.

GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, Northern General.

AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE, Northern General.

TURNER ASHBY, Southern Cavalry Leader.

J. E. B. STUART, Southern Cavalry Leader.

JOSEPH HOOKER, Northern General.

RICHARD S. EWELL, Southern General.

JUBAL EARLY, Southern General.

WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS, Northern General.

SIMON BOLIVAR BUCKNER, Southern General.

LEONIDAS POLK, Southern General and Bishop.

BRAXTON BRAGG, Southern General.

NATHAN BEDFORD FORREST, Southern Cavalry Leader.

JOHN MORGAN, Southern Cavalry Leader.

GEORGE J. MEADE, Northern General.

DON CARLOS BUELL, Northern General.

W. T. SHERMAN, Northern General.

JAMES LONGSTREET, Southern General.

P. G. T. BEAUREGARD, Southern General.

WILLIAM L. YANCEY, Alabama Orator.

JAMES A. GARFIELD, Northern General, afterwards President of the United States.

BULL RUN

KERNSTOWN

CROSS KEYS

WINCHESTER

PORT REPUBLIC

THE SEVEN DAYS

MILL SPRING

FORT DONELSON

SHILOH

PERRYVILLE

STONE RIVER

THE SECOND MANASSAS

ANTIETAM

FREDERICKSBURG

CHANCELLORSVILLE

GETTYSBURG

CHAMPION HILL

VICKSBURG

CHICKAMAUGA

MISSIONARY RIDGE

THE WILDERNESS

SPOTTSYLVANIA

COLD HARBOR

FISHER’S HILL

CEDAR CREEK

APPOMATTOX

“You have the keenest eyes in the troop. Can you see anything ahead?” asked Colonel Winchester.

“Nothing living, sir,” replied Dick Mason, as he swept his powerful glasses in a half-curve. “There are hills on the right and in the center, covered with thick, green forest, and on the left, where the land lies low, the forest is thick and green too, although I think I catch a flash of water in it.”

“That should be the little river of which our map tells. And you, Warner, what do your eyes tell you?”

“The same tale they tell to Dick, sir. It looks to me like a wilderness.”

“And so it is. It’s a low-lying region of vast forests and thickets, of slow deep rivers and creeks, and of lagoons and bayous. If Northern troops want to be ambushed they couldn’t come to a finer place for it. Forrest and five thousand of his wild riders might hide within rifle shot of us in this endless mass of vegetation. And so, my lads, it behooves us to be cautious with a very great caution. You will recall how we got cut up by Forrest in the Shiloh time.”

“I do, sir,” said Dick and he shuddered as he recalled those terrible moments. “This is Mississippi, isn’t it?”

Colonel Winchester took a small map from his pocket, and, unfolding it, examined it with minute care.

“If this is right, and I’m sure it is,” he replied, “we’re far down in Mississippi in the sunken regions that border the sluggish tributaries of the Father of Waters. The vegetation is magnificent, but for a home give me higher ground, Dick.”

“Me too, sir,” said Warner. “The finest state in this Union is Vermont. I like to live on firm soil, even if it isn’t so fertile, and I like to see the clear, pure water running everywhere, brooks and rivers.”

“I’ll admit that Vermont is a good state for two months in the year,” said Dick.

“Why not the other ten?”

“Because then it’s frozen up, solid and hard, so I’ve heard.”

The other boys laughed and kept up their chaff, but Colonel Winchester rode soberly ahead. Behind him trailed the Winchester regiment, now reorganized and mounted. Fresh troops had come from Kentucky, and fragments of old regiments practically destroyed at Perryville and Stone River had been joined to it.

It was a splendid body of men, but of those who had gone to Shiloh only about two hundred remained. The great conflicts of the West, and the minor battles had accounted for the others. But it was perhaps one of the reliefs of the Civil War that it gave the lads who fought it little time to think of those who fell. Four years crowded with battles, great and small, sieges and marches absorbed their whole attention.