Upon their arrival in Richmond, General Lee said his good-byes to Molly and Levi. Then he proceeded to the capitol to meet President Davis, who gave him his new assignment to Charleston, South Carolina.
Molly and Levi rode on to their aunt’s house, where Molly was to stay until the end of the war. Levi gave his aunt explicit instructions that Molly was not to receive any mail from Andy Yates.
Days extended into weeks and weeks into months, and Molly had not received any letters from Andy. She had received letters regularly from Levi in which he always referred to the Yankee dog who deserted his sister.
Molly’s aunt intercepted Andy’s letters and carried out Levi’s instructions. She took the liberty of opening the first letter from Andy because she was anxious to know of his escape. The letter read:
Molly, my dearest:
My little darling, you will never understand how much I am indebted to you. You not only saved my life, but you mastered my escape, enabling me to serve my country once again during this awful war.
My love for you is endless just like the band I placed upon your finger a few months ago. I miss your raven-black hair, your bright blue eyes, and that little fiery temper. I only wish I could hold you in my arms and relate to you, my everlasting love.
My escape, as you gather by now, was successful. My left shoulder was barely scratched by rifle fire as Black Demon carried me away from my captors. You are correct when you say no horse can catch him. He has become my friend and constant companion, and his high spirit reminds me of you each day. Oh! How I long to be in your presence and just to hold you so tightly and tell you of my love for you.
Black Demon went through Culpepper that morning like a black streak. Each time I saw a group of people, I would shout, “Yankees are coming! Banks and his whole army is on his way!” I headed North and used this same tactic once again at Manassas. The gray suit was a great asset until I reached Washington. I was questioned and treated rather roughly when I appeared at the capitol requesting to see “that wart-nosed president,” as you referred to him, President Lincoln. The gray suit made the soldiers believe I was a Rebel.
It took the better part of two weeks before the president would permit me an audience. I told him the whole story from time of enlistment through my escape. He is a man of honor and believed what had happened to me. He said, “Young man, your risking death to return to the Union to fight for what you believe right is evidence enough for me to believe you.” He requested that I return within three days.
I kept the appointment and was amazed to learn that my accusers were now dead and could not appear at any court-martial to give evidence against me. The president said to me, “Mr. Yates, I feel that an injustice has been rendered to you since the first day of your enlistment. Your educational background entitled you to a commission at time of enlistment. The experience gained since enlistment and the knowledge you have of the enemy definitely entitles you to a commission. It is my pleasure to commission you a full captain in the Union army.”
Then he shook my hand, patted me on the back, and wished me luck. I have been placed under General Hooker’s command. I will be reporting in the next day or so.I close trying to relate to you my never-dying love and hope that I have conveyed to you how much I am indebted to you for my life and blessed by your love.
I will write again. Soon but until then, my love and gratefulness to you is beyond belief.
Molly never saw this letter or any of the many others that were delivered to her aunt in Richmond. June 20, 1862, Molly gave birth to a baby girl and named her Pearl Ann. From this date forward, Molly’s spirit began to break. She longed to hear from Andy. She wanted him to know they had a child.
Each time she received a letter from Levi, she would say something to her aunt about wanting to hear from Andy, only to receive a lecture about what a mangy dog the Yank was for deserting her.
Molly became more sullen and began to resent her aunt and her remarks about Andy. In October 1862, Molly left the house of her aunt and returned to the Pines.
CHAPTER XIX
The war clouds loomed larger, and the great battle of Chancellorsville was soon to start. Burnside, whose disaster at Fredericksburg had so disheartened the North, succeeded by General Hooker as commander of the army of the Potomac.
In the latter days of April 1863, General Hooker, with an army of 130,000 seasoned troops, set out to crush the armies of Lee and Jackson, who numbered near fifty thousand, not even half his strength. General Hooker boasted that he had the “finest army on the planet” and that he would make quick work of the job before him and then proceed to capture Richmond, the Confederate capitol.
Hooker greatly underrated the strength and character of Lee and Jackson and the men who would oppose him. He gave the impression that he knew, but he had not been with Burnside at Fredericksburg and witnessed the terrible havoc inflicted by that invincible fighting machine of Stonewall Jackson’s. Sure he knew that the “praying general’s” powers had, by this time, spread around the world and that everywhere he was being hailed as the greatest military genius of the age. The crowned heads and military experts of Europe had come to look upon him as a Napoleonic prodigy.
Great numbers from abroad came to see the “praying army of the Valley of Virginia” and to get a close-up look at the “praying general.” Jackson’s praying had long since become a habit with all his troops and a part of their daily program from reveille to taps as well as before each meal and before they entered into battle. They prayed as Jackson himself invariably did, and there they were inspired by an invincible confidence that victory must surely be theirs. All his troops wanted to know was “Is Jackson with us?” With his presence, they could not lose.
Deafening volleys of cheers greeted him when he rode along the lines. The cheering starting in any sector would raise wave upon wave as he proceeded. Each company would stand at attention, waiting, with hats off, and you could hear them saying, “Here comes Praying Jack.”
He deserved this fame and devotion. Where in history can there be pointed out a more remarkable series of victories, in the face of overwhelming odds, than the victories that crowned the efforts of Stonewall Jackson in the Valley of Virginia? At the first Bull Run engagement, he, with a mere handful of men,wrenched victory from the jaws of defeat and shattered McDowell’s whole army. He cut Bragg’s forces to pieces in the Winchester campaign and captured immense quantities of arms and supplies. He destroyed Pope at Second Manassas, and Burnside met a more humiliating defeat by his “praying band” at Fredericksburg. In each one of these engagements, his command had been vastly outnumbered by the forces that opposed him.
Yes, Hooker should have known. All the engagements and defeats were common knowledge in the Union army. Yes, he must have known. He must have known that he not only had Jackson to contend with at Chancellorsville, but he had General Lee as well. Yes, Jackson had his way about appointing a commander in chief of the Confederate armies, and he saw that Lee was recalled from Charleston, South Carolina, and named to the position.
Was Hooker egotistical, proud, or overconfident because he knew he had the enemy outnumbered by about two to one with well-equipped and well-seasoned troops?
General Lee was near Fredericksburg, in hearing distance of the advance firing, when General Hooker crossed the Rappanhannock and proceeded toward Chancellorsville. Jackson immediately sent an aide to advise Lee of the enemy’s movement and ask for instructions. “Advise Jackson that he knows as well what to do with the enemy as I do” was the reply from General Lee. “Tell him to proceed, and I will join him at once.”