This military business becomes ever more complicated. I am told that I must learn to take the initiative in leading my men in battle, but look what happened to Pope! He took the initiative in sortieing to attack the enemy and his division was captured. He will be court martialed if the Confederates ever give him back to us in a prisoner exchange. But if he had defeated the Confederates he would be our hero. Officers who follow their superiors’ orders are not blamed if they are defeated. But woe to those who are defeated while exercising their own initiative! For now I must follow Grant’s orders to the letter. As I gain experience I will learn how to improvise success on my own initiative.
Grant pointed again to the map. “The easternmost section of our new line will be anchored around Urbana, starting at the rail junction south of town. I’m running a refused line — that’s a line bent around so that it can’t be outflanked by the enemy’s advance — northeast along the Illinois Central. If that line holds, the enemy’s vanguard moving across our rear will be cut off and destroyed.”
Grant looked at Barrie. “To extend the new line northward I’m pulling Prentiss’ men out of the line to your right and Curtis’ men to your left. I’ve ordered Colonel Smith to cover Prentiss’ withdrawal by extending his line to meet your right. I’m ordering you to extend your line to the left to cover the gap left by Curtis’ removal. How many men do you have present for duty?”
“Ten thousand eight hundred are reporting present and fit for duty.”
Grant nodded. “That’s a full-strength division we have to work with.”
Grant performed some mental calculations. “I want you to leave four regiments in line. Order them to put some fire on the Confederates to let them know they’ll have a fight on their hands if they try to break into Springfield from the South. But don’t let them waste their ammunition firing promiscuously. Order each man to fire off no more than one cartridge by hour and only then if they can see a clear target in the enemy’s line.
“I want you to pull the other men out of the line. Do it discreetly so the Confederate won’t think you’re evacuating the position.
“Bring one regiment into town. Send half of them out to stop the Confederates from getting across the railroad bridge over the Sangamon. Station the other half here in town to defend it in case the Confederates try to break through from either direction.
“Send the rest of your men — that’ll be six regiments if I’ve counted right — to fill the positions that Curtis is evacuating to your left.
“That will spread your men out thin, but they will be in strong fortifications. You’ll be facing Floyd, Pillow, and Polk — the Confederates’ weakest generals with understrength divisions. I don’t expect them to attack unless and until the enemy arrives in our rear in force, but make sure men are prepared to repel an assault just in case.
“I want you to choose your best officers to fill the gap in Curtis’ position. Select officers who won’t be panicked by any marauding Confederates who may have slipped past our lines. Cool heads are necessary. If we let the Confederates panic us into making unauthorized movements, this entire army will be torn up piecemeal the way Pope’s division was. Repeat your orders back to me.”
Barrie did so to Grant’s satisfaction.
“Now, if the Confederates do break our lines and you see them approaching from any direction in strength, then I want you to pull your men back into this town and fight house to house like Lyon did in St. Louis. Don’t surrender as long as you have ammunition. This town is to be held at costs. Do you know what that means?”
“Yes, sir,” said Barrie. It means we fight here until every man is killed or wounded.”
Grant nodded, then spoke to the governor and mayor. “You might as well go back to your offices. Let the people see that you’re working calmly and they will remain calm too.”
Grant looked at all of them. “Let me say it again: the most important thing is not to panic. If we stay calm and fight coolly we’ll defeat the Confederates, like Fremont did at Gettysburg.”
Barrie saluted “Yes, Sir!” He observed how Governor Yates and the mayor walked out of the stationmaster’s office with their heads held high and with confidence manifest in their brisk pace.
Grant is a born commander. Could I have inspired confidence as he did? Could I have restored confidence to a demoralized governor and mayor? I will have to learn how to inspire confidence as he did if I am to succeed in leading men into battle.
Barrie watched Grant board the one-car train and chug off to the east towards Urbana. His mind turned toward deciding which of his regiments to pull out of the line in front of Springfield and send to the east as Grant had instructed.
An idea popped into his head. Grant is striving to win this war through mobility. He is using the railroads to move our men into position before the Confederates, marching overland, can get there. If he can do it, so can I.
Barry noticed several well-worn passenger cars sitting idle in the work yard waiting to be repaired.
What if I took one of those cars and used it move men rapidly up and down the line. I could bring a concentration of fire to any point the Confederates tried to attack. I don’t have a locomotive, but I could move the cars up and down the railroad with a mule team. With a little work I could convert a car into a firing platform. That would allow my men to take the Confederates under fire from cover.
Barry called a couple of his corporals over and told them to go round up the carpenters in town and get them over here immediately. He was shaken by a rumble. For a moment he felt a surge of anxiety in thinking that it was the cannon fire of the Confederates breaking through his lines. Then he noticed a flash out of the corner of his eye. He looked skyward to see another flash of lighting coming from roiling clouds in the distance. It started to rain.
Battle of the Wabash, October 3. Pope’s Division encircled and captured. Stoneballs Jackson’s reconnaissance battalion advances through the gap and reaches the Sangamon near Springfield. Confederate enveloping divisions unable to follow due to resistance by W.H.L. Wallace’s division followed by the onset of heavy rains.
15
Cleveland, Ohio, October 3, 1861
President Lincoln began his meeting with the Cabinet and Congressional Executive Committee in the parlor of the Hargreaves Mansion. He opened it by introducing Cump Sherman. He asked Cump to describe his military experience and explain his reasons for leaving the Confederate Union and siding with the Free States.
“If anyone objects to Mr. Sherman’s presence please say so,” Mr. Lincoln said after Sherman’s introduction. “Otherwise, I have asked him to give us his opinion on the military situations we will be discussing. The advice I have heard from him so far I have found helpful. Are there any objections to his presence here?”
“Let’s give him a fair hearing,” said Thad Stevens. “If we decide we don’t want to hear anymore then we can ask him to leave.”
The Cabinet and Congressmen nodded their approval.
Lincoln held up the sheaf of telegrams that Secretary of War Cameron had brought.
“There’s a dustup going in Illinois. A ruckus in Indiana too, from the looks of it.” He read a summary of the reports. “The Confederates have moved thousands of their men across the Wabash. They’re maneuvering some of them to try to get behind Grant’s army. Grant reports that they caught John Pope’s division advancing without orders outside of Danville yesterday and captured it. The loss of Pope’s division tore a gap in his line but he thinks he’ll be able to hold the rest of the line from Urbana westward with the men he has left.”
Lincoln put down the sheaf of telegrams from Grant and picked up the ones from McDowell.