A Rainbow of Blood: The Union in Peril an Alternate History (36 page)

Lowe had seen enough and signaled for the winches to resume
pulling him down. Once on the ground, he bounded out of the basket
to ensure that there was enough gas to go up again. The crews were still
at their station, terror in their eyes, but the sergeants kept the men at their work. Lowe desperately wanted to find that naval officer who had
told him about the fuses. He looked around the yard with its rushing
men. "Sir!" Lowe turned around to see him. "I thought you might want
these," and pointed to a pile of ammunition boxes labeled as nine-inch
shells and 5-pound Ketchum hand grenades.

Lowe could have kissed him on the spot but couldn't spare the time.
"Start loading! We can take five of the shells and a hundred of the grenades. That and two men will give us the maximum weight the balloon
can lift. Hurry, man-for God's sake, hurry!" They carried the boxes by
their rope handles to the basket. Zeppelin dragged boxes of grenades
over to help.

Lowe paused long enough to ask, "Your name, Lieutenant? If we
are going to ascend, we should know each other's name. I'm Thaddeus
Lowe."

The lieutenant just grinned and said, "Cushing, sir. Will Cushing."19

CLAVERACK, NEW YORK, 8:05 AM, OCTOBER 28, 1863

Hooker on his white horse, his color bearer, and a small escort galloped
into Claverack as the cavalry was rapidly retreating into it in from the
opposite direction. It was obvious from the number of wounded clinging
to their saddles that they had been through a hard fight. It was equally
clear that they were still in good order and had a lot more fight left in
them. Hooker raised his hat and waved so the men would recognize
him. They were glad to see their commander so near the smell of powder
and waved their carbines and pointed him out.

He found a knot of officers around Custer, his long blond hair and
red bandana unmistakable. "Well, Custer, I hope you've set up a good
fight for us."

Custer, all whiplash energy, laughed and pointed in the direction
of Hudson. "The British Army will be here in ten minutes, General. Of
course, there aren't quite as many of them as there were two hours ago. I
estimate they've got at least ten thousand men on the field. Watch out for
their artillery. It's best and fastest I've ever seen."

Hooker rubbed his jaw. "Those must be their Armstrongs. Well, I
have a few surprises myself." He motioned to an aide. "Tell General Slocum to bring up XII Corps at the double quick." Then to Custer, "Let's
go forward."2°

Hooker was not the only man who had a reputation to win back
that day. Henry Slocum had vacillated about coming to the aid of the
embattled I and XI Corps on the first day at Gettysburg and had earned
the epithet of "Slow Come." At the age of thirty-six, he had been the
youngest corps commander in the Army of the Potomac, and upon
Hooker's relief after Chancellorsville that May he was the most senior
of the corps commanders. Seniority would have given him command
of the Army, but his unassertiveness ensured that was never seriously
considered. He had served through the Chancellorsville campaign and
so despised Hooker that he had attempted to resign twice when placed
under his command again, but Lincoln had refused, reminding Slocum
that in this hour of national peril, no one had the right to such luxuries.
Hooker's aide found him halted with his corps four miles to the rear at
Linlithgo Mills. He had to repeat Hooker's order several times as Slocum
conferred with his staff. Finally, with the column still at a halt, the aide
galloped back to Claverack.21

At the same time, Hooker and Custer had found a perfect vantage
to view the British advance, an apple orchard on a small hill outside the
town. The last of the cavalry was pulling out. Not far beyond them was
a red line of skirmishers pressing forward. Well-aimed artillery shells fell
along the road and caught a dozen cavalrymen, sending them and their
horses flying across the freshly harvested field. Two pieces of field artillery rode up to the orchard and unlimbered to slow down the advance a
bit. Before they could fire, British artillery was lacing the copse. Hooker's
standard bearer was blown out of his saddle by a six-inch-long iron
fragment. Shells smothered the two guns. A limber with its dead horses
around it was hit and exploded.22

The enemy was coming straight from the direction of Hudson
across the open ground. They could have taken a slower but more covered route in the orchards and woody hills just to the east, but speed
was obviously uppermost in his enemy's mind. Speed was uppermost
in Hooker's mind also-Slocum's speed. If he did not get over the creek
in time, then the enemy would force his cavalry back through Claverack
and back south over the creek. Then somebody would have to attack
over the creek, and the defender would have it as an obstacle in front of
him. Not that it was much of one -shallow and banks none too steepbut it could be enough. Hooker had also noticed as he rode over the little bridge crossing the creek that apple orchards grew north and south of
it just to the west. He had also noticed just before he approached the
bridge that a large hollow lay less than half a mile south of the creek.

Hooker had added all this to his calculations. "Custer, get your men
strung out on either side of the town behind any wrinkle in the ground
that will give them protection from the guns. Slocum should be up to fill
in and allow you to pull back into reserve. Go, now."23 Custer dashed
off while Hooker just leaned forward in the saddle and scanned the field
with his field glasses. Beyond the skirmishers a wave of dense scarlet
battalions was moving forward in beautiful order. As an old soldier,
Hooker had to admire such drill. But Americans would have been covering the ground much faster. He thought, Good, Lord Paulet, give me
more time.

Hooker only quit the orchard when the enemy's skirmishers were
four hundred yards away. Bullets whistled past him as he whipped his
horse back to Claverack, fully expecting to find Slocum deploying. He
pulled up by Custer with not an infantryman in sight just as his aide
rode up to answer the question that enraged Hooker: where was Slocum? The artillery had found them again and was falling across the village. A trooper rode up on a wounded horse that whinnied in pain. The
rider desperately tried to calm her, but her wound was too much. She fell
to her knees and rolled over to claw at the air with her hooves. The rider
had jumped off just in time. He stepped over to the horse and shot it,
then reported to Custer. "Sir, they've flanked us to the north with some
cavalry. We're pulling back trying to delay, but the colonel said to tell
you that unless you want to get yourself captured, get out of town."

Hooker said, "Sounds like good advice. Pull back out of town a half
mile on the other side of that creek. There are orchards on the other side
that will give you some shelter." His fair complexion now reddened.
"Now, let me see what happened to General Slocum." He spurred his
horse out of town.24

Lord Paulet's horse picked its way gingerly through the dead men
and horses of the guns on the copse that had held Hooker only fifteen
minutes before. Wolseley was part of his party, too large a party, he
thought. Still, Wolseley had been impressed by Paulet's conduct of the
battle so far. As soon as he realized American cavalry was on his flank,
Paulet had lashed out and promptly put his troops in motion for a colli sion. There was no hope now that the Americans would give them time
to build their miniature "Lines of Torres Vedras" from the river to the
hills. Paulet had a fight on his hands, and he had stepped up punching.
The troops had behaved splendidly and executed every movement with
great skill, though the Canadian cavalry had suffered heavily from their
inexperience and the firepower of Custer's repeaters. There would be a
special commendation for the Royal Artillery, who were handling their
Armstrongs with great precision and a speed Wolseley had never seen
before in muzzle-loading guns. What he did not see was the rate of malfunction as improperly closed and rusted breeches blew back. He was
impressed with the Canadians; their close association with the British
regulars had paid off. They had pushed their skirmish lines forward aggressively and pressed on despite casualties. The sight of blood had not
unnerved them. So far, so good.

But the fight had only begun. The enemy cavalry had fought a superb delaying action and inflicted heavy casualties with their carbines.
The American infantry had not appeared yet. Paulet was saving the Brigade of Guards for that. From the orchard, they could see the Imperial
and Canadian battalions sweeping by toward the village down the road.
They cheered their commander as they passed him. Wolseley would
remember that moment as Paulet gallantly lifted his cap as Britannia's
scarlet might surged past.25

THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D.C., 8:07 AM, OCTOBER 28, 1863

After their meeting that morning, Sharpe had left Lincoln to return to
his headquarters. The president had reminded him that the 120th and
Hooker's Horse Marines were about the only fighting men in the city
not defending the forts. As the sound of gunfire echoed over the river,
he suggested that they might be needed for something more than guard
duty. Save for one company, Sharpe sent Tappen off with the men and
their coffee mill guns to the southern end of the Presidential Park, which
led down to where the Washington Canal fed into the Potomac.

The blast from the exploding Arsenal shattered the headquarters
windows. Everyone rushed out to gape at the huge clouds and flames
rising from the south. Wilmoth, with his brand-new second lieutenant's
shoulder straps, came running minutes later with a telegram.

"Sir, Lowe's balloon over the Navy Yard reports British ships coming
up the East Branch and a flotilla of boats coming up the Potomac side."

Sharpe grabbed the young man by the shoulders. "Run to the White
House. Show this to the president. Tell him, Andy Jackson's statue be
damned -he and his family must be ready to leave the city immediately.
Tell him I will hogtie him if I have to."