Shoulder-Straps: A Novel of New York and the Army, 1862 Read online

  Produced by David Edwards, Graeme Mackreth and the OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (Thisfile was produced from images generously made availableby The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

  SHOULDER-STRAPS

  By

  Henry Morford

  T.B. PETERSON & BROS.

  PHILADELPHIA.

  SHOULDER-STRAPS.

  A

  NOVEL

  OF

  NEW YORK AND THE ARMY,

  1862.

  BY HENRY MORFORD.

  PHILADELPHIA:

  T.B. PETERSON & BROTHERS,

  306 CHESTNUT STREET.

  Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1863, by

  T.B. PETERSON & BROTHERS,

  In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States,

  in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

  TO

  DR. R. SHELTON MACKENZIE,

  WHO

  HAS ALREADY RECEIVED SO MANY DEDICATIONS,

  THAT THEY HAVE BECOME

  AN OLD, OLD STORY,--

  THIS VOLUME IS

  RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

  BY

  HIS GRATEFUL FRIEND AND CO-LABORER,

  THE AUTHOR.

  NEW YORK CITY, JULY, 1863.

  PREFACE.

  Several months have necessarily elapsed since the commencement of thisnarration. Within that time many and rapid changes have occurred, bothin national situation and in private character. As a consequence, theremay be several words, in earlier portions of the story, that would nothave been written a few months later. The writer has preferred not tomake any changes in original expression, but to set down, instead, inreferences, the dates at which certain portions of the work werewritten. In one instance important assistance has been derived from awriter of ability and much military experience; and that assistance isthankfully acknowledged in a foot-note to one of the appropriatechapters. Some readers may be disappointed not to find a work moreextensively military, under such a title and at this time; but the aimof the writer, while giving glances at one or two of our most importantbattles, has been chiefly to present a faithful picture of certainrelations in life and society which have grown out, as side-issues, fromthe great struggle. At another time and under different circumstances,the writer might feel disposed to apologize for the great liberty ofepisode and digression, taken with the story; but in the days of VictorHugo and Charles Reade, and at a time when the text of the preacher inhis pulpit, and the title of a bill in a legislative body, are alikemade the threads upon which to string the whole knowledge of the speakerupon every subject,--such an apology can scarcely be necessary. Itshould be said, in deference to a few retentive memories, that twochapters of this story, now embraced in the body of the work, wereoriginally written for and published in the _Continental Monthly_, lastfall, the publication of the whole work through that medium, at firstdesigned, being prevented by a change of management and a contractmutually broken.

  NEW YORK CITY, July, 1863.

  CONTENTS.

  CHAPTER I. PAGE

  Two Friends--Walter Lane Harding and Tom Leslie--Merchant andJournalist--A Torn Dress and a Stalwart Champion--Tom Leslie'sStory of Dexter Ralston--Three Meetings--An Incident on thePotomac--The Inauguration of Lincoln--A Warning of the VirginiaSecession--Governmental Blindness--Friend or Foe to the Union? 23

  CHAPTER II.

  Richard Crawford and Josephine Harris--The Invalid and the WildMadonna--An Odd Female Character and a Temptation--Discouragementand Consolation--Miss Joe Harris on the Character of ColonelEgbert Crawford--A Suggestion of Hatred and Murder--A New Agonyfor the Invalid--A Lady with an Attachment to Cerise Ribbon. 41

  CHAPTER III.

  A Scene at Judge Owen's--Mother and Daughter--Pretty Emily withOne Lover Too Many--Emily's Determination, and Judge Owen'sUltimatum--A Pompous Judge playing Grand Signeur in his ownFamily--Aunt Martha to the Rescue--Her Story of Marriage withoutLove, Wedded Misery and Outrage--How Old is Colonel John BoadleyBancker, and what is the Character of Frank Wallace? 60

  CHAPTER IV.

  Harding and Leslie make Discoveries on Prince Street--SeceshFlags and Emblems of the Golden Circle--What do they mean?--TomLeslie takes a Climb and a Tumble--The Red Woman--A CarriageChase Up-town--A Mysterious House--Amateur Detectives under aDoor-step, and what they saw and heard. 63

  CHAPTER V.

  Who was the Red Woman?--Tom Leslie's Strange Story of ParisianLife and Fortune-telling--The 20th of December, 1860--An Hour inthe Rue la Reynie Ogniard--The Vision of the White Mist--TheSecession of South Carolina seen across the Atlantic--Was theSorceress in America? 73

  CHAPTER VI.

  Colonel Egbert Crawford and Miss Bell Crawford--Miss Harrisentering upon the Spy-System--Some Dissertations thereon, aspractised in the Army and Elsewhere--What McDowell knew beforeBull Run--Colonel Crawford's Affectionate Care of his SickCousin--Josephine Harris behind a Glass Door--What she overheardabout Cousin Mary and the Rich Uncle at West Falls--ColonelCrawford trying his Hand at Doctoring--A Suspicious Bandage, andwhat the Watcher thought of it 83

  CHAPTER VII.

  Introduction of the Contraband--What He Was and What He Is--ThreeMonths Earlier--Colonel Egbert Crawford in Thomas Street--AuntSynchy, the Obi Woman--How a Man who is only half evil can betempted to murder--The Black Paste of the Obi Poison 99

  CHAPTER VIII.

  Colonel John Boadley Bancker and Frank Wallace at Judge Owen's--APouting Lover and a Satisfied Rival--The Philosophy of Male andFemale Jealousy--Frank Wallace doing the Insulting--A Bit of aRow--A Smash-up in the Streets, and a True Test of RelativeCourage 115

  CHAPTER IX.

  The First Week of July--News of the Reverses beforeRichmond--Painful Feeling of the Whole Country--How a Nationweeps Tears of Blood--The Estimation of McClellan--The Curse ofAbsenteeism--Public Abhorrence of the Shoulder-strapped Heroes onBroadway--A Scene at the World Corner, and a Hero in Disguise 129

  CHAPTER X.

  Leslie and Harding following up the Prince-Street Mystery--A Callupon Superintendent Kennedy--How Tom Leslie wished to playDetective--A Bit of a Rebuff--A Massachusetts Regiment going tothe War--Miss Joe Harris and Bell Crawford in a Street Difficulty--ARescue and a Recognition--A Trip into Taylor's Saloon 142

  CHAPTER XI.

  The True Characters of Men and of Houses--Fifth Avenue and theSwamp--Gilded Vice, and Vice without Ornament--The Progress ofTemptation--The Legends of the Lurline and the Frozen Hand--Dangersof Fashionable Restaurants--Scenes at Taylor's Saloon--Tom Leslie,Joe Harris and Bell Crawford at Lunch--The Fortune-teller selectedby Miss Harris for a Visit--Wanted, a Knight for Two DistressedDamsels--Tom Leslie enlists, and goes after his Armor 160

  CHAPTER XII.

  A Glance at Fortune-telling and other Delusions--Our Domestic andPersonal Superstitions--Omens and their Origin--The Witch ofEndor, Hamlet and Macbeth--One Strange Illustration of Prophecyin Dreams--The Fortune-tellers of New York, Boston and Washington 172

  CHAPTER XIII.

  Ten Minutes at a Costumer's--Among the Robes of Queens and theRags of Beggars--How Tom Leslie suddenly grew to Sixty, andchanged Clothes accordingly--Josephine Harris and Bell Crawfordstill at Lunch, with a Dissertation upon One Pair of Eyes--AnUnwarrantable Intrusio
n, and a Decided Sensation at Taylor's 187

  CHAPTER XIV.

  Necromancy in a Thunder-storm--How Tom Leslie and his FemaleCompanions called upon Madame Elise Boutell, from Paris, inPrince Street--A New Way of Gambling for Precedence--BellCrawford takes her Turn--A very improper Joining of Hands in theOuter Apartment--About Chances, Accidents and Little Things--TheChange in Bell Crawford's Eyes--Eyes that have looked within--TwoPictures in the Old Dusseldorf Gallery--Joe Harris Undergoing theOrdeal--A Thunder-clap and a Shriek of Terror--What Tom Lesliesaw in the Apartment of the Red Woman--A Mask removed, and onemore Temptation 198

  CHAPTER XV.

  Camp Lyon, and Colonel Egbert Crawford's Two HundredthRegiment--Recruiting Discipline in the Summer of 1862--What Smithand Brown saw--Lager-beer, Cards and the Dice-box--An Adjutantwho obeys Orders--A Dress Parade a la mode--How Seven Hundred Menmay be squeezed into Three 218

  CHAPTER XVI.

  A Few Words on the Two Modern Modes of writing Romances--How totell what is not known and can never be known--The Bound of aLoyal Pen--More of the Up-town Mystery--How the ReliableDetectives posted a Watch, and how they kept it--Cold Waterdampening Enthusiasm--An Escape, and the Post mortem hold on aVacant House--Trails left by the Secession Serpent 232

  CHAPTER XVII.

  Pictures at the Seat of War--Looking for John Crawford theZouave--Hopeful and Discouraged Letters Home--Events which hadpreceded Malvern Hill--An Army winning Victories in Retreat--TheMorning after White-Oak Swamp--How the Sun shines on Fields ofCarnage--Appearance of the Retreating Army--The Camp of Fitz-JohnPorter's Division--The Soldiers of Home, and the Soldiers of theField--The First Rebel Attack at the Cross Roads--Why the PotomacArmy was not demoralized--The Repulse, and the Pause before theHeavier Storm 239

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  More of the First Battle of Malvern--A Word about Skulkers--AnAttempt to flank the Union Forces--A Storm of Lead and Ironrivalling the War of the Elements--The Rebels Repulsed--TheAttack on the Main Position, and the Second Battle of Malvern--Themost Terrible Artillery Duel of the Century--Patriotism againstGunpowdered Whiskey--Shells from the Gun-boats, and their Effect--TheDead upon Carter's Field--The Last Repulse of the Rebels, and theGeneral Advance of the Union Forces--Strange Incidents of the Closeof the Battle--Odd Bravery in Meagher's Brigade--The Apparition inWhite, and its Effect--Close of the Great Battle 256

  CHAPTER XIX.

  John Crawford the Zouave, and Bob Webster--Incidents of theCharge of Duryea's Zouaves--Bush-fighting and its Result--A Woundnot bargained for--The Burning House and its Two Watchers--AStrange Death-scene--Marion Hobart and her Dying Grandfather--Deathunder the Old Flag--An Oath of Protection--A Furlough--John Crawfordbrings his Newly-acquired Family to New York 277

  CHAPTER XX.

  Judge Owen's Condemnation of the Rioters at his House--How FrankWallace was exiled, and what came of it--The Burly Judge making aHousehold Arrest at Wallack's--Emily Owen and Joe Harris--ARecognition which may cause Further Trouble 297

  CHAPTER XXI.

  Another Scene at Richard Crawford's--Josephine Harris playing theDetective, with Musical Accompaniments--A Sudden Demand for DarkPaste, with Difficulty in supplying it--A Young Girl who wishedto be believed a Coward--Ever of Thee, with some Feelingsthereunto attached--Josephine Harris pays a Visit to DoctorLaTurque--Her Discoveries with reference to the Obi Poison 312

  CHAPTER XXII.

  A Little Arrangement between Tom Leslie and Joe Harris--Going toWest Falls and Niagara--A Detention and a Night Scene on theHudson-River Road--Why Joe Harris hid her Saucy Face--OneidaScenery--Aunt Betsey, Little Susy, and a Peep at the HalsteadHomestead, with Pigs, Chickens and Cherries 332

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  Josephine Harris in quest of Information--The Big House on theHill--Extracting the Secrets of the Crawford Family--How a BigFib may sometimes be told for a Good Purpose--Aunt Betsey made anAccomplice--Mary Crawford, the Country Girl, and a TerribleRevelation--A Bold Letter to a Bold Man 350

  CHAPTER XXIV.

  The Piazza of the Big House on the Hill--John Crawford the HumanWreck, and Egbert Crawford on the Eve of Marriage--Chanticleer onthe Garden Fence, with Remembrances of Peter and Judas Iscariot--JohnCrawford instructs his Expectant Son-in-law--Arrival of the DomesticPost, with a Letter of Import--A Hit or a Miss?--Strida la Vampa 372

  CHAPTER XXV.

  Affairs in the Crawford Family in New York--The Two Brotherstogether--Marion Hobart the Enigma--How Richard Crawford thoughtthat he was not able to ride to the Central Park, and found thathe could ride to Niagara 391

  CHAPTER XXVI.

  Tom Leslie at Niagara--A Dash at Scenery there--What he saw withhis Natural Eyes, and what with his Inner Consciousness--TheWreck and the Rainbow--Another Rencontre with Dexter Ralston--TheEclipse on the Falls--Leslie under the impression that he can bediscounted, and that he knows little or nothing on any subject 404

  CHAPTER XXVII.

  Society and Shoulder-Straps at the Falls--The Delights and Dutiesof a Journalist--Leslie and Harding Exploring Canada--How oneFine Morning War was declared between England and the UnitedStates, and Canada annexed to New York--A Meeting at theCataract--Another Rencontre with the Strange Virginian--AnAbduction and a Pursuit 420

  CHAPTER XXVIII.

  The Sequel at West Falls--How Colonel Egbert Crawford wassupposed to have been telegraphed for from Albany--Mary Crawfordonce more at the Halstead's--The Final Instructions and Promisesof the Chief Conspirator--Joe Harris returns to the Great City,and her Disappointment therein--Another Conspiracy hatched,threatening to blow Judge Owen's Domestic Tranquillity to Atoms 433

  CHAPTER XXIX.

  Some Speculations on Moonlight and Insanity--Captain RobertSlivers, of the Sickles Brigade, makes his Appearance at JudgeOwen's--He draws Graphic Pictures of the War, for the Edificationof Colonel Bancker--A Controversy, with further inquiries as tothe Age of the Colonel--The Market brisk for Hirsute Excrescenceson the Cranium, and no Supply--Judge Owen laughs ponderously 446

  CHAPTER XXX.

  Gathering the Ravelled Threads of a Long Story--What befelSeveral Persons heretofore named--Marriages in Demand, and only afew furnished--A Raid into Canada--What befell Colonel EgbertCrawford and the Two Hundredth Regiment--A Cavalry Charge atAntietam, and a Farewell 460

  SHOULDER-STRAPS.