Rebel Train: A Civil War Novel

Chapter 5

Captain Fletcher had a carriage waiting around the corner. Percy and the captain climbed inside while the two soldiers pulled themselves up to share the buckboard with the driver. Hudson clung to the back of the carriage.

Percy wondered if he had made a mistake in bringing Hudson along, considering he didn't know what any of this was about. Although Fletcher hadn't placed him under arrest, the soldiers bore an uncomfortable resemblance to guards.

"Where are we going, Captain?" Percy asked as cheerfully as he could under the circumstances. "And who is this Colonel Norris?"

Fletcher raised an eyebrow, as if amazed that someone had not heard of Norris. "He's chief of the Confederate Signal Bureau," Fletcher said haughtily. "Which is, of course, where we’re going?"

"The Signal Bureau?" Percy couldn't imagine what in the world someone from the Signal Bureau wanted of him. He had never even heard of it.

Fletcher smiled at his confusion. "Let's just say things aren't always as they seem, Colonel."

Percy could see any conversation with Fletcher was going to be antagonistic, so he gave up and stared out the window. What he saw did not inspire great hope in the future of the Confederacy. The muddy streets were strewn with garbage. Most of the buildings they passed, homes and businesses alike, needed a coat of paint. Knots of ragged soldiers drifted by, looking haggard and dirty, and the civilians he saw, mostly women, children and old men, wore threadbare clothes. Only a few appeared to have done well by the war, and they were the whores, whoremasters, and black market traders who paraded the streets, flaunting their ill-gotten finery in the faces of proper Richmond society.

As the carriage passed, Percy caught the eye of a pretty and garishly dressed young lady. She couldn't have been more than eighteen years old, but the elaborate silk dress she wore made no secret of her trade. The girl smiled and Percy tipped his hat and grinned wolfishly out the carriage window.

"Nobody knew the war would fill the city with whores," Fletcher said, sounding disgusted. The truth was, he was a regular at many of Richmond's whorehouses, but he liked to pretend otherwise.

Percy laughed. "Hell, Captain. Every country girl with a pretty face and some ambition is making her fortune. It's better than being wife to some farmer and spending her days feeding chickens and raising children. Besides," he said, staring after the girl, who in turn stood with a pout, watching the carriage as it rolled away. "That one might just be worth a month's pay."

"I should have known a man of your reputation—" Fletcher began to say, then stopped himself upon noticing Percy's expression.

"What reputation might that be, Captain?" Percy asked, his voice dangerously brittle. The girl was gone from sight and he gave Fletcher his full attention. His eyes appeared to change color from clear blue to the color of mountains before a storm.

"Well… I misspoke, Colonel," Fletcher sputtered. “Please forgive me.”

They rode the rest of the way in silence. Percy was unimpressed when they arrived. There was nothing about the building that housed the Confederate Signal Bureau to indicate its real purpose. Fletcher led the way to Norris's office and introduced Percy, then disappeared, shutting the door discreetly behind him.

Colonel Norris did not look sinister, Percy thought. If anything, he resembled a strict school teacher. Norris had a medium build and was of average height, with thick brown hair and a full beard through which small, even teeth flashed in a smile. Although his uniform wasn't tattered like a field officer's, it was plain enough. Unlike many administrative officers, including the obnoxious Captain Fletcher, Norris obviously did not hold gold braid or fancy tailoring in high regard.

"Thank you for coming, Colonel," Norris said.

"Did I really have any choice?"

Norris laughed. "We all have choices. As a matter of fact, Colonel, I'm about to offer you one."

An uneasy feeling took hold in Percy's belly. "What might that be?"

"In due time, Colonel. In due time. Let me explain my position."

Norris paused to offer Percy a cigar. He accepted, and tobacco smoke soon drifted in great clouds toward the high, plaster ceiling.

"You've heard of the Andrews train raid, Colonel?"

"Who hasn't?"

It had been one of the Union's most daring feats of the war. In April 1862, a Yankee spy and contraband trader named James Andrews had slipped South with twenty-two men. They seized a Confederate train outside Atlanta and raced north toward Chattanooga, wrecking tracks as they went, to prevent the Confederates from sending reinforcements to the Tennessee city as the Union army attacked. The raiders were eventually caught and most of them hanged. The incident had been in all the newspapers.

"I propose doing something of the same sort, Colonel Percy. And I need your help."

Percy eyed Norris suspiciously. "What is this place?" he asked. "Who are you?"

Norris waved the cigar in his hand as he spoke. "Officially, this place is the Signal Bureau. In reality, it's headquarters for the Confederate Secret Service. The war is fought in many ways, Colonel Percy. Not just on the battlefield. There are spies, of course. Subtle acts of allowing misleading information to fall into enemy hands."

"And you're the commander of this army of spies?" Percy asked. "I take it that you also arrange train raids?"

"Just this one, so far."

Percy shook his head. "Well, I'm not interested."

He stood, ready to take his leave. Norris did not appear the least bit perturbed. "Thank you for the cigar, sir. But you'll have to steal this train without me." "At least hear me out, Colonel."

"Sorry." Percy stood up and turned to go.

Behind him, he heard Norris sigh. "I had really hoped you might agree to do this great service for our new nation and the Cause for which we all fight. If you walk out, Colonel, I'll have Captain Fletcher arrest you. I'm sure it would give him a certain amount of pleasure."

"Arrest me for what?" Percy glared down at the man behind the desk. Even as he said it, Percy had a nagging suspicion that Norris was capable of many things, hidden away in this old building like a spider in a web.

"Espionage, perhaps? Being a traitor to the Confederacy? Certain letters will be found in your possession…"

"I don't have any letters!"

"But you will, Colonel." Norris spoke cheerfully. "Don't you see? Unfortunately, I'm afraid the penalty for spying is rather severe. It involves rope and scaffolding."

Norris smiled, and for the first time, Percy realized what a cold and deliberate man sat before him. He also felt uneasy, because he sensed that the threat was within Norris's power to carry out.

"I don't think you'll find much support if you are arrested," Norris went on. "You do have an excellent war record, but I believe your recent affair with the general's wife has won you more enemies than friends here in Richmond."

Defeated, Percy sank back into his chair. He was no coward, but he felt helpless in the face of this kind of threat. He also knew that when a man had you on a leash like a dog, it was best to go along until you found the best time to bite him.

"Maybe I'd rather be hanged than go on some train raid," he said.

"I doubt that, Colonel," Norris said. "Besides, if you agree to help me — to help your country, really — I will fix things up for you with the general. He's a proud man, but he'll listen to reason in the matter of his wife. You will have your military career back."

"If the Yankees don't catch me first and hang me as a spy."

"There's always that possibility. But you're better than that, Colonel. You have a particular talent for quick and daring operations like this. The Buckley Courthouse raid, for instance. You and your men captured eighty Yankees. Eighty! Not to mention ten wagons and sixty horses. And one slumbering general who even today remains at Libby Prison. That's very impressive."

“The fools should have posted a guard.”

“Don’t you see why we need you?”

"I'm still not convinced." Percy took another step toward the door.

"Well, there are always your men to consider. Several of them are here in Richmond, aren't they?"

Percy gripped the arms of the chair so hard his knuckles turned white. Norris had his full attention.

"What about them?"

"We can't have deserters running about the capital."

"They're not deserters, damn you!" Percy jumped up, but Norris didn't look concerned.

"They can be anything I want," Norris said.

Percy returned to his chair and slumped into it. "What must I do?" he asked.

Knowing he had won, Norris smiled. The room seemed to grow colder. He stood and walked to a shelf, then took down a map and unrolled it on his desk. Percy joined him in studying it.

"Maryland?"

"It all starts here for you," Norris said, placing his finger on the map beside a crossroads town a few miles miles west of Baltimore and twenty-five miles north of Washington.

"Ellicott Mills, Colonel. Let me tell you about it. You see, you're going there to capture President Abraham Lincoln."

"What?"

Norris laughed. "Listen, Colonel. Let me explain."

At first, Percy couldn't believe what he was hearing. But as he heard Norris give details of the plan, he began to feel less beaten, mainly because the very idea of kidnapping Lincoln was so outrageous it just might work. By the time Norris finished, Percy was surprised that he was interested in spite of the circumstances. Capture Lincoln? His heart began to race with excitement.

"It's really quite simple," Norris said. "The Yankee president intends to avoid the northern train route from Baltimore, where rumor has it that loyal Maryland Confederates may be plotting an ambush. They plan on bypassing the Northern Central Railroad altogether.

"Instead, Lincoln plans to secretly switch trains in Baltimore. The president's train will continue toward Gettysburg, but Lincoln won't be on it. Instead, he will be aboard a westbound train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad."

"How do you know this?" Percy asked.

"We have our spies, Colonel," Norris said. "This information comes from more than one source. I would say it's highly reliable."

The train would steam the length of the long, narrow border state of Maryland. At a town called Weverton, shortly before the train reached Harpers Ferry, Lincoln would veer north on the Washington County Railroad, a spur from the B&O line to the city of Hagerstown. From that western Maryland city, train tracks stretched north toward Gettysburg.

It was a more roundabout route from Baltimore to Gettysburg than a traveler would normally take because most would opt for the more direct and thus faster northern route. However, Lincoln would get there all the same via the western route without placing himself in any grave danger. The president had used a similar subterfuge to avoid assassins at least once before, when first arriving by train to take office in Washington. The subterfuge had earned him some ridicule at the time, but it had also kept him safe from harm.

The key to the success of Lincoln's plan was secrecy. Norris's network of spies had already breached that, although the Yankees apparently didn't know yet. Because Lincoln would of necessity be traveling with few guards, it created an opportunity to capture him. Having the Yankee president as a prisoner would change the outcome of the war, Norris believed, and in any case it would be a highly embarrassing situation for the Union. It might even prompt England to finally recognize the Confederate States of America as a sovereign nation.

“You and your men will leave Richmond in two smaller groups and slip across the Potomac River into Maryland,” Norris continued. “From there, you must travel thirty more miles to Ellicott Mills. That town is the real starting point on the B&O's westward route.”

Percy's raiders would assemble there after slipping through enemy territory. Lincoln's train had to stop in the same town, and Percy's men, who would purchase tickets to various towns along the B&O line, would board the train.

"He'll have too many guards," Percy interrupted. "We'll never get near that train."

Norris shook his head. "He'll be doing this secretly, remember? He'll have one car and only a small number of guards. Lincoln has never shown much concern for his personal safety in the past."

Percy still wasn't convinced. He had been a soldier too long to believe the odds were ever good, or that anything ever went according to plan.

"All right," he said. "But how do a handful of men commandeer a train? There will be passengers, maybe even soldiers traveling home or back to their posts, not to mention Lincoln's guards. We can't overpower them all."

"That's where breakfast comes in," Norris said. He tapped the map with a tobacco-stained finger. "The train is scheduled to stop briefly in a town called Sykesville, a few miles from Ellicott Mills. Most of the crew and passengers will get off to eat breakfast at a hotel near the tracks. At that point you'll take the train and run for the Shenandoah Valley. You should have just enough daylight to make it."

Percy suddenly remembered. The Andrews raid! That was where Norris had gotten the idea. The Yankees had stolen the train when the crew stopped for breakfast at a station outside Atlanta. The crew had left her under steam and gone inside the station house to eat, never thinking there was any danger of the train being stolen.

It had worked once before, Percy thought. It might just work again. The whole damn thing might work. Norris gave him the rest of the plan. Once they had the train, they would run like greased lightning across Maryland, cross the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry, and head for the Allegheny Mountains.

Percy interrupted again. "If you want us to head south into the Shenandoah Valley, why wouldn't we take this branch?" he asked, letting his finger on the map trace the route of the Winchester and Potomac Railroad than ran south from Harpers Ferry to Winchester, Virginia.

Norris shook his head. "It would be faster — if Winchester weren't crawling with Union troops. There's no way we can get cavalry there to escort you to Richmond. The Yankees have had a firm grip on Winchester since Stonewall Jackson left the valley."

Percy nodded in agreement, and Norris continued to outline his plan. Once the train had gone deep into the mountains, some of General Jubal Early's men would be detailed to meet it near the town of Romney and help spirit Abraham Lincoln down the valley to Richmond, where the Union president would become a prisoner of war.

"That is, if you can take him alive," Norris said. "If not, you'll have to kill him."

"He's a civilian," Percy pointed out.

"He's commander in chief of the Union Army. Civilian or not, that makes him the enemy. Kill him if you must."

"What's to stop the Yankees from doing the same to Jefferson Davis?"

Norris shrugged. "There are those who might say we'd be better off without him."

Percy chose not to acknowledge the last remark, just in case Norris was testing his loyalty. "Who do I take with me?"

"The men you have with you in Richmond will do," Norris said.

Percy started to protest. "This is too risky."

Norris held up a hand to interrupt him. He smiled wickedly again. "If I could have you arrested, Colonel, think of what I could do to them. Take your men."

"You're a bastard, Norris."

The chief of the Signal Bureau calmly puffed his cigar, ignoring the insult. "Oh, and you'll be taking Fletcher, too."

Percy couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What? Look here, Colonel—”

"Fletcher goes with you," Norris said. "I want two of my own men on this raid. Fletcher will serve as an official representative of the army. He's also from Maryland, which might prove useful."

"He does look good in a uniform." Percy smirked. "Who's the other man?"

"His name is Flynn."

"Does he have a nice uniform, too?"

"Flynn doesn't wear a uniform, Colonel. He's not the type. In point of fact, he's not even a soldier."

"Then what's he got to do with this raid?"

"I'm sending Flynn along to kill you if you change your mind about the raid once you get to Maryland."

"What? I can't do this thing with some murderous bastard waiting every moment to shoot me."

Norris laughed around his cigar. "Flynn isn't that way, Colonel. I think you'll like him, in spite of yourself. But make no mistake, Flynn does as he is told. I pay him very well for that."

"You mean this isn't his first time?"

"Exactly."

Percy shrugged. The whole plan was already outrageous. Adding Captain Fletcher to the mix couldn't make things much worse, he decided. But who was this Flynn? The last thing Percy needed was someone waiting to shoot him in the back when things weren't going right.

They discussed a few more details such as the number of raiders, weapons and cash for train tickets. Then Norris stood and extended his hand. "Good luck, Colonel."

Percy made no effort to take Norris's hand. "I would rather shake with the Devil," he said.

Norris simply shrugged and sat down to busy himself with paperwork.

Head spinning, Percy practically ran from the room. In the hallway, he paused to take a deep breath. Captain Fletcher worked at his desk in the hall, pointedly ignoring both Percy and his servant, who sat in a chair near Norris's door. It made sense, of course, that Norris wanted two of his own men along for the raid, although Fletcher was the last man Percy would have picked for the mission.

Hudson looked at Percy expectantly, but the colonel only shook his head, not wanting to take the time yet to explain what had happened. He just wanted to be out of that dark, dismal building. The place had an unwholesome air.

"Come on," he said, and Hudson got up from his chair and followed Percy out.

On the street, Percy paused to get his bearings. He actually felt dizzy. This was madness. A plan to end the war, or at least to strike a terrible blow against the Yankees. He decided then that he would go on this mission not because of Norris’ threats but out of his own sense of duty. He knew that if they brought President Lincoln to Richmond as a prisoner, it would be a blow to the Union worth more than a thousand Buckley Courthouse raids.

Percy nearly laughed in spite of the circumstances. The plan was just crazy enough to work.