Overland: Stage to El Paso

OVERLAND

Stage to El Paso

Roger C. Lubeck

OVERLAND: Stage to El Paso

Copyright © 2015 by Roger C. Lubeck

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

E-book version: 4/6/2016

LCCN: 2015918061

ISBN-10:1-944694-01-3

ISBN-13:978-1-944694-01-2

It Is What It Is Press

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief - Roger C. Lubeck

299 S. Foothill Blvd.

Cloverdale, California, 95425

www.iwiipress.wordpress.com

Cover designed by: Roger C. Lubeck

Front cover developed from Stage Coach Crossing the Rillito a painting by Olaf Weighorst.

Dedication

To all those John Wayne movies and

novels by Leonard, McMurtry, L'Amour, and London

To Lynette

one more stage

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER 1 VIRGINIA 1864

CHAPTER 2 REDBULL CANYON 1875

CHAPTER 3 FORTSMITH

CHAPTER 4 EAGLE SPRINGS

CHAPTER 5 INDIAN TERRITORY

CHAPTER 6 VAN HORNS WELL

CHAPTER 7 COLBERTS STATION

CHAPTER 8 FORT RICHARDSON

CHAPTER 9 BARREL SPRINGS

CHAPTER 10 FORT BELKNAP

CHAPTER 11 HORSE HEAD CROSSING

CHAPTER12 MADERA CANYON

CHAPTER 13 FORT DAVIS

CHAPTER 14 VAN HORNS WELL

CHAPTER 15 EAGLE SPRINGS

CHAPTER 16 INDIAN HOT SPRINGS

CHAPTER 17 FORT QUITMAN

CHAPTER 18 VAN HORNS WELL

CHAPTER 19 MADERA CANYON

CHAPTER 20 WOLF DEN

CHAPTER 21 ELPASO

Chapter 1

VIRGINA, 1864

Platoon Sergeant Nathan Hilton and the men in Company B of the Fifth Michigan Calvary crossed the Rapidan River at Ely's Ford in Eastern Virginia. Their route followed a line through the area called the Wilderness to Chancellorsville and then east to Spotsylvania. Their goal was Richmond, Virginia.

Nathan joined the Fifth Michigan Volunteers in Detroit in 1862. Company B was comprised of men from Kent County in west Michigan. The regiment of a thousand men was a unit in the Army of the Potomac’s Cavalry Corp.

Promoted to corporal, Nathan fought in the Second Battle of Bull Run in August of 1862. Less than a year later, in July of 1863, Nathan had another stripe on his sleeve when he served under Custer at Gettysburg. Now, he found himself a member of Grant’s Overland Campaign.

In March of 1864, the War Between the States was in its fourth year when President Lincoln put U. S. Grant in charge of the Union armies. Grant had convinced Lincoln that winning the war would require more than defeating Southern troops. Grant planned to fight on multiple fronts. On each front, the Union soldiers not only foraged for provisions, they destroyed the homes, farms, and railroads that supported the Confederate armies. Under Grant’s plan, Sherman pushed north from Atlanta, Sigel attacked the Shenandoah Valley, Averell fought in West Virginia, Banks held Mobile, and Meade and the Army of the Potomac attacked Lee and the city of Richmond.

A year earlier at Gettysburg, Meade had beaten Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia but failed follow and destroy the Army. Grant was giving Meade a second chance. Meade and the Army of the Potomac crossed the Rapidan River in Virginia at three different points. Meade’s orders were to engage the Army of Northern Virginia wherever he encountered Lee’s army and to drive on Richmond.

Grant wanted to fight Lee on open ground where his artillery and superior numbers would give him the advantage. He had no wish to fight in the Wilderness. Unfortunately, Meade elected to camp overnight west of the town of Spotsylvania because his supply wagons stretched miles behind the lead elements. This mistake allowed Lee the time he needed.

Early settlers of Spotsylvania had cut down the native forests leaving only a dense impenetrable wilderness. The fighting in the Wilderness began on May fifth. The dense undergrowth prevented General Meade from determining the size of the Rebel Army. To make matters worse, Meade sent the majority of his cavalry east to find J.E.B. Stuart when his intelligence reports incorrectly placed Stuart east of Fredericksburg.

As a safeguard, Meade kept several cavalry units including the Fifth Michigan in Spotsylvania. On May 6, the Fifth began their fighting on horseback and then on foot as they tried to hold the Plank road at Todd’s tavern. Three days later Lee’s army owned the town of Spotsylvania and Grant had lost more men than Lee. The victory went to Lee, except he had lost more men than he could afford, and Richmond was undefended.

Unhappy with Meade’s use of the cavalry in the battle, General Sheridan went around Meade to Grant. He argued that if he was in charge of the cavalry he could defeat J.E.B. Stuart. Convinced Sheridan was right, Grant gave ‘Little Phil’ the command of 10,000 horsemen and 32 pieces of artillery.

On May 11, Nathan’s platoon was at the front of a line of blue that stretched back several miles along Mountain Road. Around eleven in the morning, they reached the intersection of Telegraph Road and Mountain Road. Just south of their position was a deserted stage station called The Yellow Tavern.

Across the intersection, a line of Confederate soldiers under the command of General Lomax waited. To their right, General Wickham’s brigade of Confederate soldiers held Telegraph Road and the ridge overlooking the road. On foot, the Union troops pushed around Lomax’s left flank. Retreating north, General Lomax’s troops met up with Stuart’s cavalry and Wickham’s brigade, and the Confederate line reformed on the ridge overlooking Telegraph Road.

Throughout the first stages of the battle, General Stuart could be seen on his horse, a white plumb feather in his hat, directing the fighting and rallying the rebel forces. Outnumbered and exhausted by two days of forced marching the Confederate soldiers fought with a fierce intensity that Nathan could only admire.

Convinced the rebels had artillery on the ridge above Telegraph Road, Sheridan ordered General Custer to take the Michigan regiments and seize the rebel guns. Much like at Gettysburg, Custer ordered the men of the Fifth and Sixth Michigan to dismount and prepare for a frontal assault on Stuart’s cannon.

The men in A Company of the Fifth advanced less than a hundred yards up the ridge before they came under murderous fire from three sides. Half the men in the lead platoon fell in the first volley. Uncertain what to do, the soldiers stood in disarray until General Custer rode up the line yelling for the men to drop to the ground and wait for the Sixth.

All around Nathan wounded men called out for help. A few called for their mothers or Jesus. Nathan said nothing. Keeping his head low, he watched the ridge where the Confederate army had reformed its line. A layer of cannon and rifle smoke hid the field of blue caps. In his right hand, Nathan gripped his new Spenser rifle and waited. After Gettysburg, Nathan stopped trying to be a hero. He had given up hope of surviving long ago. He kept his head down and followed orders.

When riders from the Michigan First galloped by on his right he still waited. Moments later, a Lieutenant stood above him with a pistol in his right hand.

Sergeant, get your men up. We are advancing on the ridge.

The Lieutenant’s bravery matched his foolishness.

Nathan stood, unsheathed his bayonet, and snapped it in place on his rifle. The shorter Spenser with its foot-long bayonet felt like a lance in his hands.

Second Squad, on me, Nathan shouted. He watched as the men in his squad stood. So many new faces. On your orders Sir, said Nathan.

Advance on the ridge. The Lieutenant pointed to the tree lined hill above the road. On the road, they received fire from artillery on the ridge above. With the Michigan Sixth now on their left, the men of the Fifth Michigan advanced on the ridge.

As they attacked from the front, Custer's mounted troopers, men from the Michigan First and Seventh drove in on the Confederate right. For the men on the ground, each yard forward cost half a dozen men until the first elements of Custer’s force broke through Lomax’s line and pushed up the hill.

Nathan reached the top of the ridge and charged the Confederate line. He led his men forward with the Spenser rifle pointing the way. When the two lines collided, men with rifles and bayonets, pistols and sabers fought hand-to-hand. Nathan knew the only way to advance was to shoot any rebel in front of you and then stab him as he passed by. When his rifle ran out of bullets, Nathan pulled out his Colt and returned to the fight. All the time, his short cavalry saber hung at his side.

After so many battles, Nathan no longer stopped when one of his men fell, he simple kept moving forward until the bugle called for a halt or retreat.

When Custer’s men broke through the Confederate line, Jeb Stuart led the First Virginia Cavalry in a counterattack shouting Hold’em boys.

The added Confederate cavalry turned the tide.

Men in blue turned and ran back down the hill. Nathan fired his pistol at the advancing rebels before he joined the retreat. At the edge of the ridge Nathan was thrown forward off his feet and knocked unconscious.

Coming to, Nathan looked around. A tree torn in half by mortar fire blocked his view. On the ground beside him, Nathan’s pack had a hole the size of an apple in the center. Inside the pack, Nathan found one of the pair of horseshoes he carried for gaming. A .50 caliber ball had chipped an end of the shoe. The horseshoe had saved his life.

Nathan reloaded his Colt while he waited for the battle to pass him by. He crawled back down the hill going over ground so many brave men had just died to win. Hindered by the empty rifle, Nathan left it behind, but held on to his Army Colt as he inched down the hill towards safety. In his heart, Nathan knew he wasn’t a coward, it was just seeing those men in gray rally around Stuart, one had to admire their bravery and he judged his own to be inferior. Not daring to look up, Nathan felt another man kneel beside him.

Sergeant, I lost my rifle; I need a gun.

Nathan looked up. He recognized a private from another company, an older man named Huff. Blood and grime covered his torn uniform. He had a look of fearlessness and determination that Nathan no longer possessed.

Sergeant, he shouted, give me your Colt.

Nathan handed the man his pistol.

Huff took aim and fired back up the hill.

I got him, he yelled, as he handed the Colt back to Nathan.

Got who, asked Nathan, still with his head down.

That General. The one with the feather in his hat.

Chapter 2

RED BULL CANYON, 1875

The three Apache scouts crossed the Rio Bravo before sunrise at a place known as Red Bull Canyon. They crossed on foot leading their ponies into the chest deep water. Fort Quitman was north of their position. They planned to use Madera Canyon in the Limpia Mountains to steal horses and kill white men. Chief Goyahkla sent the three ahead to count men and horses at the stage stations west of Fort Davis.

The scouts traveled together to Red Bull Spring and then east to Indian Spring. Water in southwest Texas was scarce and their raid depended on the horses and spring water to be found at the stage stations. Each scout was assigned a different stagecoach station.

Standing-in-Water was going to Eagle Springs. He was the oldest scout, and Eagle Springs was the closest station. The older brave was tired of the raids and fighting the buffalo soldiers. He no longer counted the men he killed. Let the young bucks take scalps. Standing-in-Water longed to lay beside his new wife and feel his child inside her grow.

Yellow-dog was the youngest of the three. Goyahkla chose him because he lived at Fort Davis for a time and hunted the canyons in the Limpia Mountains like few others. Goyahkla wanted him to go south to Barrel Springs. Yellow-dog had been on two earlier raids where they stole horses and cattle. His knife had yet to taste the blood of a white man, but the scalps of three Mexicans hung from his lodge pole. In his time at Fort Davis, Yellow-dog learned to respect the dark soldiers but hated the white officers. He hoped to put his arrow in the heart of a white officer. He envisioned wearing the man’s blue pants with the gold stripe on the side, and his white hat.

The last scout was Tall-tree. Goyahkla wanted him to go north to Van Horn’s Wells. Tall-tree had been on raids before and understood what to expect. In his first raid, he killed a white settler and his squaw. He slit her throat and burned the man alive. He brought their scalps and three fine horses back to Mexico. Goyahkla declared him a member of his inner circle. Like Yellow Dog, he had hunted on the land and drank at the springs.

The three spent the night at Indian Springs. In the morning they filled their water bags and then sat together talking for a time as they ate jerky. Chief Goyahkla and twenty warriors were three days behind them. The braves with Goyahkla were on foot. With any luck, the three Wells Fargo stations had enough horses and scalps for them to return to Mexico with their heads held high.

Chapter 3

FORT SMITH

Kenneth Waters stood in front of the Wells Fargo & Co. office with a gold pocket watch open in his hand. The timepiece was a gift from William Fargo. Engraved inside it read, ‘Fifteen Years of Service’. Waters was the Division Seven superintendent responsible for the stage from Fort Smith in Arkansas to Colbert’s Ferry in the Indian Territories.

A man in his middle forties, Waters wore a three-piece wool suit with the pant legs tucked into tall black leather boots. The bowler hat and tweed coat over his suit were last-minute additions to combat the chill in the September night air. Next to him, Octavius Kelly had on a black rain slicker over a flannel shirt, leather vest, leather pants, and crumpled stove-pipe hat. Rather than a company watch, Kelly had a whip in his hand.

What’s the time? Kelly asked.

My watch says two fifty-eight.

Superintendent Waters didn’t meet many coaches and never at three in the morning. He was meeting this stage because he needed to inform those passengers going on west that the stage would be delayed. On Fridays, the stage left Fort Smith for El Paso at five in the morning. Today, Waters agreed to delay the stage until noon because two of the passengers paid for the delay so they could witness the hangings.

Waters and Kelly heard the stage before seeing the coach lights moving down Garrison Street. The ringing and jangling of harness made its own music. The Wells Fargo station house, division, office, and stables were inside the walls of the old Fort Smith near the commissary building. Across the parade grounds the old barracks served as the new Federal courthouse and jail.

Waters’ signaled to two waiting grooms. Each groom held a lantern so the lobby boys could unload passengers, baggage, and mail. Waters waited as three men and two ladies emerged out of the red Concord coach. A lobby boy stacked the luggage and bags from the boot while the driver and his express man supervised.

A sixth passenger sat on top of the wagon behind the driver and his express man. The fare for sitting on top was half the regular fare. The man sat and smoked a clay pipe while he waited for the ladies to leave the coach. Behind him lay a Winchester rifle, saddlebags, and a carpetbag valise. He’d sold his horse and saddle for a ticket to El Paso.

The man wore faded blue work pants, and a home-spun shirt with a blue polka-dot silk neckerchief tied around his neck. Bands of sweat strained his wide brimmed white cavalry hat. The Army had issue the hat before his discharge in Fort Leavenworth. The braided gold hat cord with tied acorns, identified him as a non-commissioned cavalry officer.

The man climbed off the stage and stretched before approaching Waters and Kelly. Compared to Kelly, the man was tall and broad in the shoulders. Waters was a hand taller and a good fifty pounds heavier.

Lady and gentlemen, Superintendent Waters announced. "I am sorry to inform you, due to the unprecedented events scheduled to occur later this morning, the stage