University of Virginia Library

22. CHAPTER XXII.
THE INVASION OF THE NORTH.

General Crook, with augmented forces, his army
amounting to over 100,000 men, rapidly traversed the
State of New Jersey. Much to his astonishment and gratification,
at least one-third of his regiments were made up
of recruits from Philadelphia and its vicinity; and it was
observed that in most localities in the country, where the
anti-slavery party had triumphed at the polls, a vast proportion
of the defeated Democrats seemed strongly inclined
to espouse the cause of the Southern people. It was quite
the reverse in the South. There, when the soil was invaded
by a Northern army, all classes and parties, without exception,
united for the expulsion of the enemy.

As might have been expected, great consternation prevailed
along the line of march; and this was some miles in
breadth. Nor were there wanting guides and informers in
the several counties through which the sweeping host pursued
its devastating course. General Crook, though naturally
disposed to clemency, became, when the question of
slavery was on the tapis, perfectly inflexible. His first
thought was to send out parties to capture all the fugitive
slaves they could find, and his next was to inflict a fearful
retribution on all who had participated in stealing or harboring
that species of property. And in this category he
included, rather indiscriminately, the people called Quakers,

and they fared very badly. Forage for the horses, and
bread and meat for the men, under a compulsory process,
were furnished by them without charge. And whenever
one peculiarly obnoxious was taken, everything movable in
his possession was confiscated, and everything combustible
was consumed. He was painted black, tarred and feathered,
and then turned loose in the woods.

At Burlington, the General was anxious to cash a draft,
for several of his own negroes that had escaped from Alabama,
at one of the banks, of which a Republican was the
president. But this bank, as Mrs. K. had written to Mr.
B., had escaped to Tuckerton. With the rich men of the
town, who were either Democrats or Constitutionalists,
General Crook had no quarrel; but from others, he was
determined to get what indemnity he could for the fifty
million dollars' worth of slave property the South had been
despoiled of since the formation of the Federal Union.

In many places the militia had been called out by the
Governor; but such defenders never assembled in sufficient
strength to make the slightest resistance. Besides, it was
known that General Hudson was concentrating his army in
the neighborhood of Trenton, where it was supposed the
tide of invasion would be arrested.

But General Hudson, contrary to the wishes and anticipations
of many of the inhabitants, who had ridiculed the
idea of a Southern army penetrating the free States, seemed
to avoid encountering General Crook, and fell back on the
Delaware River.

Without turning to the left for the purpose of offering
battle, General Crook pushed forward with expedition,
seeming more intent upon intercepting the communications
of Hudson with his base of operations, than upon preserving
his own. During the heat of the day he permitted his
men to rest and refresh themselves; but at night the march
was continued. As he approached the Hudson River, he
received many accessions to his ranks. From these he
obtained such information in relation to the defences of the
metropolis, as induced him, by forced marches, to fall upon
Jersey City without delay. Not the least resistance was
made. On the contrary, a sufficient number of boats were
procured to have transported the entire army to the opposite
side of the river in a few hours. But this was not

deemed expedient. Captain S., of the Navy, forbade it.
More than one hundred thousand men had arrived in the
city of New York within forty-eight hours, and preparations
were in progress for a resolute defence. Therefore
General Crook contented himself by erecting batteries
which menaced the city. More than one hundred and fifty
guns and mortars were in readiness for the destruction of
the great commercial emporium, when a deputation of
Councilmen, bearing a flag of truce, waited upon the General.

“Gentlemen,” said Crook, “at the expiration of three
hours send me four millions of dollars, and I will retrace
my steps, and fight Hudson. You have some thirty millions
in your banks, and you can easily produce the amount
I demand. It is less than one-tenth the value of the slaves
your negro-stealers have deprived us of. It is a moderate
quota for New York.”

“It is a large sum, sir,” said the President, “and we
might not be able to negotiate the loan.”

“Seize it, then, and tax the citizens to pay it! Two
millions for our stolen slaves, and two millions for harboring
the political parsons and Abolition editors who have produced
the separation of the States and civil war. I would
have demanded the surrender of the preachers, had I not
shipped them to Liberia. And as for your fanatical editors,
I think you will punish them sufficiently yourselves for
having subjected your city to such enormous sacrifices.
Go, gentlemen, and send me the money at the time specified,
else be prepared for the consequences. The injury I can
inflict would be not less than a million an hour—and I
should not cease at the fourth hour. I have one hundred
thousand red hot balls in my furnaces, and as many bombs
in the boats. If my demand be not complied with, you
will, of course, see that the women and children are
removed beyond the reach of my projectiles.”

At the time mentioned the money was delivered. Then
Crook, learning that General Hudson had intercepted his
communications, made preparations for battle, with a desperate
resolve to preserve his treasure.

On the night succeeding the day of General Crook's
financial coup de main, the Southern army was encamped
upon the magnificent lands of the anti-slavery Quakers, and

feasted abundantly without expense. But the camp-fires of
General Hudson gleamed in a few miles of them, and in the
line of their retreat. Crook and Steel were seated together
in the best parlor of a neat Quaker mansion, the messuage
of a noted Abolitionist, condemned to the flames the next
morning. In war fire either follows or precedes the sword.

The Generals were interrupted in the examination of the
maps spread out before them, by the entrance of Samuel
C—, the Quaker proprietor of the mansion.

“Well, Samuel,” said General Crook, “thee is still here.
I am bound to tar and feather thee, thee knows.”

“No, General, thee will not tar and feather me.”

“That is saying a great deal, Samuel, and saying it positively.”

“I am positive. I tell thee that I will not be tarred or
feathered—but I may be plucked.”

“Plucked? Samuel, this is facetious, and I like thee none
the worse for it. But be brief.”

“Then, in a word, what will be an equivalent in money
for omitting the tar and feathers, and for sparing my
house?”

“Now I understand thee. How much did thy house cost?”

“Eight thousand dollars.”

“Very good. No doubt you have a heavy purse. Next,
how many negroes have you assisted to escape from their
masters; how many have you harbored, hidden, stolen?
How many pamphlets have you circulated in the South inciting
servile insurrections? How many anti-slavery newspapers
have you supported? Ah, Samuel! You see how
painful a thing it is, when the iron enters your own soul!
How bitter the draught you have been concocting, when
the chalice is commended to your own lips! We have
been robbed of property to the amount of fifty million
dollars; and, until this moment, no recompense has been
demanded. We have borne much and long without retribution,
until, at last, the cup is overflowing! You must
acknowledge that the Southern people never interfered with
any of your domestic arrangements; they never despoiled
you of any of your property; and, above all, they never
placed torches and knives in the hands of the debased
among you to consume your dwellings and to cut the throats
of your wives and children!”

“Name the sum that will content thee, General, and then
I will tell thee a secret.”

“Ten thousand dollars. Now the secret.”

“I am a hypocrite.”

“That is no secret, Samuel!”

“But I was a slave-trader, and made my money in Brazil.
There are papers at Washington, sent thither by our Minister
at Rio, which establish the fact that one of the most
successful traders between the coast of Africa and the Brazilian
empire was a New Jersey Quaker. I am that man.”

“I remember it. And here, at home, you will consume
only `free' sugar, `free' rice, and `free' coffee. Ah,
Samuel, the devil will make you dance on red-hot dollars!”

“And, near Trenton, if thee should meet with one George
K—, do not molest him. He is a Democrat, and preaches
against interference with slavery.”

“Very well. Thee shall drink the health of King Cotton.
But thy money, Samuel! If thee had not been a hypocrite,
I would have remitted everything. The money shall be
judiciously expended in halters.”

“Thee shall have thy money in an hour.”

“If not, thy house will be a bonfire, Samuel.”

The two Generals then resumed the examination of the
maps.

“Let us commence the battle before daylight,” said
Steel.

“No, General.”

“Then, perhaps, we had better await Hudson's attack;
our position is a good one for defence—Who is that?

A tumult arose among the sentinels without, and shortly
after a Sergeant appeared at the door conducting a prisoner.

“Here is a spy of the enemy, General,” said the Sergeant.

“Make short shrift of him! We have no time for court-martials
now.”

“He's been condemned already, sir. He's the same man
that was rescued from under the gallows by Commodore
Stout's men.”

“Indeed!” exclaimed General Crook. “Willy, I'm sorry
to see you in my clutches again. There is now no appeal
to Blount.”

“General, I have this for you,” said Willy, delivering a
diminutive scrap of paper.

“Ha!” cried Crook, springing to his feet. “Go, Sergeant,”
said he, “we have been mistaken. Wiry Willy is
not an enemy. Let that be made known. Willy,” he continued,
shaking the hand of the faithful messenger, “I'm
glad we didn't hang you!”

“So am I, General,” said Willy, with a very serious countenance.

“Steel,” said Crook, “see all the Generals. We must be
under full march in an hour. There will be no battle
to-morrow.”

“Does he say so?”

“No—the assurance is from S—, who knows what he
says. We will, at all events, leave the enemy behind us.
If he desires a battle, of course he will follow. Wiry
Willy,” he continued, “can you tell me what Blount was
doing?”

“He was preparing to fight General Ruffleton, whose
attack was looked for daily.”

“And the fleets? Did they remain in the same positions?
Hudson being in our rear, we have had no advices.”

“Both had moved further up the river, and it was
rumored that the British Admiral would attack the American
ships, unless Lord Slysir were given up.”

“I don't wonder at it. But does the President remain in
the city?”

“No, sir; he has joined the army which is encamped
near the old battle-field at Red Bank.”

“Mount and ride with me, Willy; I have more to say
to you. Come.”

Within the hour specified, the Southern army was in motion;
and, as anticipated by Crook, there was no attempt
on the part of Hudson to arrest his march. By sunrise the
former had passed several miles beyond the dim camp-fires
of the latter, and was now in full retreat, but with flying
colors and laden with treasure.

But many of the ardent volunteers under General Crook
began to murmur at his inglorious retrograde movement,
and demanded a battle. Sufficiently versed in military
affairs to be aware that in the event of defeat, with a broad

river to pass before he could evacuate the enemy's country,
his army might be exposed to total destruction, the General
would have been content to retire in good order with his
booty; but still he was not prepared to resist the demands
and reproaches of his chivalrous followers. Therefore, when
he had crossed the bridge of the marshy creek on the east
of the town of Burlington, he faced about on the common,
and resolved to await the attack of his pursuers.

Hudson was not slow in making his dispositions. A battery
was established on a neck of land near the river, which
raked the invading host in that direction; and one was
erected on the Mount Holly road, which assailed them on
the right. These two concentric fires were replied to by
divergent batteries with spirit, but not with the same fatal
effect.

For a long time the combatants remained so far asunder,
that the few thousand Minié rifles in their possession were
the only small arms employed. But the terrible batteries
of round shot and bomb-shells dealt destruction in their
ranks, and went crashing among the houses in the vicinity.
The building near the bridge, used as a Catholic church,
was perforated in so many places that the east end of the
house fell down, and the priest, who had been devoutly
praying, fled away with the candlesticks. The building
next to the church, occupied by a spiritualist, was blown to
pieces by a bomb, and it was said that screams were uttered
by invisible beings in the air.

But the iron projectiles flew through every portion of the
town, and most of the citizens hastened out of their range.
Many took refuge in St. Mary's Church, whose massive
walls were cannon proof; and these were saved. Mr. W.
stood in the street and pointed with his cane to the places
where he said the population would be in perfect safety;
and he assured the panic-stricken, with vehemence and gesticulation,
that in dodging in the alleys they were liable to
run into the “jaws of destruction.” The Bishop, mindful
of the precious charge committed to his parental protection,
conveyed the three hundred girls at the Hall over to
Bristol, beyond the possibility of injury; and then he
returned, scatheless, amidst the roar of cannon and the
whistling of balls, to that portion of his flock which had
taken sanctuary in St. Mary's holy church. A solemn service

was performed, during which angelic voices floated on
the air.

Ever and anon the wind hurled clouds of smoke from the
battle-field through the streets, and the sun was completely
darkened. And, to add to the horror of the scene, a bomb
burst in the apothecary shop of Friend Alison, among the
gallipots and gums and essences, and the suffocating effluvia
drove hundreds from the walls, where they had taken shelter,
in obedience to the commands of Mr. W. The banks
were broken to pieces, but the officers escaped unhurt; and
several of the tallest houses on Main street were damaged
in their upper stories. The host of a hotel stood his ground
manfully on a balcony at the corner, and escaped unhurt.
But, while there, a cannon ball struck the neck of a lame
free negro, who attempted to limp across the street. His
head flew a great distance up in the air, and curving over
the flag-staff in front of the hotel, descended to the balcony,
and remained crown up, snapping its eyelashes in astonishment,
but apparently not in pain.

In the meantime, General Hudson was projecting a terrible
charge on Crook's centre at the bridge. For this purpose
he had obtained a locomotive from the outer depôt,
and generating a full head of steam, set it in motion without
engineer or conductor. It rushed down the track and
passed the bridge in spite of the shells and balls aimed for
the purpose of disabling it. It thundered onward, and the
lines opened as it rushed through the Southern army. It
passed through the town of Burlington, whizzed by Beverly,
over the Rancocas bridge, and on to Camden, at the rate of
a mile a minute, smashing every opposing obstacle, and
finally plunged into the river, just as the steamer “State
Rights” had left the landing.

It was during the commotion produced by the charge of
this novel engine of war, that Hudson led forward the
attack at the bridge. A column of forty thousand men
advanced, while the fire of all the batteries converged to the
same point; and in return, Crook concentrated all his fire
on the head of the assailing column. The bravery was
equal on both sides. The dark mass of advancing men
made no perceptible progress, after the head of the column
had reached within a hundred paces of the guns of the
enemy. At that point, every discharge swept down scores

of the foremost; and although those in the rear continued
to push forward, the front melted away at the point indicated.
At length the heaps of slain were converted into
breastworks, and the mangled remains of the dead were
used as protecting shelters for the living. On both sides
the slaughter was frightful; but the assailants, as usual, suffered
the most, being more fully exposed to the aim of the
infantry, and incapable, from the compact order of their
approach, of returning the fire.

For a long time this immense sacrifice of human life continued;
but the attack was repulsed, for it seemed a physical
impossibility, under such a murderous volcano as that
belched forth by the Southern army, for any number of
living men to pass the bridge. Hudson, leaving one-fourth
of the column on the ground, drew off the rest. But he
was not dismayed, and immediately organized a second
assaulting column, to be preceded by eighty pieces of cannon.
Under cover of these field-pieces, hurling cannister
and grape, another corps was pushed forward, but not in
so dense a mass as to prevent the use of their arms.

Crook now in turn suffered the most severely. He was
assailed by superior numbers in the centre, and perceived
with some uneasiness, that a strong detachment
had passed over the Mount Holly bridge for the purpose
of turning his right wing. To provide against such a
contingency as ultimate defeat, he started off a locomotive
and one car with his specie.

The battle continued until after sunset, when an immense
force, supposed to be not less than fifty thousand horse and
infantry, was observed descending Gallows Hill, on the right,
and in the rear of the Southern army. This produced great
confusion.

“Give me a glass,” cried Crook. “It's Randolph,” he
exclaimed, after intently regarding the menacing host.
“He will not attack us.”

“True,” said Steel. “Neither did he attack Gen. Ruffleton.
But his presence decided the battle.”

“And I fear it will decide this,” said Crook. “Gentlemen,”
he continued, addressing several of the Generals
standing near, “if we can only persuade our men that Randolph
will not assault us, I think Hudson will be beaten
yet.”

“But they cannot be persuaded,” was the reply. And,
indeed, many of the regiments were already retreating
precipitately.

Crook exerted himself, but in vain, to inspire confidence.
His line gave way at all points, and the only thing he
could do was to cover the retreat with his artillery. This
he did with such promptitude and resolution, that Hudson
was for a long time kept at bay. Then, burning
the bridge, and compelling his pursuers to make the circuit
of the marshes on the south, the rear-guard of the
defeated host reluctantly abandoned the town.

President Randolph disappeared mysteriously. None of
his men were seen from the time that the Southern army
was in full retreat. Some conjectured that he had withdrawn
behind the hills, to reappear somewhere on the line
of march between Burlington and Red Bank. But Crook
had no apprehension of being intercepted by the Federal
troops; and vented his chagrin at the manœuvre of the
President, with an ill grace, since, on Southern soil, a similar
manœuvre had enabled him to gain a great victory.