HALSEY and Palo'mine had won the great Kentucky Sweepstake in the first week of May 1860, and a few days later the Republican Convention at Chicago, on May 16, to be exact, nominated Abraham Lincoln to be their candidate for the Presidency of the United States.
Just what that may have had to do with the life of Halsey and Palo'mine may not at first appear, but it was a factor in their lives as we shall see later.
The political pot which had been simmering freely before the nomination of Lincoln, began to boil feverishly with that event. There were statesmen in Dixie who said openly that if he were elected the southern states would secede from the Union. But how much of this was just bluff and how much true no one knew. Probably not even the prophets themselves.
But that summer and autumn witnessed one of the most bitter political campaigns this country ever saw. The scrap between Douglas and Lincoln had been growing in intensity for years, and this year saw it fought out to the finish.
It was really more than a political campaign for the great question of slavery was up before the American people for final settlement. For years abolitionists had been denouncing slavery in the north while the underground railroad railroaded the negroes northward as fast as possible. The people of Dixie were equally determined to keep their slaves at any cost. They had paid money for them. They were a legal part of their economical machinery. The United States had recognized slavery as legal in the early days of the country and so slavery must stand.
All this heated discussion in press and at red-hot political meetings Halsey heard, but it made little impression upon him. Uncle Hillery was an optimist and lie was not much of a politician. He thought the trouble would all blow over or be settled amicably so Halsey took his cue from him.
That summer of 1860 was spent much like its predecessors. He took long rides on Palo'mine and camped in the mountains. The rest of the time he spent pleasantly at Eaton Manor. In the autumn he went back to college. He was rather surprised to find that the political struggle had permeated college, where the students debated the questions freely and took very decided stands. The students from the eastern portion of the state were for the Union, while the Blue Grass section were more favorable to Dixie, and the keeping of the slaves.
This was a political condition which was to prevail all through the Civil War, making Kentucky a state partly divided against itself, and this fact gave rise to some of the most bitter local fighting.
In November to the surprise of most Kentuckians Lincoln was elected and the stage was set for the mighty civil struggle which for four years rent the United States from end to end. But even then Colonel Eaton said it would blow over. War, civil war, was unthinkable.
So Halsey again took his cue from Uncle Hillery and went on with his studies just as though the great storm was not brewing. Yet he had begun to think for himself, and occasionally he was greatly troubled with certain aspects of the life about him and with the problems of his country.
True to the threat that had come out of the south some months earlier, South Carolina seceded from the Union in December, amid a great ringing of bells and much ceremony. In January five more states joined her. These were Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Texas followed in February. Virginia, the greatest of all the southern states and a recognized leader, did not secede until the fall of Fort Sumter.
There were fifty-five of the Virginia delegates who would not vote to secede even then, and this portion of the state was finally set off as West Virginia, and admitted to the Union in 1863. In May, North Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee also seceded. A temporary confederacy of the southern states had been formed in February and Jefferson Davis was subsequently elected president.
Then came President Lincoln's call on April 15th, 1861 for seventy-five thousand men and the great struggle was on.
When Halsey went home for a week-end in May he found Uncle Hillery very grave, but he would talk little. Halsey knew that his sympathy and interests were all for Dixie, but he did not seem willing to even influence his nephew. So Halsey went back to college very little enlightened as to the struggle.
To his surprise his college mates began slipping silently away. Where they went no one seemed to know. They were there to-day and to-morrow they were gone. But all felt very certain that they had gone to join the great army that General Lee and Stonewall Jackson were raising for the confederacy.
Finally college was over and Halsey went home to Eaton Manor. Then began that terrible battle with himself, which was harder in a way than any battle in which he afterwards engaged. In this battle there was no one to help or advise him. He had to fight it out alone. Alone under the Kentucky skies, with his conscience, and his sense of what was right for him.
Colonel Eaton was very little help to Halsey in making up his mind as to the great struggle before his country. He was naturally a quiet man, and especially so on politics. So Halsey attended political meetings and read the papers and kept up a terrific thinking which would not let him rest by day or night. With this incessant struggle with himself a great sense of restlessness came over the boy.
He could not set himself to do anything for long. His greatest comfort at these times was in taking long rides on Palo'mine. Again they took long journeys into the mountains. But even this was rather dangerous at this time, as the factional differences in Kentucky had already begun to show themselves. All through the war Kentucky stayed in the Union, but many of her Blue Grass boys went with the Confederacy.
Finally there came the battle of Bull Run, in which the Federal forces were badly defeated and things indeed looked dark. This defeat of the army of the United States came as a shock to Halsey. It seemed incredible to him that such a thing could have happened.
He never knew how he made up his mind. He always said that it was something greater than he that decided. But when he finally saw the light it came to him as a flash. He was riding through Lexington one twilight on Palo'mine, when he chanced to look up on the city hall and there upon the flag staff was Old Glory, bright and beautiful in the rays of the setting sun. Tears filled Halsey's eyes at the sight of the beautiful flag, and a great lump came into his throat. Then it was that he knew he could follow that flag through brimstone and fire, to death if need be. That was his country's flag and he knew no other.
So he turned his face homeward to tell Uncle Hillery of his decision. Halsey sought out his uncle as soon as he reached home to tell him the great news. He dreaded the ordeal and wanted to have it over as soon as possible. He found Colonel Eaton in the library reading. He greeted him in that fatherly way he had always shown him, but Halsey could not but notice that he looked anxious.
"I have made up my mind," said Halsey, coming at once to the point. "It has taken me quite a spell but I wanted to be right."
Uncle Hillery gave him a sharp glance and then looked back at his book.
"All right, son," he said, "let's have your decision."
"I am going to fight for my country," said Halsey simply, "I saw the flag the other night upon the flag staff at Lexington and it came to me that was the thing to do."
Colonel Eaton got up slowly and went to the window where he stood looking out at the landscape for a long time. He was so quiet that Halsey almost wondered if he had heard him.
"I am sorry if you are disappointed, Uncle," said the boy, "I have got to do what seems right to me."
Colonel Eaton turned and faced his nephew. He was very pale, but his voice was quiet and possessed as he spoke.
"That is right, Halsey," he said. "We have all got to do what looks right to us. I shall probably join the Confederate army."
"Oh," cried Halsey, "will I have to fight against you, Uncle?"
"I am afraid so, and against a part of Kentucky. Our state will probably stay in the Union, but many of our Blue Grass sons will join the Confederate army."
"Uncle Hillery, I can never fight against you. That would be murder!"
"War is murder any way you look at it, son. But we will all have to obey the call until we get more civilized. I will have Rastus saddle Palo'mine. He will be ready any time you say."
"What, must I go tonight?" cried Halsey surprised. It seemed to him that his uncle wanted to get rid of him.
"I think it would be best so," replied Colonel Eaton quietly. "You had better see your Aunt Julia and Margaret." Then Uncle Hillery took his nephew gently by both hands and looked into his eyes. Halsey never forgot the tenderness of his eyes and voice as he spoke.
"Individually it does not matter so very much to us which flag we fight under," he said. "But it does matter that we are good soldiers. Halsey, my boy, I want you to be a good soldier, the very best, even though you fight against me."
"I will try, Uncle Hillery. I will do my best," was all the boy could say.
"And remember this, Halsey, if we ever meet in battle, we sheathe our swords towards each other. This is a case where blood must count."
"Yes, yes, Uncle. Oh, God, that must never come!"
"I hope it will not, but we never can tell. This is going to be a terrible war, especially in our own state."
They stood for several seconds holding on to each other's hands and Halsey never forgot the tenderness of his uncle, or the kindly look in his eyes. This picture of his foster father clinging to him so tenderly was the last picture that he ever had of Uncle Hillery at close range, and he never spoke to him again.
Finally because he could not speak Halsey turned and went out of the library and sought his aunt. He found her in the sewing room.
"Aunt Julia," choked the boy. "I have come to say goodbye. I am going with the Union army. Uncle thinks I had better go tonight."
"You have always been a good boy, Halsey," said his aunt drawing him close to her and kissing him in a motherly way. "We will always love you no matter what comes. You will find your clothes in readiness in your bureau. We have expected this for weeks."
Halsey found his cousin in her den, where she spent much of her time drawing, for she was something of an artist. The room was cluttered with pictures and books and also her riding togs.
Halsey stood in the doorway looking in at her for several seconds before speaking.
"Why such a tragic air?" she inquired looking up from her easel.
"I have come to say goodbye, Peggy," choked the boy. "I am going away in a few minutes. I am going to join the Union army."
"What!" cried the girl, "the Union army, did you say?"
"Yes," said Halsey sadly, "I have but one country."
Peggy said nothing, but rose from her easel and began rummaging around among a pile of papers.
"What are you looking for, Peg?" asked the boy.
"My riding quirt," said the girl. There was a bright red spot on either cheek, but her voice was quiet and contained.
"What do you want of that?" asked Halsey dumfounded. "You are not going to ride, are you?"
"I want it to use on you. You are a traitor to your Uncle Hillery, to your aunt, to me, and to your state."
Halsey looked thunderstruck. For several seconds he stood gazing at his cousin. Then he stepped quietly to her side and pulled the quirt from between the papers.
"Here it is, Peg," he said, folding his arms and facing her, "I am ready."
She took the whip dazedly and raised it as though to strike. But it fell from her nerveless hands with a clatter to the floor. Then with a wild cry of pain she threw herself in her cousin's arms.
"Oh, Halsey, forgive me, forgive me," she sobbed. "I am such a firebrand. But I had dreamed of you as a Colonel in the Confederate army."
They did not speak again. The hearts of each were too full. But finally Peggy raised her tear-stained face to be kissed and she kissed her cousin and gazed long into his eyes before she would let him go.
At last Halsey went slowly down stairs and got his clothing. Half an hour later he was jogging slowly along the Kentucky turnpike on Palo'mine. He usually sat his horse erect, but now his young shoulders were stooped and his head was bowed with the sorrow on his young life. He did not see any of the familiar scenes.
He only saw the sad tender face of his uncle and the tear-stained face of his cousin Margaret. He could still feel her kiss upon his lips. But it had been the kiss of a sweetheart that Peggy had given him and not that of a sister.
This was one thing that the boy had still to learn, when he needed comfort most. So Halsey and Palo'mine headed for the Ohio River and the greatest adventure they had ever had together had begun.