Preview from the Drawn to Darkness Series - Grassy Cove

Grassy Cove Preview

 

As the sun began to rise over the school house, the Union Officer knew it would be only a matter of a few hours before the group would be captured. They had safely buried their cargo in a cave and he had drawn a quick map. A Confederate soldier had followed them into the cave, and after a brief fight was shot and left in a side passage. He had to think quickly. The shadow of the school steeple moved quickly across the field. As the point of the steeple shadow reached his position, he noted the time and date, 4:30 PM, June 25^th, 1862.

Martin estimated that he had Five days before being jerked back from the past. If this was going to continue he would have to find a way of choosing the time and place. All he knew now was the had to walk by that certain mail box.

He told his parents and his girl friend that he was going to drive up to Tennessee and so some hiking for the next four or five days, this should avoid any missing person report, and searching for him.

Martin drove to Cleveland, Tennessee and parked at the bus station. After buying a ticket back to Marietta he planned on getting off in Kennesaw and start his next adventure!

“All aboard for Cartersville, Dalton, and Chattanooga!”

Martin settled in for the ride back to Tennessee. Black smoke blowing by the open train window as the train pulled out of Big Shanty and started up the two mile grade to Moon’s Station. As the General took on water under the water tower at Moon’s Station, he thought about the walk to the mail box, and the flash that took him back a hundred and fifty years. After the flash, Martin had noticed that there was a cedar post across the road where the mail box stood. He went over, took out the pocket knife and carved his initials on the fence post, along with the date, June 22, 2012/1862 Sunday services were being held at the church and Martin quietly enter and took a seat in the back where he could leave quickly and catch the train north at Big Shanty.

In Dalton Martin pick up a newspaper to read as he boarded the train for Knoxville by way of Cleveland. As he read the latest about the raid and spies, he came across the story about George Davenport Wilson, one of Andrew’s raiders, being tried and convicted in Knoxville. The seven were sent back to Atlanta on June 8, 1862 to be hanged. George Wilson had a strange request, that his gold ring and an oval portrait of his wife worn as a pin, be buried with him along with the six other spies.

After reading this, Martin changed his plans and disembarked at Loudon, a stop along the shores of the Tennessee River. A boat ride down the river to Sulphur Springs advertised for healing qualities caught his attention. With time to kill, Martin signed up. It was a nice ride to the mouth of the Piney river, then four miles up stream to the spring. Rhea county was in the process of raising another company of solders for the Confederate military. They were well known for the only female cavalry company, who patrolled the local country side and helped recruit for the army. Martin was approached by one of the girls as he was trying to get a room at the resort. After many questions, most of which he had no answers, he was persuaded to join the new company. The camp was dusty and the meals lacked a lot. Martin knew better than try to escape, after all in a few days he would disappear and return to the future.

Part of the duties was working the caves of Grassy Cove for saltpeter, a nitrite used in the production of gunpowder. They loaded the new solders onto wagons and carried us over the mountain to the cove which was full of caves. Martin along with the other solders were given sacks and directed to go to the back of the cave and fill it with the soft dirt. It was then brought out of the cave and dumped into a large vat where the nitrite was leached out.

On the return to camp Martin was pulled and assigned to a special patrol  to stop a Union supply wagon that had been chased over the mountain from the west, and into the cove.

The rebel patrol waited for the supply wagon headed south to supply Gen Mitchell at Chattanooga. They had been tracking the Union solders for two days and had set the ambush with a tree across the road. They expected that they would turn and make a run for it. The side road would lead the Union solders over the mountain and into Grassy Cove. With no way out they would be trapped. Other Confederate solders mining Saltpeter from the caves there would be able to finish them off.

Gun fire erupted as the supply wagon and troops approached. The group of riders and wagon tore off up the mountain road, not knowing what to expect, only desperate to get away with their precious cargo…

The young officer was not aware of its contents, but had strict orders not to let it fall into the enemies hands. Safely buried he took the map, folded and tore it in half. Placing one half in his small metal clad box, he carried. When the shadow of the school steeple suddenly hit him he quickly buried it in a shallow hand dug hole.

Martin was sick, he had never seen so much blood.  His patrol had cornered the Union patrol in the school yard and massacred all of them. The wagon was empty, if they were carrying anything, they had hid it before the patrol caught them. As they were picking up the bodies of the Union solders, Martin noticed the hastily dug shallow hole with a metal box. When no one was watching he slipped his $100.00 note into the box and pushed some leaves over the hole. Thinking that he could come back later and examine the contents. The note would be a problem if found on him in 1862! He would certainly be accused of being a spy.

Clair pried on the lid of the box that had rusted closed. Her black hair hung over her eyes as she concentrated on her prize. Her mother stepped on the porch, “What are you doing to our door stop?”

“It’s not a rock it’s a box!”

“My goodness, I plowed that thing up over in Grassy Cove. When we lived next to the old School House.”

After years of being shoved around by the door, hints of metal on the corner begin to be visible under the dirt and rust.

Clair, “I noticed the shinny corner and decided to chip off the rust.”

Her mother noticed the sparkle in Clair’s brown eyes as she worked on the box. She had seen it many times before.

Clair knew all the stories about the cove. The union solders massacred near the one room school and rumors about what they were doing there and what they may have been transporting.  There was also the report of human skeletons found in McFalls Cave.

How they were chased up the mountain and three days later captured and killed. Could this box have something to do with them?

The tip of the screwdriver broke and the lid did not budge.

Clair was in the ninth grade and had moved here three years earlier. The previous year had been exciting; exploring a cave with Matthew, John and Joann. Matthew had become a close friend, but not quite a boyfriend. Clair was nervous, wondering if Matthew might ask her out on a date, knowing that she would turn him down. They both loved caving and exploring, and although she enjoyed his company, she was not ready to get serious. The group was coming over and Clair was excited about showing them the box she had discovered.

The porch was a mess with all the dirt and rust she had chipped off the box. Maybe Matthew would know how to get it open.

Matthew jumped up on the porch and exclaimed, “What a mess! What have you been doing?”

Clair, a little perturbed said, “Just cleaning up this old door stop.” She thought about just keeping the box a secret.

However Clair needed Matthew’s help in getting the box open.

“Have you got a hacksaw. We’ll just saw it open.” Matthew stated casually. “It will be no problem at all to open. Then we can take in a movie.”

Clair thought, “I don’t think so.”

Several minutes later after sawing all the way around the lid, all he had was a bright shinny line only a fraction of an inch deep. The box was heavy and the metal much thicker than they thought. Matthew remarked, “Dull blade I guess.”

Joann arrived twisting her hair around her index finger, “What’s bothering you today.” Clair asked.

“John hasn’t called in two days, working on his old car I--.”

Matthew interrupts, “We are going to take in a movie later, do you want to come?”

Clair in a stern voice; “Not till we get this box open, are you going to help?”

John pulled up in the car with a tire going flat. As he got out the jack and spare; Joann piped up again, “see, there he goes again, working on that car.”

John, as if he did not hear; “Anyone want to help me wash the car?”

Matthew cuts in again; “Only if you will give us a ride to the theater, I’m ready for a movie.”

After all the distractions, Clair again related how she came to have a mysterious box that they could not get open.

At last, a crack in the lid. John grabbed the broken screwdriver and jammed it into the crack, and started to pry.

Clair yelled, “Wait a minute, I want to be the one to open it!”

The contents spilled out onto the porch. A gold coin, a one hundred dollar confederate note and a strange looking map or diagram. The diagram was several lines turning in different directions with numbers on each line leading to an “X”. Problem was there were no indication where the starting point was and no clues as to the directions of the lines. If it was a map it was useless. If the box was a mystery, then the contents were a real puzzle.

The gold coin was a five dollar half eagle with the date 1860, and had a “C” on one side. John’s dad collected coins and he recognized it from pictures in his dad’s coin book. The “C” was probably a Charlotte mint mark.

The $100 bill had a date of Feb 17^th 1864 with a hand written serial number of 4398, printed in Richmond with a picture of a woman on the front.



Figure 4 Confederate counterfeit note.

Knowing that the box was found in Grassy Cove, they would have to drive over the mountain and investigate. Matthew, disappointed about not taking in a movie blurted; “What the heck, lets check out Grassy Cove.”

John said; “OK, but if we get the car muddy you will all have to help me clean it up.”

Joann was so upset with John that she refused to ride in the front seat with him. So the two girls rode in the back and the boys in the front. Clair could not believe she had been using a treasure box for a door stop all these years!

Grassy Cove was once a huge natural lake that eventually drained through a cave at the north end of the cove. When debris fills the entrance to the cave the cove begins to fill with water creating swamps and grassy plains. There are many caves in the cove and a great source of Saltpeter for making gunpowder needed by the Confederate Army.

The now paved highway was a much easier and faster ride for the gang of four. They spent the day exploring the old homestead, where Clair used to live, looking for clues.

They showed the map to Fred, the store owner, to see if he knew of any trails or roads that matched the turns shown. He seemed to take a special interest as his eyes lit up. As Matthew thought about the lines, it occurred to him that his cave maps looked like that before he drew in the sides. Maybe the turns were passages and the numbers were paces between the turns. They had lunch at the small store in the cove and talked with the owner, who gave them the location of several caves in the area. They all agreed that they would have to check out all the caves in the cove to see if the turns matched the map.

Windless Cave was in a sink on top of the saddle at the west end of the mountain on the north side of the cove. The group decided to check it out on the way back home. The cave was very dusty and small. They checked out each of the passages with Matthew pacing off the distance to each turn to see if he could find anything that matched the map. No such luck!

Joann rode back across the mountain in the front seat with John and commented; “This is the most I have seen you since you got this car.”

John responded; “Great isn’t it!”

Matthew was coughing and remarked, “I think I caught something in that dusty cave”.  

A[HCC21]  week later Matthew was sick had to stay out of school for a few days. His mother took him to the doctor and his lung x-rays looked like tuberculosis. Matthew was kept in isolation while more tests were being run. Clair would drop off his home work and pick it up the next day, after all the trouble Matthew had with school he could not afford to fall behind. When the test came back he was diagnosed with histoplasmosis, a common infection among the chicken farmers. The doctor was puzzled about how Matthew got the infection, until he told the doctor about the dusty cave.

With days confined to the house, Matthew studied the map to see if he could figure any thing out. As he examined the edges, one edge looked a little rougher than the other three. As if someone had folded and tore the map into. Then it hit Matthew, we have only half a map. The other half must have the starting point. He could not wait to tell the rest of the group. They need to be looking for another map and not a cave!

 

Figure 5 half map with "X"

 

George Ford was a civil war buff. He was also a treasure hunter. George knew that the union solders that were massacred at the school house in Grassy Cove had hid something of value. His Great-grandfather was involved in the massacre and had given George a map that was taken off the dead officer. Problem was that half the map was missing. The date of the massacre was written on the map and a time, which did not make any sense. The mention of the school steeple was also a mystery. As George stopped at the store for his morning coffee, Fred told him about the kids stopping by and showing him a map. “Let me know if they come by again.” George said, “It could be worth something for you.” Fred knew about the map George had and knew that there must be some connection.

George knew that he had to get his hands on the map half that the kids had.

“George, someone entered the cove late last night well after midnight.” Commented Fred, as George poured his morning coffee.

“Do you think it was those kids coming back to check out the school house cave?”

“I doubt it.” Replied George.

As George left, he headed straight for the school, picking up a light and shovel.

George was frantic, he could see where the kids had been digging and he knew that they must have found something. He had spent hours in the cave checking out every possible spot. Poking an iron rod into the ground looking for soft spots. He knew that there had to be a treasure there somewhere.

Exhausted, George gave up and starting plotting how he could gain the confidence of the kids. Maybe if he shared some of the other items that his Great-grandfather passed down to him.

He stopped back by the store to talk to Fred.

“Fred, when those kids come back, let them know that I have some Civil War items of interest from the Union soldiers that were killed in the school yard battle here in the cove.”

“Do you think they are looking for that treasure the Union soldiers hid?”

“Not sure, but it seems that they have discovered something and I want to find out what it is.”

“I will give them directions to your house and give you a call when they come by again.”

 

Copyright © 2015 Hubert Clark Crowell