Chapter 4
Battle at Fort Sumter
The wind was whipping through your hair. The cloud overhead cast a grim shadow over the large, stone pentagon. As you sat on your steed, you thought, and thought, and thought.
'This is our first major battle...' you thought. 'I must be prepared and study the battlefield. Okay, so if this happens, I'll do this... Then if that happens, I'll order this out... And then-'
"The army is ready, Ma'am," a subordinate said to you, stopping your train of thought. "We're ready to charge at your mark."
"Yes, thank you," you said, turning your horse around.
You waved the man off and faced your army. All of them looked willing and ready to fight, thinking they were heroes. The cause they fought for was possibly one for a hero, but was the way they were handling it heroic at all...?
Shaking off that thought, you prepared yourself. Raising your hand over your head, you called the attention of your soldiers.
"Men!" you said. "Today marks the beginning of what will probably be a long and arduous war. But falter not! For if we fight as hard as we can and the best we can, we will be winners! Now, think of all the wrongs the Union has caused you, and..."
You turned around to once again to face Fort Sumter. Brief, painful memories of him flashed through your mind as you flicked your raised hand forward.
"CHARGE!"
In a flash, your soldiers rushed forward all around you, charging down the hill. The sound of all those horses galloping and men charging sounded like rolling thunder. It quite matched the gray, grim sky.
"Hyah!"
After a few minutes, you charged down the hill, as well. Hidden in between your soldiers, you rode strongly towards the fort. Once you arrived at the gate, you saw that your soldiers had already burst through. 'Good,' you thought. Then you continued to ride into the heart of the fort.
'My men...,' you thought as you watched the battle raging all around you. 'Th-they're... They're winning...! Even if this isn't a great big opposing force, they're still winning!'
A smile was starting to grow on your face until you noticed something. From a small back entrance, more soldiers were flooding in, looking more prepared than the ones that were already here. You weren't worried, though, because they were still handling themselves quite well, not faltering a bit.
Then, all of a sudden, you saw a tuft of that too-familiar golden-brown hair. Without giving it a second thought, you urged your horse back, putting some distance between the two of you. It wouldn't be good if the two of you saw each other now, and honestly, you weren't sure if you could handle seeing him again so soon. So you quickly dissolved into the ongoing battle.
"What? What do you mean we're losing?!" the blue-eyed man asked, astonished and baffled.
The lowly soldier flinched at the man's harsh tone. "W-we're running out of supplies, and we don't have enough forces, S-Sir... The Confederate Army is greatly outnumbering us now, and they have us up against the wall..."
The man cursed silently. "Damn it! They... They got us... Sh-She..."
He cursed once again. Then, he raised his head and faced his soldiers. "Men!" he said, his voice hesitant. "...Retreat..."
For a moment, his army and even the opposing army froze. They all stared wide-eyed at the supposedly-indomitable leader, especially a certain female officer. After a few, deathly silent moments, his men started to retreat. The Confederate Army did nothing to stop them; they just watched as the army flooded out of the fort. Their officer took one last look at the fort, one last look in the direction of her, and followed suit.
After the last men had retreated, the whole entire fort was silent for a moment. Then, cheers erupted from every last soldier. They yelled and hollered and gave each other high-fives. Gunshots were fired in the air, and the whole fort was filled with glee. Your subordinates around you were thanking you and congratulating you on a job well done when you finally realized:
You won. You actually WON a battle against the Union. ...You couldn't believe it.