Chapter 14
July 2, 1863
As the dawn takes over the early morning, the blues, purples, pinks, and oranges of the sunrise take over the sky over Gettysburg. The silence of the fields and the beauty of the morning could almost lead one to forget where they are and what is happening all around them. Gettysburg is a beautiful farming community in the rolling hills of central Pennsylvania. How this war found this place, this quiet little community, is unknown. But now here they are, the people of the town, having to share their land, their homes, and their lives with soldiers, blood, and devastation.
Zeke sits upon his mare taking in the beautiful morning sky but watching as the Union soldiers move around him on Little Round Top, positioning themselves like pieces in a chess game. The fresh Union forces were arriving from the Army of the Potomac to reinforce the severely damaged Union lines. There was no doubt that yesterday's battles won the Rebels the upper hand here. These reinforcements and the others that weren't far away were a welcome sight to the worn colonel.
Just out of sight Rebel forces were once again maneuvering themselves for another attack on the Union. With the Union having kept control of the high ground, they felt they had the upper hand in what was to come.
Zeke sits alone, listening to the sounds of shouting and small skirmishes throughout the land around him. He doesn't see where these battles are occurring, but the rising sun brings the visions of smoke from the firing of rifles and cannons, resembling fog below the hill that he sits upon. Even if he were part of the fighting that happening right now, he still wouldn't be able to see well.
He thinks about just a few days ago, having been in the arms of his beloved wife in a safe place with no fighting and bloodshed. Surrounded by friends and family, he was happy and content. Today, after having lost about a fourth of his troops in yesterday's battles, he worries if he will see his beloved again. This battle yielded so many deaths in one day, worse than almost any other battle that he's been involved in to now. It's a frightening thought that he may never see her again. He may never know if she is with child or not and if she is, what that child would be and what they would look like. He realizes that he hasn't seen Tobias since before the fighting began yesterday. A feeling of worry and sadness engulfs him even more. If something happens to Tobias, Tris may not survive it. She allowed him into her life, something that is quiet unlike this girl who's withstood so much to defy her family and the life that she lived. Without him, that girl will throw herself into this war and probably meet him sooner than she should.
The sounds of the battles grow around Little Round Top. Cannon fire echoes throughout the small farming town. He looks out beyond where he sits and is saddened for the people in the homes below. They didn't ask to be shoved smack in the middle of the fighting, but they are doing what they can to help the Union troops, without angering the Rebels. So far it seems that many of them have escaped their town for safer places.
Zeke leads his mare down the back side of Little Round Top toward where the group of soldiers are waiting to be given their orders for the day. By the looks on their faces, many of them know that today they are going to die. Many will not be returning to their families and friends after this day and they know it. But yet they still sit here and await their deaths with dignity and bravery. The sight is quite impressive.
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a majestic black stallion moving through the Union ranks toward him. He's happy to see the sad but playful smirk of his friend and now cousin, Tobias.
"Where have you been? Where are your troops?" Zeke asks him when he gets close enough.
"We are dug in on Cemetery Ridge awaiting our commands. I came to see what's happening. There are battles all around, but yet we await our commands," Tobias tells him.
"Right now we wait. There are Rebel forces moving, just where they are moving, no one seems to be sure."
Tobias bows his head looking sullen, "I can't believe just a couple days ago I was marrying the most beautiful woman and now I'm here, waiting for my death or the death of others."
Zeke doesn't respond, he agrees with those sentiments exactly.
Christina wakes to the sound of Tris and Shauna shouting at each other from the hall. Their anger and frustration evident in the sound of their voices. She moves to open her door and is greeted by an angry Union soldier. On second glance, she realizes that this isn't any normal Union soldier, its Tris.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Christina asks her.
"Don't you start too! I need to go, I need to see…"
"Stop there. Tris you can't do this. You promised him you wouldn't return like this."
"Christina, I have to. Why won't you two understand this?" Tris shouts.
"There's nothing to understand, Tris," Shauna shouts back with frustration evident in her voice. "You are selfishly going to go in there and risk your life just so you can be part of what's going on. You promised your husband that you would heal and stay safe. You promised Zeke the same thing."
Christina goes into her room and takes an unloaded pistol from her nightstand. She emerges from her room with the gun and extends her arm to Tris. "Take the gun in your right hand, extend your arm, pull the hammer back and pull the trigger. If you can do all of that with your injured arm, then I won't stand in your way. I'll even go with you as a nurse."
Tris looks skeptically at Christina while Shauna looks horrified. "What are you doing, Christina?" Shauna growls.
Christina doesn't respond. She simply watches as Tris takes the gun in both hands and extends her arms.
"No, your right arm only. If you are riding you will only be shooting with one hand, your right hand."
Tris glares at her and removes her left hand from her right. She extends her right arm and the gun drops immediately to the ground. She leans down and retrieves the gun from the ground and tries again. No matter how hard she tries and how much effort she expels, she can't raise and aim the pistol like she should be able to, she can't even keep a good grip on the weapon to keep it securely in her hand. After a few long moments of trying desperately to hold the gun appropriately, she can't. She drops it back to the ground and glares at Christina.
"I'm sorry Tris, but you have nerve damage in your arm and hand. You can't even hold a gun properly, let alone shoot it. How are you going to defend yourself? How could you even help anyone as a nurse right now? You need to give this time and let yourself heal."
"You knew that would happen," Tris accuses.
"Of course I did. I know the extent of your injury, that's my job, that's why I was brought here. You will be no good to anyone if you go back and get yourself killed. Think of Tobias. Do you want to be the reason that he gets killed, because if you go back he will put his life on the line to keep you safe? You will kill him."
Tears begin to form in Tris' eyes and threaten to spill over and down her cheeks. The sadness, frustration, and fury that she's feeling fueling her emotions. She glares from Shauna to Christina and growls, "Fine." She stalks back to her room where she finally allows the tears to fall down her cheeks. She removes the soldier's uniform and replaces it with a simple blue dress. She throws herself on the bed and allows herself to expel all of the sadness, frustration, and anger that she's feeling through her tears. After some time, a knock sounds on her door and in spite of her ignoring the visitor, they open the door and enter, sitting on her bed next to her.
"Tris I'm sorry," Christina says. "But I made a promise to your husband and to Zeke. You have to know your limitations and understand that your actions have consequences. That is something that you have never been good with."
Tris glares at her, "What do you mean?"
"Being so defiant to your parents, that's why your father tried to marry you off at sixteen. You wouldn't conform to your father's expectations. He felt his daughter should be accommodating and submissive to his ways. You refused to behave the way he wanted so when that man wanted to marry you, he was all too happy to make you someone else's problem. So when that man raped you, to your father, that was the consequence for not listening to him, but the real consequence was losing your brothers."
"Are you seriously saying the consequence for not listening to my father was the death of Caleb and Will moving away?" Tris asks angrily.
"No, Caleb's death and Will's departure were the consequences of the volatile relationship you had with your parents. Will and Caleb knew it was only a matter of time before they could escape to the north. They had intended on taking you with them, but that night changed everything."
"They were planning on escaping and taking me with them?"
"Yes, they were."
"Why did I never know this?" Tris asks with more tears.
"Because they knew you would be impatient and they needed to be able to plan everything perfectly. They were going to take me too."
"Then why did Will leave alone?"
"Because at that point, he needed to get away. He didn't have confidence that he could do it without Caleb. So he did what he needed to do."
Tris looks shocked at Christina, "How do you know all of this?"
"Because, Will came to find me before he left. He told me what was happening and why. He apologized for not taking me with him. He left me that day crying and longing for a life that could never be."
Just then, there's a knock on the door. Shauna opens the door carefully, worried about what Tris might say or what she might walk in on.
When Tris sees her, she suddenly realizes what she was doing and what Shauna is going through, because it's exactly what she's going through. The horrifying realization that she tried to make her pain seem so much worse than Shauna's hits her when she sees the tears shining in Shauna's eyes.
"Shauna, I'm so sorry. Please, forgive me. I'll stay and heal, I promise. I'll only go back as a nurse and only after I've healed."
Shauna smiles, "Tris, I'm sorry too. I didn't… I wouldn't…"
"I know Shauna," Tris says. "It's okay."
General James Longstreet moves his army along with Captain Uriah Monroe's horsemen into position to begin attacks against the Union left to be coordinated en echelon to break the Union lines. Their orders were to take Cemetery Hill and crush the Union troops who were stationed around and on Cemetery Ridge.
Uriah stood in his stirrups at the front of his brigade and shouted, "Fix bayonets, my brave men! Forward and take those heights!" His orders were to cross the Emmitsburg Road and wheel left, moving north with his left flank guiding on the road. Uriah leads his men forward toward the Yankee line, sitting high on his horse so his men can see him and follow him, he is high enough though that the Yanks have a clear shot at him.
A barrage of artillery shells burst overhead, the deafening sounds disorienting all of the Confederate soldiers under Uriah's command. Yet they push forward, refusing to back down, they are going to follow the commands of their superiors or be damned.
A shot rings out that doesn't stand out from the rest, but what is special about this particular shot is that it hits its intended target. Uriah is thrown from his steed by the force of the shot that hit him. The burning and fierce pain he feels in his left arm are worse than he's ever felt. The wound to his arm is such that the pain immediately renders him unable to get up and move back to his horse to continue the march toward the Yankee lines.
"Move forward men," he shouts from where he lies. His division moving forward to the east, no longer under his command or any other's.
As Uriah slowly pulls himself off of the ground, his left arm hanging limp at his side, the sounds of shouting and the war raging around him force work harder to move so he can live. He slowly makes his way to his steed where he just barely pulls himself up into his mount. The blinding pain wreaking havoc throughout his body while a steady stream of blood streams from the missing skin and muscle that was ripped from his arm. He maneuvers his horse away from the field of battle and towards where he hopes to find help before he bleeds out and becomes just another soldier, dead in the fields of Gettysburg.
His troops push forward and attempt to enter the Yankee lines. With out their leader, however, they are like a group of children who are unsupervised. Some of them push forward desperate for carnage and blood. Some retreat in an attempt to preserve their lives. None of them takes the hill as what was intended.
As night falls on the second day of battle, Tobias finds himself in the thick of an apparent losing battle. Left and right he loses troops the onslaught of Rebels trying to take Cemetery Hill. In a last ditch effort to save their position and push the Rebels back, Tobias makes a decision that could kill him. In a final desperate action, Tobias orders his troops forward.
"Bayonets fixed men!" he shouts above the noise of the battle. "Push them back. Don't let the Rebs take the hill."
Suddenly a wave of navy blue erupts from their positions at the top of the hill and pushes forward firing and slicing their way through the grey below. Tobias leading the charge into the ranks of the Confederates below. Cannons exploding on both sides, the barrage of rifle fire cutting through the air, the Union troops descending to take on the Confederates man to man.
The battle rages on Little Round Top and Zeke knows that his men are losing ground. In an effort to save Little Round Top and stop the Rebels from advancing, Zeke orders his men to attack and push them back. His decision to order the last minute bayonet charge caused the loss of a great deal of Union soldiers, but they maintained their position and forced the Rebels back, holding Little Round Top for the Union.
The battle finally begins to die down after midnight. After over eighteen hours of planning and fighting, Zeke finds himself mentally and physically exhausted. His thoughts move to Shauna and Tris at home and to Tobias, he wonders what's happened around his position, specifically to Tobias. A scout reported that they had seen Tobias' Army rushing the enemy on Cemetery Hill, trying to hold their position. He knows Tobias, he's not the kind of soldier to hold back and give orders without moving with his men. He can only hope that Tobias has survived to see another day and to return to his bride.
Sorry about my hiatus, I hope you enjoy this chapter. The second day of fighting found the Confederates winning the battles and in better positions than the Union. It was the effort of soldiers that put themselves and their units in harms way, basically going on suicide missions to hold their ground. The efforts of both Tobias and Zeke in this chapter were real scenarios that happened. Soldiers pushing forward against all odds and forcing the Confederates back, holding their ground leading into the third day of fighting.