"Can you die of sleep loss?" America mused aloud one day, staring blearily at the book before him. He had hoped trying to read would help him stay awake, or at least get his mind off things. It seemed to be accomplishing neither of those purposes, the words blurring beyond recognition as he tried in vain to make sense of them. "I mean, for a normal human."
"I'm not entirely sure," Lincoln answered, looking up from his work. "I assumed they'd just fall asleep at some point. But if they were continually woken up…they'd be miserable, if nothing else."
"Ah…" America hummed, as he flipped the page. He couldn't say what the book was about, though he'd been "reading" it for some time now; only that it was old, the binding a worn brown leather. Come to think of it, he couldn't even remember where he had gotten it. He seemed to be forgetting a lot of things lately, what with how out of it he was all the time.
"Are you trying to experiment with that theory?" Lincoln inquired with a wry smile, as he looked over the blond. Dark bags beneath his bloodshot eyes. So much red surrounding the clear blue, marring its perfection. Too much red, as there seemed to be everywhere recently.
"I've heard what's going on," America found his throat dry and sore, as if from over use. That didn't make much sense: he'd hardly spoken at all today. "Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville. I don't want to see it."
"I know, but surely you must feel horrible," Lincoln's frown was sympathetic, the etched bags under his own eyes proof of the war's effect on him.
"As if sleep would help," America bit back, harsher than he meant to. He could feel the tears creeping up on him again, and so he went no further.
"America…if there were anything I could do," Lincoln sighed, absently surveying the office. "Sometimes I fear I'm quite useless to you. The war goes on…just look at the state of you. Surely my short-comings must be partly to blame."
The blond shook his head, instantly regretting how he'd snapped at the man. Lincoln was always so supportive and calm. Often, the young Nation found himself forgetting the man had his own troubles, his own emotions and life to deal with. In the face of this war, everything else seemed to fade.
"You do your best," America found the words after a short pause, not meeting his president's eyes. "That's the most I could hope for from anyone. It's not your fault. I'm sorry."
"As am I," Lincoln returned, though he didn't specify what for.
America couldn't find it in himself to care.
"It is well that war is so terrible—we should grow too fond of it!"
~Robert E. Lee
"So much for worrying about Grant's plan," Lincoln sighed, a smile creasing his lips as he went on. "He did it! This war's finally moving in the right direction."
America didn't look half as thrilled, from where he sat watching his president's reaction to the news. "The causalities are easing up now that it's over. For the time being," he contributed after awhile, though the upturned corners of his lips fidgeted, as if struggling to keep their place.
"It's the first step towards the end," Lincoln reasoned, his expression remaining optimistic. "You have to at least be happy about that, even if you still aren't sure which side you're rooting for."
"The violence will most likely start up again soon. It's just nearing towards winter, and no one wants to fight in the snow. And I'm not rooting for a side," America countered, with an odd determination that struck Lincoln a little off guard. "I want it to be over…but I'm not going to play favorites."
Lincoln tapped his fingers pensively, gazing at his Nation as if wishing he could see into his brain and guess his thoughts from the turning cogs. "Is it slavery? Do you not agree with its abolition?"
"No…I mean, I don't…" America shook his head as if it would get the unwanted thoughts out.
"You don't pick sides, right?"
"You wouldn't do this to us."
"To your people."
"You know we need them."
"I don't…really," the blond managed finally, leaning back until his head touched the back rest. Such simple things were so draining these days. "I don't support it myself, but I don't want the South to suffer. It's a big part of their economy and just…"
"You're not taking sides," Lincoln summarized, straightening. "I see where you're coming from, not being much of an abolitionist myself. But if it were to come to a decision…which I'm not saying it will—"
"I don't know," America interrupted him before he could elaborate anymore on the topic, and bring up any more questions the blond didn't want to have to answer. "I really don't know."
Historical Notes: Lincoln was prone throughout his life to fits of melancholy. Back in the 1840s, he once wrote of himself: "I am now the most miserable man living. If what I felt were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth." What with the loss of his son(s) and all…I think he'd be full of melancholy, with good reason.
General Ambrose E. Burnside—he was the origin for the word "sideburns", a joking name for his "magnificent side whiskers" as a play on his name—replaced McClellan. Burnside lacked self-confidence, and didn't enjoy high command, but when pressured felt it was his duty to do so. Unlike McClellan, he was aggressive. He planned to cross the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg, but supply problems and bad weather delayed him until mid-December, giving Lee a chance to situate his army efficiently. Although he had more than 120,000 men against Lee's 75,000, Burnside should have withdrew when he saw Lee's clear advantage. Instead he pushed forward, entering Fredericksburg and charging against the enemy's defense line wave after wave as lee's artillery peppered them from their strategious position. The day after, December 14th, General Burnside ordered a retreat in tears. Shortly after, General Joseph Hooker replaced him.
Hooker was ill-tempered and vindictive, as well as a believer in dictatorship. By the spring of 1863 he had 125,000 men ready for action. Late in April he crossed the Rappahannock and quickly concentrated his troops on Chancellorsville, 10 miles west of Fredericksburg. His army out-numbered the Confederate's by more than two to one, but he delayed, allowing Lee to send Stonewall Jackson with a troop of 28,000 men to come around Hooker's other side. On May 2nd, Jackson attacked. The Union troops, completely surprised, crumbled, only saved by nightfall, using the pause it brought to rally. Heavy fighting continued until May 5th, when Hooker abandoned the field and retreated behind the Rappahannock.
The Confederacy suffered heavy losses, about 12,000, including Stonewall Jackson. Federal troops in the West were closing in on Vicksburg, threatening to cut Confederate communications with Arkansas and Texas. The North had time on their side, and so Lee decided to move, while their morale was still low from Chancellorsville. With 75,000 soldiers he crossed the Potomac, a larger Union force following him. By June his army had fanned out across southern Pennsylvania in a 50-mile arc from Chambersburg to the Susquehanna. Gray-clad soldiers ranged 50 miles northwest of Baltimore, within 10 miles of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. As Union soldiers had done in Virginia, Lee's men destroyed property and commandeered food, horses, and clothing wherever they could find them.
On July 1, a confederate division looking for shoes in the town of Gettysburg clashed with two brigades of Union cavalry northwest of the town. Both sides called for reinforcement, converging at the spot. The Confederates won control of the town, but the Union army—now under General George G. Meade—took a strong position along Cemetery Ridge, a hook-shaped stretch of high ground just to the south. Lee's men occupied Seminary Ridge, a parallel position.
For two days the Confederates attacked Cemetery Ridge, pounding it with the heaviest artillery barrage ever seen in America and repeatedly attacking it's sides. During General George E. Pickett's famous charge, a few of his men actually made it to Union lines before reserves drove them back. By nightfall on July 3rd, the Confederates were exhausted, and Union lines remained unbroken. Both sides took a break the next day, for the 4th of July. Had Meade continued fighting, he could have crushed the Confederates, but he let the opportunity pass. And so Lee retreated back to safety on July 5th, for the first time clearly bested on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Grant was given a second chance in July 1862. He was a controversial choice, due to his unremarkable record and drinking spell, but Lincoln recognized that grant had what it took to manage a large army and win battles. Grant's major aim was to capture Vicksburg, a city of extreme strategic importance. Together with Port Hudson, a bastion north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, it guarded a 150-mile stretch of the Mississippi. This area of the river was inaccessible to Union gunboats, and as long as it remained in Confederate hands, they could send men and supplies via its waterways.
Vicksburg sits on a bluff overlooking a sharp bend in the river. Unapproachable from either west or north, Grant created a daring plan to get at it from the east. He descended the Mississippi from Memphis to a point a few miles north of the city. Then—leaving part of his force behind to trick the enemy into think he'd attack from the north—he crossed the west bank and moved quickly south. Recrossing the river below Vicksburg, he abandoned his communications and supply lines and struck at Jackson, Mississippi's capital. In several swift skirmishes, he captured Jackson, cutting off General John C. Pemberton's army—which was defending Vicksburg—from other Confederate units. Grant managed to defeat Pemberton in two decisive battles (Champion's Hill and Big Black River) and drove him inside the Vicksburg fortifications. By mid-May the city was under siege. Under relentless pressure, Pemberton surrendered on July 4th. With the Mississippi now accessible to federal gunboats, Texas and Arkansas were for all practical purposes lost to the Confederacy.
Lincoln had disliked Grant's plan, but now willingly admitted his error and placed Grant in command of all federal troops. Grant promptly took charge of the fighting around Chattanooga, where Confederate advances—beginning with the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19-20)—were threatening to develop into a major disaster for the Union. Shifting corps commanders and bringing up fresh units, he won another decisive victory at Chattanooga in a series of battles ending on November 25, 1863. This cleared the way for an invasion of Georgia. In March 1864, Lincoln summoned him to Washington and named him lieutenant general, giving him supreme command of the armies of the United States.
Sorry this took so long to get out ' I had the SAT today, and didn't really get around to looking at anything SAT-related until yesterday, so didn't have much time. And I have my last History test this week…and then we'll be doing whatever it is he plans to have us do since this isn't technically and AP class. But after this week, my workload should be easing up a bit. Maybe.
just another fma fan: We got about 3 people for AP Euro I guess. I believe around 14 is the minimum necessary…so not even close :/ Psych will be fun though…And Asian Studies. American Government, too.
I used to keep track of my dreams, but I never have time to write them down right when I wake up, unless it's over vacation or something. Especially recently I've been having difficulty getting to sleep, and so I sleep up until the last minute possible on schooldays. Perhaps I shall begin over the summer again? I think there's a project in Psych where you have to record dreams…
That sounds pretty neat. I've always wondered if there's some book about if the Revolutionary War never happened, or something. I feel there must be, and that it would be rather wicked :]
Well, I guess as it is a drabble series, despite the increasing length, I've been trying to zero in on the key events. I could put in some more filler/in between stuff…but again, I need to keep length in mind, as this will no doubt be quite long as is. It already is quite long ^ ^'
But I'd assume his meeting with England would go much as they usually do. Small talk, before they get down to business. And he's been getting around with the crutches. He can sort of walk…just not really. He can like…limp walk. I guess. None of this really thought out well.
Thank you for the review ^^ long review gets a long reply!