Summer Rose

by Caroline Hartman

  Neither Harper’s Ferry nor Winchester offered many diversions; however, over the next few nights, the young officers took the ladies ice skating, as well as to a play. They spent some time every day in Harper’s Ferry, escorting the girls around the village. The girls didn’t complain at all. Harper’s Ferry didn’t offer the shops Philadelphia did; however, Philadelphia lacked handsome colonels to escort them. The puppies were a huge draw, and the four of them stopped to take Lewis and Clark for walks at least twice a day. Every afternoon the couples ended up in Summer Rose’s kitchen, making hot chocolate or fudge and often playing cards. Summer Rose enjoyed getting to know Daniel’s sister.

  When everyone left in mid-January, the village settled into silence. Summer took long afternoon naps and Daniel did an impromptu tap dance when the baby bumped against his cheek. That night, Lewis and Clark slept through the night.

  In early February, word came through accurate channels that Lincoln and Seward had met with a delegation from the Confederacy. They’d met with John Campbell, who had been a High Court Justice before the war, Alexander Stephens, a nine-term congressman, and Robert Hunter, a former senator. President Lincoln suggested a meeting “with a view of securing peace to the people of our one common country.” They met with Lincoln and Seward aboard the river steamer River Queen, which was anchored at Hampton Roads.

  On the surface it appeared that little came from the conference, but Little Phil, who came to dinner at Daniel and Summer Rose’s home about once a week, explained at one of the dinners just how important the meeting had been. The officers and the sprinkling of wives about the table listened carefully.

  “Mr. Lincoln let them know he considered them traitors who had committed treason. He told them they had forfeited any rights, and essentially were proper subjects for the hangman. In other words, he made clear, ‘We are not going to dance, gentlemen. We still demand what we have demanded all along: restoration of the national authority throughout all the states, no backsliding on the slavery issue, and unconditional surrender and disbandment of Lee’s Army. If Lee falls, the rest will collapse.’”

  Phil Sheridan slammed his fist on the table. “Over half a million men have given their lives in this conflict. I, for one, am very pleased with our President and very proud of Sam Grant. They’re not going to allow those men’s deaths to be in vain.”

  Lewis and Clark grew into their giant paws, and around Valentine’s Day, Summer began serious training. Wrapped in her winter cape of Union blue, lined with black cotton like the cavalrymen’s capes, she took them, along with her ever-present bodyguards, everywhere she went. The baby grew rapidly and Summer was forced to clutch her cape about her.

  Twice a week she walked to target practice with Daniel and General Sheridan. The officers who ran the range had a little building where they doled out ammunition and kept a potbellied stove. She commanded the dogs, which were still big puppies, to sit just inside the door. They waited in the warm hut while she practiced with the Smith and Wesson, then the Spencer. Her bodyguards stayed with the dogs. Captain John Cray, who ran the range, took an avuncular fancy to her. Often he had a new gun or scope, and he’d ask her to try it out. Occasionally she’d show off with her knife or use a new pistol. Just about every practice session she drew a crowd, and invariably someone would ask her, what’s the trick?

  She’d point to her eyes. “No tricks involved. My eagle eyes are just very good. That, and a few thousand hours of practice.”

  On the 20th, Daniel asked General Sheridan if he’d walk Summer Rose back to headquarters. “General Custer called a meeting with all his staff,” Daniel said. “I need to be there.”

  “It would be a pleasure.” As Daniel rode off, Sheridan offered his arm. Summer took it and signaled to Lewis and Clark, who walked obediently just ahead of them. The bodyguards walked behind.

  “I’ve wanted to talk with you alone.” He placed his other hand over hers. “The big offensive will start soon. Before March 1st, I plan to take Merritt’s, Devin’s, and Custer’s divisions and join Grant below City Point. We’ll clean out the valley on our way and destroy Confederate stores. Hal is coming. I’d like Daniel to have a shot at the finale, too. He’s given four hard years. I’m sure he’d like to be there at the end, and I’d like to give both our boys stars.” He glanced at her growing belly. “I’d like Lieutenant Ross to be there; however, I can’t risk taking you, Mrs. Charteris.”

  She nodded, smelling conspiracy between her husband and the general. Her heart caught in her throat; every muscle seemed to freeze at the memory of sending him to war. Daniel, of course, wanted to go. He was a soldier. There was something about soldiers: the loyalty, the camaraderie between and among the men that rode and fought together. In war they were brothers, a bond stronger than family, in some senses stronger than marriage. She smiled, summoning every bit of feminine mystic she could muster. Women have their loyalties, too. I’ll wave goodbye again, smiling while my heart breaks.

  She petted his arm. “The baby isn’t due until the end of April. I believe our child would like his daddy to be a general.”

  “I insist you stay here. There’s a local doctor.” He gestured to Evers and Saxon. “I still want bodyguards assigned to you. Be kind to these men, Mrs. Charteris. You’ll be a general’s wife soon, but I insist you listen to these men.”

  On the 27th of February, General Phil Sheridan rode out of Winchester with 10,000 cavalrymen. They thundered through the Shenandoah to Staunton and Rockfish Gap where they came against Jubal Early’s entrenched troops and quickly disposed of them, capturing more than half of the 6500. The rebels were outnumbered, outgunned, ill-clad, ill-shod, and famished. If the truth be known, many of them knew the end was near. The knowledge made it easier for the Yankees to catch them. They had fought long and hard, and now they simply wanted a decent meal. Sheridan’s troops took eleven guns, seventeen battle flags, and 200 wagons loaded with supplies.

  Ordinary major generals would have rested on their laurels. Sheridan, never ordinary, pushed his horsemen over the Blue Ridge Mountains in a drenching rain and entered Charlottesville late the next day. There he waited for his pontoons and ammunition to come through the mud and over the mountain. His troopers, in the meantime, destroyed bridges, factories, depots, and all railroads in the direction of Lynchburg. When the pontoons arrived, the James was too swollen to cross, so they proceeded eastward and destroyed the James River Canal, the conduit for supplies to Richmond. This last act cut supplies to the high officials and their families in Richmond, sending panic through the officers of the Confederate government.

  Sheridan was relentless. His army destroyed railroads, bridges, rolling stock, warehouses, and over 200 miles of railroad as the Confederacy wobbled. Toward the end of March, he swept around Lee’s army and joined Grant below City Point below Petersburg.

  In Daniel’s letter to Summer, he told her,

  The men have learned to sleep in the saddle. I want a hot bath and your warm body next to me beneath our comforter more than you can imagine. I have been damp to the bone since the night we left the post.

  On March 30th, Grant halted all operations, stating, “The rain has made forward movement impossible.”

  Sheridan, on hearing Grant’s orders, rode seven miles through a downpour, racing through water as high as Winchester’s knees. Upon reaching headquarters, he paced like a leashed cougar.

  “I can drive them where we want them with ease. Give me infantry and I’ll roll up their flank. I’m ready to go out tomorrow and start smashing things!”

  He finally made enough noise that Grant saw him. One thing Grant did better than any other general, either Union or Confederate, was recognize and use the momentum of his subordinates. Sheridan’s enthusiasm somehow moved Grant, for he finally said, “We will go on.”

  They did go on, for five more days. Sheridan’s flankers and scouting parties of cavalry brought in scores of prisoners from the nearby woods on either side of his columns.

  �
��The rebs were lost from the main body of their army. They were hungry and tired, and if there was a Confederacy to sustain, they couldn’t find it in the woods,” said a member of Sheridan’s staff.

  The end, so long in approaching, came swiftly. Richmond and Petersburg collapsed and emptied. The day Richmond fell, Grant woke Washington with a 900 gun salute and Lee’s army moved west. On April 7th, Grant stayed at the Prince Edward Hotel in Farmville, where Lee had stayed the night before. The men sensed an end to the war, and they gave General Grant an impromptu pass and review that evening.

  Later that night Grant wrote to General Lee.

  The results of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself any further responsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States army known as the Army of Northern Virginia.

  Half a mile west of the village of Appomattox Court House, Sheridan, the bantam worth his weight in gold, proved his mettle again. Men under the command of Generals Merritt, Devin, Custer, and Crook, as well as Brigadiers Charteris and St. Clair, were placed in an enormous semi-circle in front of Lee’s Army. The men had only a few hours sleep, the generals had none, but by the time daylight came, they were ready.

  The proud II Corps of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia seemed to bite through the middle of the horseshoe-shaped Union line; however, Sheridan’s long line of cavalry withdrew, allowing a gap to open in the middle. The joyous Confederates moved over the crest of the hill, where they were met by the Federal Infantry, 28,000 strong. They couldn’t move forward, backward, or to either side.

  By eight o’clock in the morning, Lee said, “There’s nothing left but to go and see General Grant, and I’d rather die a thousand deaths.”

  From somewhere white flags emerged and crossed the skirmish lines several times, carrying notes back and forth. Tensions on both sides stood on an edge as sharp as a well tempered sword. Emotions swirled with relief, elation, and heartbreaking disappointment. Sheridan and Winchester rode into the thick of it, looking unshakably confident, as if he’d done this a hundred times. He understood the fine line between resolution and strength, as well as between vainglory and courage.

  CHAPTER 54

  WILD GEESE

  Daniel and Hal stood with their men outside the McLean residence in the town of Appomattox Court House as the high brass of both sides gathered in front of the steep stairs. Lee, immaculate in sword and solid gold spurs, came first on Traveler, his favorite mount. With him was Colonel Marshall, Lee’s longtime aide, who rode a good-looking dark mare. Behind General Lee and Colonel Marshall waited a small herd of Union generals, including Sheridan, who accompanied a dusty General Grant into the redbrick house.

  Around three o’clock, Lee stepped out onto the porch. The men could tell by the way Lee, Grant, and the other generals held themselves that Lee had surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia. The war was essentially over. In the distance a few cheers echoed but soon quelled as, like a soft wind, word flew down the line that cheers would be inappropriate.

  Daniel heard only the stomping and snorting of the horses. Someone led Traveler to Lee, who straightened a forelock on his faithful warrior’s forehead and mounted. Grant removed his hat, a motion repeated by every man, Confederate or Union, within sight.

  That night, General Sheridan sent Daniel to City Point where he and Colonel Ray Stone saw to the transfer of wounded to the trains, and started north.

  Early the next morning in Harper’s Ferry, Summer with her bodyguards and Lewis and Clark, waited at the small depot for the early train from Washington. The Potomac roared by, high from recent rains, and April couldn’t make up her mind. Sunshine dazzled with diamond brilliance, yet frost still clung to the grass. Despite the vestiges of winter, robins dug between the icy blades to search for worms.

  After Daniel and Hal left with Sheridan’s columns of horsemen, Amelia, still besotted with her grandson, remembered she had promised to be with Summer Rose during her confinement. Unable to leave Hank, she sent Becca, who traveled along with Summer’s brother, quite by accident, on the train from Washington to Harper’s Ferry. While the two women hugged and cried, Jack knelt and played with the dogs. Summer Rose’s two bodyguards saw to the scant luggage.

  After the women had mopped their tears, Jack McAllister, now Colonel Jack McAllister, kissed his sister and hugged her as best he could, then backed away from the substantial bulk of her belly. There was no pretending it wasn’t there.

  “I’m excited to finally have another relative. It’s up to you, dear sister, to multiply and produce many McAllister descendents. I’ll just observe.” His face lost all hint of humor. “Are you sure it’s just one baby? You are …very large. Enormous, actually.”

  She giggled. “He must just be a big boy. No girl, not even me, could be as cantankerous as this child.”

  He held her at arm’s length, looking reassured. “A telegram arrived this morning from General Charteris. They’re transferring the wounded from the hospital ship to the trains today and tomorrow. Daniel should be here, at the latest, the day after tomorrow.”

  Thrilled with the news, Summer hugged everyone, even her bodyguards, though it was difficult to get at them from around her belly. The dogs barked and jumped, but Jack reached out and brought her to a stop. “You’re frightening me. You’ll tip over!”

  Laughing, she linked arms with Jack and Becca and walked to the carriage. Her bodyguards helped her up the little step while Lewis and Clark ran circles around everyone.

  As they settled in the carriage, she asked, “What’s it like in Washington? It must be crazy. Even here with the garrison almost empty the fireworks haven’t ceased.”

  Becca nodded. “It’s been wild. They had a 500 gun salute yesterday, fireworks all the time. It’s been a party. I think half the city is drunk. Every once in a while someone throws his hat up and leaps into the air, and the entire street will start dancing. Amelia is beside herself with joy because Hal is on his way home to see Hank.” Becca shook his head. “I’ve never seen a man as crazy about his son as General Hal is.”

  “We see the other side, too,” said Jack. “Washington has always been a southern city. Her citizens have politely nursed their sentiments for four years, tolerating the Yankees. Now they realize the Yankees are here to stay. The anger and the fear are thick. They’ve lost, and they fear the enormous changes they know are coming.”

  In an effort to sound less gloomy, Jack reached over and grabbed her hand. “Are you feeling well?”

  She blew out a long breath. “I’m miserable.” She giggled and shook her head. “No, I’m not. Now that I know Daniel will be here soon, I’m ecstatic.” She studied her bulging coat. “But this child has already let me know he’s in charge. I sleep in a chair sitting up. He’s an acrobat, and I waddle like a fat sow. He’s a little tyrant. Right now, he’s letting me know he’s starved.”

  Less than a week later, Summer Rose began labor. Ray tried to shoo Daniel and Jack out of the house. Jack dutifully took a walk to Jefferson’s Rock then settled in at the hotel bar down the street. Daniel refused to leave. He sat on the bed beside her, at first making jokes and telling stories to divert her, then shuddering along with every contraction. At one point she asked him to leave, then screamed for him to return before he got to the door.

  Finally, at nine o’clock on the evening of Good Friday, she delivered a healthy boy.

  Four minutes later, she delivered another fine, healthy boy.

  The twins were a huge surprise, but everyone in the house fell madly in love with them. The first boy, the larger of the two, had a lion’s mane of pale curls, while the second had a mop of dark hair just like his mother.

  No one had warned Summer about the emotions that would consume her when she first held her sons. She loved her family, her parents, her brothers. She loved Da
niel with every piece of her heart, and she’d expected to love her children. But she didn’t know she could love so passionately, so tenaciously. Their tiny hands, their miniature toes, their adorable ears and sweet lips, the tiny wrinkles at their wrists … she couldn’t look at them enough.

  “Do all babies have such velvety skin?” she asked Ray, her voice soft with awe.

  She hugged each child and felt their strong heartbeats matching her own rhythm. They sighed and snuggled against her as if they knew they were home. They sighed, too, when they squeezed up against each other. In those moments her boys stole her heart.

  Two days later, a somber Jack presented them with a telegram he’d received, as well as the newspapers. The news was the worst they could have imagined. President Lincoln had been assassinated.

  Jack hadn’t told them right away, wanting to give them a night and half a day of absolute joy with their new sons before dampening their moods, but the news had hit him as if his own father had died again. As they devoured the papers, disbelief became sadness and depression settled over the house, as it did over the entire country. Summer Rose, who had met the President only that one time, asked her husband, who had met with Lincoln, listened to his wonderful stories, grown to love him, if he’d mind giving each of their boys Abraham as a middle name. He didn’t mind. In fact, the act brought comfort. Both boys were named after her father, becoming Micah Abraham Charteris and Angus Abraham Charteris.

  Jack dubbed the oldest baby Mac, because of his initials, and the younger Gus, because Angus was too formal for a baby. Now, with the war ended and no marauders tearing up the tracks, the train ride between Washington and the garrison took only a few hours, so he spent his weekends in Harper’s Ferry.

  One Sunday morning in early May, Jack found himself alone near the cradles, situated in a dim corner of the dining room. He pulled a straight-backed chair between them and studied his nephews, slightly frightened by their smallness. Mac lay content on his back, wiggling his legs and gurgling, but Gus fussed. Jack tried making faces and rubbing his finger against the boy’s cheek, but he still whimpered. Finally, convincing himself he was brave enough to pick up a baby, he lifted his nephew. Gus curled into his arm and quieted immediately.