The Way of All Soldiers (Gone For Soldiers)

by Jeffry S. Hepple

  Buford looked up at the sky and then at the trees. “It is that. Top of the afternoon to you, Private.”

  “You too, General.”

  Buford followed a beaten path through the trees and stopped at the edge of a gurgling stream. “Pea?”

  “Up here.” Paul swung down from a tree and dropped lightly in front of Buford. “Do we have a new commander?”

  “We do indeed. George Meade. Hooker wanted Halleck to give him all the troops from Harpers Ferry. When Halleck refused, Hooker threatened to resign and Halleck accepted his resignation.”

  “Hooker should have known that Halleck was looking for any excuse to fire him.” Paul pointed upstream. “If you’re not in a hurry, there’s a nice spot to sit and watch the water go by. Or do we need to go back to headquarters?”

  “We’ve got a mission, but it’ll wait. Let’s watch the water go by for a while.”

  Paul led him to a rock prominence that was shaded by ancient willows.

  “You catch any fish, or were you just climbing trees?”

  Paul pointed. “I caught a few. If you can stay, we’ll have them for dinner.”

  Buford crouched by the bank and pulled the stringer out of the water. “I shouldn’t stay, but I will.” He lowered the string of fish. “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “About the fish?”

  “No. About the tree. What were you doing?”

  Paul chuckled. “I was taking a nap.”

  “Seems like a dangerous place to choose.”

  “Not if you’re worried about Comanches slipping up on you while you’re asleep.” Paul sat down in the grass with his back against a smooth rock. “What’s our mission?”

  “A delegation from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania told Hooker that their town was invaded by a Confederate army a couple of days ago.” Buford sat down across from him. “Meade wants us to go look around.”

  “I’ve never heard of Gettysburg.”

  “Me neither. I looked on the map. It’s just a crossroads with a church and a few houses. There’s a Lutheran seminary nearby, but not much else.”

  “When do you want to go?” Paul asked.

  “In the mornin’ will be soon enough. Have you got an extra fishin’ pole?”

  “No, but you’re welcome to use mine, but I’m out of bait.”

  “What were you using?”

  “Worms.”

  Buford shook his head. “I’m too lazy to dig worms.”

  “Do we know where Stuart is?”

  “Behind us. He tangled with Hancock yesterday.”

  “Lee’s all spread out,” Paul said. “Seems sloppy.”

  “He may be getting overconfident.”

  “Let’s hope so. Does Meade have any kind of plan?”

  “Yeah. He wants to follow Big Pipe Creek so he can defend Washington or attack Lee, whichever works out.”

  Paul shook his head. “I don’t remember Big Pipe Creek on the map.”

  “I’ll show you when we get back to your headquarters.”

  “What’s your honest opinion of Meade?”

  Buford shrugged. “If I was Halleck, I think I’d have picked Reynolds or Hancock as Hooker’s replacement, but Meade’s a fine officer.”

  “You said the same thing about Hooker.”

  “After complaining about McClellan got me into nothing but trouble I learned my lesson. I’ll keep track of the men and horses in my division and leave running the army to Lincoln and Halleck.”

  June 30, 1863

  Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

  The Army of Northern Virginia was spread all over southern Pennsylvania, raiding and foraging until June 28th, when Robert E. Lee was told by his scouts that the Union army had crossed the Potomac River. After carefully considering the region, Lee decided to concentrate his forces at a gap in South Mountain which stood strategically on his supply line back to Virginia. The village near the gap derived its name, Cashtown, from the 18th century inn whose original owner, Peter Marck, had insisted on cash payments for goods and highway tolls.

  On June 29th, the Cashtown Inn, now owned by Jacob Mickley, became the headquarters of Confederate Generals A.P. Hill, Henry Heth, and John D. Imboden.

  During the invasion, Heth had been gathering shoes for Lee’s army, but had found too few. Echoing Lee’s orders not to engage the enemy, Heth sent General J. Johnston Pettigrew’s brigade from Cashtown, along the Chambersburg Pike, toward Gettysburg, which was eight miles to the east.

  ~

  General John Buford and General Paul Van Buskirk were in the cupola atop the Lutheran Theological Seminary. “Do you recognize the guidon?” Buford handed the binoculars to Paul.

  Paul focused on the column that was approaching down the Chambersburg Pike. “One of Heth’s brigades. It could be A.P. Hill’s van. Let me go say hello and see how they react.”

  “No. They’ll see us soon enough and that should get all the reaction we need.” He turned in a circle, surveying the land around them. “Do you know why Lee beats the hell out of us most of the time?”

  “He out-generals our generals,” Paul said.

  “I mean specifically. Why did he cost us so many lives at Fredericksburg?”

  “Marye’s Heights.” Paul lowered the binoculars to look at Buford. “He picks the best battleground and makes us attack him on it.”

  “Exactly.” Buford swept his hand in a wide arc. “We may have a chance to pick first.”

  Paul looked back at the Confederate column, then turned to examine the terrain again. “We can’t hold all the high ground against A.P. Hill’s whole corps.”

  “We might be able to hold access to it long enough for Reynolds to reach here.”

  “Against Heth’s division maybe, but Hill will run over the top of us.”

  “Maybe – maybe not. Let’s see your map.”

  Paul took the map from its case and spread it on the floor. “Here we are on Seminary Ridge.”

  Buford nodded. “We’ll deploy here and here on Herr Ridge and on McPherson Ridge. If we can keep the Rebs at our front it’ll deny them these positions to the south.” He poked the map with his index finger. “If Reynolds gets up here fast and occupies Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Culp’s Hill, we can beat Marse Lee at his own game.”

  “We still have to draw Lee onto our ground,” Paul said. “Let me go pick a fight.”

  “Okay. But hand-pick the best shots with the fastest horses. I just want to make these Rebs mad enough to go for help.”

  ~

  When his scouts reported Union cavalry west of town, Pettigrew halted his brigade on the Chambersburg Pike. After a brief discussion with his officers, he decided to countermarch back to Cashtown and report what he’d seen to Heth. As he was turning about, a small party of cavalry raced along his lines killing six men and wounding a dozen more before riding off. Heth sent a dozen of his mounted pickets after the raiders and they never returned.

  That evening, when Heth reported to Hill, he was furious and forcefully requested that Hill permit him to return to Gettysburg to punish the Union cavalry. In spite of Lee’s orders to the contrary, Hill agreed.

  July 1, 1863

  Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

  At about 5:00 AM, Generals James J. Archer and Joseph R. Davis of Heth’s division marched out from Cashtown for Gettysburg. At about 7:30 AM they made contact with Buford’s outposts and deployed into a line. As they reached level ground, they were met by withering fire from Colonel William Gamble’s cavalry brigade, who continued a delaying action toward McPherson Ridge until General John Reynolds and the van of his I corps arrived and joined the battle.

  Archer’s brigade attempted a flanking movement through McPherson’s Woods, but he was met by the Iron Brigade of Union General Solomon Meredith who captured Archer and several hundred of his men.

  After some initial success, Davis suffered a similar fate against Union General Lysander Cutler’s brigade.

  At about 12:30 PM, Heth, who was now in a fury at
being bested by what he still thought was a reinforced cavalry brigade, committed his entire division and brought forward the brigades of Pettigrew and Colonel John M. Brockenbrough to aim them at Reynolds.

  Pettigrew quickly flanked the 19th Indiana and pushed back the Iron Brigade but his force was then nearly decimated by vicious counterattacks. He had begun the day with a force of eight hundred and left the fight with only two hundred still standing.

  When Reynolds was mortally wounded, General Abner Doubleday was unable to find General Jack Van Buskirk on the field and assumed command himself, then immediately notified Meade. Meade responded by sending Winfield Scott Hancock with orders to take command of the battlefield and assess the Union position.

  As Hancock arrived at Gettysburg, Confederate General Richard S. Ewell’s corps had just joined the battle and the outnumbered Union forces were collapsing on the north and the west. After a brief discussion with the other senior officers, Hancock said, “I think this the strongest position by nature upon which to fight a battle that I ever saw. I select this as the battlefield.” His confidence and reputation as a field commander were enough to embolden the Federal troops, and in a short time the Confederates were, once again, going backwards.

  ~

  Robert E. Lee saw the same battlefield that Hancock had seen from the opposite perspective and he sent orders to Ewell to take Cemetery Hill – if practicable. Ewell decided that taking the hill was not practicable.

  As the sun set on the first day at Gettysburg, Lee’s army consisted of twenty-seven thousand men and Meade’s army was twenty-two thousand. The advantage of terrain, however, was all on the Union’s side, thanks to the foresight of John Buford and the gallantry of John Reynolds.

  July 2, 1863

  Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

  By midmorning, all of Lee’s forces were on the field, except General George Pickett, who was on the march from Chambersburg and Jeb Stuart whose location was unknown. Five days before, Stuart had ridden out on a recon mission and hadn’t been heard from since. Lacking Stuart’s intelligence forced Lee to guess and guessing was not in Lee’s nature.

  The Union line formed a fishhook running northwest from Culp’s Hill to Cemetery Hill and for two miles along Cemetery Ridge to a hill known locally as Little Round Top. Lee’s line ran parallel to Meade’s from a position opposite Seminary Ridge, east through Gettysburg, then southeast to a point facing Culp’s Hill. His plan was an echelon attack on the exposed Union left flank beginning with the divisions of John Bell Hood, Lafayette McLaws, and Richard Anderson of Longstreet’s Corps. At the same time, Edward Johnson was to demonstrate against Culp’s Hill and Jubal Early against Cemetery Hill to prevent Meade from shifting troops to his left.

  The plan was flawed from the start because the path to the Union left flank was blocked by Union General Daniel Sickles’s III Corps, and the timing went sour when Longstreet delayed to wait for one of his brigades. Hood finally launched his attack at about 4:00 PM and McLaws about an hour later.

  In response, Meade sent twenty thousand reinforcements forward pushing Hood to the east to the Devil’s Den and Little Round Top.

  With sword in hand, Thomas Van Buskirk, of Hood’s division, led the first charge up toward Little Round Top where the brigade of Union Colonel Strong Vincent and four small infantry regiments had just taken position. Thomas’s brigade, after a tough uphill attack, had nearly carried the line when an artillery battery and the 140th New York arrived to reinforce Vincent. As canister raked his line, Thomas’s men broke and ran.

  Thomas raced back down the slope, stopped the flight, regrouped and charged again – with the same results. By the fourth charge, the men were exhausted as they reached the stone wall at the top. When the Union soldiers of the 20th Maine stood up with fixed bayonets and charged, his men ran again and Thomas was swarmed by men in blue.

  McLaws, who was on Hood’s left, pushed Sickles’s corps from the Wheatfield to the Peach Orchard where Sickles lost a leg to a cannon ball and his corps was destroyed. McLaws pressed on to Plum Run Valley where an attack from the Pennsylvania Reserves of the Union V Corps moved down from Little Round Top and finally turned him back.

  The Confederate attack by Johnson’s Division of the Confederate II Corps on Culp’s Hill was repulsed by General George S. Greene’s New York brigade at about 7:00 PM, but some Confederate units managed to occupy abandoned Union positions about halfway up the slope. As darkness fell, two of Jubal Early’s brigades attacked the Union XI Corps positions on East Cemetery Hill and failed.

  During the day, Jeb Stuart’s cavalry had at last arrived but they took no part in the battle.

  July 3, 1863

  Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

  At dawn, Union XII Corps gunners began an artillery bombardment of the Confederates who were dug in on the lower slope of Culp’s Hill. Rather than taking cover, the Confederates attacked and were beaten after a long and bloody battle.

  Lee’s new plan was for Longstreet to attack the center of the Federal lines on Cemetery Ridge with George Pickett’s division and six of A.P. Hill’s brigades. It began with a massive artillery bombardment from nearly one hundred seventy Confederate guns. At about 3:00 PM the cannon fire ceased and twelve-thousand, five hundred Confederate soldiers began the three-quarter-mile charge against Cemetery Ridge.

  The Union artillery had largely held their fire during the Confederate bombardment, but they now opened up with devastating ferocity from Hancock’s position on Cemetery Ridge, from Cemetery Hill and from Little Round Top.

  General Lewis A. Armistead’s brigade of George Pickett’s division was the only Confederate unit to reach their objective. However, all were killed or captured when Union reinforcements closed the breach. Lo Armistead was mortally wounded. As he requested, his bible was sent to Almira Hancock.

  July 3, 1863

  Fort Donelson, Tennessee

  Robert Van Buskirk handed Pemberton’s tentative surrender back to Grant. “What are you going to answer, Sam?”

  Grant shrugged. “Unconditional surrender. What else?”

  “You might want to think about that.”

  Grant chuckled. “Obviously you already have, so why don’t you just tell me why I’m wrong?”

  “How are you going to feed thirty thousand starving prisoners for the several weeks or months that it’ll take to ship them out?”

  “I don’t want to have to fight those men again, Robert.”

  “They’re sick, starved, demoralized and beaten. If they fight again it won’t be soon.”

  “Sick and starved or not, they’ll be back in the field this summer.”

  “It’s possible that Davis might honor a parole agreement.”

  Grant made a scoffing sound.

  Robert walked toward the door. “While you decide, I’ll make arrangements to have you transported to Vicksburg.”

  “Okay.”

  Robert hesitated at the doorway. “You should be happy, Sam. The South is split in two.”

  “We still need to defeat Port Hudson before we can make that claim.”

  Robert nodded and left the room.

  July 4, 1863

  Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

  It began to rain just after midnight as Robert E. Lee began evacuating the town of Gettysburg and establishing a defensive position on Seminary Ridge.

  At dawn, Lee sent a proposal for a prisoner exchange to Meade but Meade rejected it and both armies began collecting wounded under an informal, undeclared truce. Most of the dead soldiers and hundreds of dead horses were left for the citizens of Gettysburg to bury.

  At noon, General Johnny Van Buskirk met his brother, General Paul Van Buskirk, at the crossroads. Johnny informed Paul that their father was missing in action; Paul informed Johnny that their Uncle Jack was missing in action, and they parted company.

  Late in the day General John D. Imboden’s cavalry set out escorting the twelve-mile-long wagon train of wounded and supplies over muddy roads toward Cashtow
n and on to Virginia. Lee’s army followed the next day, shadowed by Meade.

  Although many would blame the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg on Ewell’s failure to take Cemetery Hill, or Stuart’s absence when Lee needed his eyes, or on Longstreet’s long delay in launching his attack, the myth of Robert E. Lee’s invincibility was shattered.

  November 19, 1863

  Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

  Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

  Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

  But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

  End of Book Two

  Notes about historical accuracy:

  This is a work of fiction set during a well-documented historical period. Conversations between actual historical figures are either fictional or have been taken from historical documents and newspaper accounts. Direct quotations of historical characters that were derived from written documents for use as dialog in these novels may have been minimally edited to flow conversationally.