Tear In Time

by Petersen, Christopher David

  "He's not just a boy," Dr. Morgan replied. "He's my son."

  "Quite right," Gen. Negley replied, understanding the inference.

  Together, they snapped their reins and trotted back up the trail.

  --- --- --- --- ---

  Gen. Custer and David sat down on rickety wooden chairs inside a hastily set-up command tent. David looked around at the wooden crates that contained Custer's personal belongings as well as books on tactics and maps of other areas unknown. Custer pulled out a hand-sketched map of the surrounding area and proceeded to brief David.

  "Gen. Warner, the plan is simple. My sources tell me we have superior numbers. I intend to send out a detachment to instigate the battle. Once all their men are in the open, we will pour out onto them and overwhelm them," Custer informed. "Half my men will follow your command to the south and the rest will follow my command on the north."

  David watched as Custer pointed to the various obstructions on the battlefield to be used as cover, and listened to him discuss the finer points of the impending engagement.

  After listening, Custer then asked David if he had any questions. David's ride over had been from the southern end of the battlefield, the very location Custer would be sending him. As he had ridden through, he had noted to himself various landmarks that he could use as protection if he needed to retreat in short order. After Custer discussed the plan in its entirety, David realized that his plan of retreat could be adopted as a cleaver plan of attack.

  "Gen. Custer, I've heard your plan and understand it. Basically, you're just going to use your strength to overpower them, is this correct?" David asked with respect.

  "An oversimplification to be sure, but, essentially, yes," Gen. Custer replied.

  "If you'd humor me for a moment, I saw something on my way over here that now I believe might be useful as an alternative to the main plan," David started, trying to be diplomatic.

  "Go on," Custer replied, slightly offended, but willing to listen.

  "To the south, there is a stream that splits two bluffs down the middle. The bluffs sort of form a shallow canyon, for a lack of better words. I'm sure you've seen it," David said, stroking the young general's ego.

  "Yes. The men gather water there for the horses," Custer replied.

  "It looks like at one time a good deal of water rushed through there and knocked down a bunch of trees; mostly at the end where the bluffs opened up again into the forest. I believe you could persuade the enemy to follow you between those bluffs. When you exited out the other side, men could pull a bunch of trees across that exit, sort of blocking the route. I know it wouldn't block them all the way, but in the confusion of trying to get around those trees, they would bunch up - like a bottleneck," David explained.

  He paused a moment for Custer to digest his plan, then continued, "I like the idea of splitting us into two groups. One could antagonize the enemy, then pretend to retreat, while the other group would be setting up the logs and positioning themselves all over the elevated bluffs. In the end, you'd have most of them in that narrow canyon where we could cut them to ribbons. The ones that saw the trap before entering would probably stop and try to pick off the men at the top, but you could anticipate this and charge through the woods, circling back around to out flank them from the north."

  David waited again for Custer to digest the information. He could see that Custer liked this idea, but had reservations. David added one more incentive as persuasion: Custer's ego.

  "General, I believe the original plan would lose a good deal of your men, and while your original plan to attack them straight on would work, it's a common tactic and not one that would gain much recognition. On the other hand, deceiving the enemy and capturing them without many casualties to your own brigade would be a noteworthy accomplishment. If we were successful, you'd probably be touted as a tactical genius." David said, delicately stroking the general’s ego.

  Gen. Custer smiled at the thought of notoriety. He got up and went outside the tent and looked over to the bluffs David had just discussed. He then looked across the field to the wood line where the enemy lay. Gen. Custer nodded his head. He liked the plan, and called David over.

  "Gen. Warner, could you come here please?" Custer yelled toward the tent.

  David immediately jumped up and hurried to Custer.

  "Gen. Warner, I'll lead the charge. Take half the men and hurry to the other side of the bluffs. Take the route through the woods so the Rebs can't see your movements," Gen. Custer said. While shaking David's hand, he added, "One more thing. Don't wait for my men to arrive to start pulling trees. Do it now. Cover one half of the exit, then have horses lined up to pull the remaining logs across the other half once we're out of the canyon. Good luck to you."

  "Good luck to you. You're the one in the most danger. You'll need it more than me," David replied.

  Gen. Custer beamed with satisfaction, knowing his military career was about to improve. He nodded to David once more in gratitude, then turned and readied his men.

  David took half the men, about five hundred soldiers, on horseback through the woods, trying to evade detection. Riding fast, he dodged trees and limbs, occasionally jumping large rocks and dried streambeds, until he reached the far end of the elevated bluffs.

  Stopping for a moment, he scanned the area for anything he could drag between the two small hills. Without notice, David heard the sound of gunfire off in the distance. He strained his neck in the direction of Gen. Custer, but could not see him. The battle had started far sooner than David had expected and now, with very little time, he would need to deploy his men and create a blockade. He would need to accomplish the impossible.

  David looked around, but found nothing. Desperate for a solution, he called over a sergeant.

  “Sergeant, do we have any explosives?” David demanded.

  “You mean dynamite? Yes sir,” the sergeant replied.

  “We need it now, right now. Get it and bring it back here in less than a minute,” David ordered.

  “Sir, I'm not sure who has it,” the sergeant replied nervously.

  “Sergeant, if we don't blow a couple of these trees now, there's a very good chance a lot of your friends will die in the next few minutes, so I don't care if you have to pull it out of your ass: just get it here quickly,” David said impatiently.

  “Yes sir,” the sergeant replied.

  David called over several other sergeants and gave them orders as well.

  “You sergeants: take your men and spread out on top of the bluff. We can't have the Confederates see you, so I'm trusting that you will ensure that the men will be well hidden. Wait until you hear me fire three shots, then open up on the enemy. Is this clear?” David asked.

  “Yes sir,” the sergeants replied, sounding almost as one.

  “Good. I am counting on you. Don't let me down,” David said.

  “Yes sir,” they all replied again.

  Just as the men headed up to the top of the bluff, the other sergeant ran back carrying a haversack filled with dynamite.

  “Sir, I found it. What do we do with it?” the Sergeant asked.

  “Come with me,” David demanded.

  David and a couple others found a tree leaning away from the canyon. David ordered the tree be blown over with dynamite. In less than thirty seconds, the explosives had been set and all had taken cover. With the fuse lit, all eyes watched and listened for the loud explosion. Moments later, the dynamite sounded and the tree fell. Frantically, David yelled to his men to start dragging the tree to the exit between the bluffs.

  Off in the distance, David could still hear the sounds of Custer's men engaged in battle. Directing his attention back to the trees, he watched as a couple more were felled and dragged into place. As the exit was quickly being blocked, David suddenly realized that the gunfire was now much louder and clearer than before. Custer was on his way.

  “Sergeants, we've run out of time. Tie some ropes around the base of a couple of those trunks and st
ring them across the opening, out of sight. Have your men ready to haul the trees across the rest of the opening on my command. Do you understand what I'm telling you?” David asked, ensuring there would be no problem due to lack of communication.

  “Yes sir,” the sergeants replied simply.

  As the last log was roped, and the line strung across to a waiting horse and soldier, David directed some men to hide behind the logs, ready to fire on his command. Moments later, the sound of hooves riding hard could be heard. David watched nervously for Custer to appear.

  Within seconds, David watch with admiration as the fabled man of his youth was now the living, breathing man leading the charge, his sword raised high and his Colt revolver firing to the rear. Behind him rode his men, pushing their horses to their limit and, like their fearless leader, firing when able.

  David watched, mesmerized by the real events Hollywood failed to represent accurately. The scene was electrifying and David almost lost himself in the reality of the event. This was not a movie. People were dying and soon he would be called upon to kill others. He ignored his personal intrigue and focused on his duty.

  As Gen. Custer rode through the bluffs, he trained his eyes on the exit. Veering his horse to the narrow opening, he looked down at David and flashed him a quick smile, then retrained his focus on the forest in front of him.

  Like a flood spilling over a broken dam, Custer's men followed behind him in suit. Once past the logs at the end of the little canyon, they too veered off into the woods and were now doubling back to the beginning of the canyon.

  As the last man cleared the exit, David watched as the enemy filed in. He waited until the leader was close, then signaled his men to pull the logs into place, blocking the end of the tiny canyon. Seconds later, David watched as the Confederate leader hauled back on his reins too late. His horse instinctively tried to jump the logs, but got hung up and launched the Confederate officer over the horse’s head and onto the ground near him.

  The sight of the fallen man stunned David for a moment. He watched as the Confederate leader drew his sword and rush toward him. With his revolver in hand, ready to give the three-shot signal, David aimed his weapon at the now charging man and pulled the trigger three times. The Confederate dropped to his knees, then onto his face. David had set the trap, and now gave signal to his men to commence firing.

  The sound of gunshots was deafening as the five hundred men under David's command open fired at once. Those of the Confederates that had not fallen tried to return fire, but the confusion of the bottleneck and the deadly crossfire from elevated Union positions resulted in their distracted and unorganized counterattack.

  In the distance, at the entrance to the canyon, the remaining enemies entered the trap. Custer sounded the charge as the men streamed from their hidden positions within the forest and closed the only escape route to safety. With nowhere to run, the Confederates dismounted their horses and charged up the steep banks, as well as over the logs, toward the rear of the canyon. With their sabers drawn, a new kind of battle had begun – hand to hand and saber to saber combat.

  David fired his last shot into a charging soldier, then drew his own saber. Moments later, David now faced an angry Confederate. As both men squared off, David's adrenaline started to pump wildly. He brought up his sword and took his defensive posture. The Confederate man, not more than twenty years of age, lunged at David. David stepped forward and parried, causing the man to fall off balance. David lunged forward again before the man could gain his footing, and slashed across the young man’s chest. The young man dropped to the ground in agony, unable to fight any further.

  Instantly, two more men replaced their fallen comrade. In a series of parries and lunges, David managed to work the two off balance. With a quick flick of his wrist, David slashed through the arm of one, spun quickly and parried the advance of the other, just as the enemy's blade was about to make contact with his chest.

  With the man's saber blocked, David executed a maneuver straight out a Hollywood movie. Instead of stepping back and resetting his stance for a renewed attack, David stepped past the sword, spun around completely, using centrifugal force to build speed, then threw the surprised soldier a flying elbow to his jaw. David watched the Confederate soldier's eyes roll up in his head as he fell unconscious to the ground.

  Two more soldiers climbed over the felled trees and picked up the fight where their fellow soldiers had failed. David parried again as he reached for another saber lying on the ground. Switching to Florentine style of fencing, with a saber in each hand, David now slashed and stabbed wildly yet in full control, commanding the duel and backing the two Confederates up against the barricade. Like cornered animals, the two savagely lunged toward David, slicing through his shirt and piercing his skin slightly.

  David's rage roiled inside and he became an angry beast. With teeth clenched and his eyes squinted onto his prey, he angrily overpowered the two with brutal precision, cutting their body parts literally to ribbons.

  Again, more men streamed over the top of the wooden barricade, trying to escape the menacing crossfire from above. David was now caught in a cross-duel: two men attacking from his front and one from behind. David's successful performance on the battlefield was a direct result of years of college fencing. Having made his way through college on a fencing scholarship, David was a highly-trained swordsman, his skill far beyond that of any of his attackers, but never had he trained to duel more than two at one time. David's life was now in real danger.

  Breathing heavily and sweating profusely, David clamped his two bloody swords and backed away from the men, his head snapping from one side to the other as he tried to keep his eyes on all three. As the men closed in, David feigned an attack on the single man to his left and, while still facing him, stabbed blindly at the two to the right. David heard a guttural groan on the right as he brought up his second sword to parry an advance from the single man on the left. David had felt his saber find resistance, and turned quickly to observe the tip of his steely saber buried into the chest of the enemy. The man had a look of shock and horror on his face as his knees buckled under him and he dropped to the ground.

  Seeing their comrade fall, the remaining men quickly lunged at David. In a sideways block, David parried the advance of the angered Confederates and stepped back to regain his defensive posture, maneuvering so both his attackers now faced his front.

  For a moment, the three stood still and observed each other, each man sizing up the other.

  David glared at the two with contempt and said, “Are you two ladies going to just stand there pissing your pants, or are you going to fight?” He snapped, hoping to antagonize them into a mistake.

  “We have him now, William,” the man on the right said to the other. He turned to David and replied, “Prepare to meet Jesus, you mangy blue-bellied squirrel.”

  David's provocation worked. He watched the man's eyes on the right widen in anger. The Confederate lunged at David. David parried with both swords, spun around to build momentum, then savagely sliced at the man behind the knee and through his Achilles tendon.

  The wounded Confederate cried out in pain and immediately fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding heel in agony.

  David instinctively fell back into his defending stance and stared at the remaining Confederate. Fear spread through the young man’s body as he now stood alone against a superior foe.

  David called to him, “Bud, you don't want to do this. See all these men around you?” David pointed with both swords to the fallen men on the ground. The young Confederate nodded feebly.

  “I did this. You're going to die if you continue. Please, put down that sword and run. I'm giving you a chance for life. Take it.” David implored.

  David searched the Confederate’s eyes for an answer. Standing just a few feet from him, he could see every twitch in the young man's face as he struggled with his decision. Suddenly, David watched the man's eyes dart to someone behind them. Instinctively, Davi
d spun around with his sword making, contact, but too late. While David was negotiating with the standing young Confederate, a fallen man quietly reloaded his Colt. David's saber contacted the Confederate pistol, knocking it from his hand, but not before it discharged a bullet into David's side, just above his hip.

  David reacted with the other sword, plunging it into the Confederate’s stomach, then stumbled backward. He released one of his swords and held his hand to his bleeding wound. David caught movement out of the corner of his eye and swung his saber savagely toward the movement.

  The young Confederate stood for a moment in shock. Just moments before, seeing his wounded foe, he lunged at David from behind. As David spun around, his sword sliced through the young Confederate’s throat, severing his jugular and windpipe. David watched in horror as the young man dropped to his knees, blood pumping from his wound, then fell onto his face.

  Looking around him, David realized the fight was now contained to the inside of the canyon as the Union soldiers overpowered their enemy. David examined his wound. He was bleeding, but fortunately enough, the bullet had pierced the mostly fatty tissue at his waistline. The pain felt excruciating, but manageable.