But Stanton was determined to wear mourning and reminded Lincoln of the perilous state of Portland. "Why, you see," responded the president, "it reminds me of Mrs. Sallie Ward, a neighbor of mine who had a very large family. Occasionally one of her numerous progeny would be heard crying in some out-of-the-way place, upon which Mrs. Ward would exclaim, 'There's one of my children that isn't dead yet.'19
"Well, Portland is not dead yet, and I reckon that as long as Chamberlain commands, it will keep on wheezing along. I suggest you put your heads together to find a way to make sure Portland doesn't expire while you are wringing your hands. Why, Professor Lowe said to me yesterday that he could fly a thousand pounds of gunpowder into Portland a day, and it's gunpowder and not biscuit they need up there right now."
He winked slyly at Sharpe who had brought the idea to him from Lowe who was limping around the Navy Yard, trying to get his balloons repaired and new ones made. Lincoln had personally put the new shoulder straps with their stars on Lowe's uniform at the Yard the day before to the thunderous cheers of Yard workers, sailors, and Marines. The first man to sink warships from the air deserved no less. And even more important to Lowe than the star of a brigadier was the order signed by Lincoln for a hundred balloons and the sharp expansion of his corps.
Welles let Sharpe's conclusions sink home. His precious Navy had been dealt a strategic blow that could prove mortal if a way was not found to undo the logic of the British blockade. As if on cue, Welles proposed to Lincoln the establishment of a naval balloon corps. Lincoln surmised that Fox was behind it; most of the Navy's strategic and operational innovations found him an eager supporter. You did not have to hit the pugnacious Fox over the head for him to imagine the possibilities of aerial attack on the Royal Navy's blockaders. Then there was the gall that it had been the Army's Balloon Corps that had been so decisive in defeat of the enemy's naval descent on Washington. Thank God, he thought, a naval officer had gone up with Lowe. Welles had made sure that young Cushing had shared in Lowe's glory by jumping him up to the rank of captain and having Lincoln bestow the promotion at the same time as Lowe's.20
Matching the Army in promotions was simply not enough for Welles and Fox. It was brutally clear to them that despite the victory at Charleston, the Navy had been driven from the open sea and bottled up in its ports. The largest body of water it controlled, other than the Great Lakes, was the Chesapeake Bay and that none too securely. If the Navy didn't get back into the war in some dramatic fashion and soon, the war would be a replay of 1812 in which the Royal Navy ravaged the American coasts at will. Balloons had proved they could sink ships, and that was the Navy's job.21
Then Lincoln grew pensive. He stood up and waved his long arm across the wall map of the eastern United States and British North America. "Yes, new ideas. We need all the new ideas we can get. Try something. If it doesn't work, try something else. We must have an edge in this war, and it must come from the inventiveness and industry of our people. I've had young Carnegie putting his mind to how we can do better with these matters.
"But new ideas take time, and that is in short supply. In the spring, John Bull with little Napoleon will be on us in great force. We must get more time, and I can't think of a better way than setting fire to the Lion's tail in his own den."
He sat down again and leaned back in his chair. "You know, when a man's cookhouse and barn are on fire, he's got a lot less interest in bothering you. General Sharpe is looking into just how to do it for us. He thinks our Russian friends might be able to offer us a hand. We'll just let him work on it for a while before we talk it up anymore."
Seward laughed. "General, there's a heap of tinder in the Old World that is just begging for a match. Do your worst. And I guarantee that all those neutrals will pay attention. Our Russian friends would like us to keep our alliance close to the vest until the very last moment. They have their own plans for Europe that will set a lot of cookhouses and barns on fire."
Seward paused as if he were enjoying the taste of something. Then he added, "Let's also not forget we have as the president's guest His Royal Highness Prince Alfred. My sources tell me that Victoria is beside herself with anxiety but will not let on. Poor example that would be. I don't think the British have ever lost a royal prince, at least not since the Middle Ages. That issue alone has the courts of Europe all abuzz. It has been very positively received, even by the British press, that Prince Alfred is being nursed back to health in the White House by Mrs. Lincoln herself."
Lincoln smiled, "Well, his wound was just what Mrs. Lincoln needed. It was also what I needed. My poor wife had not recovered from the shock of a bomb being the main course at her breakfast followed by my 'altercation' with my late bodyguard. She just latched on to the idea of nursing Victoria's little boy like a life preserver. Snapped her right out of her funk it did. You will all be gratified to know that His Royal Highness is recovering from his wounds remarkably well."22
He added. "The royals appear to be a hardy bunch. Though from his abominable temper, lack of tact, sullen and brusque manner, Mrs. Lincoln is praying even harder than Victoria for his speedy recovery and even speedier departure. Most country people are better mannered, I must say. Why, I think that just to please Mrs. Lincoln, I will return him to his mother as soon as he's on his feet. It is a profitable day, gentlemen, when I can gratify my wife and annoy the enemy with one stroke. We will give back Prince Alfred and keep all the other British prisoners we have taken. Let Palmerston answer to the House how a royal prince escapes the cruel captivity his mother's subjects must endure."23
Stanton had remained uncharacteristically silent through most of the meeting. Sharpe had had the good sense to brief him thoroughly on his report beforehand so nothing would be a surprise. He was pleased that the War Department's interests had not been impinged, but then, they had not been exactly enhanced either. It was time to remember how the Army had saved the nation.
"Mr. President, I would like to add to Palmerston's problems. The Army has a little present for you that will surely cause the Prime Minister more difficult moments in the House." He signaled to one of the president's aides, who nodded and left the room. In a moment, the door opened wide to admit two color bearers carrying the torn and bloodied colors of the Grenadier Guards. They marched to the end of the room and dipped the colors. If Stanton hoped to please Lincoln, he failed. A look of pain crossed the president's face.
"Thank General Hooker for me; it is a most a handsome gift," he said almost perfunctorily. Then to the soldiers, he said, "Boys, just lean them in the corner by the window."
That was the signal for the meeting to come to an end. As the great men of the land moved to the door, young Tad rushed in past them, caught one look at the crimson and gold silk in the corner, and dashed over to it. He picked up the royal colors and ran shouting through the room. Stanton patted him on the head, glad to have pleased at least one Lincoln.
"General Sharpe," Lincoln said, "please stay a bit." He turned to Tad, who was making his third lap around the cabinet table. His hand snapped out and snatched the colors from the boy. He sat down and enfolded Tad with his other great arm. "Now, Tad, this is not a toy," he said gently. "Valiant and faithful men loved this flag and died for it. See the dark stains. That is their blood. It has made this a holy thing." He hugged the boy. "Now go lean it back up where you found it." Tad was used to being shamelessly indulged by his father, but even a spoiled child can sense when playtime is over. He propped it up against the frame of the nearest window and ran out to find some new mischief.
Lincoln just sat there, his large frame seeming to sink in on itself as he stared at the colors. There was a blanket of snow outside, but it was the sort of bright, clear day when the sky is so blue it hurts the eyes to look up. The light pulsed through the window and seemed to set the crimson flag on fire. The silk shone like a molten mist, and the light shining through it puddled a red glow on the carpet.
"General Sharpe, you see this thing, this object of milita
ry glory?"
"Yes, sir."
"Do you know what military glory is? It is 'that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood-that serpent's eye, that charms to destroy.'24 There I go, General, quoting myself again. I wrote that as a younger man when I was a congressman during the Mexican War. What I would have given to not have been so prescient." He stared a bit longer at the blood glow, his eyes gone blank. Sharpe had never seen him so withdrawn into himself, as if his body and mind had gone silent while a titanic struggle waged within for his soul.
Minutes passed as Sharpe waited silently with increasing unease. Then Lincoln was suddenly on his feet, his rangy frame radiating power and purpose. He seized the royal colors and pulled it out of the light. The serpent's eye suddenly faded away. It was now just ragged, stained crimson silk and gold thread. "We and the British will have our fill of this war long before it has had its fill of us. This war will girdle the world, Sharpe, with ropes of fire. This will be a war like no other, all kindled in the idea that one man can own another.
"Now we are at war with an empire that has fecklessly shackled itself to this evil idea, the very empire that first abolished the evil of slavery. Ask the average Briton if they should go to war for slavery, and he would recoil in disgust, but that is what they have done out of spite at our government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We are all gone mad. And we, who live and breathe freedom, have allied ourselves with the great autocrat, the'czar of all the Russias; who never saw a freedom he could not live without. Shame on us.
"Even the British mock the contradiction. Listen to this doggerel from Punch:
He turned to Sharpe. "Yes, this war will test us as nothing else before. I must tap this country's strength to the very bottom, Sharpe, as no free people have ever been tested since the Athenians gambled everything on their wooden walls against the great king's hordes.26 In doing so, I will have to trample on the edges of freedom to save its substance. If we fail, the Constitution will not survive our fall. God help us."
He looked out the window bathed in the same sunlight that had fired the serpent's eye. He stood for a moment as the light washed around him like a great nimbus. Then Sharpe saw him bend his head and say, "Lord, abide with me."27
Order of Battle at the Battle of Vermillionville
October 21st, 1863
Armee de Louisianel (Franco-Confederate)
1st Division (6,500)
1st Brigade
1st Regiment de Ligne
62nd Regiment de Ligne
2nd Battalion Infanterie Legere d'Afrique
2nd Brigade
3rd Regiment Zouave
7th Battalion Chasseurs a Pied
Artillery (2 batteries)
2nd Division (6,800)
1st Brigade
7th Regiment de Ligne
51st Regiment de Ligne
2nd Brigade
1st Regiment Zouave
20th Chasseurs a Pied
Tirailleurs Algeriens (6 companies)
Artillery (2 batteries)
3rd Division (5,900)
1st Brigade
95th Regiment de Ligne
2nd Regiment Zouave
2nd Brigade
18th Battalion Chasseurs a Pied
1st Regiment Etrangere
Sudanese Battalion
Artillery (2 batteries)
Walker's Division (6,000)2
Young's Brigade
12th Texas Vol. Infantry
13th Texas Vol. Infantry
18th Texas Vol. Infantry
22d Texas Vol. Infantry
Halerman's Battery
Randal's Brigade
28th Texas Dismounted Cavalry
11th Texas Vol. Infantry
14th Texas Vol. Infantry
Gould's Texas Infantry Battalion
Flournoy's Brigade
16th Texas Vol. Infantry
16th Texas Dismounted Cavalry
17th Texas Vol. Infantry
19th Texas Vol. Infantry
Edgar's Battery
Polignac's Brigade (attached)
Alexander's (Texas) Regiment
Stevens's (Texas) Regiment
Artillery (3 batteries)
Cavalry Division (1,900)
1st Brigade
5th Hussars (2 squadrons)
Chasseurs d'Afrique (7 squadrons from 3 regiments)
2nd Brigade
6th Lancers (5 squadrons)
12th Chasseurs a Cheval (4 squadrons)
Harrison's Cavalry Brigade (attached) (900)
Green's Cavalry Division (2,500) (detached mission)
Reserve Brigade (3,000)
Zouaves of the Imperial Guard
1st Chasseurs a Pied
Guard artillery battery
Artillery Reserve (3 batteries) (750)
Trains (4,000)
Total troops: 37,300
Total guns: 84
Department of the Gulf' (United States)
XIII Corps (16,200)
1st Division (4,900)
1st Brigade
33rd Illinois
99th Illinois
8th Indiana
18th Indiana
2nd Brigade
21st Iowa
22nd Iowa
23rd Iowa
11th Wisconsin
3rd Brigade
49th Indiana
69th Indiana
7th Kentucky
22nd Kentucky
16th Ohio
42nd Ohio
120th Ohio
Artillery (4 batteries)
2nd Division (3,600)
1st Brigade
37th Illinois
97th Illinois
26th Indiana
34th Iowa
38th Iowa
2nd Brigade
94th Illinois
19th Iowa
20th Iowa
13th Maine
20th Wisconsin
(3 batteries)
3rd Division (3,700)
1st Brigade
11th Indiana
24th Indiana
34th Indiana
49th Indiana
99th Wisconsin
2nd Brigade
47th Indiana
24th Iowa
28th Iowa
56th Ohio
Artillery (4 batteries)
4th Division (3,600)
1st Brigade
60th Indiana
67th Indiana
83rd Ohio
96th Ohio
23rd Wisconsin
2nd Brigade
77th Illinois
97th Illinois
130th Illinois
19th Kentucky
48th Ohio
Artillery (2 batteries)
Reserve Artillery (2 batteries) (400)
XIX Corps (9,000)
1st Division (5,800)
1st Brigade
30th Massachusetts
116th New York
161st New York
174th New York
2nd Brigade
12th Connecticut
75th New York
114th New York
160th New York
8th Vermont
Artillery (2 batteries)
3rd Division (3,000)
1st Brigade
110th New York
162nd New York
165th New York
173rd New York
2nd Brigade
14th Maine
26th Massachusetts
8th New Hampshire
133rd New York
Artillery (2 batteries)
Artillery Reserve (1 battery) (200)
Cavalry Division (3,300)
1st Brigade
118th Illinois
1st Louisiana (9 companies)
6th Missouri (7 companies)
14th New York (6 companies)
2nd Brigade
2nd Illinois (7 companies)
3rd Illinois (5 c
ompanies)
15th Illinois (1 company)
36th Illinois (1 company)
1st Indiana (1 company)
4th Indiana (1 company)
Not brigaded:
87th Illinois (infantry mounted)
16th Indiana (infantry mounted)
2nd Louisiana (infantry mounted)
Artillery battery
Artillery Reserve (2 batteries) (400)
Trains (4,200)
Total Troops: 33,100
Total Guns: 102
Order of Battle at the Battle of Kennebunk
October 25th, 1863
Portland Field Force (British)
Commander: Maj. Gen. Sir James Hope Grant
Headquarters and Staff (75)
1st Division (7,900)
1st Halifax Brigade'
1/39th Foot
Royal Canadian Regiment (detachment)
Royal Newfoundland Company (detachment)
52nd Bedford Battalion
A Battery, 8th Brigade (Field)
2nd Sherbrooke Brigade
1/17th Foot
53rd Sherbrooke Battalion
54th Richmond Battalion
55th Megantic Battalion
1st Battery, 10th Brigade
3rd Niagara Brigade
1/63rd Foot
56th Prescott Battalion
57th Peterborough Battalion
58th Compton Battalion
6th Battery, 10th Brigade
Reserve: 1/62 Foot (450)
Military Train (1,065)
3rd Battalion, Military Train (315)
Canadian Military Train (500)
Canadian Train Guards (250)
5 Companies Canadian Militia Infantry
Sixth Corps (US)
Commander: Maj. Gen. John Sedgwick
Headquarters staff: 20
1st Vermont Cavalry detachment (escort)
1st Division (Wright) (6,200)
1st Brigade (Torbert)
1st New Jersey
2nd New Jersey
3rd New Jersey
4th New Jersey
15th New Jersey
2nd Brigade (Bartlett)
121st New York
A Rainbow of Blood: The Union in Peril an Alternate History Page 32