by Jeff Shaara
He knew the First Corps was coming back, that Longstreet was already bringing them out of Tennessee, would be close very soon. That would bring the numbers back up, make Lee as strong as he would ever be. Now the reports from Stuart confirmed he was right, the fight would be here. But this time it could be very different, this time the Federals would be led by someone who did not put his picture in the newspapers, who did not make grand speeches. He tried to remember the face, the name a vague memory from long ago, a brief meeting in Mexico, but there was nothing that brought that back to him, nothing to separate the name “Grant” from so many others. He knew only that this man had risen to the top, that something had so inspired Lincoln that he’d given this man complete control.
He walked to his tent, saw Taylor signing papers, heard his name called, soldiers trying for some piece of personal attention, but he did not respond, moved into the tent. He looked at the latest message from Stuart, saw several more scattered on the table. Understanding what Stuart was doing, the overefficiency, he smiled, thought, General, don’t wear out your horses.
He sat, moved the papers into a single pile, set the cup down, stared away at nothing. He began to think of moving the army, the new defense, the new commanders, felt relief that Longstreet was coming back. Yes, you are still my warhorse. And I will need you, and I will need General Stuart. He looked out through the opening in the tent, could see across the far fields, saw the large dark mound of Clark Mountain rising in the distance, a dull intrusion into the blue sky, thought, I should go up there, speak to the lookouts. Grant’s army will not sit still for long. And we must be prepared.
He emptied the cup, felt the bitterness filling him, felt the familiar twist in his gut, the surge of energy for the new fight. He stood then, moved out of the tent, thought, If Grant is in Virginia, then he is here because I am here.…
* * *
THEY WAITED FOR HIM ON THE WIDE HILL, WATCHED HIM QUIETLY as he rode toward them, Traveller carrying him through the small trees, the trail winding between large flat rocks. He had a fresh energy, felt better than he had in weeks, had pushed the horse hard up the hill, felt the thrill of the hard ride. His staff, whom he’d left behind, were just now coming into view. He gazed across the summit of the hill, felt the coolness, saw the flowers, God’s hand draped across the land in rich green patches, the new growth of spring. The horse was breathing hard, and he leaned over, patted the animal’s neck, gave a small laugh.
Clark Mountain was really a large flat hill, but it loomed high above the Rapidan River and was ideal for an observation post. The lookouts themselves began to gather now, staying back behind the small group of commanders, and Lee halted the horse, dismounted, instinctively looked at the larger man, standing in front of the others.
“General Longstreet, you are looking well this morning.”
Longstreet made a short bow, held a short pipe in one hand, smiled briefly. He knew Lee’s moods, had not seen this one for a long while, said only, “General Lee.”
Behind Longstreet, Lee saw the others watching him still, and no one would speak until he’d acknowledged them. He was used to this courtesy now, understood the formality of rank, looked to the tall thin man behind Longstreet who was moving forward gingerly on the wooden leg, stepping awkwardly across the uneven rock.
“General Ewell—”
“Sir!” Ewell snapped to attention, saluted, and Lee returned it.
Then Lee saw a smaller man, the red beard neatly trimmed, the old hat propped slightly askew. “General Hill …” He paused, hesitated to use the words that seemed to come naturally when greeting Hill. “Are you well today, General?”
Hill glanced at Longstreet, who did not look at him, and Lee knew this was a sensitive point, that Hill was aware of the talk in the camps of the other commanders, the longstanding feud with Longstreet never really resolved. Hill’s frequent illnesses had become well-known, and many were saying it was only when the big fight was coming that he would withdraw to his cot. Hill stood straight, said, “Yes, General. I am quite well.”
Lee made small greetings to the others, saw the sour expression of Jubal Early, Ewell’s division commander, an outspoken and unpopular man, and more recently the man who was seen as the true commander of Ewell’s Second Corps, the strength behind the weakening control of Ewell.
Ewell understood that his reputation had diminished. Under Jackson, early in the war, he’d led his division with great fire, had built affection from his men by often putting himself where a commander had no business going, right on the line, moving into the fight beside his men. The bravado had cost him a leg, and with that loss something else had gone out of him as well, something unexpected. After Jackson’s death, when Ewell and Hill were promoted to inherit the divided command, Ewell had seen his first great opportunity at Gettysburg, staring down at him from the top of Cemetery Hill. Lee knew, as did the others, that Ewell had not performed, had stared up at the weak Federal defenses on the hill and done nothing. Even when his commanders had offered to assault the key position on their own responsibility, Ewell held them back, suddenly lost the great fire Jackson had always relied on. More recently, Ewell had married, moved his wife into his headquarters, and, if his strength had seemed to drain away with the loss of the leg, whatever control he still held over his staff now came from his wife. It was an odd and uncomfortable experience for his men to realize that Ewell was no longer in command, that he had served Jackson so well because he was best suited to be under the domination of someone else. With Jackson gone, many in the field knew it was now Early. In camp, the staff knew it was his wife.
Lee walked a few steps toward the north face of the hill, raised his field glasses. Hill moved closer, and Lee could feel him there, silent, trying to absorb something from him. It was painful and obvious that Hill’s confidence was still badly bruised by the disaster at Bristoe Station, and at every opportunity now he seemed to hover close to Lee, seeking … Lee wasn’t sure what, but he felt the neediness, the pull at him. Lee gazed through the glasses, thought, You will have your chance, General. There will be time for amends.
The others raised field glasses as well, an exercise of respect since they had already seen what Lee was now viewing. Across the river, a vast sea of white specks, the tents of Grant’s enormous army, spread out over the bare fields. It had been a familiar scene for weeks now, but there was something new, the reason the corps commanders were here, why they would meet on this tall hill. There was a swarm of activity all through the neat squares of white; slowly the neat checkerboard was distorting, the tents disappearing. Grant was preparing to move.
Lee had read reports, some from the northern papers, some from Stuart, that the Federal army was set to begin its campaign. Ewell’s corps was along the river below them, guarding against a crossing that could bring Grant straight at Lee’s army, but Lee knew it would not be like that, Grant would not expose himself to his army’s strength. Grant had two choices. If he moved out to the left, to the west, and came across the Rapidan upstream, he could threaten to move on the Shenandoah, or cut the rail lines that fed the Confederate army. But that would take Grant far from his own supply lines, from the security of the big rivers in the east. The only other route south would be downstream, at the fords that had been used by Hooker’s army a year ago, Germanna and Ely, the routes that led straight down into the Wilderness.
Lee said nothing, and the others were watching him again, already knew what the activity across the river would mean. Lee turned, gradually scanned the open ground to the northeast, then down across the river and across the thickets and dense growth of the Wilderness. He put the glasses down, stared out, thought, Yes, it will have to happen there. He did not feel an instinct about Grant as he had about so many of the others, but everything he had read, every piece of information he could find, told him that this man would not use trickery and deceit. His army was too large and too cumbersome, and so they would advance by the shortest route, the straight line. The str
aight line toward Richmond was down through the Wilderness. There were other reasons as well. As Grant moved south, he would be between the Confederate army and Fredericksburg, and at Fredericksburg the good roads and the Rappahannock could still provide a good supply line for the Federal troops. And if they move quickly and get below us, Lee thought, we will have a serious problem.
Lee knew he would not receive help from Davis, that the president was as concerned as he had ever been with administering the army, about promotions and transfers of officers. Davis had even moved his friend Braxton Bragg to Richmond, put the despised Bragg in the only place where those who so disliked him could not have an effect—right beside Davis as his principal adviser. The defenses of Richmond were now manned by troops that belonged to Lee’s army, including what was left of Pickett’s division, the force that had been so decimated at Gettysburg.
More of Lee’s troops were tied up in North Carolina, even though Lee himself had information that the Federals there had already moved north, to reinforce Grant’s forces on the peninsula east of Richmond. Davis’s response to Lee’s warnings about the new threat to Richmond was to create a new military department, with jurisdiction south of the James River. The command of all the territory below Richmond was given to the one man who had repeatedly shown a clear envy of Lee’s prominence and popularity, and so could not be relied on to lend support to Lee’s effort. The job was given to the man whose greatest notoriety came from commanding the firing on Fort Sumter: P. G. T. Beauregard.
Lee still stared out across the Wilderness, did not search for detail, for any landmark, because even from this vantage point, there was none. It was the same dense mass that had swallowed up Joe Hooker’s army, and somewhere in those vast green thickets, along some dim trail, was the spot where Jackson had fallen. Jackson had taken one risk too many, had ridden too far forward on a night when both exhausted armies held tight to their guns, would respond with sudden manic violence to any sound. One sound had been the thundering hoofbeats of Jackson and his staff.
Lee turned his head to the north again, did not look down toward Grant’s army, just out to the open sky, thought, There is no resting place … no sacred ground. We must do it all again, here. If Grant has the numbers, the strength, we have the advantage of knowing the ground, of knowing how that terrible bloody place can paralyze an army, the unseen enemy, the sounds of the fight echoing across the creeks and hollows, no point of reference, no way to know who is in front of you, or beside you … or behind you.
He still said nothing, and they began to move closer to him, expecting him to discuss the plan, what he would ask them to do. He felt a sudden lightness, felt his mind open up, stared out into the clear blue and felt like he could step out, off the hill, away from it all. He felt drawn by God, that familiar sense that God was close to them. He had felt like this before, at Manassas, when he could see the panorama of Pope’s army swept from the field by his men, and at Fredericksburg, his invincible line destroying the enemy’s continuing assaults. But there was also the last day at Gettysburg, when he sat on the big horse and watched his men march in those beautiful strong lines across that wide field, moving ever closer to that one clump of trees, a mile of wide-open glory, and he’d felt God beside him as he waved them forward through the smoke and brilliant flashes of light, and waited for the smoke to clear knowing they were up and over the Federal lines. But when the smoke cleared it was not like that at all, and those who had survived came slowly back across the field, shattered and beaten, and God was not beside him.
He felt a sudden shock, blinked hard, sensed the men around him again. He felt his breath choke in his throat and put his hand on his chest, focused, brought himself back to this place. He turned, saw Longstreet beside him, watching him, concern in the blue eyes. But Longstreet said nothing. Lee thought, He does not believe God was with us that day. They were his men, and he did not want them to go. But I believed they would prevail, they could do anything. It had to be something in us … in our will. We cannot lose that, it is what God wants from us. We must not lose faith. Grant is just another test. God is watching us to see if the will is still there. It is still there.
He took another deep breath, said, “General, you know this man. Will he do what we suppose him to do?”
Longstreet took the pipe from his mouth, seemed surprised at the question. “Grant? Well, yes, I don’t believe Sam Grant is a very complicated man.” Longstreet stared out toward the north, thought for a moment, said, “I believe there is one thing we may depend on. Once he begins to move, once he is in front of us, we had better be prepared to stay there awhile. He will not go away until we make him go away.”
Lee said nothing, looking out to the north again, thought, If Grant is not complicated, then our job will be easier. We do not have the strength to strike him where he sits, so we must let him come to us, commit himself, at a time and place of his own choosing. But there has always been a mistake, sooner or later, with all of them. It does not matter if Grant is different from McClellan, or Burnside, or Hooker. He will make a mistake. God will provide.…
Lee raised his arm, pointed out to the east, toward the Wilderness. “He will cross there … at Ely’s or Germanna. We must focus our attention there.”
There were nods, low comments, and they waited, expected him to say more. But he did not feel like making plans, issuing the orders, the small details that these men would need. He felt something much larger was already in motion around them, the plan already in place, inevitable and certain. Abruptly, he turned, moved to the horse, mounted. They watched him, silent, curious, and he looked away, out toward the place where Jackson had fallen, and he felt the glare of the sharp blue eyes, knew Jackson was still there, would still help them. Yes, slow them down, General, he thought, hold them there and it will not matter if he has the numbers and the guns. It will not be a fair fight. The advantage will be ours.
9. GRANT
MAY 4, 1864
THERE WAS MOTION EVERYWHERE, HORSES AND WAGONS, GUNS and men. He rode past a row of supply wagons, each marked with the insignia of their corps, the three-leaf clover of Hancock’s Second, the Maltese cross of Warren’s Fifth, Sedgwick’s Sixth with the St. Andrew’s cross.
He passed the wagon train now, the wagons moving farther to the east, the route that would take them out of harm’s way, down across the river closer to Fredericksburg. He could see the river now, the thick columns of blue soldiers crossing on pontoon bridges. He pulled the horse off the road, moved to a small rise. The staff followed, settled behind him, with only Rawlins close by.
He glanced up, saw the stark bright sky, the blazing sun. It was a perfect day, and he looked again at the river, could even see the reflection on the water, the line of troops magnified, the river sparkling with the reflections from the rows of muskets.
He was between the Fifth and Sixth Corps, watching them cross Germanna Ford. He knew that to the east Hancock was crossing at Ely’s, and it was just like this, quiet and efficient, the men moving at a good pace, that they would soon be south of the river. Even Burnside was in position above them. The Ninth Corps, waiting for the order, would guard the north side of the river until the rest of them were across. Then Burnside too would move down, strengthening the army, which was already very strong. Grant thought of the numbers, nearly 140,000, the same number Joe Hooker had a year ago, but Hooker had spread them out, an elaborate plan that relied on coordination and communication, and the result was a disaster.
No, he thought, we will pass by Chancellorsville, and it will mean nothing at all, there will be no footnote in history to mark that place, not this time. This time we are one great fist, and Lee must respond to that. There can be no games, no elusive stalking. We are here, and if he avoids us, we will just keep going until we march into Richmond. But he will not allow that, and so we will have a fight. It does not have to be complicated.
They had not met resistance at the crossings, just the potshots of a few skirmishers. He was su
rprised at that, had expected Lee to guard the fords, at least try to slow down the march. But Lee was still far away, the reports from the lookouts said there was simply nobody down there, the roads around the burnt ruins of the Chancellor mansion were clear, and so Hancock would move with good speed. Below Germanna, the two main roads pointing west—the roads that pointed straight at Lee’s army—were clear as well. Sheridan had sent a division of cavalry under James Wilson far to the south, scouting the vital roads, the Orange Turnpike, the Plank Road, names that were familiar to the veterans, the men who had fought on this ground once before. They had not heard much from Wilson, but Grant had confidence that Sheridan knew his man, would rely on him to keep them informed when Lee began to move.
The other scouts still reported that Lee was well to the west, dug in even beyond Mine Run, the same ground where Meade had escaped last November. Grant marveled at that, thought, Surely he does not expect that we will make that mistake again? Yet there was no other word, and so they would see no rebels this day, would march down into the thickets of the Wilderness, past the small clearings where the flowers spread across the deep green in a glorious blanket of color, past deep winding creeks, the sound of the unseen water flowing all around them. The men who had not been here, who were seeing these woods for the first time, would stare up at the sky, marching in quiet rhythm, feeling the delicious heat on their faces. The others, the men who remembered Jackson, would glance nervously to the side, trying to see into the thick brush, peeking instinctively at the small gaps where you could see a bit farther, a place where a man might hide until his target came into view. But as the river disappeared behind them, and the bright day grew warmer, even the veterans began to relax, lightening their load along the way, dropping the blankets and knapsacks by the side of the road.