1871 by Peter J. Spalding

Author:Peter J. Spalding [Spalding, Peter J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-02-11T05:00:00+00:00

DOWN BELOW, the crowd saw the fire spreading through the windows. A cry of alarm went up, and people immediately started to disperse. Mothers gathered up their children and headed toward the North Side. The homeless grabbed their possessions, while the businessmen whipped the reins of their horses.

Randolph Street was clogged in both directions as the mob tried to escape. The crowd’s quiet stoicism was giving way to mass chaos. The last denizens of Conley’s Patch were still fleeing through the square, and Williams’s fire engines were stretched far too thin to provide any protection. Captain Hickey knew he couldn’t keep any semblance of order, so he gave up his efforts and ran back toward the building.

Robert Lincoln rushed up Clark Street on the way to his office. He struggled to control his horse; he guided it toward the right and led it onto the curb, where hundreds of pedestrians were running away. Joseph Medill was racing in the opposite direction, toward his office at the Tribune. Robert met the publisher’s eyes for a moment, but Medill barely acknowledged him, and then Medill vanished into the throng.

General Sheridan, meanwhile, was trying to reach his headquarters. He had just been called from his home, and he had sped downtown as quickly as he could. His division’s main building was on Washington Street, just across from the Courthouse, and a barrier of smoke and flame kept him from getting near it.

“Goddamn it!” Sheridan yelled as his trademark temper started to boil. “The blasted, cussed, godforsaken—”

“General!” yelled a soldier as he ran through the crowd.

“Get away from here!” Sheridan yelled. “Do you not know of the explosives? They’ll tear this block to bits—”

“Sir,” the soldier replied, “you needn’t worry about them. The powder has been moved.”

Sheridan frowned. He hadn’t been told of Hildreth’s plan. “What in the blazes do you mean?” he asked.

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