On Grounds of Honor by Rebekah Colburn

Author:Rebekah Colburn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: civil war, francine rivers, jane kirkpatrick, liz curtis higgs, tamara alexander
Publisher: Rebekah Colburn

Chapter Seventeen

Colonel Wallace agreed to grant Chaplain Davies furlough to visit his son. Jeremiah convinced Phillips and Cullen to accompany him to the Colonel’s office to request that the chaplain be given time to visit his family during this time of grief. Davies had been touched by their consideration for him and was eager to leave for Brandywine, Maryland where his son lived with his wife and children.

Resting his hand on Jeremiah’s sleeve, Davies lifted his chin to look Jeremiah in the eyes. “That was a nice thing you did. I can’t wait to see my grandchildren and have a taste of normal life. But I won’t be gone too long, I promise. Somebody’s got to keep you boys in line!”

Davies had been sent off with slaps on the back and words of encouragement and affection. Even the men who ridiculed him seemed to regret his departure and the absence of Sunday services while he was away.

Jeremiah wished he could be given furlough to visit home. He’d received word from Clara that Jane’s fiancé had been killed in battle and that she was not bearing up very well. He wished he could be there to offer comfort to his sister-in-law, and to affirm to his wife that he was safe and his love for her had not been compromised by their separation.

In the wake of Lincoln’s letter in the Tribune stating, “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it,” the President had issued a threat to the states of the rebellion. If they did not surrender and rejoin the Union within one hundred days, on the first of January, 1863, he would issue the Emancipation Proclamation. This law would be issued under the authority of his war powers and would free all slaves within the named regions, and would additionally allow colored men to join the Union Army and receive payment as a soldier in the United States Armed Forces.

“I guess Lincoln decided he had to free some of the slaves in order to save the Union,” Phillips commented as he exhaled a gray cloud of cigarette smoke. “At least it won’t affect the slave-holding states still in the Union.”

“Well, if the Confederacy raises the white flag, it sounds like they’d get to keep their slaves. Maybe they’ll capitulate and let us all go home,” Cullen added hopefully.

Jeremiah smoothed a hand over his beard as he considered this turn of events. “I don’t think they’ll fall into that trap, Cullen. The abolitionists will never let them keep their slaves permanently. It’s just a warning. Lincoln’s changing the stakes of the war. We’re not fighting just to preserve the Union anymore—it’s about slavery now. His letter in the Tribune made it clear that he would do whatever he felt necessary to preserve the Union, even if it meant freeing the slaves. So this is his new angle. If he turns the war into a moral issue, a fight to set the slaves free, he’ll have all the abolitionists on his side.

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