The Last Full Measure by Jack Campbell

Author:Jack Campbell
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, Historical Fiction, Civil War, American history, alternate history
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Published: 2013-06-10T04:00:00+00:00

Fortunately for the column under Hancock’s command, Mosby’s assessment had proven accurate. Marching as quickly as they could while burdened with wagons and wounded, the volunteers of the Army of the New Republic brushed aside a series of relatively weak roadblocks. In only one case did they have to fight their way through a checkpoint. At all others the outnumbered federals were easily put to flight or overwhelmed by sudden attacks in the dead of the night. Hancock’s forces moved steadily through Virginia and up through Maryland, actually tending east of north at times to stay on the good roads. They had made it into areas less heavily-wooded, with more farms and orchards filling the rolling landscape, as well as towns and villages with homes built of brick, stone or wood lining the road. The area felt quiet, peaceful, the marching column of soldiers and their wagons an alien presence among the farms and other gentle pursuits of this region.

Chamberlain would have been cheered by the success thus far but for two things; the ever grimmer expressions on the professional soldiers which told him they did not expect the good fortune to last, and the pain in his feet and legs from long marches each day with as few rest breaks as possible. Even the mounted soldiers were drooping with weariness as they alternated riding and leading their horses in order to avoid wearing out their mounts. Chamberlain, still wearing the officer’s cavalry hat given him for the raid on Fortress Monroe, was grateful for its protection when the sun beat down on the marching volunteers. He was less grateful as the miles wore on for the weight of the revolver hanging from his belt, not only because of its physical burden but because it served as a constant reminder that he might soon be forced to fire that weapon at other men.

One of the things that kept Chamberlain going was the fact that when Armistead wasn’t riding or walking with his old friend Hancock, he usually walked beside Chamberlain, the older man showing an endurance that the college professor envied. They spoke of many things as the days passed, including the message which Lee had given Chamberlain at Fort Monroe. “He meant it sincerely,” Armistead sighed, “but Bobbie Lee has blinded himself to what he serves. He feels duty and honor leave him no option, and so he does what he must.”

“I tried to reason with him.”

“I don’t expect he listened. Such a decision is a deeply personal thing. And, of course, Colonel Lee is a wealthy landowner, his estates just south of Washington. To choose to join us would be to choose to turn his back on all he owns.”

“Including his negro slaves,” Chamberlain said.

“There is that, and fear of what those slaves might do if freed. It’s like holding a tiger by the tail. They feel they must hold the slaves in check for fear of the consequences of letting go.”

“And yet this tiger is of their own making, and endures to this day by their own choice.

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