Love Finds You in Amana Iowa by Melanie Dobson

Author:Melanie Dobson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Love Finds You in Amana Iowa
ISBN: 9781609361877
Publisher: Summerside Press
Published: 2011-11-18T18:30:00+00:00

Wind whipped over the river as Friedrich knelt to lap water into his mouth. The dozen or so men alongside him panted like a pack of dogs at the end of a hunt, except they were the ones being hunted.

Once he quenched his thirst, Friedrich leaned back against the muddy bank and folded his arms over his chest to try to stop his arms from shaking. Back in the fields of Amana, he’d imagined himself a heroic soldier with a pressed uniform and gallant horse, fighting for honor and justice, but now his new uniform was torn and stained, and he couldn’t stop trembling.

The heroism he so desired had been shattered by the horrors of war and his company’s flight across the hills and trees last night when the entire regiment retreated en masse—if you could call it a retreat. The company from Iowa had scattered like grain in the face of the Rebels, taking cover in the brush and branches.

Before they’d come south, their captain proclaimed this fight was a sure win for the Union. He’d been terribly mistaken. Friedrich and the others tossed off their bedrolls as they ran away yesterday, and they slept hidden in the darkness and drizzle, the cold temperatures chilling their bones.

When the sun broke this morning, they continued their run north, hoping to find Rosecrans’s camp at the base of Lookout Mountain so they could reunite with the Army of the Cumberland.

Leaning over again, Friedrich rinsed his face and hands in the river water, and then he took a lump of hardtack from his haversack and dipped the hard bread into the water to try and soften it before he climbed back under the shade of an oak tree. Even as the water and food refreshed him, images of war flooded his mind.

The black cloud of gunpowder over the valley. The carnage. Troops dodging the shells and cannonballs as they fled for their lives. He’d never smelled anything like it either—the potent mixture of sulfur and death that still permeated his nose.

And it was only a skirmish with the enemy. The major battles were still to come.

He closed his eyes and tried to pretend he was back in the peaceful Amana Colonies, far away from the border of Georgia and Tennessee, but he couldn’t seem to rid himself of the blackness that pressed against his soul. The doubts.

He wanted to do what was right—fight for the freedom of the slaves—but nothing seemed right on the battlefield. In the haze of noise and gunshots and gunpowder, he’d lost sight of Jonah Henson and he’d lost sight of Earl Smith and the man who’d hurt his eye. He prayed the ambulance wagon had found the injured men and taken them to camp.

In the eyes of the Union, he knew he was doing right, but one day, he would have to stand before God and answer to Him alone. He prayed he had made the right decision.

The wind started to turn warm as he swiped his fingers through his wet hair and rested his head against the knobby trunk.

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