No Common War by Salisbury Luke;

Author:Salisbury, Luke;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Heron Press
Published: 2019-08-02T16:00:00+00:00

32

“Forward.” Word passed among the trees. “Forward.”

We rose. Our line was solitaries, twos, threes. I saw Rebs rise from behind logs, rocks, trees. They rose in the dirty haze of early evening, and they ran. The laughter and yelling had been too much. We chased them.

I banged a shin, then a knee. I stopped advancing when a Reb officer rode out from behind the stone wall. He pointed his saber downward. Behind the wall, men with powder-black faces who’d been here all day fired point-blank into him.

We were furious! The battle was over! The officer ordered his men to surrender! The crazy sons of bitches wouldn’t stop!

Rebs reloaded and fired. They shot high.

We charged. Yorkers and Black Hats.

The Black Hats got there first. Part of the line went down. It reformed and went over. Merrick and Penfield and Captain O’Brien were on the wall. Clubbing, stabbing. Rifle butts up, furiously down. A bayonet went through a Reb’s eye.

I reached the wall as the Rebs broke and ran. I aimed, we aimed, rifles steadied on the wall, and fired. Rebs went down by the dozens. Men who’d fought all day to save Bobby Lee and had killed their Colonel died like rabbits.

I fired, reloaded, fired. I shot a man in the back. I fired at a running man and missed.

Reb reserves, held back all day, charged. They went in for a minute of daylight and died for it. Their charge was screams, wounded men, and corpses.

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