1901 (28 page)

“But you are—what was the term you used?—’strategic reserve,’ aren’t you?”

“Yes, but that’s only because the higher-ups don’t think my unit is quite ready for Broadway yet. My job is to whip them into shape and get them prepared for war. When that’s done I think we’ll be moved into the Housatonic line, probably on a rotating basis.”

“Well, don’t feel you have to hurry the process,” she said grimly. “Now, tell me all about your command.”

It was, he told her, officially called the 1st Provisional Brigade and it initially consisted of the two regiments of infantry that were originally intended to become the German Legion. That idea had flopped because neither Governor Nash of Ohio nor Governor La Follette of Wisconsin could agree on what American of German descent would command the Legion. Only the fact that both were Republicans prevented the argument from becoming more serious and permitted the compromise whereby Patrick Mahan, a decided non-German, was given command.

“I think Teddy Roosevelt might have beaten them up pretty badly if they hadn’t gone along,” he added.

His command gave him close to four thousand poorly trained and ill-equipped would-be soldiers. “The first thing I did was act on a hunch that there were immigrants from Germany who’d actually served in their army as well as men who’d served in ours. We searched and found more than a hundred. Although some of them were already in positions of command, most weren’t, and valuable experience was being wasted. I’ve been reviewing their records and placing them where I think they belong. The big problem with that idea is that some of them don’t speak English very well or not at all. It also means some people who were already in command positions, and who aren’t qualified, are being displaced. And,” he added ruefully, “most don’t particularly like the idea. One of our good American
Bürgermeisters
got drunk a couple of days ago and took a punch at me.”

“Goodness!”

“Fortunately he missed. Heinz hit him hard in his stomach and he spent the rest of the night in great pain trying to give up a week’s worth of meals. He is also now a plain private and lucky he’s not breaking rocks at some federal prison.”

“It’s almost funny.”

“On the good side, the immigrants are so eager to learn. They are also going to be quite useful. I’ve suggested to General MacArthur that small units be sent into German lines to provide hard intelligence and spread a little mischief, such as inducing others to desert. Since virtually all of them read and speak the lingo fluently, I think they could be of great assistance.”

Good God, she thought, don’t send Heinz. Molly would be hysterical. As if reading her thoughts, he asked about the relationship between the two. “Well,” she answered, “the fact that you are so close by means he slips over here as often as he can.” She did not add that Heinz had no qualms about leaving his wonderful army to spend the night in the arms of his beloved. She was not sure how Patrick would take that. She whispered, almost embarrassed, “They are still cohabiting. I am terribly afraid she will become pregnant. In fact, I think she already is.” There, maybe that small fib—was it a fib?—will keep him from permitting Heinz to do something reckless to satisfy his sense of manhood.

When she decided that Patrick had had enough time to mull this over, she asked, “But you now have other regiments, don’t you?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, I just got the 9th and 10th Cavalry of the regular army—all colored troops and all dismounted except for one battalion of the 10th. Horses are in short supply.” He laughed sharply. “Of course, everything seems to be in short supply for Negro regiments with Negro officers. You can make a man a major, but in the eyes of every supply sergeant in the army, he’s still a nigger.”

“Terrible. What are you doing about it?”

He smiled grimly. “Well, every now and then I have to go and assert my rank. I don’t like to do it too often, because my officers, white or black, need the confidence to get things done on their own.”

“Goodness, I never realized you were such a liberal in your attitude toward race.”

“I’m not. I really don’t know where I stand with Negroes and their problems. I just feel we should fight one war at a time, and right now the main enemy is the German army.”

“And these two regiments aren’t ready for combat either?”

“Actually, they’re very ready. Stripping them of their white officers to help fill another division cost them some manpower, but what remained was a solid core of professional soldiers with a lot of experience. And that numerical loss is being made up by new enlistments of Negroes who are plain tickled to be in units commanded by men of their own color. It’s just that the move created yet another bastard unit like the German Americans. Nobody knows what to do with them, so they’re all mine. Just to complete the picture, there’s a rumor I’ll be getting a battalion of Poles from Chicago.”

Her sarcasm was mild. “How wonderful for you.”

He chuckled warmly and squeezed her hand. “They are now calling it Mahan’s Bastard Brigade. When I’m done it will be the pride of the army. Well, at least the talk of it. Now, what have you been up to?”

In their few remaining moments together she told him that although her work with refugees was diminishing as the flow of those unfortunates appeared to have slowed, her work with the wounded and other soldiers was increasing. “We try to arrange transportation home for the wounded who have healed enough to travel. Then we try to arrange for visits from home for those who cannot yet make such journeys. Some,” she added sadly, her eyes moistening, “will never leave hospitals. I am glad I didn’t try nursing. I don’t think I could ever do it. Although, I suppose one never knows, does one? I certainly never thought I could do the work I’m doing now.”

True enough, he thought.

“Also I write letters for the soldiers and try to arrange for some wholesome recreation for them, like baseball. Football and basketball are too rough.”

“War isn’t?” he chided.

She admitted the point. “Well, as a general you surely don’t want the men injured playing football when that would cause them to miss the next battle.”

Finally he realized he had to leave. Once again it would be a night on a cot in a tent. Lucky Heinz. He took Trina’s arm and stepped outside. Molly had brought his horse around and tethered it out front. Because of his sore shoulder, mounting it would be a little difficult, but he could manage.

In the cooler air of the outdoors, they paused for a moment, then embraced. Their lips met, this time parting in a deeper and more probing kiss as their tongues searched tantalizingly. They squeezed each other tightly and arched their bodies against each other. Patrick again felt Trina’s lithe form as he pressed against her. Reluctantly, they parted. He kissed her on the forehead, mounted his horse awkwardly, and assured her he’d be back as soon as he could.

Trina walked about the yard, not quite willing to go inside and lose the moment. She also knew she was just a little disheveled and mussed and wasn’t ready for Molly’s grinning scrutiny.

If what she had just experienced was the beginning of passion, then she felt herself rewarded. It was indeed worth waiting for. He truly was very strong and secure. She also wanted to sort out her own astonishing reactions to the feel of his body growing against hers. Oh my, she thought. Oh my, my, my.

Corporal Ludwig Weber looked at the gruesome items on his plate with poorly concealed disgust. The bread was stale and hard, needing a solid soaking in what was referred to as beef stew in order to be chewed. He also had doubts about the stew. Beef? If he were any judge, those few chunks of stringy meat floating in the lukewarm liquid had once been graced by a saddle. Ah, well, at least it was food and it was somewhat warm.

Better, they were out of the damned mud fort and in a proper camp where they could clean up and rest. The probability of an inspection in a dress uniform meant they were in an area of relative safety where they were not subject to potshots by Yankee snipers.

The 4th Rifles had been pulled out of line a couple of days now and were starting to get back some of their snap and vigor. There was also talk of a possible bit of recreation time on Manhattan. Weber thought that would be interesting, strolling down Wall Street as a conqueror and not as the child tourist he’d once been.

Some conqueror. No matter how hard he tried, he could not rationalize what he and the army were doing here. It was an act of naked aggression, and for what purpose—to gain some stupid islands that most of the men in the 4th Rifles had never heard of? Even with his teaching background, he’d had a hard time locating the islands on a map of the world they’d found in a schoolhouse.

Finding the school, abandoned, derelict, and vandalized by unknown hands, had made him feel sick at heart. He was supposed to be teaching people, not carrying a rifle in order to kill them. What was the kaiser’s purpose in this? Certainly Ludwig was proud of Germany, proud that the disparate collection of petty kingdoms and occasional tyrannies had been bound together in one nation. But did it have to be with the soulless Prussians in charge? Why not the Bavarians? Then, instead of war, they could have challenged the Yanks to a beer-drinking competition.

He smiled. There were others who felt as he did. He knew it even though such thoughts were rarely verbalized. Speaking with your eyes, or a gesture, or a tilt of the head could be equally as eloquent. The men were confused, and so was he.

He’d tried to sound out Captain Walter on the topic and had been politely rebuffed. The captain was obviously a different man from the one he’d been before seeing the murdered Americans lying facedown and bloody in the field. That the captain had his own thoughts was obvious also from his eyes and the manner in which he turned his words and phrases. He conveyed that the Germans were totally correct in their support of the kaiser and the empire. But was there a hint of something else?

Yet what to do? There were other indications all was not well. The food, for instance. America was a land of plenty, yet the army was, to a large extent, existing on rations shipped over from Germany. Oh, there was plenty of ammunition and weapons, and they expected heavier uniforms and other equipment to be shipped over soon, but food? If the quality of the slop on his plate was any indication, they were in for a long, lean, and nauseating winter.

Good God, could they be here all winter? With this swill for food? It was even difficult to obtain water. Just the other day they’d been refused the use of a well by an old woman at a farm. When Captain Walter politely offered to pay her, the woman had spat on the ground and told the captain to go to hell. He had flushed and done what was necessary: his men were thirsty so they took the water while the woman’s angry eyes bored holes in them. When Sergeant Gunther offered her a few American coins, she’d hurled them at him. At that point, Kessel had threatened her and Sergeant Gunther had cuffed him on the side of the head, knocking him down and drawing blood. Welcome to America.

The 4th Rifles had received no replacements. Of the twelve hundred men who’d landed on Long Island only a few months ago, scarcely nine hundred remained fit for duty. Eighty had been killed and a hundred or so wounded. Another fifty were listed as missing. What did that mean? Did they fly away? He snorted. They had deserted, and everyone and his brother knew it. The officers, in a not very subtle manner, used the murder of the Americans to discourage further desertions, saying the Yanks would kill anyone who tried to come over, but it hadn’t stopped some of them from trying. A couple of would-be deserters had been captured, and the men of the 4th had been assembled to watch the hangings. What wonders that did for morale!

Weber heard the sound of mild cheering and wandered up to a group of men from his company.

“Ludwig, did you hear the great news?”

The speaker was Ulli Muller, a younger-than-average recruit from Saxony. A nice boy, he was generally considered to be not very bright. “No, Ulli, I haven’t. Please enlighten me.”

“It’s finally come through. We get a week in New York. Isn’t that wonderful?”

“Sure is,” Weber replied jovially. He clapped Ulli on the shoulder and walked on. Sure it was wonderful. In a pig’s eye. Despite Ludwig’s earlier eagerness at the prospect, he was depressed. They’d get to see the ruins of Brooklyn and German cruisers blocking the view of the Statue of Liberty, the symbol of freedom. Rumors told him that Manhattan was a virtual ghost town. It would be difficult to square the current reality with his youthful memories of bustling crowds, colorful sounds, and marvelous smells. Perhaps someone would try to sell Ulli the Brooklyn Bridge.

The sound of laughter once again interrupted his thoughts. Ulli was bragging about how he was going to get laid once he got to New York. The humor of the situation overcame Weber’s bad mood. Ulli was such an oaf. All he thought about was women. “Ulli, you are nothing but a penis with suspenders,” Ludwig shouted. Ah, such innocence. Such depraved innocence.

Holstein and Schlieffen walked the garden slowly, as befitted men of their age. For Holstein in particular, walking was an unwelcome chore in which he indulged infrequently. He preferred instead to think, exercising his still-supple mind and not his aging body with its myriad aches and problems. This time, however, he had deferred to the chief of the Imperial General Staff’s suggestion that a little fresh air might be in order. Besides, the flowers that surrounded them, whatever they were named, were truly lovely.

“I take it, General, that you were present when the All Highest found out about it.”

“Certainly. It was delicious.” Schlieffen smiled tightly at the memory. It caused his pointed mustache to tilt upward, an effect that Holstein found almost ludicrous.

“And the kaiser’s reaction?”

“Apoplexy. Predictable apoplexy. He threw a tantrum.”

Holstein nodded. The whole court was in an uproar. Half the courtiers were outraged; the rest, like himself, thought the development hilarious. The kaiser had just found out that, war or no war, emigration from Germany to the United States was still going on unabated. Ships still took on hundreds of people each week and departed for Boston, Philadelphia, and other American ports. Not, of course, New York. And also not on American-or German-flagged ships. The vessels flew the flags of France or Denmark or Britain, among others.