Crossing (49 page)

After a pleasant half hour, Anna and the baby came out to sit on the veranda. General Jackson sat by them, motioning the nearest soldier to come up, by which they understood that they might come see the baby. Jackson beamed, his eyes glowing with inner warmth, his glances at Anna and Julia so tender that most of his soldiers could hardly believe he was the same grim warrior they saw on the battlefield. Discreetly, they filed by one by one, no one lingering except to bow to Mrs. Jackson and thank her.

When Yancy came up to them, Anna smiled up at him and said quietly, “Yancy, my dear, how you have grown! I would wish to see you, so that we may catch up on our news, and so that you can tell me everything that the general has done that I must scold him for.”

Even at this gibe, Jackson smiled at her then told Yancy, “Unless something untoward happens, I believe you may take an hour or two tomorrow to visit my wife. But that is only if you stay discreet and give her no cause to scold.”

“No, sir, I wouldn’t ever do that,” Yancy said hastily. Bowing, he said, “Then I shall be happy to call upon you tomorrow, Mrs. Jackson. Thank you kindly for the invitation.”

“I look forward to your call,” she responded graciously.

At two o’clock the next afternoon, Yancy sat at that same table on the Yerbys’ veranda with Anna Jackson. Next to her was her maid, Hetty, holding Julia. The plump, good-natured baby looked around her with interest, and at Hetty’s low nonsense talk, would sometimes smile.

“She is much like him,” Yancy observed. “It’s not so much that she looks like him, but she has so many of his features. It’s so distinctive, to see black hair and blue eyes. It’s quite striking in men or women. And she has his straight nose and the same lips.”

Anna said, “Many people have told him that she resembles him, but he always says that she is much too pretty to look like him.”

“Well,” Yancy said, “maybe it could be said that she looks like the general, only prettified.”

Anna giggled, a pleasantly youthful sound coming from a mature woman. “Oh! So true. I must tell Thomas that.”

“Don’t tell him I said it,” Yancy said hastily. “He’s not gentle with anyone but you, ma’am.”

“I know,” she said softly. “No one would ever believe what a loving and tender husband he is. And how jolly and happy he is at home.”

“I would never have believed it if I hadn’t seen a little of it when I was working for you,” Yancy agreed. “And I’ve never tried to tell anyone about him at home. They’d laugh me to scorn and call me a liar.”

Julia started fussing a little and Anna said, “I believe she is ready for her nap, Hetty. You may take her on up and put her to bed.”

“Yes, Miss Anna,” she said and went inside with the baby.

Yancy said, “It was so kind of you and General Jackson to share Julia’s baptism with us. I had never seen a service like that. It was wonderful. I could feel the presence of the Lord the whole time, and it made me remember again how wonderful it is to be saved.”

“It is, of all things, most to be cherished,” Anna agreed. “And I’m so very glad, Yancy, to see how you’ve grown, not only to manhood, but to a fine Christian man. I know how hard it was for you to find your own way to Christ, but I rejoice that you did.”

Yancy smiled a curious half smile. “For one of the worst days of my life, it was the best day of my life. But you know, yesterday also brought it home to me like never before that I’ve never been baptized. And it makes me kinda sad, because of course I want my family to be with me when I am. But no Amish bishop would ever baptize me; in fact, I guess I’m still being shunned,” he finished sadly.

Anna reached over and patted his hand, her tiny white hand in stark contrast to Yancy’s muscular dark bronze hand. “The next time you come home, I will introduce you to our minister, Reverend White. I’m confident that even if you don’t choose to join the Episcopalian church, he would be glad to baptize you. After all, no matter which church we attend, we are all God’s beloved children, and sisters and brothers in Christ Jesus. And I know that Reverend White will be glad to arrange a baptism in any way that will be acceptable to your family.”

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Jackson. Already I feel much better,” Yancy said.

Anna nodded, then a mischievous look came into her dark eyes. “You were always a good-looking boy, Yancy, but now you are a very handsome man. Tell me, surely there is a lady somewhere? Or maybe even two, or three?”

Yancy would never dream of answering Anna Jackson with anything less than the truth. “There is one lady,” he answered somewhat shyly. “But we—I’m not sure exactly how we stand. It’s so hard, being apart. You and General Jackson know that better than anyone.”

Anna studied his face thoughtfully. Yancy knew she could tell that there was much he wasn’t telling her. “It is so trying for families and people who love each other to be torn apart by this awful war. But as always, the best and most hopeful comfort we have is in the Lord. I will pray for you and your lady, Yancy. I will pray that you will find each other in these days of turmoil, and that you will learn of each other, and if it is God’s will, you may find happiness together.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Jackson,” Yancy said in a somewhat choked voice. “That is my prayer, too.”

“And now,” she said briskly, “what is all this that you say you will not tell me of the general. Because you see, Yancy, that I must depend on my friends, like you, to keep me aware of his misdeeds and misbehavior.”

Yancy laughed, his discomfort eased. “Mrs. Jackson, you are the only person on this earth that would dare use those two words in connection with General Stonewall Jackson. I can assure you that he has no familiarity with misdeeds and misbehavior. And even if he did,” he added slyly, “though I’m glad you call me your friend, I would be scared out of my wits to report anything to you that might cause you to scold him. No, no. I’m afraid, Mrs. Jackson, you’re going to have to find another informant. One more courageous than me.”

General Jackson spent every single minute that he could spare from his duties with Anna and Julia, mostly in the privacy of their room at the Yerby mansion, where they could concentrate solely on each other and the baby. Jackson could not watch Julia enough; he often knelt by her cradle for as long as an hour, simply watching her sleep. Together he and Anna prayed, and Anna told him she had never known such deep spiritual meaning as Thomas’s prayers for her and Julia.

General Lee did call, and Anna obviously was a little nervous to meet this exalted, walking legend. But his courtly, fatherly manners soon put her at ease, and she came to admire him as most people did upon meeting him.

On Sunday she and Jackson attended Sunday service with Reverend Lacy presiding. Jackson was pleased as General Lee greeted

Anna with his customary courtly charm; the old bachelor General Early paid endearing homage to her; and many of the other officers were introduced to her and paid her the highest compliments.

For his part, this may have been the best Sunday service that Jackson had ever attended. All that long winter he had seen the other generals’ wives with their husbands at Sabbath services, and it had made him long all the more for Anna. Now, with her at his side, he thought his happiness on this earth could not be more complete.

The days passed all too swiftly. It was dawn on April 29. Jackson and Anna slept deeply. The baby had not stirred. Abruptly the coarse noise of boots sounded on the stairs, and then a peremptory knock came at the door.

“General Early’s adjutant wishes to speak to General Jackson,” an urgent young voice called.

Jackson got out of bed and immediately began to dress. “That looks as if Hooker were crossing the river,” he said. He hurried downstairs to hear what the courier had to say then came running back up to their room. “I was right,” he told Anna grimly. “Federals are crossing the river as we speak. There is going to be a battle, and you and Julia must hurry south. I’ll arrange a transport and send it to you.” He went to stare at the still-sleeping Julia for long moments then gave Anna a hasty kiss and left.

Jackson hurried to the front and saw that generals Early and Rodes were already making proper plans to receive the enemy. Jackson quickly went to his headquarters, where intelligence reports were already starting to come in. It appeared that the movement at his front was a feint and that the main force of the Federal army was crossing the Rappahannock in force to the north of him.

In the next two days, Lee and Jackson were to decide where he must concentrate his forces. He must lead them to a hostile track of impenetrable underbrush and stinking marshy ground known as the Spotsylvania Wilderness, for the Federals were mired in it. Two miles from the eastern edge was a rise and a crossroads with an old public house called Wilderness Tavern. Nearby was a farm owned by a family named Chancellor. This lonely crossroads had come to be called by the exalted name of Chancellorsville.

I
n January 1863, Lee had dispatched General Longstreet to southeast Virginia, in the area of Suffolk, where the Federals were investing a nominal force. But it could have turned into a major movement that threatened Richmond, so Lee had sent all but three brigades of First Corps. On April 29, Jackson and Lee had to face the fact that the Federal incursion over the Rappahannock was in force, and they were facing about 130,000 Union soldiers with a force of about 60,000 effectives. The remainder of the Army of Northern Virginia was over 150 miles away, and Hooker was moving fast. He was landing forces both to Lee’s north, at Kelly’s Ford, and to the south, in Lee’s rear, at Fredericksburg.

General Jackson spent all day and most of the night of the twenty-ninth reconnoitering the Federal dispositions, observing the developments of the rapidly changing situation. Reporting back to General Lee, they came to the conclusion that the movement to the south was a feint and the much larger body of the Union army that was crossing at Kelly’s Ford was the main attack. On this day they had started slowly making their way through the Spotsylvania Wilderness.

Since both Lee and Jackson were valiant and daring men and leaders of men, they decided to attack. Lee gave the responsibility for planning and executing the attack to his trusted lieutenant, General Jackson. Immediately he sent out engineers, mapmakers, and scouts to reconnoiter the area and give him an accurate, detailed picture of the ground and the Union army’s position.

By the thirtieth, Hooker’s III, XI, and XII Corps were concentrated at Chancellorsville, in number almost 75,000 men in the little oasis in the middle of the miserable wilderness. He readied them, set them in battle order, and on May 1, he advanced eastward, deploying his three corps into strong positions on high ground along the Plank Road and the River Road.

Jackson moved in, attacking on both the Federal flanks. Stonewall rode back and forth among his troops, always ordering, “Press them, men. Press them.” Jackson’s hardened veterans did just that. The firefights that erupted on both flanks were fast and vicious.

Then, suddenly, the Federals began to retreat. Hooker had ordered the Federal advance halted, to abandon the ridges, and fall back to the positions they had held around Chancellorsville. Hooker seemed to lose his nerve in this, his first encounter with Robert E. Lee. And so this mighty Union army that outnumbered Jackson’s men by more than two to one, fell back to a defensive positon.

That night, Lee and Jackson again met to review the events of the day and discuss their plans. Lee could not help but believe that Hooker wanted him to attack him where he was, and Lee was determined to do so. After more reconnoitering, Jackson found a way to march across the Federal front unseen and circle around to Hooker’s right flank. Jeb Stuart had reported that it was “up in the air,” which meant it was completely exposed, with no reserves.

Together Lee and Jackson sat on cracker boxes before a small campfire. The conversation that followed was typical of two men who understood each other perfectly.

“General Jackson, what do you propose to do?” Lee inquired.

“Go around here,” Jackson answered, indicating his route on a map.