On to Richmond (35 page)

             
Losing Sarah... finding out the truth about her grandfather... realizing Rose truly was related to her... making the decision that it was time for Rose and Moses to leave.

             
She was content with her decision but seldom had her heart felt so heavy.  For a brief moment, Carrie regretted her new position on slavery.  It was taking from her everything she loved.  First she had turned down Robert’s proposal of marriage even though she was sure he would be the only man who would ever capture her heart.  Now she was about to lose her best friends.

             
So that they can have the freedom they so richly deserve...
her heart reminded her.   With a sigh Carrie laid her head back on the chair.  She wouldn’t undo any of her decisions.  She just wished they didn’t have to hurt so much.

             
She didn’t know how long she sat there, quietly rocking, before peace began to steal into her heart.  It was up to her to make the right decisions.  It was up to God to be responsible for the results.  Suddenly she saw anew that was what trusting God was all about.  You had to leave the results to him and trust he would do what was best.

             
A voice floated in on the breeze -
Do you believe I love you?

             
Carrie became still as the question poured into her soul.  Wasn’t that what it was all about?  If she believed God loved her, couldn’t she also believe he had only the best in mind for her - no matter how rocky and twisted the path to get there might be? 

             
Carrie laid her head back against the chair and finally slept.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

             
Thomas Cromwell opened his paper and settled back into his favorite chair.  He laid his head back against its firm softness for several moments before he lifted his head to begin reading.  It had been a long day.  He was tired. 

             
As always, when his body relaxed, his mind flew to Cromwell Plantation.  How he missed the wide open spaces, the smell of the raw earth.  Soon the tobacco would be harvested, its pungent aroma filling the air.  He could almost hear the chop of the huge knives as the field hands took down stalk after stalk.  He loved the month of September.  The starkness of winter was still far away, but the hot grip of summer was loosening, and the first leaves were twirling gracefully down to start their yearly carpet. 

             
Memories flooded his mind pleasantly until he pictured Abigail in her yellow dressing gown running the brush through her blond hair.  He frowned and sat up.  He missed the plantation, but he wasn’t ready to go back yet.  His heart still ached when he thought of his beloved wife.  Maybe someday he could think of her without a sharp pain through every part of him.  When that happened, he would go back.  For now, he was thankful for his job in the government.  It kept his mind occupied and kept the long nights from being endless. 

             
He picked up the paper again.  It wasn’t often that he got home this early.  A stack of newspapers waited for him to read.   Then he would write a letter to Carrie. 

             
A sudden knock at the door several minutes later caused him to look up with a frown.  He wasn’t expecting any visitors.  Was he to be called back to the Capitol? Sighing impatiently, he put down his paper.  He could hear Micah’s even footsteps moving toward the door, then, “Is Mr. Cromwell in?” 

Thomas jumped up from his chair and hurried to the front door.  “Robert Borden!   To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?  Come in.  Come in.” 

              Robert smiled broadly and moved into the entrance way.  “I hope I’m not bothering you, Thomas.  I’m only here for the day and when I found myself with some free time I just decided to take my chance and come.”

             
Thomas smiled and led the way into the parlor.  “Of course, you’re not a bother.  It’s always wonderful to see you.”  He sat down and waved his hand toward an empty chair.  “Make yourself at home.”   Then he spoke to Micah who had appeared at the door.  “We’d like cold lemonade and some of the cookies that were made earlier.”   Micah bowed slightly and left the room.   Thomas turned back to his guest.  “What brings you to Richmond?”             

             
“General Johnston asked me to come down and confer with General Lee about some matters.”

             
Thomas raised his eyebrows.  “You must be rather important around there.”

             
Robert shrugged.  “I welcomed the opportunity to do something different.  The Battle of Bull Run was six weeks ago.  Yet still we sit there, an army doing nothing.  The most stimulating thing I’ve done in the last month was take part in a scouting party that went to check things out on the Potomac.  The most exciting thing I saw was the unfinished dome of the Washington Capitol.”

             
“I understand the generals are becoming quite impatient.”

             
Robert nodded.  “You understand right.  That’s why I’m here.  General Johnston and General Beauregard plan on meeting with President Davis in a couple of weeks.  I’m here to gather information and lay groundwork.”

             
“It sounds as if this meeting will be rather crucial,” Thomas observed.

             
“It will.”  Then Robert paused.  “Am I free to talk frankly?”

             
Thomas eyed him for a moment and then walked over to close the heavy doors to the parlor.  “Not a word you say will leave this room.” 

             
“Thank you.  I always find talking to you helpful.”  Robert settled back in his chair and began.  “Everyone is getting impatient.  General Beauregard proposed back in early August to move forward and press an attack, in hopes we could force the Yankees into fighting a battle out in the open, outside the Washington lines.  General Johnston decided we weren’t strong enough to force such a confrontation and turned down the idea.”

             
Thomas nodded.  “I think that was wise.”

             
“Maybe,” Robert said.  “We might have had the advantage then with their army so demoralized by their recent defeat.”  Then he shrugged.  “It’s too late to do it over.  But now
both
men are eager to do something.  They agree it is time to strike a blow rather than to simply sit passively, waiting to see what the Yankees might do.”

             
“What do you think?”  Thomas asked, leaning forward to gaze at Robert.  The young man didn’t have much military experience, but he was obviously thought well of if he had been granted this much information. 

             
“I agree with the generals,” Robert said promptly.  “Our intelligence tells us the Federal army in front of Washington is growing much faster than our own.  If there is going to be a Confederate offensive, I believe it must happen quickly.  Decisive action before the winter is important to us.”

             
Thomas listened thoughtfully.  There had been much talk around the Capitol about making another move.  “What will it take for it to be successful?”

             
Robert was ready with an answer.  “The army must be strongly reinforced.  They want Davis to double its size to 60,000 men.”

             
“And where do you propose they come from?”

             
“It can be done if we arm all our new recruits as well as pull in troops from every point in the South that is not actually under attack.”  Robert’s voice grew excited.  “With an army like that, we could cross the Potomac, bring on a battle northwest of Washington, and win a victory that would establish our independence!”

             
Thomas looked at him quietly, mulling over Robert’s words. 

             
Robert spoke again.  “It is my opinion, Thomas, that success here at this time saves everything.  But I am afraid there will be disastrous results if we remain inactive throughout the winter.”

             
Thomas shook his head slowly.  “I think I agree with you in principle.  I’m not sure it’s possible in practicality.”

             
“Why not?” Robert asked sharply. 

             
Thomas thought long before he answered, all the while knowing he would have no final say in the decision.   President Davis and his cabinet would make the final decision.  “It’s just my opinion, of course, but I see several problems with your plan.  I agree with you there are plenty of recruits to be found.  More men are signing up every day.”  He paused.  “Our problem is weapons.  There simply aren’t enough to meet the need.  They might come up with 30,000 more men, but they won’t find rifles to put in their hands.”

             
“We need to speed things up!”  Robert said impatiently.

             
Thomas laughed.  “Spoken like a true military man.  But surely you haven’t been away from politics so long to have forgotten the roadblocks they are facing.  Everything is new.  The President is still trying to produce order out of chaos. Oh, the orders have been placed for the weapons but Southern manufacturing facilities are just too inadequate to meet the need.  They’re trying, but it’s just too slow.”

             
“What about overseas?”

             
Thomas shrugged.  “The contracts have been placed, but the results have been negligible so far.  I think Europe is still trying to figure out where they stand on all this even though we have hopes they will recognize us as a nation soon.  In the meantime, the blockade along the coast is starting to cause us some problems.”

             
Robert shook his head in frustration. 

             
Thomas picked up the paper he had been reading earlier.  “You’re not alone in your frustration.  Let me read you something from the
Richmond Examiner
.”

             
“…the idea of waiting for blows instead of inflicting them is altogether unsuited to the genius of our people...”

             
Robert nodded.  “They’re right.”

             
“It’s also impossible to inflict those blows without weapons,” Thomas observed dryly.  “There is another problem,” he added grimly.  He didn’t wait for Robert to ask what.  “Your generals feel justified in demanding we concentrate our military strength at the point of greatest danger.”

             
“Surely you agree with that, Thomas,” Robert protested.

             
“Yes, I do,” Thomas agreed readily.  “It’s not me you need to worry about.  And it’s not really the government.  I think they agree with your generals.  In many ways their hands are tied, however.”

             
“Why?”

             
Thomas smiled at his belligerent tone.  “Our Confederacy is still as much an association of independent and equal states as it is a nation.  We have governors who insist proper garrisons be maintained in places not under attack because the situation could change at any time.  They are quite simply not willing to send their men.  As frustrating as it is, their wishes must be heeded.”

             
Robert nodded slowly.  “I suppose President Davis has to exercise his authority within the limits of the system.”

             
Thomas nodded.  “A system where the wishes of the separate states are all but sacrosanct.”   He continued in a somber voice.  “I don’t see that Virginia could have made any decision other than the one she did, but I’m afraid the new Confederate government opted to wage war before they had counted the cost.”

             
Silence fell on the two men as they contemplated the future.  Thomas was deeply troubled.  His conversation with Robert had only intensified his concern. This could not just be a war to put down rebellion.  Its elements were too violent.  Men who had never learned to endure wrongs with patience had become convinced wrongs were being done to them.  People eternally eager to dedicate themselves had grown to feel there were noble causes to be served.  And there were enemies to be hurt in a land where the only rule about a blow struck in anger was that it must be struck with all the strength one had.  This was a war in which anything could happen. 

             
In spite of the glorious victories that had marked the first summer of the war, there was a dawning realization that all was not going well.  The blockade was beginning to hurt.  Impatient recruits were impotent without weapons.  The Southern coast lay alarmingly exposed to the gathering Federal fleets.  Thomas knew the North was settling down for a long pull.  The offensives that lay just ahead would mostly likely be conducted by the Union.  The more he learned, the less confident he was the North could be beaten back.  To the average Southerner, the war had hardly begun, but he could see ominous signs in the still darkening sky.  Time was passing.  He sensed it was working for the wrong side. 

Robert was the first to rouse himself from the contemplative silence that had cloaked the room.  “How is Carrie?” he asked quietly.  He had told himself on the way to Thomas’ house that he wasn’t going to ask.  Carrie had made her decision.  He had to learn how to let her go.  But once in the presence of her father, he could no more keep from asking th
an he could keep from breathing.

             
Thomas smiled.  “I got a letter from her last week.  She is doing fine.”  He shook his head and laughed.  “I don’t think she’ll ever cease to astound me.  Fifty acres of my tobacco have been plowed under and will soon be producing food for the city.  She would have done more if there had been more time.”

             
Robert listened in amazement as Thomas told him of Carrie’s campaign to bring fresh food to the city - especially to the soldiers who were still convalescing and needed the nutrients. 

             
“She cares very much about the wounded soldiers,” Thomas said.  “I think she got to see almost all of them when she was searching the city for you.”

             
“When she did what?”  Robert exclaimed. 

             
Thomas nodded.  “I wrote her and requested she come to Richmond during the battle.  She humored her father.  She refused to leave until she had satisfied herself you were not lying wounded in the city somewhere.”

             
“My name wasn’t on the wounded list,” Robert said, thoroughly amazed at Carrie’s concern – until he remembered her running forward to press a lock of her hair in his hand before he pulled out for the front.