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He violates the law by establishing a Sunday school for slave children in Lexington, and justifies it by claiming it is the right of all of God’s creatures to hear the Word.
The book has considerable influence on Chamberlain and causes him to see far beyond the borders of Maine, to the difficult social problems beginning to affect the country.
He had difficulty accepting that authority, preferring to pursue instead a more personal service to God. In the peacetime army his duty was stripped down to mundane and pointless tasks, and so his religion had given him a new purpose, another place where his duty was clear. If he could not serve the army, he would serve God, and his enemies would be any temptations, any distractions, from that course.
If God decides to inform you why He is doing whatever it is He chooses to do, then please come and tell me. But I suspect, Major, that you may only learn the Great Answers when He calls you away from this life.”
“Don’t look for answers, Major, look for guidance, for comfort. And do not fear love. I believe that God would be happy if you sought out the guiding hand of someone who loves you as much as your mother loves you.”
he knew that God was there, and it was all right. . . . He began to pull away, remembered it all now, gently closed the dark and silent place, felt the dampness of the grass again, knew now that she sat with God and loved her children still.
“You’ve got plenty of time to make your own life. Just don’t forget about this place. No matter where you end up, and you may move very far away someday . . . come back here when you can. Climb up here, and listen to the silence.”
His father preferred it as well—he had named him to honor the famous military hero of 1812, Commodore Lawrence, the man forever known for the quote, “Don’t give up the ship.” His mother would not relent, preferred the more biblical Joshua, and though both his father and grandfather had been named Joshua, his father had settled on calling him Lawrence, and Chamberlain had always wondered if it was because his mother did not.
icy chill ran down his legs, and he knew it wasn’t just the cold; he had never felt like this before. He had never enjoyed shooting anything, but this had been pure instinct, without thought—he had never wanted to kill something so badly in his life, and now it shook him, frightened him.
Lee’s words were brief, to the point, and as Stuart read, he glanced at Brown, at the small black hole pointing at his head, wished the message had been shorter.
Lee sat back against the soft leather, stared toward the hallway, felt something strange, a new sensation. He had never had such a conversation with one of . . . them. He thought, God has had a hand here, in this. He thought of John Brown, the reckless calls for abolition made by people who did not live with slaves, who took no responsibility for what happened to them. But the speeches went on, and there was great anger in the South, especially down in the cotton states, where there were many more slaves than here, around Arlington. Nate is right, he thought. These people are not letting God
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Lorman put a hand out, rested it on the fence rail. “You know, I thought it would be best if I supported Mr. Lincoln, nice to see someone from Illinois that made good like that. I never gave much thought to being a Republican or a Democrat or anything else, I figured it was the right thing to do, and now I hear men talking like he’s the devil. I don’t see what it is he’s done that people hate him so.” Hancock saw the innocence, saw himself, a soldier who learns late the dangerous power of politics, said, “There’s been too much talk, I think. Too many loud voices. If someone disagrees with you,
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“There is slavery in Virginia, Colonel. How do you feel about that?” “I believe in emancipation, but I believe it is ultimately in God’s hands. I do not agree with the radicals of the deep South. And, I must say, General, I also do not agree with the talk in the North, the calls for radical abolition, made by people who have no involvement with the situation, who propose no solution to the problem.”
This confuses me. Lee clearly did not want Slavery to continue. He did not believe that those newly freed people ought to be just let go with no direction.
But then why didn’t Lee prupose a solution?!? Why couldn’t they all have gotten together abd come up with a solution?
“Who knows, Colonel—moral outrage, the love of country, the damned flag? People like to be inflamed, get their dander up, and the problem is, it’s too easy. It’s too easy to make a speech up in New York and scream about killing the rebels when you don’t have to look ’em in the eye. Hell, Colonel, you’ve seen men die. It’s not something you get all fired up to enjoy.”
“Colonel Lee, there is a great deal more at stake here than honor.”
“Major, this country was founded by good Christian men, on the principles of equality, justice, and all of it under God. That has never been done before, never, in the history of the world! This country is God’s model, God’s message to the rest of the world. ‘Look here! We are God’s chosen land, this is how God intends man to be governed.’ ”
He was surprised at her gloom, tried to put it aside. “There is no war yet. I am still here, with you. There is still hope. The Almighty may yet make them see, may turn us away from this course. It can still happen.” “No, Thomas, it will not happen. God does not change our course, that is for us to do. All we have done is plan one course, and only one course, and there is only one end.”
Lee walked slowly through the hurried clatter of the lobby, saw groups of men, some huddled in intense conversation, others waving big cigars, broad-chested men with loud voices, proclaiming their opinions with the mindless flourish of those who share no responsibility for the consequences of their grand ideas.
He began to think of history, the great men: Madison, Franklin, Adams. They did not design a government to control the people.
He looked back up at the face of Washington. We are all revolutionaries, he thought. If we understand that, we will have great strength, we will defend our homes, we will prevail.
THE ROUTE started west in Kansas, Fort Leavenworth,
“No one wants a war? I’m sorry, my friend, but you’re wrong. There’s two sides to this, two sides that have been pushing us toward a war for months. One side says, ‘It’s Lincoln! He’s the cause!’ And the other side says, ‘It’s slavery! That’s the cause!’ And the people out here want me to believe it’s simply a need for independence, keep the government from telling us what to do. And so, pointing fingers become pointing guns, because nobody listens to fingers.”
“Mr. Garrett, I plan to go home, to Virginia, and if necessary, I will defend Virginia. Some of you might be going home looking for a fight. The point is, we must all do what we believe is right.”
This army follows you, does what you tell it to do. No sir, I can’t accept your answer, Major.
“Captain, we are all men of honor. Remember that. God will judge our choices.” Hancock moved to an empty chair and stood behind it, resting a hand on the back. He rubbed the smooth dark wood, looked up and into the face of his former commander. “Sir,” he said, “it is not God who will assemble us on the battlefield, nor position our troops, nor place the cannon, and it is not God who will aim the musket.”
Lee felt a small anger at these people who were throwing commissions around the state like prizes at a county fair, with little understanding of the value of experience.
Custer ran toward him, and Hancock saw they were nearly alone in the earthworks. The last men were crossing the dam,
he did much to show the students that they not only had the right to question their instructors, but were obligated to do so. He taught them to accept the responsibility for their own education, because, sadly, many of the professors would not.
“Some of you have decided to fight in this war. Some of your friends are on their way to join the army, have already joined. President Lincoln’s call for volunteers is being answered. To many of us, this is a surprise. Not because we did not believe people would join the fight, but because so many of them—so many of you—would do so with such . . . enthusiasm. “I am embarrassed to tell you that I am among those who never believed this country would fall into this situation. I always have felt that we are a nation that is very different . . . unique, perhaps. We were founded by thinking men,
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Woods had been gradually pushing through a policy of enlightenment with respect to the students’ off hours, their free time. Many had felt their behavior should be regulated around the clock, that students should be monitored closely, lest they succumb to the horrors of unspeakable temptations, most of which were not identified.
“Wars are indeed fought by children, by young people who have little say in where they are sent to die. The greater good? These students may not have a greater good if this nation is dissolved. If this war goes on, we will all feel the consequences, whether we understand them or not. It is our job, our responsibility, to prepare these young people for life out there . . . outside these buildings. And right now that life is very uncertain. I’m sorry if you feel your responsibility ends in your classroom.”
“If we attempt to teach these students that the most important lessons they will learn are the lessons to be found within these buildings, then we have done them a most serious injustice.
“Governor, I would like to volunteer for military service in whatever capacity you consider appropriate. I am an educated man, I have considerable experience instructing young people, and I am willing to serve where the army considers me the most useful. Sir.”
I am not ready to grow old, to accept that what I am today is what I will always be.”
McClellan was receiving criticism for providing a guard for the wife of the enemy commander. So, she had been granted safe passage.
We have all been taught how to follow orders. I just wish someone was back there who understood opportunity. I have been in this position before, General. I watch this army fight and maneuver itself into great advantage, and then we just stop, as though someone, somewhere, does not truly believe we can finish this. I am loyal to General McClellan because he is our commander. I have always believed he knows what is best for this army, what is best for his troops. That’s why the men love him . . . he is their general. And that may be his problem. He may love them too much.”
General, forgive me for sayin’ it, but these soldiers . . . they would have won this war by now if it weren’t for the generals, maybe me included.”
She had not told him of her doubts about going to California, but revealed something in conversation to Lee, and Lee’s words carried a sadness, an awareness of what his own career as a soldier had cost him. Now, Hancock tried to see the face, wondered how Lee might have changed, what it was that made him such a good leader.
we will meet him head-on and it will be a bloody mess. And we will march up to that hill over there, and we will eat their artillery fire all the way across that field. But the important thing is, regardless of the outcome, we will be able to look at ourselves in the mirror and say we are good soldiers, we did what we were told.
people looked at him as they went by, some saluting the uniform, but few said anything, there was no cheering, no mindless
Longstreet chewed on the cigar, said, “Maybe. I’m not sure if God is in all the places we want Him to be.”
“It is well this is so terrible,” he said. “We should grow too fond of it.”
“I hope you are wrong, General. This has been a war of missed opportunities. We have let them get away before. I do not wish to make that mistake again. We cannot continue to lose men . . . good officers. . . . We cannot trade casualties with an enemy that has much greater numbers and much greater resources. If we are to win this war, we must strike a decisive blow . . . force him to admit defeat.”
He understood command, understood the value of discipline, it was the most basic lesson a soldier could learn. If you were asked, you offered your input, your suggestions, and in the end you did what the commander told you to do. It was simple and straightforward, and it was the only way to run an army. And this time it had been a horrible disaster.
They will learn that something happens to men, men who have felt no satisfaction, who have absorbed and digested defeat after bloody stupid defeat, men who up to now have done mostly what they were told to do. And when those men begin to understand that it is not anything in them, no great weakness or inferiority, but that it is the leaders, the generals and politicians who tell them what to do, that the fault is there, after a while they will stop listening.
Then the beast, the collective anger, battered and bloodied, will strike out, will respond to the unending sights of horror, the deaths of friends and brothers, and it will not be fair or reasonable or just, since there is no intelligence in the beast. They will strike out at whatever presents itself, and here it was the harmless and innocent lives of the people of Fredericksburg.
“It has never been possible for men to show more valor, or generals to manifest less judgment . . .”
who have stars on their uniforms. The man doesn’t matter, the face or the name. Unless . . . he makes some bloody awful mistake, then the stars are given to someone else.
The heavy round face was looking at him, the hard look of a man who also understood, who had seen all the stupidity, who knew, after all, that the gold stars were often mindless decoration, that the army was led not by symbols, but by the fallible egos and blind fantasies of men.
Lincoln’s appointment to the new commander concluded, “Go forward and give us victories.”
