by Ginny Dye
Rumblings of thunder over the cacophonous sounds of the city seemed to only heighten the anxiety she felt in the air. Indeed, the whole city seemed to be gripped by a sultry spirit of fear and waiting that left no one the luxury of simply relaxing and living. Now that war had indeed come, it was all business, preparation, and waiting - no matter what one’s position in life.
As Sam continued to inch down the road, Carrie realized what it was about the crowd of people that was bothering her. It was almost totally comprised of women, children, and older men. The men were either quite old or dressed in the impeccable attire that spoke of a high government official. Other than the occasional soldier she saw moving smartly down the street, the town seemed to be devoid of young men. That, more than anything, brought home the sharp realization of what this war really meant. The young men of the South had marched off to do battle with friends and family from the North.
Now, each face became a story. Each woman was the mother, wife, sweetheart, or sister of the soldiers now preparing to fight the first big battle. Children had brothers and fathers off at war. The older men had the responsibility of these young lives resting squarely on their shoulders. Carrie shuddered and sank back against the cushion. The excitement had lost its appeal for her.
It seemed hours before their carriage reached the bottom of Broad Street and headed up Church Hill to her father’s house. She turned her head away from the sight of St. John’s steeple reaching for the sky. It brought too many painful memories. She jumped as a jagged streak of lightning bolted across the now leaden gray sky. The wind was blowing fiercely, causing dust to fly through the air and laundry to whip on the lines. As she watched, one door on a house banged open as a plainly dressed woman dashed from her house and ran out to scoop the dried laundry into her arms. Thunder rumbled and the first raindrops splashed onto the carriage as they made the final turn onto 26th Street.
“Hang on, Miss Carrie!”
Carrie gripped the sides of the carriage and smiled as Sam urged the horses into a quick sprint. It was a good thing the storm had driven everyone inside. A wild dash like this could hurt someone. She knew, though, that Sam was just trying to keep her dry. Now that she knew they would make it to the house, she was able to enjoy nature’s fireworks show. The wind felt wonderful after the cloying heat of the day.
Sam had just pulled the blowing team to a halt when the sky opened up. Huge raindrops splattered on them in a downpour. “Run for it, Miss Carrie!”
Laughing, Carrie jumped from the carriage and dashed into the house. As soon as she reached the porch, she turned to watch Sam turn the carriage down the drive next to the house. She knew he would be safe and dry with the horses in the small barn behind the house in just minutes. Content to watch the furious lashing of the storm, she leaned against the porch railing of the three-story brick house. She ignored her drenched condition as she watched the trees bend and sway in harmony with the wind.
“Miss Cromwell!”
A startled voice caused her to turn and smile at the anxious black face peering out at her. “Hello, Micah.”
“I’s didn’t know you was here, ma’am.” Eagerly, her father’s butler opened the door. “Come in, come in!”
Carrie cast one last wistful look at the storm and moved inside. Sam was just coming in the back door with her luggage. “Is Father here, Micah?”
“No, ma’am. He done sent a messenger a while back. Said he got to be in a meetin’. He be home ‘round dinner time.”
Carrie looked at the large grandfather clock just striking three o’clock. That gave her a couple of hours. She was anxious to see her father, but she was glad for the opportunity to take a bath. The long, dusty drive had left her feeling grimy.
Freshly attired in a stunning yellow gown, Carrie was waiting for her father on the porch when his carriage rolled up. The storm had vented its fury and then blown farther down the river. She imagined the plantation would be getting it soon. The storm had left in its wake a gloriously blue sky, swept clear of all haze and humidity. The disappearing thunder clouds contrasted vividly with the bright green of the trees outlined by glorious sunshine. Carrie took a deep breath of fragrant air and hurried down the walk to meet her father.
“Carrie! It’s wonderful to see you. You look as beautiful as ever.” Thomas wrapped her in a bear hug and held her for a long moment. When he stepped back, his face was wreathed in smiles. Then he looked at her more closely. “No, I believe I was wrong. You’re more beautiful than ever. You’re growing up my girl. And I’m missing too much of it.”
Carrie looked beyond the smile to the strained look in his eyes. “Nonsense, Father. You are doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing. Virginia needs you. When all of this unpleasantness is over, we can talk about leading a normal life again.”
“A normal life...” Thomas mused almost as if he wasn’t sure such a thing could happen again. Then he shook his head. “We don’t need to stand out here talking. Let’s go inside. Dinner should be just about ready.”
Carrie was pleasantly full when she pushed away from the table and followed her father into the parlor. The curtains billowed as a steady breeze washed in over them. The air, still fragrant from the afternoon rain, felt wonderful. She could feel herself relaxing as she sank back into the deep armchair. There had been little conversation during dinner; she knew her father needed time to unwind after working all day. Now she wanted answers to all the questions swarming in her mind.
“Is there really a danger to Richmond, Father?”
Thomas nodded soberly. “If there wasn’t, I wouldn’t have brought you here. Our forces in northern Virginia are strong, but our intelligence says that the North’s General McDowell has created a strong army.”
“And you believe there will be a showdown soon?” Her father’s letter hadn’t said much - other than urging her to come to Richmond as soon as possible.
Thomas’ voice was tight. “I believe there will be a battle in little more than a week. Several advances have been made, but the main force of the Union Army is still encamped in Washington. Our sources tell us there will be definite movement soon.”
“Your sources?” Carrie echoed.
Her father smiled grimly. “We need information. We get it any way we can.”
Carrie looked at him in wonder as she realized he was talking about spies. She couldn’t believe the United States had come to this. She was also reminded how utterly removed she was from what was going on in the country. The plantation had become her whole life. Oh, she got occasional newspapers, but fatigue kept her from staying abreast of all that was occurring. “Why Manassas?” she asked, suddenly feeling a slight desperation to know more. “Didn’t you say that’s where you believe the battle will be fought?” She could remember passing through Manassas Junction on the train last summer on her way to Philadelphia. Her vague memories were of a pleasant little town. It was impossible to envision it as a battlefield.
“Virginia’s railroads are our lifeline. We have long known the strategic value of the Manassas Gap line. It very neatly connects the two major avenues by which we may be invaded.” Thomas’ face took on an intense look. It was obvious that much time and energy had been spent on determining where the first great battle would happen. “It is also the answer to rapid deployment of our troops. If Johnston is attacked in Harpers Ferry, Beauregard’s troops can be quickly moved to reinforce him. The same is true should Beauregard be the one to receive the first onslaught.”
“I’ve heard people say there won’t really be a battle. That the North is bluffing and will back off when they see the South is serious.” Carrie didn’t really believe it herself, but for just a moment she was choosing fantasy over reality.
Her father’s grim words destroyed all such fantasizing. “There will be a fight, Carrie,” he stated flatly. “We have over thirty-five thousand men prepared to fight an enemy we believe to be of about equal size.”
Carrie shuddered at the thought of what such for
ces could do.
Thomas continued. “We can win this battle,” he said with a glimmer of assurance in his eyes. “Beauregard is an excellent general. He has wonderful support. It has been hard work to transform thousands of farmers, shopkeepers and laborers into an army, but we have done the best we could in the time afforded us. Only time will tell if we have done a good enough job.”
Carrie didn’t know what to say. She felt no excitement over what was about to happen - only repulsion. And she could think of only one thing. Finally, she could stand it no longer. “Where is Robert?”
“Robert leaves tomorrow with the last batch of troops. He has been working hard to train the newest recruits. They are the greenest of the green, but they are eager to do battle.”
Carrie whitened and nodded.
Thomas looked at her for a long moment. “You love him,” he stated simply.
Carrie nodded again. “Yes, I do.” She didn’t even bother to deny it. Her father knew her too well. He would know she was lying. And it was time she told him the truth anyway. She had known this time was coming. It might as well be now than later.
“But you refuse to marry him.”
“You’ve talked to Robert?”
“I had dinner with him a few weeks ago,” Thomas admitted.
“He told you why?”
“He told me you couldn’t marry him because you two stood so far apart on the slavery issue.” When Carrie merely nodded, he continued, his voice a little sharper. “I thought we had talked about that.” He paused. “I’m disappointed in you. It’s not like you to take a stand against something God so clearly sanctions.”
“I don’t believe that,” Carrie said quietly. It hurt deeply to know that he was disappointed in her. He had never said that to her before. Fighting the tears that wanted to spring to the surface, she tried to explain. “I don’t expect you to agree with me, Father. I struggled long and hard to come to this decision.”
“How did you reach it?”
This time her father’s voice was quieter, more like the man she loved and knew so well. Obviously he was trying to be fair, trying to listen to her. His earlier sharp voice had probably been the result of too many long, strained days. She hated to add more weight to the burden he already carried, but she knew it was time to be honest.
“Why do you feel God sanctions slavery, Father?”
“The Bible states it clearly.”
“Where?”
“You asked Robert the same ridiculous question.”
Carrie struggled to keep her voice even. “Why is it a ridiculous question?”
“Because you are trying to put us in the place of a minister. It is their job to interpret scripture, not ours,” was Thomas’ sharp reply.
“But what if they’re interpreting scripture wrongly?”
“You think you know the scripture better than a minister now?” Thomas’ tone definitely had an edge to it.
“I think I can read and understand as well as they can. Isn’t that why you had me educated? So that I can think clearly?”
“And now it comes back to haunt me!”
Carrie’s heart lightened as she heard the hint of humor in her father’s voice. Neither would agree on the other’s position, but in the end each would still love and respect the other. “I guess that’s the price you pay,” she said with a smile.
Thomas stared at her and then chuckled. “You always were different from everyone around you. Okay, daughter, let’s tear into this issue.”
The lanterns burned low as Carrie shared with her father the experiences and thoughts of the past year. She struggled to relay how she had felt that day she had faced her beliefs in the clearing. She had already decided not to tell him about the current condition of the slaves on the plantation. And she still was not ready to tell him about Ike Adams - especially now that she was here in Richmond. If he took it in his head to send an overseer while she was still here, there was no telling what would happen. She wasn’t willing to take that risk. She was ready though when her father asked the question she had been expecting.
“How do you handle managing our slaves on Cromwell Plantation? Surely you know the plantation could not run without them?”
Carrie answered quietly. “They are not my slaves. They are yours. If they belonged to me, I would have already set every one of them free.” Her voice was soft but firm.
Thomas stared at her. “How can you say that? Would you honestly throw away everything you’ve ever known?”
“I don’t believe I would have to throw things away. I think they would have to be managed a little differently. The North manages to have a thriving economy without slavery.”
“The North is an industrial wasteland!” Thomas snorted.
“There are quite a lot of farms in the North.”
“Farms - not our glorious plantations.”
Carrie spoke carefully. “Glorious - at the cost of stolen human lives.”
Thomas’ eyes flared with anger, but then he swung around in his chair and stared out the window. When he turned back, his face was calm once more. “I have only one thing to say,” he stated with somewhat forced amusement in his voice. “I’m very glad the slaves at Cromwell belong to me and not you!” Then he laughed.
Carrie managed to laugh, too, wondering what would happen if her father knew that a number of his slaves were now free. She wanted to tell him how wonderfully the plantation was running with those slaves who had chosen to stay and were now being given incentives and freedom. Surely it would help him to see he might be wrong about the necessity of slavery. Not yet, her heart cautioned her. It’s too soon...
CHAPTER SEVEN
Carrie was up bright and early the next morning, but her father had risen even earlier. He was already seated at the table and scanned the newspaper as he sipped a cup of coffee.
“Good morning, dear,” Thomas said. “I hate to leave you so early this morning, but I’m afraid my presence is demanded at the Capitol. There is still much work to be done to make sure Richmond is secure.”
Carrie looked up suddenly from the cup of tea Micah had placed in front of her. “You think the Union forces will make it all the way to Richmond?” She hated the frightened tone in her voice.
“I think no such thing,” Thomas said firmly. “I think our army will send them running back to Washington! But we have to be ready for anything. General Lee has labored long and hard to prepare the defenses of the city, all the while making sure we are ready to face the threat from the North. Ever since our grand city became the capital of the Confederacy, the cry from the Union has been ‘On to Richmond!’ He took another gulp of coffee and then smiled. “If I really thought Richmond was in danger, I wouldn’t have brought you here. You’re here because I wanted to know you are safe.”
“You don’t think I’m safe on the plantation?”
“I don’t know what you are when you’re on the plantation. I’m simply too far away to know what is going on. That’s what drives me crazy, and that’s what prompted the letter pleading with you to come here.”
Carrie jumped up and gave her father a big hug. “I love you.”
“And I love you,” Thomas said fiercely. “I’ve lost one of the two women in my life. I’m not prepared to lose the other one.”
Carrie hugged him again and moved back to her place at the table. It was better to deal with this now. “I intend to return when the danger is past,” she said quietly.
Thomas opened his mouth as if to argue then shut it and simply shook his head. “I know it’s no good to argue. But I’m going to hold you to your promise,” he said hoarsely. “You promised me that...”
“I would leave the plantation if it became too dangerous,” Carrie finished for him. “You have my word, Father.”
“Can’t you go any faster, Sam?” Carrie asked impatiently.
“Ain’t never learned how to fly one ‘o these things like a bird, Miss Carrie.” Sam’s voice was amused but kind.
Carri
e groaned with exasperation but knew he was right. There was no quick way to get the carriage through the mass of humanity thronging the streets that led to the railroad depot. But she had to be there! She had to at least catch a glimpse of Robert before he headed off to battle.
Her father had told her Robert would leave from the station at 11:00. She had left the house at 9:30 for what was usually a twenty-minute trip. It was already after ten, and they had not yet even started up the long hill that was more than a mile from the station. They had not moved an inch in more than ten minutes.
Carrie bit her lip in frustration. “I’m walking,” she announced and jumped from the carriage.
Sam turned in protest. “Your daddy ain’t gonna like dat, Miss Carrie. He done told me - and you, too - dat this city done got right dangerous since so many people been pouring in. Said it ain’t the same city you wandered around in before.” He shook his head firmly, “No, sirreee! I can’t let you be walking to the station. You best be gettin’ back in this carriage. I’ll get you there. You see if I don’t.”
“I don’t plan on seeing that you don’t, Sam! I’m sorry to upset you, but I simply have to be at the railroad station.” She hadn’t told him why it was so important.
Sam’s eyes narrowed, and he stared at her intently. “This got somethin’ to do with dat Mr. Borden?”
Carrie chose not to reply.
Sam’s eyes softened with understanding and something akin to pity. Sam knew what Robert had done that day to his slaves. He knew no more letters came for her. Struggling to control her sudden desire to cry, Carrie spoke abruptly. “I’ll wait for you at the station.”
