The late October air was chill as he huddled in the lea of an outcropping of rock nursing the small fire he’d managed to kindle. This time he felt he needn’t worry about enemy forces watching him, but he really couldn’t be sure about that could he? If his army was still around, the Rebs couldn’t be that far away either. He pulled his hat further down over his eyes and tried to lean back. The shoulder protested. David cursed and rose to his feet. Snuffing out the feeble blaze he kicked the dirt and gravel over it and retrieved his hobbled horse that was calmly munching what little grass it could find. Stiff with fatigue and pain he mounted and turned the animal out toward the road.
“Might as well just keep goin’” he mumbled. “Neither of us will get much rest. Somewhere we have to find some food and water. The Army can’t be too far ahead, I wasn’t in that place all that long.” David flicked the reins and lightly touched the horse’s flank. “You and me, buddy,” he growled, “we’re all we’ve got. Maybe you can smell out the road they’ve taken.”
Both armies were in the same situation. Food and water were the immediate requirements. Not too much of either was available until a river and a railroad line could be found. The Kentuckians didn’t seem to be too happy to have them around either. The important thing was to stay out of each others path. Another unexpected encounter like Perryville would decimate both.
David finally found signs of a large number of people. Praying he wasn’t riding into the hands of the enemy he carefully reconnoitered the perimeter of the encampment he saw ahead of him. His uniform by now was ragged and filthy dirty. His hair was overgrown and matted while the bristles on his chin looked more goat-like than human. He doubted anyone would recognize him as either Yank or Rebel if he should be spotted. Finally hearing a bugle blowing taps he approached as carefully as he could. Looking toward the sound he made out the flag that was being lowered and allowed himself to draw a sigh of relief. It was the familiar Stars and Stripes, thank God, and Private Hickok brushed as much dust from his coat as he could, wiped the coated, crossed twin-sabers insignia, squared his yellow-trimmed wide-brimmed cavalryman’s hat and saluted the guard at the gate with his good arm.
When he recovered from his faint, he was lying on a clean blanket with someone he hoped was a doctor tending to his injured arm. Asa was staring down at him as if he’d seen a ghost and everyone else seemed to be smiling.
“Well, young fellow, that’s a nasty cut you’ve got there, but someone did a fair job of patching you up. Good thing you’ve caught us up before any more infection set in. We found your papers in your pocket and your brother is here to see to you for now. As you might have guessed your company clerk is annoyed that you haven’t answered roll call for quite some time.”
David sputtered an attempt at an answer and the doctor laughed. “Easy son, your brother managed to explain your absence when he finally rode in and calmed down. We’ll get you some grub and then let you get some sleep. You do look as if you could use some of both. See that he doesn’t move that arm any more than absolutely necessary,” he called back over his shoulder to Asa on his way to his next patient.
The brothers stared at each other for a long wordless moment, choking back the tears that threatened, before attempting to joke about their situation. It didn’t work and Asa sat silently by David’s side and watched him swallow the soup someone brought and fall back into an exhausted sleep.
“I’d almost stopped believing in a God that cared with all the horrors I’ve seen these past long days.” Asa finally muttered, wiping his eyes and blowing his nose trying to stave off the shudders rippling through his body. Hugging his arms to his chest, fists clenched, he breathed a silent prayer. His battered heart was overflowing with gratitude that his brother had been spared. Perhaps it’s like the preacher says…the devil is all around us and we must never give in. War is evil. Slavery is evil. Hatred of your fellow man is evil. But, why must we fight evil with evil?
David moaned in his sleep bringing Asa back to the immediate need for action. Summoning the attendant he watched while a dose of laudanum was administered to his brother and several of the other patients lying nearby.
“You might get some rest yourself, Private,” the man said. “He’ll sleep for some time I’m sure and be the better for it. I can’t say for certain but your outfit will be movin’ out in the next day or so. Not likely he’ll be with it but you should be prepared.”
Asa nodded numbly and offered his hand. “Please take care of him and thank you. I’d been afraid I would never see him again when I had to leave him behind.”
“He’ll be goin’ home, soon as he can manage. His war is over. You just take care of yourself now or he’ll be the one frettin’ over you. I’ll let him know where you’re headed if I can. Sometimes they don’t want us to know. You know how that is,”
“When he wakes up be sure to tell him I was here.”
The other man smiled and moved on to the next bedside. Asa quietly left the tent full of sick and injured men having nothing else to say.
Chapter Four
The Kunkle Farm
Rush, Pennsylvania
Mid-November 1862
With snow swirling around her ankles and threatening to blow up her skirts fifteen-year-old Rebecca made her way home from the general store with no mail again. Nothing had been heard from her brothers or the Hickok boys for some time now. She felt as if this terrible war was going to go on forever. No one she knew seemed to have any idea of what was really happening. News of this or that battle, all in places she’d never heard of, seemed as unreal as the stories she read in her books…fairy tales filled with dragons and goblins and all kinds of evil creatures. Her family had been informed that her brother George had been captured in August at the battle of Bull Run which was somewhere in Virginia. All the family had heard so far was that he was in some Confederate prison camp somewhere. Of course, they’d been told that prisoners were often paroled so perhaps he had been returned to his unit. Letters were so slow to arrive it was hard to keep a good face. Other families in the small town had received the most dreaded news possible and she prayed every day that neither her folks nor that dear lady, Miss Betsey, who had raised the three Hickok boys, would have to suffer so.
Scuttling back inside after stomping the snow from her shoes, she dumped her few purchases on the table and warmed herself with what was left of the coffee on the stove. Sitting and sipping she reminisced about the day she and her folks had arrived here. Traveling from Kunkletown in eastern Pennsylvania had been a long arduous trip. Her father was a miller by trade and had moved his large family frequently before finally settling in Rush. They’d even lived in New Jersey for awhile. Of course, what mattered most to her Pa was where the rivers were… one can’t be a miller without water to turn the wheel he was always saying. The younger members of the family had arrived at intervals along the way. She fervently hoped Pa would not take it in his head to move again with little Sarah only two years old. She giggled thinking of her father, the only man left in that household of women. It’s a wonder he comes home at all these days…says everywhere he looks it “ruffles ands ribbons.” “Poor man,” she sighed with a grin.
A lot of folks were on the move however, she reminded herself. That Homestead Act the Congress had passed not too long ago was stirring up all sorts of ideas in people’s heads. What ever could be out west that was any different from what they had right here was more than she could imagine. “I suppose,” she murmured as she rocked and sipped the coffee,” being able to acquire that much land for nothing more than the duty to develop it was quite a temptation for those who were wishing for more space to spread out on.” As for me, she thought, smiling and setting her now empty cup aside, I like my little mountain home. From what I hear fur trapping and lumbering are the main money-making occupations out west but I suppose everyone still farms. One does have to eat no matter what.
Rousing herself from
her reverie she rose to put the kettle on for the noonday meal and more coffee while glancing out the window. Someone was walking up the road from the village with a haversack on his shoulder and wearing what looked like, from this distance, a broad brimmed hat.
Rebecca hesitated not believing her eyes. Then gasped, “Ma,” she screamed almost choking in her excitement. “Ma, I think that’s David Hickok! Oh, merciful God, he looks exhausted and something seems wrong with his arm but it’s hard to see in this swirling snow.” Grabbing her coat from the peg on the wall, she dashed out onto the front porch and waved. “David? David? Is that you?” She stumbled, slipping on the fresh snow. David hurried forward to catch her before she fell.
“Miss Becky, oh what a sight for sore eyes you are! Of course, it’s me. According to my commanding officer I am no longer needed. Likely this bum shoulder has something to do with that but who am I to question?”
He studied her ruddy-cheeked face and laughed. “We’d better get you back inside where it’s warm before you catch your death. That brother of mine will have my hide if something should happen to you.”
Rebecca blushed an even brighter shade of red. “Which brother might that be?” She dimpled, taking David by his extended arm and leading him toward her house. “You’d better come in for a bit. I know no one is home at your place. They all piled in the buggy and went somewhere this morning. I do hope they don’t have trouble getting back with this snow. I certainly didn’t expect it. You must be freezing. How far have you had to walk? You should have let someone know you were coming. Oh, David, I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you. I can tell you’ve been wounded but tell me, will you be all right? You’re not invalided are you? Have they really let you come home? Are you home to stay or just for awhile?”
“Whoa, hold up there, honey…too many questions all at once. Like I said let’s get you inside before you start to freeze. I could use a nice hot cup of your coffee with maybe a drop of your Pa’s whiskey? I have had quite a lengthy tramp. I guess the postman decided to keep his rig in the barn today. I sure didn’t see anyone around willing to drive all the way out here but I wasn’t about to wait. Five miles is nothing after all the roads we’ve traveled this past year. Asa is fine by the way. I did get to see him briefly before the doctors told me to go on home. Our outfit is on its way to the next encounter, I guess, but who knows where that’ll be. He’ll be all right. Turns out he’s a lot smarter than I ever gave him credit for…little brother and all that, but you wouldn’t understand, I guess.”
Rebecca grinned and gently squeezed his good arm. “Ha,” she said, ‘There’s nothing you can tell me that I don’t all ready know about brothers, big or little. Mama,” she called as they came through the door into the hall, “would you pour some of that hot coffee for a weary man? Poor Mr. Hickok is footsore and about frozen to his skinny bones. Looks to me he might need some fattening up.” She giggled at his affronted frown and he grinned back.
Sarah Kunkle hurried forward wiping her hands on her apron before enveloping the cold and tired ex-soldier in her welcoming arms.
“Sit, David, sit by the fire and warm yourself before you take a chill.” She steered him toward the hearth and reached for the whisky jug on the mantle with her free hand. Rebecca quickly placed the mug of hot coffee near his good hand and went to slice some of the still warm bread they had baked that morning.
While David slowly thawed bringing the color back into his face and some sparkle to his eyes, the women fussed over his wounded arm and the condition of his bedraggled clothes.
“Surely you didn’t have to walk all the way from Kentucky?” Rebecca asked with concern. “You appear to have been on the road for days.”
“No ma’am,” David laughed, “but there were times it sure felt like it. I was able to ride the train most of the way. Not too comfortable these days but sure better than being on foot. I had hoped to keep the horse, but too many are getting’ worn out or killed so I turned mine in for the train passage. Truth be known, I think I’ve ridden enough miles on horseback to last me awhile. Sure feels good to just sit back and see a familiar sight like this cozy kitchen.” His eyes roamed over the tidy array of utensils and supplies that spoke of feminine nurturing and domestic peace. The meager fires and cold hillside camps suddenly seemed merely a bad dream. War, in this kitchen, was impossible to even imagine. David felt something in his chest relax. Healing had begun.
He downed his coffee and the warm bread and freshly churned butter with gratitude. Rising to his feet he wanted more than anything to take both women in his arms and cry his heart out, but gathering himself he thanked them with the glimmer of choked-back tears in his eyes. “I must keep on, dear friends. Please, tell me that my grandmother is well and that I will find things at home as they should be.”
Rebecca and her mother exchanged a long look but hastily assured him that most everything was just as he had left it. “Your uncle has managed very well, but you know your grandmother, she is always ready for something new and different. I expect she will have some surprises for you. You’d better get yourself over there, sir. I wouldn’t want her accusing me of waylaying you. Does she know you are on your way? You have been in touch with her haven’t you?”
David looked a little abashed and answered that he had sent word but he had no idea if it had been received. He again thanked Sarah and Rebecca profusely. What he might find to say about George’s predicament that wouldn’t upset them more eluded him. Of course he might have been paroled, but with no way of knowing it would be better to say nothing at all than to make matters worse, Tugging at his coat sleeve, he took note through the window that the snow was falling more heavily. Hefting his haversack, he jammed on his hat, thanked the women again as he made his goodbyes and set out for the last half mile of his journey. He felt as if he was still caught up in some sort of dream. This place he’d grown up in seemed more strange to him than any place he remembered ever being. He trudged toward the lamp lights in the windows of his home. Through his blurred vision and the swirling snow he saw the door open silhouetting the small figure standing with open arms awaiting him.
Chapter Five
The Hickok Farm
Rush, Pennsylvania
December, 1862
The overwhelming sense of relief at being home lay like a burden on David’s shoulders while his thoughts went to Asa left alone to cope with whatever situation faced him next. He also questioned the family about his younger brother Thomas who was caught up in all the ugliness the Army of the Potomac was facing. He smiled grimly realizing he was not likely to be any better off than he and Asa had been with Lee’s Confederate Army spread out only a short distance away protecting Richmond. The irony of the Capitols of the warring factions being so close together just served to show how senseless the whole bloody affair was.
News of the terrible loss of life at Antietam in Virginia had slowly seeped across the mountains into the little town of Rush. The men still at home gathered at the general store and spoke of nothing else for days. David was asked over and over for his opinion on the tactics employed and what Lincoln’s replacement of General McClelland with General Burnside might mean. The wounded veteran was hard-pressed to make his neighbors understand that he had been a mere private and had no idea why any of the officers did what they did.
“Come, come on now Davy, must be the man did something wrong for Ole Abe to bust him down?”
“All I know,” David hesitated, taking time to refill his pipe and a sip of whiskey before answering, “Word went around same as when our General Buel was replaced by Rosecrans. McClelland moves too slow to suit Abe’s way of thinking. Our president wants results and the quicker the better… has no patience with the man that can’t make up his mind what to do when the bear is staring him in the face.”
The listeners grunted and refilled their cups. The names of those people and places meant nothing to any of them. David finall
y got to his feet, looking toward Rebecca’s father. John Kunkle nodded and hauled himself up as well. The two men tugged their woolen caps from their coat pockets, pulled them on and left together. What else was there to say? As David knew all too well words were not enough, one really had to be there.
Chapter Six
With the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry
Army of the Cumberland
Near Stone River, Murfeesboro, Tennessee
December, 1862
Asa and his squad let the big steel hammers fall and wearily stretched their aching backs. The General was determined to rebuild this railway despite the reality of the situation. Rails and ties were almost impossible to obtain and to make matters worse the snow was beginning to fall in that wet, whirling pattern common to these parts. “It won’t last long,” one of his mates muttered while attempting to light his pipe in the wind.
“You’re right about that,” Asa grinned, mopping his face. “Folks hereabouts don’t know what real snow is. Where I come from we’d’ve been knee-deep by now. This piddly stuff will just be nothing but more mud before we get to quit for the day. Anybody here got some idea of why the old man has his cavalrymen swingin’ hammers instead of scoutin’ the countryside like they should be?”
“You know better than to ask a question like that, Hickok. Using cavalry for scoutin’ would make too much sense.” The group chuckled.
“Well, all I know is I sure didn’t sign up to be a gandy dancer.” The Pennsylvania farm boy grumbled, spitting out his exhausted wad of tobacco. Staring ruefully at his hands he reached for his pouch and broke off another bit of his almost depleted supply of stuff to chew…seemed like it was his only comfort these days. Two months had passed since he and his big brother had been parted and news was sparse to say the least. He had learned that David had been medically discharged and was on his way home but whether he had arrived there yet he had no way of knowing. The Army of the Cumberland had been on the move most of the time with very little to show for their efforts. A few skirmishes here and there but no defining confrontations. This war could go on forever at this rate, he thought. There was some talk of engaging the enemy soon but if they did it would likely be some unplanned encounter as usual. “Hurry up and wait,” he mumbled… “same as always.”
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