1 A Rumor of Battle

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CHAPTER 1 A Rumor of Battle The cold passed slowly from the earth. The moving fog revealed an army dressed in blue resting on the hills. As the soldiers woke up, they could see more of the muddy roads and the river. A tall soldier went to wash his shirt and came running back with a story he had heard. "We're going to move tomorrow," he said. "We're going up the river. We'll cross over it and come around behind them." "I don't believe it," another private said loudly. "I've been ready to move eight times

in the last two weeks, and we haven't moved yet." While the men continued to argue about whether or not they would be moving the next day, a young private named Henry Fleming went to his hut to be alone and think. It amazed him to think that there could be a battle so soon. And he would be in it! It would be one of those great affairs of the earth. Henry had dreamed of battles and of being a hero all his life, but he had never thought he would actually be in a war. Back at home, he hadn't believed the war was real. He thought that men were better now, or at least more peaceful than they had been in the past. Surely they would not go to war. But now they were fighting a civil war, the North against the South! This was his chance to be a hero. Henry had wanted to enlist several times,

but his mother had discouraged him. She had given him a hundred reasons why he was needed more on the farm than on the field of battle. Finally, when he couldn't wait any longer, he went into town and joined up. When he told her, she said, "The Lord's will be done, Henry," and then she continued to milk the cow. "You watch out and take care of yourself. Don't go thinking you can beat the whole rebel army right away. You're just one little fellow among a lot of others." She told him to watch out for bad men who would curse or do other things that would make her ashamed of him. "I don't know what else to tell you," she said. "Except that you must never avoid your duty on my account. If there comes a time when you have to be killed to do the right thing, Henry, don't think of anything except doing what's right." His spirits had soared on the way to

Washington. The troop was treated so well as they traveled that he already felt as if he was a hero. Then, after many difficult journeys and long pauses, there had come months of boring life in a camp. Here there were no death struggles. All the men did was try to keep warm and do practice drills over and over again. All he thought about during this time was the battles to come. Henry didn't much care about what kind of men he would fight. There was a more serious problem. He wanted to know that he wouldn't run from battle. He had never needed to think about this before, but now a battle was really going to happen and he realized that he might run. As far as war was concerned, he didn't know anything about himself. After a time, the tall soldier entered the hut. He was followed by the loud private who had disagreed with him earlier. They

were still fighting. The tall soldier was named Jim Conklin. The loud one was called Wilson. "That's all right," said Jim as he entered, waving his hand. "You can believe me or not. All you've got to do is sit and wait. Pretty soon you'll find out I was right." "Well, you just know everything in the world, don't you?" said Wilson. "Didn't say I knew everything in the world," said Jim sharply. He began to pack his belongings into his knapsack. Henry watched them nervously and finally asked, "Going to be a battle for sure then, is there, Jim?" "Of course there is," replied Jim. "You just wait until tomorrow and you'll see one of the biggest battles ever. You just wait." He talked about the other troops and the battles he had heard about. Then Henry asked how their own troop would do.