The Civil War Novels: 4

An epic tale of the war between the States

This is volume four—incorporating the two novels The Shades of the Wilderness & The Tree of Appomattox, the seventh and eighth novels of a series of eight adventures which follow the momentous events, campaigns and battles of the great American Civil War between the Northern and Southern states. The central characters of the story are Harry Kenton—an officer in the Confederate Army and his cousin Dick Mason a young officer in a similar position fighting within the Union ranks. The narrative of the whole war is charted through the action which embraces many actual players in the real conflict. Beginning with First Bull Run and climaxing at Appomattox each novel tells the story from an alternate perspective—from the ranks of the Blue and then the Grey as the saga unfolds. Altsheler wrote another Civil War novel, Before the Dawn, concerning the fall of Richmond told from a Confederate perspective. Although this story is not strictly part of the series Leonaur have offered it as part of its five volume, nine novel collection of the author’s Civil War adventures for collectors and readers in complementing designs and soft cover or hard cover.

All the civilians had gone out and only five or six of the officers, the most important, were left. Their talk had grown more eager, and on the centre of the table around which they sat lay a large piece of white canvas upon which they were drawing a map expressing their collective opinion. Every detail was agreed upon, after much discussion, and Harry, as much interested as they, began to watch, while the lines grew upon the canvas. He ventured no opinion, being so much younger than the others.<br>
"We don't know, of course, exactly what General Lee will do," said a colonel, "but we do know that he's always dangerous. He invariably acts on the offensive, even if he's retreating. I should think that he'd strike Meade about here."<br>
"Not there, but not far from it," said the general. "Make a dot at that point, Bathurst, and make another dot here about twenty miles to the east, which represents my opinion."<br>
Bathurst made the dots and the men, wholly absorbed, bent lower over their plans, which were growing almost unconsciously into a map, and a good one too. Harry was as much interested as they, and he still kept himself in the background, owing to his youth and minor rank.<br>
The door to the room was open a little and the music, a waltz, came in a soft ripple from the drawing room. It was rhythmic and languorous, and Harry's feet would have moved to its tune at any other time, but he was too deeply absorbed in the conjectures and certainties that they were drawing with their pencils on the white canvas.<br>
Many of the details, he knew, were absolutely true, and others he was quite sure must be true, because these were men of high rank who carried in their minds the military secrets of the Confederacy.<br>
"I think we're pretty well agreed on the general nature of the plan," said Bathurst. "We differ only in details."<br>
"That's so," said the general, "but we're lingering too long here. God knows that we see little enough of our women folks, and, when we have the chance to see them, and feel the touch of their hands, we waste our time like a lot of fools making military guesses. If I'm not too old to dance to the tune of the shells I'm not too old to dance to the tune of the fiddle and the bow. That's a glorious air floating in from the ballroom. I think I can show some of these youngsters like Kenton here how to shake a foot."<br>
"After you, General," laughed Bathurst. "We know your capacity on both the field and the floor, and how you respond to the shell and the bow. Come on! The ballroom is calling to us, and I doubt whether we'll explain to the satisfaction of everybody why we've been away from it so long. You, too, Harry!"
They rose in a group and went out hastily. Harry was last, and his hand was on the bolt of the door, preparatory to closing it, when the general turned to Bathurst and said:<br>
"You've that diagram of ours, haven't you, Bathurst? It's not a thing to be left lying loose."<br>
"Why, no, sir, I thought you put it in your pocket."<br>
The general laughed.<br>
"You're suffering from astigmatism, Bathurst," he said. "Doubtless it was Colton whom you saw stowing it away. I think we'd better tear it into little bits as we have no further use for it." <br>
"But I haven't it, sir," said Colton, a veteran colonel, just recovering from a wound in the arm. "I supposed of course that one of the others took it."