longer have enough men.'
'Suppose I ordered it.'
Lee hesitated. Along the road he could see where hundreds of men had gathered, his headquarters company and Davis's military escorts forming a cordon to hold them back. Men were coming down from farther up the road to join the throng.
'Respectfully, sir, I would have to refuse that order.'
'If I made it a direct order?'
'Sir. Please don't do that. It would force me to tender my resignation. If I thought there was a semblance of hope that such an order would bear fruit, I would be the first to try, but I can tell you now, without hesitation, the opportunity of the moment has passed, unless General Heintzelman makes an extremely foolish mistake, such as venturing forth to try and fight us in the field, and I know he will not do that.'
Davis sighed and poured himself another cup of lemonade.
'I had to be sure,' Davis said. 'I will confess, it was a grave disappointment to travel so far to find this failure.'
'The army tried, sir, it did all that was humanly possible. And please do not dismiss the victory they brought us at Union Mills.'
'The destruction of the Army of the Potomac. Yes, though I did hope for more results to emerge from that. It appears that Mr. Lincoln still will not waver from his course, regardless of how much blood he spills.'
'Sir, we crippled the Army of the Potomac, have taken it out of action for at least a month, perhaps two, before it can reorganize, but it has not been totally destroyed. Except in the most rare of circumstances, that, sir, is impossible.'
Davis said nothing and Lee felt his own frustration growing again. Who had been talking to this man? Never had he said in his reports back to Richmond that the Army of the Potomac had been totally destroyed. His after- action report made that clear enough. Yet again he could see how wishful thinking in the War Office and the government bureaus, combined with the press, was generating false assumptions. Yes, the news of July 4 was indeed heady stuff. It was fair to assume that it could be the forerunner of yet more victories, perhaps even greater ones, but to assume that it truly signaled the end of the war, that was foolhardy.
'A remarkable achievement, General Lee, your victory at Union Mills,' Benjamin interjected. 'It will stand in history alongside the victories of Wellington and Marlborough.'
'Thank you, sir.'
Davis stirred, looking over at Benjamin. 'I for one would like to hear the details from you, General, of how it was achieved,' Benjamin continued, obviously enthusiastic, 'but perhaps we should focus on the next step, given the realities you have just shared with us.'
Davis nodded. Lee said nothing, waiting for the president to lead the way.
'I have given some thought to alternatives in case our hopes did not come to pass here.'
'My staff and I opened discussions on that last night,' Lee replied. 'We were to meet again tonight to come to a firm conclusion. I thought it best to first give everyone a day of rest. Our activities have been nonstop since the evening of June 28. The men, their officers, my staff are all exhausted.'
'And your thoughts as to what will come next?' Davis asked.
'Sir, it is obvious we must remain on the offensive and continue the campaign in Maryland, but to attack Washington is out of the question at the moment, given our numbers. To withdraw back to Virginia is out of the question as well. We cannot allow ourselves to fall back into a strategic defense and give those people the time to concentrate their forces and come after us again.'
'What if I were to tell you that even now twenty thousand additional infantry and five thousand cavalry are mobilizing to come to your side?' Davis asked.
Surprised, Lee could not respond, and for the first time Davis actually smiled.
'I've ordered General Beauregard to bring up half of his garrison from Charleston. Additional troops are being drawn from North Carolina and Virginia, including the brigades left behind by Pickett. Governor Vance has pledged ten thousand men, including the releasing of significant logistical support. They should be here within a fortnight I am strongly suggesting that Beauregard be given a corps command in your army.'
A fortnight? Two more weeks. Even now the Union was moving tens of thousands of men in a matter of days. In one sense it gave him renewed hope. Twenty thousand, plus the return of some of Anderson's men and lightly wounded from the other divisions, could bring the active numbers back up to the strength prior to Gettysburg. Enough for one more good strike, even though the replacements, both in terms of men and officers, were not of the caliber he had two months ago. Perhaps there just might be a chance for renewed action against Washington. If the weather would clear up, the roads dry, he might be able to play out a campaign of maneuver against the capital that would draw the Union forces out.
If the reinforcements arrived in time and proved to be of sufficient caliber to stand in the line against veteran Union troops, he would actually be tempted to try a second assault on Washington.
There was no sense in playing that game at this moment. War was not won on 'ifs.' He had to focus on the here and now.
'So, your intentions, General Lee?' Davis pressed.
'We must maintain our presence in Maryland, if for no other reason than logistical ones. The supplies here are rich and the movement of the center of operations out of Virginia will give our farms time to bring in their harvests unmolested.'
Davis nodded and Lee knew that his answer had been a weak one.
'Baltimore, General Lee, are you considering that?'
Lee did not reply for a moment. Yes, he had been considering moving on that city, it was to be the main focus of his conversation this evening with his staff and generals. He had hoped not to bring this conversation on prematurely with the president without careful analysis, but it was obvious that he could not avoid it.
'Yes, Mr. President, we were to discuss Baltimore as an option this evening.'
'I'd like to discuss it now, especially in light of the fact that for at least the next two weeks Washington is out of the question,' Davis replied.
'Sir, my first thought was to draw back toward Frederick.'
'Why?'
'Several reasons. Primarily because it would shorten our logistical lines. From Frederick we might even be able to establish some rail connections, if only temporarily. The land and supplies there are good, not heavily foraged by either side. It would give us a secured area from which we could exclude Union attempts at intelligence-gathering, and from there we could respond to any movement toward 'Virginia out of Washington, or from farther north.' 'And Baltimore?'
'I am quite open to that suggestion, sir. However, I should caution that I do not want to see our army enter into an urban battle for possession of a city. Second, it would extend us significantly, with a hostile force in our rear and the potential of those Union forces gathering north of the Susquehanna threatening us as well. Such a move would make our lines of communication vulnerable and would add upward of a week to the consolidation of reinforcements of which you have just informed me.' '
'But you are not adverse to the idea?' Davis asked pointedly.
'If it means a brutal street-to-street fight, we cannot afford such losses. I would also want to think through the question of the ultimate purpose and how long we would be expected to hold that city.'
'Permanently,' Davis replied.
Lee raised a quizzical eyebrow but said nothing.
Davis cleared his throat and nodded significantly toward Benjamin, who was watching the exchange with his usual soft genial smile.
'The president and I did discuss this eventuality as we rode north,' Benjamin announced. 'I will say that I for one was not optimistic that Washington would fall easily into our hands. Its fortifications may be the most formidable in the world. However, Baltimore does not have that kind of protection.'
