'We're all sorry about that, sir,' Longstreet replied.
'Of course we are. We always say we are sorry. Generals have been saying 'I'm sorry' since war began.
'All right, General Stuart. Let us say I do follow the suggestion you gentlemen have put before me. We shall break camp tonight, pass the word to our officers to tell our men to disband and head for the river. We shall destroy the artillery we have left and abandon our medical supplies and every man will make a run for it.'
Jeb looked at him hopefully, as if he were about to change his mind.
'Then what?' Lee continued.
'Sir, like I said,' Jeb pressed. 'We tell the men to head west once they're across the Potomac, up into the Blue Ridge, set some rally points, and there carry on the fight.'
'With what and how? All organization will be gone. Individual men will be hunted down, cornered, or killed. No officers in control, our men reduced to brigands and thieves in order to survive as they head cross-country. Those that make it. What then? They will be outlaws, not an army. It will be bushwhacking, murder, and reprisals on both sides for months, maybe for years to come.'
He paused.
'Maybe forever.'
He stood up and went to the window, the men parting before him.
'If I were Grant and presented with such a situation I would hunt us down without mercy. I would be forced to. There would be no honor in it, no rules of war, just a merciless hunt. Those of you who served out west saw it at times, the brutality of raids and reprisals against the natives, the executions, the torture.'
He turned and looked at his men.
'You have been with me for over a year and a half, my friends.' Now his voice was softer. 'We have served our country with honor, and we have one more service to render to her.'
He lowered his head.
'We must serve her with honor to the end.' He smiled sadly. 'Is not the will of God evident to us this night? We have placed our trust in him. We have sought his guidance and strength. We have prayed and always our prayers ended with 'Thy will be done.''
He stared intently at the gathering.
'Do we not now see his will in this?
'Things have turned against us and in that I see his will. I have sought God's guidance every day of my life and I sought it again tonight. Yes, I contemplated the same thing you gentlemen suggested, but then the psalm was my answer. I must do his will, and it is clear to me now, gentlemen, that his will is that we shall continue with honor, and then, if need be, submit with honor.
'If we do not break through Grant's lines tomorrow, if we do not win and are forced to surrender, then I expect each and every one of us will do so with honor, and then together we shall rebuild this shattered land. I think in doing that we will answer my prayer and fulfill God's wishes for us. To do anything else, gentlemen…'
He raised his head and looked each of them in the eyes.
'To do anything else would be a sin and turn God against us, and our country, forever. The South will be reduced to an occupied land, marauding bands fighting like thieves in the night, our families displaced, farmlands destroyed, everything turned to wreckage and ruin and a hatred burned into all hearts that will never die, a curse passed on to our children's children.'
No one dared to speak, heads were lowered. Finally, it was Judah who stepped forward.
'Sir, may I shake your hand,' Judah whispered.
Lee looked at him with surprise and took it.
Judah turned and left the room without comment. One by one the others followed. Walter hesitated to leave, but Lee looked up at him and smiled, nodding for him to go as well.
Walter gently closed the door, and Lee sat back down and looked out the window, watching as the rain came down.
Headquarters, Army of the Susquehanna
August 31,1863 Dawn
The storm had finally passed an hour before dawn, leaving a cooling breeze out of the west. Grant stood on the front porch of the small cabin which was now his headquarters and handed up the dispatch to a trooper who saluted and rode off, mud splashing up around him. Phil watched the trooper ride off. 'Should you signal your presence thus?' Phil asked. 'Yes, I think I should,' Grant replied. 'How's the headache?' Phil asked.
Grant looked over at him coldly and felt it had to be discussed.
'General Sheridan, if you wish to serve with me, there are a couple of rules.' 'Sir?'
'No drinking in my presence, and never a mention of my headaches, do we understand each other?' 'Yes, sir.'
Headquarters, Army of Northern Virginia Troops were forming up, skirmishers deploying out, heading north on the road to Frederick. This would be his final gamble. If he could catch Grant in column on the road and push him aside, there would be nothing behind him. It would then be a renewed race. Gain Frederick, take the Catoctin Pass, which was most likely unguarded, hold there while the rest of the army crossed over the South Mountain range, and then seek passage over the ford at Sharpsburg.
It was a desperate move, but if done with enough push, it could still work. His only wish now was that his men had found at least some sleep during the night, for today they would be expected to fight and march nearly thirty miles.
'White flag!' someone shouted.
Lee saw coming toward him a Union officer, about a quarter mile off, holding a white flag aloft, waving it back and forth.
'Maybe they wish to surrender,' someone quipped, but there was no laughter.
Lee mounted and rode toward him, Longstreet and Walter at his side.
Skirmishers surrounded the trooper. One of Jeb's men went up to the Yankee, there was a quick exchange of words, and the trooper escorted the Yankee up to Lee. As he approached, the Union captain stiffened and saluted.
'Sir, I am Capt. Daniel Struble, on the staff of General Grant. He asked that I personally present this letter to you and await your reply.'
'Captain Struble,' Walter said, 'you understand that under the rules of war you cannot report back on anything you see while within our lines.'
'Of course, sir.'
Walter nodded his thanks and returned Struble's salute.
Lee opened the letter even as his skirmishers pressed forward, in line of battle, some of them Armistead's men, who had shown up miraculously during the night.
To Gen. Robert E. Lee
Commander, Army of Northern Virginia
Sir,
I believe that the situation now warrants that we meet to discuss terms for the surrender of your forces. You are surrounded on all sides and your line of retreat across the Potomac has been severed. Further resistance can only result in the tragic loss of more lives.
I await your reply. (Signed) U. S. Grant
Lee folded the letter and stuck it into his breast pocket.
'My compliments to General Grant for his thoughtfulness, Captain Struble, but please tell him that I disagree with his assessment of the situation. That will be all.'
Struble hesitated, saluted, and then started to turn away, then looked back.
'Sir, I doubt that you remember me. I was at the Point while you were superintendent.You left the end of my plebe year.'
'I am sorry, Captain,' Lee said politely, 'but I do not recall you.'
