Battle Flag

standard-bearer was a great brute of a German, ain't that so, Mox'?' The General appealed for his aide's confirmation.

'He was indeed, sir,' Moxey said, 'and I was damned glad you were there to deal with the fellow and not me.'

'The fellow took a half-dozen bullets'—the General lightly touched the ivory handle of his revolver—'and still he kept on coming. Some of these Northern fellows are remarkably brave, but of course there's not one of the rogues who can compare with our fine boys,' and here the General paid a moving tribute to the Southern soldier, describing him as the salt of the earth, a rough diamond, and an honest warrior, each compliment being accompanied by a toast, so that it was soon necessary to order another bottle of whiskey.

'Not that it's very good whiskey,' one of the congressman said, 'but even the worst is better than water.'

'Like the nymphs du monde next door,' his fellow politician opined. 'Gordonsville's whores are hardly enticing, but even the worst is preferable to a wife.'

All six men laughed. 'If you've nothing more pressing,' one of the railroad men said to Faulconer, 'maybe you'd like to saddle one or two of the ladies yourself?'

'I should be delighted,' Faulconer said.

'It shall be our pleasure to pay,' the other director said, then courteously included Captain Moxey in the invitation.

'Myself, I fancy the mulatto girl tonight,' the fatter of the two congressmen said as he poured himself another glass of whiskey. 'And we'd better enjoy ourselves this evening, because tomorrow we'll all have to look busy. Can't have Bobby Lee thinking we're idle.'

'Lee?' Faulconer asked, hiding his consternation. 'Is Lee here?'

'Arrives tomorrow,' one of the railroad men said. 'Train was ordered this morning.'

'Not that any of us are supposed to know who the train's for,' the other railroad man said, yawning, 'but it's true. Lee's coming to take command.'

'What do you make of Lee, Faulconer?' one of the congressmen asked casually.

'Hardly know the man,' the General said, which was a transparent evasion, for the Faulconer family was as prominent in Virginian society as the Lees, and Washington Faulconer had been acquainted with Robert Lee almost all his life, yet even so Faulconer found himself puzzled by Lee's present eminence. Lee had started the war with a considerable reputation, but nothing he had achieved since had justified that good standing, yet, with an apparent effortlessness that Faulconer could only admire, Lee had risen to command the Army of Northern Virginia. Faulconer's only explanation for this phenomenon was that the leaders of the Confederacy were deceived by Lee's grave demeanor into believing that deep thoughts were being pondered behind the General's calm and trustworthy eyes, but he could hardly confess as much to two of those leaders. 'I worry he's too cautious,' Faulconer said instead, 'though, of course, caution may be the right tactic to follow at the moment.'

'Let the enemy come to us, you mean?' the fatter congressman suggested.

'For the moment, yes,' Faulconer said, 'because there's little point in maneuvering ourselves into trouble. Let them break themselves on our bastions, eh?' He smiled, sounding confident, but inside he was worrying that if Lee was arriving in Gordonsville next day, then the town would surely be filled with high-ranking Confederate officers who would look askance when they discovered Faulconer was absent from his Brigade without permission, and the very last thing Washington Faulconer needed was the enmity of Stonewall Jackson. Jackson was already suspicious of Faulconer because of his tardiness in joining the counterattack at Cedar Mountain, though happily the capture of the enemy color had gone a long way toward preserving Faulconer's reputation, but even so Jackson could prove a powerful enemy, especially as the Richmond Examiner was as supportive of Stonewall as it was of Washington Faulconer. All in all, Faulconer decided, this was a moment for a tactical withdrawal. 'I think this news means that we should get back to camp tonight, Mox',' Faulconer said as he turned to his aide. 'If Lee's coming there'll doubtless be orders for us and we need to be ready.'

Captain Moxey concealed his surprise at so sudden a departure and his disappointment at being denied the pleasures of the house of assignation next door. 'I'll order the horses, sir,' Moxey said, and when the tired beasts were saddled, the two officers, without so much as taking a bath let alone partaking of the town's more exquisite recreations, retraced their steps west into the twilight. Back at the hotel one of the congressmen remarked that the country was fortunate indeed in having men as devoted and disciplined as Washington Faulconer at its service, and his three colleagues solemnly agreed before heaving themselves out of their chairs and ushering each other into the house next door.

It was black dark by the time Washington Faulconer reached the farm that was his Brigade's headquarters. Colonel Swynyard was still awake, sitting in candlelight beneath the crossed banners of the Faulconer Legion as he struggled to reconcile the Brigade's muddled accounts. He stood as Faulconer came in, hid his surprise at the General's sudden return, and offered a report on the day's happenings. Two men had been arrested for drunkenness at McComb's Tavern and were waiting for punishment in the morning. 'I thought I put the tavern out of bounds,' Faulconer said, stretching out his right leg so Moxey could tug off a riding boot.

'So you did, sir,' Swynyard confirmed.

'But you can't keep a rogue away from his liquor, is that what you were going to say, Colonel?' Faulconer asked nastily.

'I was going to say, sir, that McComb keeps a pair of whores, and plenty of men will risk punishment for that.'

'McComb keeps women?' Faulconer growled. 'Then have the filthy creatures arrested! Goddamn it. I don't want half the Brigade felled by pox.' He lit a cigar and half listened as Swynyard went on with his report, but while appearing to pay attention Faulconer was really thinking just how much he disliked this new manifestation of Swynyard's idiocy. The old, drunken Swynyard had been largely invisible, an embarrassment to be sure, but a predictable embarrassment and a small price to pay for the support of his cousin, the editor of the Richmond Examiner. Yet the new Swynyard was a man who flaunted his morality with an assiduity that Faulconer found grating. Where Swynyard had once been oblivious of the Brigade's affairs, he was now endlessly busy, and endless, too, in bringing complaints and suggestions to Faulconer's attention. Tonight there was a problem with a consignment of percussion caps from the Richmond Arsenal. At least half of the caps had proved defective. 'Then send the damn things back!' Faulconer snapped.

'I need your signature,' Swynyard pointed out.

'Can't you forge it?'

'I can, but would rather not.'

'Damn your scruples, give it to me then,' Faulconer said.

'And sadly there were three more desertions, sir,' Swynyard said, placing the deserters' report sheets beside the document needing the General's signature. Swynyard's hand shook, not from nerves, but because sobriety had still not wholly calmed his alcohol-ravaged body.

'Who ran?' Faulconer asked in a dangerous voice. He hated desertions, translating the crime as a criticism of his leadership.

'Two are Haxall's men,' Swynyard said, referring to the Arkansas battalion, 'and Haxall suspects they're making for home, and the third is one of the new men from Richmond, who reckons his wife is cheating on him. He's the same fellow who ran two weeks ago.'

'So catch the bastard again and this time shoot him,' Faulconer said, slapping at a moth that annoyed him. 'And how the hell did they run? Aren't the pickets awake?'

'All three were part of a work party carrying ammunition to Starbuck's position, sir,' Swynyard said.

Faulconer pulled his left boot back from Moxey's grasp, then looked up at the scarred, bearded Colonel. 'Explain,' Faulconer said in a very menacing voice.

Swynyard was well aware that the mention of Starbuck's name put him in a risky position, but the Colonel possessed both the courage of his military convictions and the strength of his newfound faith, and so he confidently explained the discovery of the unsuspected ford and told how Starbuck had suggested garrisoning the river crossing. 'I gave him three companies, sir, and inspected him at dusk. He's well entrenched and can't be outflanked.'

'Goddamn it!' Faulconer shouted, thumping the table beside his chair. 'What orders did I give you?' He paused, but he was not waiting for any answer. Indeed the General could not have listened to any answer, for all the frustrations of his last few months had swollen into an abrupt explosion that was now unstoppable. Like a volcano's molten core that had been cribbed too long by a cap of cold, hard rock, Faulconer's temper erupted into an