Read 1812: The Rivers of War Online
Authors: Eric Flint
1812: The Rivers of War
“A meticulously researched alternate history, a tantalizing glimpse of the free America we have lost, and a thrilling story of warfare in the Napoleonic era.”
—G
ENE
W
OLFE
, author of
The Wizard Knight
“A thought-provoking and gloriously action-packed saga … Flint charges into [the story] like a saber-swinging general on a white horse, delivering battle scenes of cinematic grandeur while warmly rendering all of his characters as relatably human … This is simply fine, action-packed entertainment.”
—SFReviews
“Flint did an excellent job of seamlessly blending fact and fiction, and his deft characterizations make the story memorable.”
—Blogcritics.org
“His characters, historical and invented, are plausible for the time and place, and he makes neither an icon nor a demon of anyone.”
—
Booklist
“Essential for fans of alternate history.”
—
Library Journal
ALTERNATE HISTORY TITLES
BY ERIC FLINT
1812: The Rivers of War
1824: The Arkansas War
The 1632 Series
1632
1633
(with David Weber)
Ring of Fire
1634: The Galileo Affair
(with Andrew Dennis)
Grantville Gazette
The Belisarius Series (with David Drake)
An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny’s Shield
Fortune’s Stroke
The Tide of Victory
The Dance of Time
Books published by The Random House Publishing Group are available at quantity discounts on bulk purchases for premium, educational, fund-raising, and special sales use. For details, please call 1-800-733-3000.
“
To Quatie, who gave her blanket”
American Characters
J
OHN
Q
UINCY
A
DAMS
: U.S. negotiator at the peace talks with the British being held in the Belgian city of Ghent; son of John Adams, the second president of the United States.
J
OHN
A
RMSTRONG
: U.S. secretary of war.
C
HARLES
B
ALL
: Freedman; U.S. Navy gunner.
J
OSHUA
B
ARNEY
: Commodore, U.S. Navy.
J
ACOB
B
ROWN
: U.S. general in command of the Army of the Niagara.
J
OHN
C
OFFEE
: A close friend and associate of Andrew Jackson, as well as his top subordinate officer.
H
ENRY
C
ROWELL
: Freedman; teamster, owning his own wagon.
P
ATRICK
D
RISCOL
: Sergeant, U.S. Army.
S
AM
H
OUSTON
: Ensign in the Thirty-ninth U.S. Infantry; adopted son of the Cherokee chief John Jolly; his Cherokee name was Colonneh, which means “The Raven.”
A
NDREW
J
ACKSON
: Commanding general of the Tennessee militia; later, major general in the regular U.S. Army, in command of U.S. forces in the southern theater in the War of 1812.
F
RANCIS
S
COTT
K
EY
: Lawyer and poet.
M
ARIE
L
AVEAU
: New Orleans voudou queen.
J
AMES
M
ADISON
: President of the United States.
A
NTHONY
M
C
P
ARLAND
: Private, U.S. Army.
J
AMES
M
ONROE
: U.S. secretary of state.
L
EMUEL
M
ONTGOMERY
: Major in the Thirty-ninth U.S. infantry; personal friend of Andrew Jackson.
D
AVID
M
ORGAN
: Brigadier general; commander of U.S. forces
on the west bank of the Mississippi River in the New Orleans campaign.
D
ANIEL
P
ATTERSON
: Commodore, U.S. Navy; in command of American naval forces during the New Orleans campaign.
J
OHN
P
ENDLETON
: Corporal in the Baltimore United Volunteers, a militia dragoon unit.
J
OHN
R
EID
: Andrew Jackson’s aide.
W
INFIELD
S
COTT
: Brigadier general, U.S. Army; Brown’s top subordinate officer.
W
ILLIAMS
S
IMMONS
: Accountant, formerly employed in the War Department.
W
ILLIAM
W
INDER
: Brigadier general, U.S. Army, in command of the defense of Washington, D.C.
T
HE
R
IDGE
: A major Cherokee chief; took the name Major Ridge after the battle of the Horseshoe Bend.
J
AMES AND
J
OHN
R
OGERS
: Tiana Ross’s half brothers, nephews of chief John Jolly.
C
APTAIN
J
OHN
R
OGERS
: Father of Tiana, James, and John; although a Scots-American, he was an informal member of the Cherokee tribe and adviser to John Jolly; his nickname was “Hell-Fire Jack.”
T
IANA
R
OGERS
: Niece of Cherokee chief John Jolly.
J
OHN
R
OSS
: Young Cherokee leader; very influential in the tribe, although not a chief.
S
EQUOYAH
: Cherokee warrior; developer of the Cherokee written language.
N
ANCY
W
ARD
: Leader of the Cherokee women’s council, holding the title of
Ghighua
, “War Woman” or “Beloved Woman.”
W
ILLIAM
W
EATHERFORD
: Principal war leader of the Red Stick faction of the Creeks during the Creek War; also known as Chief Red Eagle.
S
IR
A
LEXANDER
C
OCHRANE
: Vice admiral, in top command of Britain’s operations against the U.S. south of Canada.
G
EORGE
C
OCKBURN
: Rear admiral, British navy.
S
AMUEL
G
IBBS
: Major general; Pakenham’s top subordinate.
J
AMES
M
ONEY
: Captain, Royal Marines.
T
HOMAS
M
ULLINS
: Lieutenant colonel; commander of the Forty-fourth Foot Regiment.
S
IR
E
DWARD
P
AKENHAM
: Major general; replaces Robert Ross as commander of British land forces in the New Orleans campaign.
R
OBERT
R
ENNIE
: Colonel; commander of the Forty-third Light Infantry.
P
HINEAS
R
IALL
: Major general, commander of British forces on the Niagara front.
R
OBERT
R
OSS
: Major general, commander of British army forces in the Chesapeake Bay campaign.
W
ILLIAM
T
HORNTON
: Colonel, in command of the Eighty-fifth Foot Regiment.
MAY
30, 1806
Harrison’s Mill
Logan County, Kentucky
The duel was to be held just across the state line in Kentucky. The government of Tennessee would enjoy the luxury of looking the other way. Although the illegal affair involved some of its more prominent citizens, their activities would be taking place outside its legal jurisdiction.
Kentucky would do the same, of course, simply because the perpetrators would be out of the state as soon as it was over. And they were all a bunch of cussed Tennesseans, anyway.
The first group was in high spirits as they made their way to the agreed-upon dueling ground.
“Twenty-four feet, you say?” asked Charles Dickinson, who was to be one of the principals in the duel. He said it with a smile on his face; as well he might, since it was a pointless question. He’d already asked it a dozen times that morning, and received the same answer every time.
Dickinson had finished reloading his pistol. He waved it toward a nearby tree. “That tree looks to be standing about eight paces away. Pick a leaf, gentlemen, if you would.”
His companions—half a dozen of the “gay blades of Nashville,” as the newspapers liked to call them—were feeling just as festive as Dickinson. After a short and energetic wrangle, they settled upon a particular and distinctive leaf.
No sooner had they done so than the pistol in Dickinson’s hand came up, quickly and smoothly. The gun fired, and the leaf fluttered to the ground. Dickinson’s shot had severed the stem.
By contrast, the mood of the other party was grim.
“You don’t stand a chance against him,” stated the principal’s second, General Thomas Overton. “Dickinson’s probably the best shot in the whole of Tennessee.”
His companion, a fellow general of the Tennessee militia, nodded silently. The nod was somewhat on the jerky side, though the man showed no sign of nervousness. His bony head was perched atop a narrow neck, which connected it to a slender body that looked to be all bone and gristle.
“I’ll have to take the first shot,” he declared. “No point trying to beat Dickinson there.”
Overton winced. “You may very well not
survive
that first shot,” he observed bleakly.
The principal shrugged. “Oh, I think I’ll be all right. Long enough, anyway. And I don’t see where I’ve got any choice, anyhow. I said I’d kill the bastard, and I intend to be true to my word. Whatever it takes.”
The surgeon who accompanied the two generals said nothing. He didn’t even wince, although he’d be the one who’d have to keep the general alive afterward, if that was possible.
There was no point in wincing. A man might as well wince at the movement of the tides.
