My Brother's Keeper My America 1 (2 page)

Now it is raining hard. I am writing while Mrs. McCully and Jane Ellen bake bread.

We can hear the Rebs firing their pistols in the Square and yelling their Rebel yells.

If she were here right now, what would my mother feel? Her brothers could be part of that crowd. When I look at her picture in her locket, her tiny face seems sad.

Later

A little while ago, Mr. Hoke came by to make certain we were safe. He said the Confederates had met with the Gettysburg town council today. They demanded meat, shoes, and Yankee dollars. They threatened

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to burn down the whole town if they did not get what they wanted.

The council said they could go in the stores and take anything they could find, but they would not find much.

The worse news from Mr. Hoke was this: Some free Negro people who had stayed in town have been caught and taken away.

Mrs. McCully is worried sick that Becky Lee and her children might have been found in the woods. She says we must all pray for them.

Late night

We are in our beds now. We can still hear the Rebel yells coming from the square.

Jane Ellen and I both said special prayers for Becky Lee and her children.

Mrs. McCully told us that Becky Lee was

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once a slave herself. She escaped from the South, and ever since then she has secretly helped other slaves escape. She slips over the Mason-Dixon line to Maryland and leads runaway slaves to freedom in the North.

Jane Ellen said Becky Lee is the bravest person she's every heard of.

Good night, Becky Lee. Good luck.

June 27, 1863

It is barely daylight, but Mrs. McCully is already baking bread.

That woman bakes bread all the time. She gives it free to anyone who needs it. She even gave a loaf to a hungry Reb who knocked on our door late last night!

Mrs. McCully seems to think that baking bread is the best way to hold the Union together.

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The Confederates have left Gettysburg! They left this morning without burning a single building.

Mrs. McCully says that if the Rebs keep moving north the train will start running again. Reverend McCully can return from Philadelphia. And Pa and Jed can ride back safely from Uncle Jack's farm!

I confess I hate to give you back your journal, Jed, as I am starting to like writing very much. But I would rather have

you

than your journal any day. That is what I truly feel.

Late nidht

It seems the Rebs have not gone very far

away.

Mr. Hoke told us the Confederates have set

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up camp just a few miles to the west and north of Gettysburg. So it is still not safe to travel from the countryside into town.

Will Pa and Jed never be allowed to come back to me? They have been gone for more than a week. That is the longest I have been separated from them in all my life.

If I am honest about what I feel, I must say I am close to tears.

June 28, 1863

What did I hear today? Good news!

At the candy store, Jane Ellen and I heard that a Union cavalry unit is only fifteen miles away.

Hurrah! Surely the cavalry will drive the Confederates away from our land. So Pa and Jed can finally return safely from Uncle Jack's.

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We saw an amazing sight today.

General Buford's Union cavalry passed right through Gettysburg! There were so many riders on horseback, I could not count them.

The older girls handed out cakes and blew kisses at the parade. They seemed to fall in love with every soldier in blue who passed by.

Later

I am sad to say that the arrival of the Union soldiers has not frightened the Rebs away.

Tonight from our attic window, we can see campfires of the Confederates to the west, and we can see Union campfires twinkling to the south.

Mrs. McCully said we are headed for a big disaster indeed. She said two huge armies so

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close to each other can only mean a mighty storm is coming. And no one can do a thing to stop it.

July 1, 1863

We were baking bread this morning when the storm hit.

We heard cannon fire and galloping and yelling. Then two Union soldiers jumped onto our porch. Their faces were bloody!

They said fighting had broken out to the west, beyond Chambersburg Pike! They told us that the Union soldiers had been outnumbered. Many had been wounded. Now the Rebels were chasing them through town!

Mrs. McCully has taken the two soldiers down to the cellar.

Jane Ellen rocks both twins and the baby in her arms.

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I am sitting on the stairway, writing as fast as I can. I am about to slip outside so I can see and hear what is happening for Jed.

Later

I am sitting in a tree in the Widow Thomas's front yard.

I have just seen terrible things:

People screaming in the streets.

Horses running wild.

A bald soldier with his head covered in blood.

I almost ran screaming back to Mrs. McCully's house. But I knew Jed would want me to see and hear more. I prayed Mrs. McCully would not miss me. Then I flew the other way.

At the square, I turned onto Chambersburg Pike and ran toward the seminary.

->*=

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When I got to the Widow Thomas's house, I saw a powerful sight.

In the fields below the seminary, thousands of Union soldiers were marching through the corn rows. Their guns gleamed in the light.

Rebs were lined up across from them.

The men looked like tiny toy soldiers. But they were firing!

I saw some Confederate riders galloping up the road. I ran to a tree and began climbing.

I climbed and climbed, like I was trying to get to heaven. My heart was beating so fast I almost fell.

Now, when I look out between the leaves, the fields are covered with thick smoke. I cannot see the soldiers anymore. I can only hear the roar of their cannons and gunfire.

I have made a terrible mistake. I am trapped here. Rebs continue to ride by below. I

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pray they will not see me. My hand shakes so badly I cannot write more.

Late afternoon

I am back at the McCullys' house. I cannot believe I am still alive.

I tried to climb down the tree a bit to hide myself better. But I slipped and fell to the ground.

Confederates were riding straight toward me!

I screamed in terror. A Rebel officer stopped his horse. He jumped from his saddle, grabbed me and asked where I lived.

I could not speak. I just pointed toward town.

He pulled me onto his horse and held me tightly and rode off.

I thought I had been captured!

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When we got to the corner of High Street, he stopped and asked if I lived nearby.

My teeth were chattering so badly, I could not answer.

The Rebel got down off his horse, then helped me down, too. He took my hands and asked my name.

I told him my name was Virginia. Trembling all over, I told him to please not hurt me because my mother was a Southern belle. I opened her locket and showed him her tiny picture. I told him she was dead.

The officer smiled sadly at me. He said he would never hurt me. He told me his name was Captain Heath. He said he had a little girl about my age. Her name is Lily.

Captain Heath and his wife and Lily live in the North Carolina mountains. He and Lily like to pick blueberries together and look at the stars.

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I said that sounded nice. I thought it truly did. I told him I hoped he saw Lily again soon.

Tears came to Captain Heath's eyes.

He said he wanted this war to end more than anything, so he could see his wife and Lily again. He asked me to pray for peace, and I said I would.

Then he said, "Run home, Virginia. God be with you."

I waved at him. Then I ran away as fast as I could.

When I got back to the McCullys', I found everyone in a state of shock. Confederates had dragged away the two Union soldiers hiding in the cellar.

Mrs. McCully was soothing the twins. They were screaming in terror.

Jane Ellen rocked the baby. Her face was

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white as a sheet. When she saw me, she cried out, "Ginny, where have you been ?" "Up a tree," is all I said.

Late ni^ht

The Rebs are camped out on the sidewalks. They have captured the town.

Before we closed the shutters, we watched their ragged shadows under the bright moon. We listened to their wild talk. They sounded happy about the day's righting. They said tomorrow they would whip the Yankees once and for all.

I cannot rest. In my mind, I still see the smoke in the fields and the bald man with blood on his head.

I keep thinking about Captain Heath.

Is he talking wild Rebel talk tonight? Or is he thinking of Lily instead?

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I cannot tell anyone about him. But I know now that not all Confederates are bad people.

I pray that God ends this war, so Captain Heath can look at the stars with Lily again. I pray Pa and Jed and I can picnic near the pond again, and Pa can play his violin while a breeze makes the willows sway.

July 2, 1863

Since early morning, we have heard rifles popping. Everyone is jumpy.

Mrs. McCully has been baking bread night and day. A while ago, Mr. Hoke came by. He said that last night, nearly the entire Union army arrived! General Meade's army of the Potomac marched in by moonlight. They camped at the crest of Cemetery Hill and slept among the tombstones.

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My mother's tombstone says, "May She Rest in Peace."

What must she think with soldiers camping on her grave?

Noon

Mrs. McCully wants Jane Ellen to take fresh bread to a hospital that has been set up in St. Francis Church. I have asked to go with her.

At first they both said I was too young. But I said that I am not too young. I should help, I said.

Mrs. McCully finally agreed I could go. Jane Ellen and I will leave as soon as the next loaves come from the oven.

/v

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I am under my bed now. Under my own bed in my own house.

This afternoon I did a terrible thing.

When Jane Ellen and I delivered our bread to St. Francis Church, we found wounded men lying in the aisles, moaning and crying out for help. They had hymn books for pillows. The hymn books were red with blood.

Doors had been laid across pews to serve as operating tables. A surgeon saw me standing at the back of the church and called me over.

A man with a bloody leg was lying there. The surgeon held a saw. He said he needed me to hold the man's hand while he sawed off the man's leg.

The hurt man was very young. He had soft, brown eyes.

I started to cry. I could not bear to see the

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