Stonewall Goes West: A Novel of The Civil War and What Might Have Been (Stonewall Goes West Trilogy) (35 page)

McPherson relaxed, and out came his warm, grateful smile. “Alright, alright. You have me convinced.”

Sherman took several rapid puffs from his cigar, clouding the air with smoke. “Besides, your army is about to get a lot larger, and I need you at the head of it.”

“Sir?”

“XX Corps is already in Nashville, or most of the part that matters anyway, and A.J. Smith’s men ought to disembark from their river transports in Louisville tomorrow. From there, they go straight to the train station and roll down here. We’ll send that mean-spirited mick Sweeney to work under Smith, and reconstitute the XVI Corps. Sturgis will soon depart from Memphis with Grierson’s cavalry and some others. In a matter of days, you’ll have three infantry and one cavalry corps under you.”

McPherson stood in silent wonder. He had known about all the different pieces, of course, but he never imagined they could be brought together so quickly. Or that they were being brought together in the first place.

“Of course, Smith and Hooker have the same problem you do, only worse: they left behind equipment to speed their journey. I have all the cannon I need to re-arm them right here in Nashville, but we still need wagons, horses, mules, and all manner of accoutrements. It will be weeks before we’re ready to move out. But we will have all the manpower in just a few days. And that reminds me, I’ll be accompanying you. Thomas can see to Hardee on his own.”

McPherson replied flatly “Yessir. I understand.”

Tapping his foot, Sherman said “No, you don’t, Mac. You don’t. My decision is no reflection on you. Not in the slightest bit. It’s just that Joe Hooker ranks you by a year, so if I’m not here, he assumes command by default. Technically, Hooker’s XX Corps answers to me, to get around that problem.
De facto
, it’s part of your army. Also, it deflects some of that political lightening you spoke of before. Just keep in mind Grant’s doing the same thing with Meade and his Army of the Potomac back east.”

“Ah.”

Still tapping, Sherman gesticulated off to the southeast. “I would have preferred one of the other Cumberland army corps, but Thomas wanted to keep them. Can’t say I blame him. Remember how we felt when they broke off bits of our army after Vicksburg, piddling away detachments for this and that foolishness?”

“Yes, I do. Contemptible misuse of a damn fine army.”

“That is was, that it was. Now, I have some other news for you. While you were fighting Jackson at Lawrenceburg, Grant met Bobby Lee in the Wilderness. Sorry to say, he got licked.”

McPherson frowned, but said nothing, so Sherman continued.

“Yes, but do you know what Grant went out and did? Got word of it just this morning. He picked up and took off, trying to get ‘round Lee’s flank. You know Grant, always moving on.”

McPherson brightened. Chuckling, he said “Yes, that sounds just like our man.”

“Indeed. Now, you see about getting the rest of your boys into the Nashville lines, then come see me. There’s work aplenty to go around.”

Keen students of history understand that while human events might be fluid, the direction those events take are limited to only a handful of potential options, in much the same way that topography dictates where and how a river might change its course. Geography, material resources, opposition, past choices, personalities, weather, and other factors often too numerous to count combine to ensure that while people have choices, as a practical matter they never have many of them.

Stonewall Goes West
was likewise guided and constrained by the very real circumstances of the Civil War. To cite just a few: Leonidas Polk really did propose mounting a raid into Middle Tennessee; Joseph E. Johnston suggested changing his base and invading West Tennessee; John Bell Hood crossed the Tennessee River and invaded Middle Tennessee in November 1864. These things and much, much more shaped this story and informed its sense of realism.

Keeping these constraints in mind, the most challenging feat of all was crafting a major, fictitious Civil War battle in a place where no such thing ever took place. Putting together the Second Battle of Kettle Run was one thing, since it closely adhered to the very real events of the Bristoe Campaign and took place in a region that hosted part of several major Virginia campaigns, so the area’s features were thoroughly documented.

The Battle of Lawrenceburg was a different matter entirely. The physical details for the Battle of Lawrenceburg were composed using historical records, period maps, and a thorough exploration of the town and its environs made in 2007. Wherever possible, authentic names were used to describe landmarks and topographical features. Time and modern development can markedly change a landscape, however, and no amount of research could ever describe the Lawrence County of May 1864 in perfect detail. The gaps were filled by imagination, and those gaps weren’t small. If at some point in the future, someone shows me a distant ancestor’s letter describing a farmstead where some important part of the story took place, all I can say is that I tried to find that letter, having it would have made my task a little easier, and ultimately
Stonewall Goes West
is a work of fiction.