For reasons not yet clear, the advance foundered, with men on the bottom & sides of the crater trapped there as more troops poured in. All were soon entangled — a great writhing human target for deadly rifle & artillery fire from the enemy. This took a huge toll & prepared the way for Gen. Mahone's counterattack, which turned the brilliant effort into a defeat
What I find singular, beyond the construction of the mine itself, is the courage exhibited by Gen. Ferrero's colored troops. They were to have been sent in first, but Grant feared he would be accused of treating negroes as cannon fodder if the attack failed, so he held them in reserve. When finally committed, they conducted themselves so valorously their praises are being sung by all.
During the battle, the battalion was in readiness for any sudden call — we took a tool wagon to our vantage point — but none was forthcoming, so we returned to our present encampment near the Jerusalem Plank Road, there to resume our routine duties.
Mine have now been expanded, voluntarily, to include campaigning among my fellow soldiers for Mr. Lincoln's reelection. Some men will be enabled by state law to cast votes in the field — Penn. soldiers are among that lucky group — but others will be required to return to their native states. Whatever a man's situation, all but the most phlegmatic are showing a lively, not to say occasionally violent, interest in the coming battle of ballots.
Our President faces a hard fight. Some scorn his shortcomings as a war leader and his policies regarding the colored race. I have listened and argued with avowed loyal Unionists who hope the Democrats nominate Gen. McC. in August because they find L. guilty of so many "crimes" — the draft; promoting growth of centralized federal power; arbitrary arrest & imprisonment of critics of the administration — & so on.
While many feel that way, I do not find the army as "Mc-Clellanized" as it was even one year ago. Grant squanders lives almost wantonly, yet there is a rising surety that he has at last fashioned a fighting force which will triumph; along with the expected wailing about the butcher's bill, there is new pride within the Army of the Potomac. Most agree it is only a matter of time until we win. This works in Abe's favor. I will campaign for him to the utmost.
The siege continues without much success. Geo. is now based at City Point in the RR Corps charged with maintaining our rail supply line, esp. the many trestles which span gullies, creeks, & other low places along the route. I want to see him but thus far have not; daily, it seems, there is a new task for the battalion. Since my arrival, I have led a surveying party near the reb. siege lines — we drew hot fire for 10 minutes on that occasion. I have commanded detachments which dug wells and put up shelters made of boughs for the mules which pull our wagons. I have twice taught large groups of colored infantry the techniques of gabion & fascine construction. They were eager to learn & did, quickly.
We have felled trees for new gun platforms, replaced gabions ruined by heavy rainstorms, built bombproofs, cut new embrasures in existing works, & generally added to the siege line. The line is essentially a series of separate redoubts, or forts, connected by rifle pits, each fort laid out so its guns may play not only upon the enemy but on adjoining forts, should they be attacked.
A great amount of the work is done in close proximity to the earthworks of the rebels, which calls for extreme care & frequent stealth. We often perform our tasks at night, in complete silence when that is possible. Every man knows that an improper move, a command uttered too loudly or any inadvertent noise can draw the artillery or sharpshooter fire which can end the war for him a considerable time before an official surrender. No wonder, then, that we are issued a daily ration of whiskey. Our job is hard & it is dangerous. I never hesitate to drink the whiskey. I have every hope of a reunion with my brother at City Point soon — & many reasons to do my utmost to live through each new day. Many reasons, but one supreme. You, my dearest Wife. How I do long to outlast the killing & hold you in my arms again.
Along with its changing colors, autumn brought better news to the Lehigh Valley. Sherman had taken Atlanta on the second of September. That and the successful exploits of Little Phil excited the entire North. In scornful reply to the pacifists campaigning for the election of McClellan, Republicans proudly called the Irish cavalry leader "Peace Commissioner Sheridan."
Autumn also brought Scipio Brown to Belvedere for the last time. Gleeful as a boy, he pivoted in front of Brett to show off his light blue trousers with the broad yellow stripe and the dark blue jacket, without insignia — the means by which junior lieutenants were distinguished from senior ones.
"Lieutenant Brown, Second United States Colored Troops, Cavalry. I'm replacing an officer who was injured when the regiment skirmished at Spring Hill."
"Oh, Scipio — it's exactly what you wanted. You look simply grand."
Constance and Madeline agreed. The three women had gathered in the parlor to welcome and honor Brown with sherry and little sugared cakes. Madeline, who thought the slender-waisted amber-colored man cut a handsome figure, asked him, "Where and when will you report?"
"City Point, next Monday. I hope there won't be as much trouble as there was when I went to take my oath. Ran up against a gang of four white boys, two of them veterans. They didn't care for the idea of colored men entering their army, and they tried to stop me."
Perched on a chair like some long-legged water bird on a nest much too small, he showed them that infectious smile as he pushed outward with his palm. "But I cut a path."
"We have men like that right here in Lehigh Station," Brett said, noticing, as she never had before, that his palm was nearly as white as hers. Brown's chair gave a sudden creak, so he rose — happily, because it allowed him to stand to his full height in the uniform he wore with obvious pride.
Constance asked, "Have you any other late news from the city?"
"They're saying that with Mr. Lincoln's assistance, Nevada Territory will become a state by the first of November. That will provide the last two votes needed to ratify the amendment." It was not necessary for him to explain further; in Brown's lexicon there was but one amendment, the thirteenth.
He bowed to the ladies. "The refreshments were delicious, but I must go up and say good-bye to my children. My train leaves at six." He had arrived at nine that morning, after traveling all night.
"I'll go with you," Brett said immediately. Madeline flashed a glance at Constance, silently remarking on Brett's eagerness and Brown's pleased reaction. Constance smiled to say she saw the same things. Her smile seemed broader these days because her face was fuller; the slim woman George had married had disappeared inside a larger, rounder one. The effect was not unbecoming.