"The lightning continued to strike with a horrendous crackling and the thunder continued to split the skies. As the fires burned furiously northeastward, our divisions were able to make a general advance in their wake, since most of the entangling brush was burned away. At this time I gave orders to Lieutenant Colonel Sorrel to take the brigades of Generals Mahone, G.T. Anderson, and Wofford and to conduct a flanking movement behind the enemy's left and
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rear. The movement was a complete surprise and a perfect success. With the woods afire all around them, and our volleys striking them on three sides, the Federals fell back in utter disarray.
"Major Shroud returned to our ranks, his flesh restored to him, but his face blackened by smoke, and in a very diffident mood. I ordered him to bathe and rest since his experience seemed to have put him into a very unpleasant humor indeed.
"By the light of dawn I was able to assess the extent of the carnage. We came across many of the enemy with their bodies indescribably mutilated, with their limbs twisted into impossible positions, and many of them had been turned completely inside out, like my unfortunate mockingbird, so that their intestines were bound around them like twisted ropes. Others had been cremated where they stood, and were nothing but columns of black charcoal. Although I did not see him myself, another was reportedly stretched out so long that until they discovered his distorted face the surgeons did not realize at first that he had once been a man.
"Despite the success of our action, I resolved that this was to be the first and only time that I would call upon the forces of Santeria to assist us. War has no glamour, but it has honor, and codes of conduct, and should the Confederacy win this noble struggle, I want our victory tainted by nothing that could cause our sons and daughters to think of us with shame.
"The brigade was assembled, and I thanked them for their commitment to the cause, and informed them of my decision. However, Major Shroud flew immediately into the most incontinent of rages, and said that he still had much work left to do, and would never rest until the last of our enemies had been incinerated and their cities razed to the
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ground. He held forth with such appalling curses and imprecations that I immediately ordered him to be put under guard.
"Colonel Meldrum's servant John informed me that while Major Shroud had returned to the appearance of normality, it was plain that the spirit of Chang-6 still exercised control over him. When I asked how this spirit might be exorcized, John said that Chango had obviously found Major Shroud to be such an amenable host that he would never be wholly free of this possession for as long as he lived. It was true that while Major Shroud was an excellent officer in the field, and discharged his military duties with courage and diligence, he did have a reputation for his evil temper and his unwillingness to forgive even the smallest of slights. He had also been demoted after First Manassas for cutting the ears off a living Union prisoner as a souvenir of victory, and it was said (although never proved) that he had cut the privates from two other prisoners while they were still alive and forced them into their own mouths.
"John was of the opinion that Major Shroud would continue to pursue the enemy until every last one of them was dead, and any who tried to thwart him in this purpose would suffer a similar fate. Even after the cessation of hostilities, there was a real danger that he would pose a mortal threat to anybody who was unfortunate enough to cross him in any matter large or trifling.
"John said that the only way in which this threat could be contained would be to seal Major Shroud alive in a casket lined with solid lead, in which would be placed various propitiatory fruits and herbs, such as apples and sarsaparilla, and over which, once welded shut, a male sheep would be sacrificed.
"This casket, he said, should be taken to sea and sunk to
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the bottom, since Chango's power was much circumscribed by water.
"Of course I was now faced with a truly appalling dilemma. Major Shroud had agreed voluntarily to be possessed of this spirit, and had turned the tide of battle most decisively in our favor. Almost single-handedly, he had prevented the rout of our divisions and the taking of Richmond. Yet it was clear that he had become a threat of unimaginable magnitude not only to our enemies but to ourselves. Even as I discussed this matter with Major General Maitland and other officers, a duty sergeant came to advise us that Major Shroud had become so uncontrollably furious and violent that his guards had been obliged to shackle him with the chains which were normally used to secure the cannon.