Gods and Generals - Jeff Shaara [215]
Devens stood beside him, said, “May I assume, sir, that the rebel army is in retreat?”
Howard smiled at him, said, “Yes, you may, General.” He looked around, saw one of Devens’s staff, said, “Captain, please take a message to General Hooker.”
The man moved up, pulled a pad of paper from his pocket, and Howard said, “Tell the General . . . from General Devens’s headquarters, we can observe a column of infantry moving westward. . . .”
THE SOUNDS came rumbling up through the brush, from down to the southeast. Howard was back at his headquarters, at Dowdall’s, had returned from the woods to the south, from the direction of the fight. Sickles had been watching the enemy movement all morning, could stand still no longer, and so had sent a division down, toward Catherine’s Furnace, to drive hard into the moving column. Howard had received a request from Hooker to lend a hand, to move one of his units down in that direction, protecting Sickles’s right flank. The orders were carried out, and now Howard was back at his headquarters, stood outside the tavern, listened to the sounds of the fight, smiled. Yes, Bobby Lee, we will chase you after all.
He had wondered why Hooker did not begin to form the army, move out in pursuit, but Hooker had seemed content to stay put, let Lee move away. The victory, the great success of his plan, was to be savored.
Sickles had pressed down, into a portion of A. P. Hill’s division, and Hill had brought his long line together, pinching at Sickles from both sides. Within a short time the battle had faded, and Sickles had the token reward of a regiment full of prisoners and the satisfaction of a man who has pressed the action, who, unlike his commander,
was not content to watch the enemy flee. Since the bulk of the rebel column had already passed on the Furnace road, Sickles was content to settle his forces down in their new position, well below the rest of the Federal defenses. The brigade that Howard had sent for support had left a wide gap on the east side of his lines, but with Sickles down below, there would be no need for strength at that point. His men in the treetops could still see the rebel column moving far away to the west.
He thought again of coffee, maybe something stronger. It was mid-afternoon now, and he was not a drinker, but . . . it was such a glorious day, for an army that did not have many glorious days. He climbed up the steps, and now there was a rider coming from the west, and the man seemed anxious, was yelling.
“General . . . General . . . Please!”
Howard watched the man dismount in a tumble from his horse, and the man came forward in a rush, saluted wildly, said, “General, Major Rice reports that the rebel column has turned and is now to our west, sir. The major requests instructions, sir!”
Howard held up his hand, said, “Easy, young man. I am aware of the rebel movements. Tell your major to keep his eye on them. There is no cause for alarm. Have you reported this to General Devens?”
The soldier stared at him, said, “No, sir. The major thought this was . . . a high priority, sir.”
“You tell Major Rice that in the future he will report his observations to his division commander. I do not have the time to entertain every courier from every outpost.”
The man nodded, said, “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. I will tell him.”
He backed away, climbed up on the horse, and Howard raised the hand again, trying to ease the man’s agitation. The man saluted, calmer now, and Howard returned it, nodded, and the man rode back to the west.
DEVENS WAS watching the man in the treetop, balanced precariously, and the man was struggling, trying to stay upright. Below him others were shouting, “Hang on!” and suddenly the man fell, down through the branches, dragging the thin limbs with him, and another man, below him, tried to slow the man’s fall, and he began to fall as well, and there was laughing, and in a slow jerky motion, limbs cracking one by one, they slid downward, the two men grasping each other, then dropped into the clear, fell the final few feet to the ground. The