Gods and Generals - Jeff Shaara [64]
Hancock put the letter down, and Armistead said, “He’s resigned. Dear God. But, of course, he’s a Texan. But . . . he’s the commanding general.”
Mira picked up a newspaper, said, “It could be all over by now. This paper is dated April fifteenth, that’s over two weeks ago.”
“Damn the mails . . . damn the distance.” Hancock tossed Johnston’s letter into a chair and angrily began to pace, taking long steps in the small room. Mira backed away, gave him room.
Armistead read the paper again, said, “It doesn’t say anything about Virginia.”
Hancock stopped, looked at Armistead with a fierce glare. “Is that important? If Virginia was on that list, would you quit too?”
Armistead felt Hancock’s anger, moved away to an empty chair, sat. “I would have to, Win. I could not go to war against my home. How can anyone do that?”
“Your home? Your home is the United States of America! You took an oath to defend her from her enemies.”
“Virginia is not anyone’s enemy.”
“No, not yet. But Mira’s right. Two weeks . . . a lot can happen in two weeks. Seven states! Now what happens? Read the letter: ‘A condition of war’ exists. This is not an argument, this is not a matter of disagreement between points of view. They fired cannon at a government installation. All right, no one was killed, but this is just the beginning. Have you ever seen a war where no one is killed? There will be a response, there has to be: Lincoln . . . General Scott . . . they won’t just turn away and say, fine, you shot first, so you win this little war. Now go and form your own country. Damn the distance! We are so far away!”
Armistead leaned forward, rested his arms on his knees, stared down at the newspaper still in his hands. “I don’t think . . . I can’t believe Virginia would side with the rebels. No one wants this. The last letter I received, my friend Hastings, in Richmond? He said the legislature is solidly pro-Union. No one wants a war.”
Hancock began to move again, pacing back and forth like an angry cat.
“No one wants a war? I’m sorry, my friend, but you’re wrong. There’s two sides to this, two sides that have been pushing us toward a war for months. One side says, ‘It’s Lincoln! He’s the cause!’ And the other side says, ‘It’s slavery! That’s the cause!’ And the people out here want me to believe it’s simply a need for independence, keep the government from telling us what to do. And so, pointing fingers become pointing guns, because nobody listens to fingers.”
He looked at Mira, staring down at the other paper, and moved closer to her. “We can’t stay here,” he said. “Our country is falling apart, and I’m the custodian of a pile of blankets. I have to know . . . we are too damned far away!”
She looked up from the paper, and he saw tears. She nodded, but did not say anything. He looked at Armistead, who put down his paper, stood, slowly moved to the window and looked out to growing darkness.
“General Johnston is right,” Armistead said. “May God have mercy on us all.”
Within a week another group of riders came down with more official letters, and with them the news that Armistead had not wanted to hear. Virginia, along with Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, had joined the confederation of rebellious states. There was other news as