Then
Georgia, 1864
It was morning. Jane
stood with her back to the sun, her apron full of still warm eggs,
looking west at the smoke drifting into the sky.
A man had ridden up to the
house yesterday with the news that Sherman and his men were
approaching at a rate of fifteen miles a day, on foot no less! Just
their speed was terrifying, but this army appeared to be operating
with little to no sleep and did not waver in their intentions, to
destroy everything in it's path. They were burning the railroad ties
as they pried up the tracks, creating fires hot enough to soften the
rails so that the metal could be bent, crippling the railway.
The information being
brought east was that the army was young, exuberant and fit, but
oddly polite and chivalrous, leaving women and children mostly
unharmed. As there were no able-bodied men to drive them back, the
yankees took what they liked, crops were ignited, houses were
ransacked and anything of value was seized. It was said that
Sherman's men were marching with hams slung over their shoulders and
sacks of tobacco loaded onto their wagons.
As soon as they had heard
the news that Atlanta had been taken, Jane and Robert had turned the
pigs loose knowing the animals would be able to fend for themselves
and could be hunted later. The garden, the horses and the cow they'd
simply left alone, continuing to harvest the vegetables they needed,
milking the cow and trading horses with the men who rode up daily
bringing news and warnings.
Jane and Robert still had
two horses, but had no idea who they belonged to, the horses had been
swapped so many times. They kept them fed, watered and safe, waiting
for the next exhausted man and beast to appear.
Wind blew into Jane face
and she inhaled deeply, not wood smoke, probably cotton or late peas.
If it was late peas, the army was mostly likely only twenty miles
away, time to think about leaving.
Robert came and stood
beside her, his hat cocked onto the back of his head. Jane's
sunbonnet blocked him from seeing her face, but he knew from her
total stillness that she was frightened.
Robert liked this new
country called the United States of America. A place named for an
Italian, settled by the British who had successfully broken from the
most powerful country in the world to create a new nation.
He liked the vastness of
the southern geography. Being able to gaze at the horizon line so
far away it seemed like the end of the earth made him feel small and
insignificant, which elated him. Having so much space was
exhilarating, to not be crammed into a city surrounded by stench and
people made him feel as if he were a king on this patch of land and
woods. He had bought the farm outright, although the idea of owning
land still amused him, his appreciation of having property that was
his to control was never ending.
He and Jane grew their own
food, milked their cows and collected the chicken's eggs. Jane was
strong and healthy from plentiful food and hard work.
He had built the house
himself from trees he had felled, split into boards and smoothed with
an axe head.
This place was truly his
own and now another war threatened to take it from him. It would
not, however, take Jane. Of this he was sure.
Jane turned to him,
showing him her face filled with fear, her eyes full of silent
question.
Robert nodded "It is
time to pack."
He turned toward the
stables to start preparing for their trip into the woods. The fact
that Robert was here with her was made possible by one of his parlor
tricks. He had joined up, as all men of age and ability had done.
At the first battle he'd fought, he jumped in front of a line of
rifles, taking two shots in the chest. He'd laid in the field
waiting to be either dragged off to a mass grave, or be left to rot.
He told Jane he'd actually dozed off as he'd landed deep in the shade
of a pecan tree and the grass was cool. When he woke up from his
nap, the battle had stopped so the bodies could be cleared away,
Robert then allowed himself to be hauled over a small hill, where his
name was noted from the paper pinned to his tunic and when no one was
looking he'd gotten up to start his long walk home. And now he'd just
told her the war was coming to their front porch.
Jane took her eggs into
the kitchen, carefully placing them in a wooden bowl before putting
water on to boil. She would boil the eggs in the shell and bring
them into the woods with them. It would probably be a long time
before they saw eggs again.
As the water worked it's
way into bubbles, Jane and Robert prepared for their short journey.
"I have to go to the
Marsden's and help them escape." Jane said simply, stuffing a
quilt her mother had made into her trunk. She had already packed her
treasures along with seeds, Robert's tools, her apron, the plow head
and her sewing kit. The trunk had opened up to accept much more than
should have fit, but it was at capacity now, the quilt the last thing
to fit.
Robert sat on the trunk
lid so Jane could latch it. "No." Robert shook his head.
"Do not go there. They would want to pack their silver and rugs
and who can guess what other useless things. They would still be
running around like chickens do when the army marches down on us. If
you want to help someone go to the Miller's shanty. With Mrs. Miller
with child they might need help loading their wagon. They have been
good neighbors to us, to them we have an obligation."
"The Miller family
moved on three days ago." Jane worked to close the latch.
"They will be sixty miles from here now. And Mrs. Miller has
birthed three children easily. She will have no trouble should the
baby come. I showed her how to boil the scissors and I gave her the
waxed string. She has the raspberry leaf tea she will need. There
is no need to be concerned for their well being."
She continued "The
Marsden's will try to hide in their barn cellar like fools. They
will be found. I should go help them load their buggy and tell them
what to leave behind."
Robert looked angry. "No
Jane. I forbid it. You have assisted those helpless people enough.
You gave them a peep of chicks and had to tell them to keep the box
near the stove. Then they ate three of the chickens before you
explained to them to wait until a hen stops laying to eat it. They
are not your responsibility."
Jane stood. "Please
Robert, if I do not go and try to convince them to flee I won't be
able to sleep. We are taking so little. We can spare the time."
Robert stood and stomped
outside, where he paced in a circle before throwing his hat on the
ground. Then he went to halter the cow and saddle the horses.
Fifteen minutes after
that, they were riding towards the Marsden's plantation on the
ownerless horses, loaded down with the few things they'd need for a
few days stay in the woods and leading the cow.
The ride to the big house
took two hours, leading the slow cow.
Mrs. Marsden stood on the
porch of her plantation, looking towards the smoke with her three
daughters clustered behind her wringing their hands. All four women
still wore their corsets, laced into them by Aunt Sadie, one of two
houseworkers who had not fled with the rest of the slaves. All the
women were gasping for breath, struggling to inhale against their
near panic.
"Oh," Mrs.
Marsden said when she saw Robert and Jane. "Have you come to
put your cow into our barn? Has something happened at your farm?"
Robert dismounted and then
helped Jane down before going to find water for the cow. He
anticipated needing to fill the trough from the well.
Jane went up the porch
steps "Mrs Marsden, Sherman's army is approaching fast, it is
time for your family to move to safety. If you go north into the
woods now, it will be safe to return in two days time. I will tell
you what to bring."
"Oh, dear me! I
shall have Aunt Sadie begin packing the china and the linens. Oh, and
the ball gowns, the girls will need them for the coming social
season. Please Miss, come in while I have Sadie and Toby begin the
preparations."
"Mrs. Marsden, you
cannot bring any of those things...." Robert heard Jane say
before she moved into the house and out of his earshot.
He set to the tasks of
tending to the few animals left. After carefully checking over the
horses for well being, he began to hunt for the harnesses he would
need need to hitch them to the buggy.
These were not work or
draft horses as he would have preferred, but high steppers, meant for
pleasure riding or perhaps jumping.
Robert located the things
he needed, left the horses to eat their fill and went to let the
chickens go. As he approached the coop, he was pleased to see the
birds alive and well, their coop clean, with fresh straw for their
nesting. He carefully checked for eggs, then chased the chickens out
into the yard, closing the coop behind himself.
He heard shouting coming
from an upstairs window, women's voices raised and arguing about
dresses. Robert went into the barn to ready the buggy.
While Robert was in the
middle of securing the buckles on the second horse, Jane came out
onto the porch, leaving the door open behind her. She ran to the
barn and finding Robert said 'Unhitch them, they won't leave. Mrs.
Marsden wants to pack her daughters' ball gowns and says she has
never eaten a boiled egg and will not eat one now. Nor will she
sleep outside or travel so far only to come right back."
Robert saw tears in her
eyes and did not say anything about his turn of events, he simply
unhitched the horses and left them in the yard. If they ran off into
the woods, they would come back to the house but if he left them
Sherman's army would take them. Robert did not like the Marsdens and
their complete lack of ability to care for themselves, he did not
want to see them in any worse condition than they already were. All
the women had grown thin since Mr. Marsden had gone with the army,
the four females left to tend for themselves as best they could
without a tended garden or chickens until Jane had given the chicks
to them.
He walked to the front of
the house and found Jane already in the saddle. Robert swung up onto
his horse, looked over at Jane, "One day out, two days to wait,
one day back. They'll be gone by then." Jane just looked at
Robert and kicked her horse to a faster pace, fear clear on her face.
"We'll be safe.
They're moving quickly and...... I haven't heard of such an efficient
army since the days of the Romans. They're not wasting time, just
destruction. This is going to break the South, it's going to get
worse before it gets better. People are going to starve. You'll
need to prepare yourself for that. I'm sorry, but you do."
Jane bit her lip and
looked away. Robert knew she'd been feeding anyone who stopped at
their door, all of them fleeing before Sherman. He'd seen one wagon
with a harp sticking out of it but they had not one scrap of food and
only a bucket full of water they'd collected at a creek. Jane had
fed them, given them blankets and food to take with them. Robert had
thrown down his hat in disgust before storming out to the stable.
How did these people stay alive? And why did they think Savannah
would be any different?
The supply lines to the
Confederate States of America had been cut, there was nothing in
Savannah the same way there was nothing anywhere. They were not
going to find a storehouse full of dresses, kerosene and sweet cakes
by the sea, they were going to find burned buildings and a starving
population.
As they rode, Jane tried
not to cry and Robert silently fumed while they both kept one eye
turned toward the west. All day the wind carried the smell of smoke
to them, making both of them anxious and wishing the cow would go
faster.
When it began to come on
dark, they found a small creek and made camp there. Robert cleared a
large circle down to bare earth where Jane built up a fire using a
precious stick match and began to cook a supper of salt pork and
turnips. While the turnips cooked, she went to the creek to wash
her face and hands. Robert took the cow to a patch of good grass
and left it to graze. They would milk her in the morning and have
fresh milk to go with their boiled eggs for breakfast. Robert wished
they could stay here forever, pretending there wasn't a war that was
dragging on and on, living on rabbits and milk. It would be a fine,
simple life, but he knew Jane needed to have other people close by so
he agreed to live with neighbors only ten miles away.
The smell of smoke died
away as they ate their supper and then drank the tea Jane had brought
with her, to help them sleep. She knew without it she would lie
awake all night, waiting for a soldier in blue to leap from the tree
line, yanking her up and away. She'd never lived during a time of
war and she hated it. She hated how people suffered, died and how
she was afraid all the time.
Robert and Jane made a
nest of blankets on the ground and laid down like spoons for warmth.
With the combination of the tea, Robert's body heat and the rhythmic
sound of the cow chewing her cud, Jane slept.
The next morning upon
waking, Jane built a fire with the kindling Robert had gathered and
made them tea before milking the cow. They ate boiled eggs and drank
milk for their breakfast after which Robert walked into the woods to
set snare traps for rabbits. While he was gone Jane washed their
dishes in the creek, neatly stowing them in a flour sack. She folded
their blankets and, now done with her morning housekeeping, she
settled down with the small embroidery project she had carried with
her.
Was it a necessity? No,
but neither she nor Robert were comfortable with being idle. She
enjoyed the stitching and it would help pass the time.
As the day passed, they
filled it with the small chores of walking the trap lines, sewing,
gathering more firewood and listening for the army approaching.
Although they were miles from the farm, the sounds carried very well
and they kept their ears open for gunshots and shouts.
As dark was coming on, a
cracking of branches brought both of them out of their own thoughts.
Robert reached for his rifle, making sure it was cocked. He held it
up to chest level. They both waited, the crackling coming closer.
A few moments later,
Tabitha, the smartest of the Marsden girls came into view, riding one
of the high steppers, her mother riding pillion. Her mother, of
course, was sitting sidesaddle clinging to her daughter who rode
astride as she understood this was not a casual, easy ride to show
off one's latest riding habit. Behind her came her sisters, also
riding double, on the other fancy horse.
Tabitha reined in her
mount and slipped down to the ground. "We heard gunshots and
screams. I think the army was still far away, but the wind was
blowing in our direction and they carried. I told mother I was going
to let the horse find you myself if she wouldn't come. You told me
you would leave a path of broken branches and trampled underbrush to
follow. And here we are." Tabitha looked plainly at Jane and
Robert. "I have brought blankets, all the food we could carry
and our stick matches. We still have over a hundred, but I
understand we need to use those as little as possible. Mother and my
sisters insisted on bringing the ball gowns, but I think we'll be
using those for rags soon enough."
Jane smiled "I'm glad
you left. Come and make your camp, what food have you brought?
We'll have supper."
Mrs. Marsden suddenly
blurted out "Aunt Sadie and Uncle Toby are coming behind us on
foot. We can wait for them to do that. "
Jane looked up at the
woman. "I am quite accustomed to preparing my meals Mrs.
Marsden. And you must be tired and hungry, why don't you and the
girls wash at the creek? I know it will be uncomfortable for you,
but the water is sweet."
Mrs. Marsden, Margaret and
Alice, her other two daughters went in the direction Jane pointed as
Tabitha opened the bundle that contained their supplies. Jane was
proud to see the blankets were thick and the stick matches wrapped in
a piece of oiled cloth should they need to keep them dry.
"Did you bring any of
your valuables?" Jane asked quietly.
Tabitha nodded "My
mother and grandmother's jewelry. Father's pistol. I buried
grandfather's Revolutionary War sword in the manure pile, although I
don't doubt they will dig that up. We had a rider after you left, he
told us the army was ripping up gardens, looking for what the owners
had buried there. I left things in place so they wouldn't look too
hard for the things I hid. As long as we live we'll be alright. I
thought a night in the open would be better than watching the
Yankees rip up our home."
As she spoke, Tabitha
handed Jane a number of boiled eggs and a plucked and gutted chicken.
"I know I oughtn't have killed it, but I thought it would be a
long time before there would be chicken or eggs again. I would
rather eat it than the army use it to sustain themselves. I made
Aunt Sadie show me how to pluck and prepare it. I would like you to
show me how to cook it. Aunt Sadie will need my help. She keeps
trying to do all the tasks the house workers did. She can't possibly
do it on her own. I need to talk with her about what we need to do
now as our life is going to change."
"Did you butcher the
bird yourself?" Jane was impressed at Tabitha's taking on the
responsibility of leading her family to safety and thinking of their
survival rather than comfort.
"Uncle Toby did it,
but I watched. I think I will be able to do it myself before long.
I am going to practice with the hatchet on small branches. We are
going to need to gather firewood upon our return, the house was cold
when we started out."
"You have done well
by your family. I am proud that you became matriarch."
Tabitha smiled shyly.
Jane also noticed that Tabitha had shed her corset and had donned the
simpler, wider dress her grandmother had favored later in her life.
The old woman had still worn her corset, but she was larger due to
birthing ten children and the rich food and drink she enjoyed as a
woman of means. It appeared that Tabitha had gone into her
grandmother's armoir, thinking that being able to draw a deep breath
would be beneficial in their travels.
Mrs. Marsden and Tabitha's
sisters returned with clean but damp faces. As soon as they arrived
at the camp they wrapped themselves in blankets and looked both
horrified and mortified while Jane taught Tabitha how to cook the
pullet.
Soon after, Aunt Sadie and
Uncle Toby came into the clearing, with expressions on their faces to
match Mrs. Marsden's. They were houseworkers, unaccustomed to being
outdoors. Each of them carried a box, which turned out to be filled
with the girl's ball gowns.
Jane fed everyone, being
sure to give the servants their fair share of chicken, although they
protested and Mrs. Marsden sniffed. Jane knew she made everyone
uncomfortable, but she would treat all human beings as human beings.
She showed Tabitha how to
arrange the blankets to provide padding on the ground and explained
that they needed to sleep together for the warmth. She had Margaret
and Alice bundle with their mother, Robert doubled up with Uncle
Toby, who looked sick at the idea and put herself with Tabitha and
Aunt Sadie. Jane gave them all her tea to help them sleep, brewing
it strong for the ones new to camping.
And, so they passed the
night. In the morning, Jane continued Tabitha's lessons showing her
how to milk a cow. She explained that once a cow began to be milked,
they had to be milked at the same time every day. When she gave
Tabitha a drink of the warm milk, the girl's eyes lit up at the
deliciousness of it.
"If you have milk,
you can make cheese, which will keep a very long time. We will begin
on gardening when we return home." Jane hesitated, unsure if
she should push on to ask a rude question. "Would you like me
to come stay with you and help run the household until you feel you
can handle things yourself?" Jane was ashamed she had invited
herself, but the family needed knowledge, and quickly.
Tabitha looked at Jane, "I
should appreciate it ever so much. Please, do come and stay with
us."
The two of them brought
back the milk for breakfast. Mrs. Marsden ate a boiled egg, most
likely because she was hungry. The girls nibbled theirs daintily,
dabbing at their mouths with their handkerchiefs.
After everyone had eaten
their fill, they started out towards home. The slow ride again took
all day. Jane opted to walk with Aunt Sadie and Uncle Toby, tired
from her days of being less active than she liked. She continued to
lead the protesting cow, who wanted to settle and chew her cud.
Jane had told Robert she
would be staying with the Marsden's until Tabitha was capable of
feeding the family, then she would return home. Only ten miles away,
she could easily come home on Saturdays, returning on Sunday
afternoon. Tabitha was a quick study and should not take much time
to teach her what she needed to know. She was already thinking
differently, asking Robert to show her which plants could be eaten,
if he would teach her to trap rabbits to breed for food and other
questions.
Robert was glad to answer
her, he liked people who took initiative and wanted to learn. As
they neared the Marsden plantation they were all relieved to see the
house was standing. The chicken coop had been torn apart and the
small garden had been dug up, but the house was standing. Then they
saw smoke from the west, Robert and Jane's farm. Jane quickly
shouted to Tabitha that she would come to them once she had seen her
house then allowed Robert to pull her up behind him before they took
off a gallop.
As they rode up to their
land, Jane saw the barn standing, but the house was nothing but a
pile of smoking rubble. The Yankees had burned down their house.
The chickens had returned and wandered around the yard, pecking at
bugs.
Then Jane saw her trunk
sitting in the exact middle of the smoking beams, covered with ash
but completely intact. She burst into laughter.
"Well," she
said to Robert wiping away the tears that rolled down her face "I
guess we'll both be helping the Marsden's"
Robert joined her laughing
as he went to the barn to find a shovel so he could fetch Jane's
trunk.
