The Last Full Measure Read Online Free Page B

“There you have it. When an officer like you can be sent to the plantations, what have we come to? I couldn’t support it any longer.”
    “I heard you had gone back to Alabama,” Hancock offered.
    “Yeah, tried that. It wasn’t really home though. Besides, you know me, Win. Wherever I am, folks start wishing I was somewhere else. My opinions are too well known because I can’t keep my mouth shut. The federals came looking for me and the local authorities in the south all thought locking me up sounded like a good idea since they and the federals march to the same tune. I headed north through Tennessee and Kentucky until I found a bunch of like-minded folks in Illinois, where the federal government isn’t so well regarded. Do you remember Grant, Win?”
    “Grant? Ulysses? He left the service about ten years ago, didn’t he?”
    “Yeah.” Longstreet sat silent for a moment, his eyes on the flame of the lamp. “I always thought Grant steady but unremarkable. He’s got an army now, though. You know he’s been raising volunteers for the Army of the New Republic, but I doubt you’ve heard how many. When Grant sends the word out, he’ll have five thousand men under arms, enough to overwhelm every regular army garrison in Illinois.”
    “Five thousand?” Mosby trained an admiring look on Longstreet. “You’re working with him?”
    “Second in command. Cump Sherman…you remember him, Win…has a few thousand volunteers in Indiana ready to rise as well. He’s coordinating closely with Grant and me. That’s another reason I’m down here. The Army of the New Republic has been a lot of groups, most of them small, operating independently. We’re going to have to work together, establish a true command structure. Grant, Sherman and I are trying to lay the groundwork for that.”
    “Cump’s joined the Army of the New Republic?” Hancock asked. “That shouldn’t surprise me. The cocky bastard never did care for rules.”
    “If anyone wishes to exercise authority over my actions, they must first prove their legitimacy and competence to me,” Mosby cautioned.
    A rare smile lighted Longstreet’s face for a moment. “Grant told me to ask you to just keep on doing what you’ve been doing.”
    Mosby smiled back. “That request I can agree to without hesitation. When will you rise?”
    “That’s the problem.” Longstreet shook his head, morose once more. “We can raise a small army. What we can’t do is tell the people of the state why they should support us rather than the current federal government. To them, we’re all too likely to look like just another batch of soldiers planning on running the government. We need someone who can talk well, a civilian who’s known to be honest and can make the right speeches and the right arguments to win popular sentiment, to convince the people we really mean it when we talk about restoring the republic and getting the army out of politics.”
    “We have a professor of rhetoric here,” Hancock said, with a half-bow toward Chamberlain. “He can doubtless offer up many fine words which would put us crude soldiers to shame.”
    Longstreet frowned as if he didn’t get the humor. “We know who we need. Someone who we know the people of Illinois and surrounding states will believe. Grant sent me here to see if you had him, though I had hell’s own time finding you.”
    “Had him?” Mosby asked. “Why would we have this individual?”
    “We know you’ve been raiding the prison trains bound south. This man was arrested and brought to DC. We know that much, and assumed he was sent south after that. Fellow name of Lincoln.”
    “Lincoln?” Chamberlain asked in surprise. “Abraham Lincoln?”
    “Yes.” Longstreet squinted at Chamberlain. “Who are you again, sir?”
    “Professor Chamberlain. From Bowdoin. In Maine.”
    “Oh. Yes. Abraham Lincoln. Known and trusted in Illinois. Most important, a fine speaker and a true believer in the republic. We know that.