GREY GHOSTS
By
Nana
The following is inscribed on the monument to the
dead of the Confederate States Army in Arlington National Cemetery.
I think it appropriate for the men and women who
fought in World War Two as well.
Not for
fame or reward,
Not for place
or for rank,
Not lured
by ambition,
Or goaded
by necessity,
But in
Simple Obedience
To Duty
As they
understood it,
These men
suffered all,
Sacrificed all,
Dared all
– and died.
For my twin sister, Bebe, who
loved the characters of Combat!
and the American Civil War battlefields
as much as I do.
“It’s no good, Doc. I’m gonna have to
leave you here with Caje and go for help, OK? Just stay hidden and try to keep him
quiet. I’ll be back as soon as I can”,
whispered Sergeant Saunders as he gently patted his unconscious scout on the shoulder
and then climbed to his feet.
Doc’s worried face reflected his
anxiety. “He’s pretty bad, Sarge. Make it fast,
huh?”
The sergeant nodded grimly and,
picking up his Thompson, he turned and disappeared into the night.
Doc settled down beside his
squad-mate, carefully checking the bloodstained bandage on Caje’s
temple. Feeling the cold clamminess of
his patient’s skin, he quickly removed his own jacket and added it to the one
already covering the Cajun. It was
little enough to provide some modest warmth in an attempt to prevent Caje from going into shock.
As Doc sat shivering in the cool
damp darkness, he tried to get some idea of where they were. He knew they were completely hidden from the
road by thick bushes and a rough-stone wall so he felt fairly safe from
detection by roaming Germans. He figured
they couldn’t be more than a couple of miles from the American lines. All he knew was that on their way home at
dusk the squad was surprised by a roving Kraut patrol and Sarge
had ordered them to pull back to find better cover. Somehow, during the confusion, he, along with
Caje and the Sarge, were
separated from everyone else. Caje had taken a bullet graze to the forehead during the
ensuing skirmish and had been unconscious ever since. With the Kraut patrol eventually wiped out,
Doc had stayed with Caje, while the Sarge searched unsuccessfully for the rest of his men. When darkness fell a
short time later, they tried to make their way home.
The trio of GIs had struggled
on. Avoiding the road, the sergeant and
medic stumbled awkwardly through tangled undergrowth and over ploughed fields,
at times losing their sense of direction and having to backtrack. Finally, exhausted from carrying their
wounded companion, they had crept into a small copse of trees to rest. Both of them knew that it was futile to try
to carry Caje any further. Apart from all the jostling which was
certainly not helping his condition, they were exhausted themselves. Reluctantly, the Sarge
had made the decision to leave Caje with Doc and go
for help alone.
Doc was getting more worried by the
minute. Caje
had been unconscious for a long time and still showed no signs of coming
to. Where was Sarge? It seemed like hours since he’d slipped
silently away. Caje
needed a hospital!
Lulled into drowsiness by the
shadowy silence of the night and his own fatigue, Doc had no idea of how long
they’d been waiting when he was jerked to full awareness by a loud shout from Caje. Startled, Doc
quickly turned to his friend. If he
hadn’t known it was impossible, Doc could have sworn Caje
had just hollered a rebel yell!
Caje was thrashing around, throwing his
covers off, head moving restlessly from side to side, shouting, “10th
Louisiana! ADVANCE!”
Caje’s eyes slowly flickered open and as
consciousness gradually returned, his confused brain tried to focus on the face
that hovered over him. Anxious blue eyes
stared at him from beneath tousled fair hair.
He could vaguely hear gentle words being spoken. He couldn’t recognize the face or comprehend
what was said, but that voice seemed familiar.
Yeah, he knew! It was a
southern drawl!
“You
with the 3rd. Arkansas, Private?”
“Huh?”
“Your unit was on our flank, along
the Hagerstown Pike north of Sharpsburg.
You lost? Stay
with me. I need every man I can
get! Those Yankees …” Caje’s eyes closed
for a moment and his head slumped to one side, but then his urgent whisper
continued, “…They’ve crossed Antietam Creek … they’re bringing up
reinforcements … we gotta hold ‘em…
give our boys a chance to pull back to a better defensive position … in those
woods over to the west … HERE THEY COME!
Steady boys … ”. His voice faded as consciousness deserted
him yet again.
Alarmed and confused, Doc hurriedly
checked Caje’s pulse again and felt his
forehead. Sharpsburg?
Yankees?
He must be hallucinating -- he thinks he’s a confederate soldier back in
1862! God, I wish the Sarge would get back here on the double!
Caje was drifting in and out of
consciousness. When he was awake he
rambled incoherently, giving sharp orders to unseen men, then
wandered off into an unknown space, eyes closing, back into oblivion. When his senses briefly returned to
lucidity, someone was kneeling nearby whispering to him. The face looks vaguely familiar – but who
is it? What is this man
wearing? His uniform is a strange brown colour and he’s got some kind of metal helmet on his head…
he’d never seen a soldier, either Confederate or Union, wearing such an
outfit. His men of the 10thLouisiana
Infantry wore grey or butternut homespun and kepis or slouch hats. Didn’t they? And where was his musket? His muddled brain couldn’t grasp anything
clearly. It was too much effort to think
and slowly he stopped trying to understand what was happening and drifted off
again.
Lieutenant Paul LeMay, Company C, 10th Louisiana Volunteer
Infantry, C.S.A., crouched among the cornstalks of Farmer Miller’s 40-acre
field. His lean dark-bearded face and
aquiline nose revealed his aristocratic New Orleans Cajun ancestry; his thick
black hair tumbled from under his sweat-stained slouch hat and clung to his
damp brow. Evidence of countless
campaigns and skirmishes, his threadbare grey uniform was crumpled and dirty,
its brass buttons and CSA belt buckle, once shiny and bright, were now
tarnished beyond recognition. The frayed
braid on his sleeves bore no resemblance to its original gold colour, and his shoes, worn down by miles of marching, were
covered with dried mud; one bearing a length of string in place of the shoddy
army issue laces.
The day was hot, the sun beating
down mercilessly on the men waiting quietly behind Paul. They were keeping as low as they could to the
rich soil but there was no escaping the heat.
Perspiration ran in rivulets down their backs and soaked through the
thin cotton of the shirts under their jackets. Company C was a ragtag bunch, a blend of
men from the bayous and farms of Louisiana and the green fields of
Ireland. As well, there were several
others who had fled poverty and persecution in their European homelands. All were clad, like their young Lieutenant,
in ragged grey or butternut homespun.
Those that still had boots were the lucky ones. Most of the men and boys - and several were
still boys – one fresh-faced youngster’s perpetual good humour
and naivety made him appear no older than 16 - held their Enfield rifled
muskets in hands that were not quite steady and stared ahead, dirty faces tense
with foreboding and tired eyes reflecting both fear and determination. Another man, slim and wiry and older than the
rest, sat a little apart in the trampled grass, grimacing as he cradled a bare
foot in one hand. He seemed almost
oblivious to the Yankee threat, concerned only with his blistered toes.
The 10th Louisiana had
arrived on the field during the evening of September 16th, having
marched the seventeen miles from Harper’s Ferry during the previous night and
all that day. They crossed the gently
flowing and shallow Antietam Creek at Snavely Ford a
mile or so to the south, and followed the dirt road along the creek bank
through the rolling Maryland countryside, to the sleepy small town of
Sharpsburg. Farmers and their families
watched with trepidation as the long grey line marched by well-kept and
prosperous fields. Eventually they
left the outlying farms behind and entered Sharpsburg itself. Weary now, the tattered soldiers moved slowly
along the rutted main street of substantial veranda-fronted homes and businesses. They trudged down a slight hill, past an old
graveyard and a Gothic-towered Lutheran church to the northern end of the town,
and bivouacked for the warm dark night in some woods to the west of a sturdy,
whitewashed Dunker church along the Hagerstown Pike.
At dawn they prepared for battle
while the early morning mists rose from the hollows and high ground of the
surrounding autumnal farmland as though to conceal what the day would bring.
Turning to glance at his men,
Lieutenant LeMay, seeing
their grim, scared, but resolute faces, was suddenly acutely aware of his
respect and affection for them. Some of
them had been with him since 1861, and they had proven staunch and plucky
soldiers, loyal to their State, their unit and their officers. If you had to fight a war, then these were
good dependable men to be with.
Eyes ever alert he tried desperately
to peer through the shadowy forest of cornstalks obscuring his view to the
west. Somewhere there, among those
acres of mature corn, were hidden thousands of Union soldiers, about to try,
once again, to push the Confederate troops out. Heart pounding, he swallowed convulsively
and steeled himself for the ordeal he knew was to come. He glimpsed the tall hulking private beside
him straighten his back and square his wide shoulders. The others took their huge comrade’s lead and
stood steadfast despite their obvious fear; he knew they were ready to follow
him, no matter what.
The battle had been raging back and
forth for hours, with the field changing hands countless times before the 10th
Louisiana was ordered to reinforce the Rebel lines. Many from both sides had fallen, and now lay
in almost perfect rows just as they had advanced in their ranks. Most lay still, their
wretched sprawling corpses already beginning to bloat in the hot sun. Among the sheared-off corn, amidst fluttering
cartridge paper and discarded weapons, the wounded moaned or shrieked in pain
as they tried to crawl back to their own lines, or cried pitiably for their
mothers.
The murderous Union artillery
barrage began again with increased ferocity, the noise deafening and the shells
exploding with deadly effect. A
blizzard of shrapnel, canister and minié balls
screamed among the waiting Confederates.
The air was suddenly filled with the stink of cordite and powder and the
anguished cries of the wounded.
Paul felt something like comfort
when the crash of shells from Colonel Fitz Lee’s battery along the Hagerstown
Pike started taking a toll of the men in blue and, on his order, Company C
opened fire with their rifled muskets.
He heard Captain Monier’s cry, “ADVANCE 10th
Louisiana, ADVANCE!” Without hesitation,
the men of Company C scrambled to their feet behind their young Lieutenant and
moved forward into the maelstrom.
They were frantically tearing off
cartridge paper with their teeth … LOAD! … AIM! … FIRE! Again, and again! Faces black with powder, eyes streaming from
the acrid smoke, on they pushed, stumbling over prostrate men and sharp corn
stalks destroyed by savage gunfire so thick it had cut them down to mere
stubble. The hurricane of sizzling shot
and whirring shrapnel felled men by the dozens … hundreds … thousands!
All around him Paul felt, rather
than saw, the bloodied bodies of his comrades and those in Union blue. Strangely, he felt disembodied and alone on
that smoke-filled field of horror. Hell
surely could be no worse than this!
Something plucked at his sleeve and
threw him to the ground. His arm went
numb, his weapon spinning violently from his hands. Desperately he pushed himself up, feeling
someone grab his collar and drag him to his feet. Fighting panic, he unsteadily staggered
forward once again, firing wildly. He
could hear shouts of “Withdraw! Pull
back! Company C, PULL BACK!” and then
realized that it was his own voice yelling.
His men were being slaughtered. Better
to pull back. Re-group and try again.
“I lost half my men that time, but
we were sent in again. It was
slaughter. Pure slaughter! The next time there was only myself and my sergeant and maybe a half dozen men left. The numbness in my arm soon faded and then
the pain began … it felt white hot and the blood running down my arm made my
hands slippery … hard to fire my rifle … felt dizzy and disoriented … couldn’t
stop though … we had to hold those Yankees….”
Caje’s sudden words made Doc jump. The faint whisper sounded so loud in the
silence of the woods that he peered nervously about, hoping against hope that
no one was within earshot. He watched
the Cajun’s ashen face wrench with emotion.
He seemed to be semi-conscious and was recalling something that had
badly shaken him. What was he
talking about? What men were
slaughtered? Some of those Caje was describing sounded much like the men of 1st
Squad! Where did he think he was -
France? Maryland?
“Take it easy, Caje. You’re gonna be
just fine. We’ll get ya
back”, Doc soothed, sounding more confident than he felt. But Caje had
already lapsed into unconsciousness once more. Hurry up, Sarge! Doc prayed.
During the next hour, even though Caje was only semi-conscious, he spoke almost lucidly at
times. Doc, by leaning close to him,
could occasionally understand his barely audible words and so managed to piece
together what Caje was reliving in his mind.
After the last disastrous attempt to
advance in the cornfield, the remnants of the 10th Louisiana were
ordered to retire and regroup. Paul
paused long enough to let a medical orderly with kindly blue eyes tie a
kerchief around his arm to stem the bleeding, and then he and his remaining men
were ordered to take positions with what was left of several other decimated
infantry units at the centre of the Confederate line. They found themselves in a sunken lane
between the Piper and Roulette farms.
Worn down by decades of use by farm wagons, it was only a few feet below
the level of the fields on either side, but it provided a good defensive
vantage point. The men crouched down
behind the split rail fence that snaked along its entire length, and prepared
for the inevitable Union onslaught.
They came all right. Repeatedly. Paul could see the faint line of blue-coated
Union troops appearing over the low rise in the field before them, sun glinting
on their muskets and their standards blowing in the slight breeze. He heard their bugler sound the charge and then
suddenly they were within range. It
was a daunting sight … thousands of Yankees inexorably moving closer and closer
to the outnumbered Confederates waiting for them.
Once the two sides closed in battle,
Paul lost all sense of time. He only
knew that wave after wave of Yankees hurled themselves at the Rebel ranks. They advanced slowly over the sloping field,
stepping around and over their fallen comrades who lay in great numbers where
they had fallen in the face of the lethal fire from the desperate men in grey.
For three hours the battle at the
sunken road raged. The rail fence was
shattered into splinters; nearby trees denuded of their early fall multi-hued
foliage. There was a ghastly carpet of
dead and wounded half-filling the dusty lane.
The lung-searing smoky air was filled with shrieking metal; minié balls slammed into the far bank and ricocheted back
to find the softer target of a man’s back, flinging him forward onto the bodies
of his fellow rebels. The noise from
the Union cannonade was indescribable, the shells bursting amidst the riflemen,
shredding and tearing them apart. The
carnage was unbelievable.
Paul saw the sergeant at his left
suddenly gasp and lurch towards him. His
kepi flew off, revealing thick blond hair.
As he crumpled at Paul’s feet, a great blossom of red appeared on his
chest and the light in his blue eyes blazed momentarily in the sun’s brilliant
glare before slowly fading into eternal night.
At the same time, Paul quickly realized to his
horror that some Yankee soldiers who had somehow flanked the Confederates in
the sunken road, were firing furiously along its entire length, mowing down the
mostly unsuspecting rebels as they desperately engaged the advancing enemy
troops to their front. His stunned
mind seemed slow to understand what was happening … they’ve flanked us! We’re sitting ducks in this narrow
place…. He opened his mouth to yell
but his warning was cut off immediately when something struck him a tremendous
blow to his head. His world spun crazily,
his senses dimming until he could feel nothing at all. Paul LeMay’s
battle was over.
*
* *
The battle of Sharpsburg eventually
just petered out at sundown, with no clear victor. Both sides were too battered and exhausted to
continue the fight. Paul LeMay was carried unconscious from
the bloody lane after the fighting died down, mercifully unaware that Company C
had been virtually wiped out. Most of
his men stayed where they fell in the cornfield or in the farm lane, never to
see the light of day again. They, along
with many thousands of other Americans, had died that day for what they
believed in.
When Paul LeMay regained his senses he was assailed by the
incessant buzzing of flies and a strange quietness. He felt disoriented and nauseated. His head seemed to be exploding with
blistering pain, and when he tried to move dizziness almost overwhelmed
him. Reaching up with a shaky hand, he
gingerly fingered the sticky lint bandage wrapped tightly around his forehead
and traced the dried blood which covered the whole left side of his face and
collar. His arm stung abominably
too. The foggy recesses of his mind
vaguely recalled a memory of getting nicked by a minié
ball before. He tried desperately to
focus … a cornfield?
No, we were somewhere else … I remember the Yankees’ enfilading fire …
the sunken lane was filled with bodies … the Confederate line was beginning to
give way!
It was hushed where he lay – apart from the steady drone of
the multitude of flies, he heard no horrendous noise from cannon and small arms
fire, no thunder of horses’ hooves galloping by, no shrill screams of
agony … all he could hear was the low sounds of whispered words and
tortured moaning. Was the battle
over? Where were his men? Where
was he?
Even when Paul’s vision finally
cleared a bit he still could see very little.
Lanterns flickered uncertainly, casting dull gleams of light over a
large room filled to overflowing with hundreds of wounded lying everywhere
around him. He gradually grasped that
the hard surface he was lying on was a wooden church bench. It seemed like every pew in the old building harboured an injured man, as did every inch of
straw-covered floor in the aisles as well.
Among them, silent orderlies moved carefully, while several local women
with bloodied aprons covering wide-hooped skirts offered water for parched
throats. A few feet away from him a
silver-haired lady in a billowing lilac gown knelt beside a boy in grey and
sobbed over and over “My boy! My poor boy!”
Above him, Paul could just see the
dark smoky sky that was partially visible through a huge ragged shell hole in
the roof. He was feeling suffocated by
the stale air in the church which was filled with a miasma of appalling smells
from blood and dirt and sweat.
Realizing he was insatiably thirsty
Paul called out weakly for water, and an exhausted-looking orderly held his
head gently so he could swallow the tepid liquid. It was the same fair-haired fellow who’d put
the kerchief on his arm in the cornfield.
Was he with the 3rd Arkansas? Paul asked where his men were, but the orderly
didn’t answer. The compassionate,
infinitely sad look in the man’s blue eyes gave the young lieutenant the
response he dreaded.
“No, No! Mon Dieu! They’re all dead … they’re gone. We’ve lost ‘em
all!”
“What?” Doc gasped. “Who’s dead, Caje?” Caje’s
unexpectedly clear words sent a cold shiver down the young medic’s back.
“All of ‘em! They didn’t stand a chance … we were
outnumbered two to one …”
“You’re just dreamin’,
Caje! The guys’ll be here real soon, don’t
worry, huh?”
“No! I saw ‘em … Kirby,
Littlejohn … Sarge!”. Caje’s
panic-filled words trailed off as his eyes closed and he drifted off again.
Doc tensed as he abruptly became
aware that he and Caje were no longer alone. Frozen, he watched with something akin to
terror as several shadowy shapes emerged from among the trees. The leaves and twigs under the newcomers’
boots rustled in the darkness and tree branches creaked as shoulders brushed
past. Then to his overwhelming relief he
recognized Kirby, followed a second later by the Sarge
and Nelson. Behind them Littlejohn’s
huge shape came into view, toting a folding litter over his broad shoulder.
“Did I hear someone call for ole
Kirby?” quipped the irascible B.A.R. man, his grin
disappearing when he was close enough to see Doc’s strained and anxious
face. Without another word he quickly
stood aside to give his companions room to gather around the medic and their
unconscious scout.
Saunders swiftly knelt beside his
Cajun friend. “Not too
good, huh Doc?”
Doc looked at him solemnly, “Not so
good, Sarge.
He’s been delirious since you left … he’s bin
having hallucinations. He thinks he’s
back in the civil war!”
“You’re kidding!” piped up Billy, his round
baby face a picture of incredulity.
“Why would he do that?”
Suppressing a tired smile, Doc
answered, “Well Billy, you never know how head injuries can affect a man. He’s got a concussion for sure,
and maybe something more serious like a skull fracture. Looking over Caje’s
still form to the Sarge, he added, “We’ve gotta get him outta here, Sarge, and as fast as we can”.
“Yeah, I know, Doc. C’mon guys, let’s get ‘im
on the stretcher and move out. Kirby,
take the point. Littlejohn and Billy,
you carry Caje.
I’ll cover the rear. Everyone
keep your eyes open, huh?”
“Hey,
Sarge?” Doc queried as he
hurried alongside the litter, “where did the rest of the squad get to when we
lost ‘em?”
“Not sure … they must’ve taken a
parallel path to us, and made it back to the CP with no trouble. When we didn’t turn up, they got Lt. Hanley
to agree to let them come look for us and I ran into
them on the way.”
“Good thing, Sarge. The quicker we get Caje
to a doctor, the better I’ll feel!”
“You
and me both, Doc.”
*
* *
General Lee’s battered Army of
Northern Virginia withdrew across the Potomac during the evening of September
18th, making its way back to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The bedraggled grey column of infantry, led
by Jeb Stuart’s cavalry, was intermingled with ambulance wagons by the scores,
artillery caissons, supply and sutlers’ carts, and
all the other paraphernalia and detritus that follow a great army in the field.
Afterwards, Paul could barely
remember that journey. Squeezed with a
dozen other wounded men into one of the long line of horse-drawn open wagons
that served as ambulances, it had seemed to him a never-ending nightmare. As the wagon lumbered slowly along the rough
Virginia roads he was wracked with fever, having periods of semi-awareness
alternating with total nothingness.
When he was awake he was beset by the odious smell of suppurating and
gangrenous wounds, clouds of flies, and the low agonized moans of his fellow
wounded. At one point Paul was vaguely
aware of a southern voice murmuring that they had reached Front Royal, and then
being lifted none-too-gently from the wagon and carried into a hospital tent.
Over the next few days as his wounds
began to heal, his conscious periods increased and his vision cleared so that
he began to take more notice of where he was.
He realized early one morning that the blue-tinged mist he could see to
the east signaled the northern reaches of the Blue Ridge, and the stately white
portico-ed building nearby was the main house of a
lush Virginia plantation.
As he recuperated, his sleep became
less restive, his fever vanished and his dreams began to evoke more pleasant
memories of his happy, privileged childhood growing up as the eldest son of a
wealthy New Orleans banker. The
magnificent townhouse on St.Charles Street, in the
old French Quarter; long lazy summers at the family’s cotton plantation on
Bayou Teche, with its avenue of live oaks clad in their
cloaks of Spanish moss. The exquisite
gardens around the great house, bordered with cypress trees in their hundreds
and the sweet fragrance of abundant magnolia blossoms. The tantalizing tang of jambalaya and gumbo;
the feasts of crawfish and shrimp and the rustic back-country hunting lodge on
the Mississippi, where he learned to become an expert hunter and marksman and
to fish from a pirogue. Placid
afternoons spent sitting languidly on the cool verandah, watching and listening
to the sights and sounds of his beloved Louisiana. Accompanying Miss Emma to picnics and balls
and once, in the early summer of 1862, calling on her at her grandparents’ home
in Georgia before leaving to join his unit on its march to the north.
Emma. The war was almost a year old when last he
saw her. She and her parents had managed
to get out of New Orleans before the Yankees took the city a month or so
earlier. They were living with her
grandparents on Peachtree Street in Atlanta.
He could still see her clearly as she looked that day. She was beautiful in a becoming pale-blue
hooped gown that complimented her lovely green eyes and the pretty be-ribboned sunbonnet she wore over her long dark brown hair
to protect her fair complexion. She had
sat beside him on the porch swing, fanning them both with the fan she held in
one dainty lace-gloved hand. He held her
other hand gently … it felt so small and delicate in his big rough one. Mostly he remembered his feeling of
protectiveness towards her… how much he cared for her… how he hated to leave
her.
They were watching a long procession
of a CSA infantry regiment marching past to continue on their long journey
north. Colourful
standards fluttered bravely in the light breeze and Company drummers beat a
steady cadence for their step. With
heads held high and shoulders back, their buttons and insignia glinting in the
bright sunshine, the men looked so young…so eager… so proud. So doomed.
It seemed as though half of Atlanta
lined the street to bid them farewell.
They cheered and clapped loudly as the soldiers passed by, but Paul’s
heart was heavy. He was ready to do his
duty and uphold the honour of the South, but he did
not relish fighting against his fellow Americans. He knew that many of those boys would never
see their homes again. Would he one day
return to his much-loved New Orleans?
Perhaps he would not come back to Emma?
She seemed to understand what was in his thoughts, gently squeezing his
hand in silent comfort while turning her head so that he would not see the
unshed tears that glistened in her eyes.
*
* *
Mystified, Caje
lay still for a few moments and looked around the unknown room. He had awoken suddenly, still vividly caught
up in his nightmares. He found himself
lying in a soft cot, covered with a clean blanket and with a pillow under his
badly aching head. Where am I? What’s this contraption I’m hooked up
to? The place smells so … clean? No filthy buckets or bloodstained floors …
no reek of pus or shrieks of pain; no hordes of flies. He closed his eyes, trying hard to make sense
of what had happened to him.
Reality slowly returned. I
must have been dreaming that I was in the Civil War! Was there a girl called Emma? The last thing I remember, we were ambushed
by Krauts. What happened to me? Where’s the Sarge and the guys?
Are they okay?
Without realizing it, Caje had spoken the last words aloud and Doc, slumped
tiredly beside him, smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. The medic’s grin transformed him, the
battle-weary months falling away to reveal the young, optimistic man he really
was.
“Hey, Caje! They’re all just fine – hoverin’
about outside waitin’ for ya
to wake up.” Doc rested one hand briefly
on the Cajun’s shoulder, fingers squeezing gently for a moment and then
releasing him. “You had us all worried
there for a while! Welcome back to
1944!”
Caje turned his head to look at the medic, wincing at the pain the
movement caused but determined to really SEE Doc’s reaction to his words. “What do you mean, welcome back?”
“Well, I, uh…” Doc’s
voice trailed off as he frowned, eyebrows knitted together in thought. He glanced over his shoulder at the nurses
and medics moving among the other patients, waiting for an especially pretty
young woman in Army olive drab to move away.
He lowered his voice and leaned toward Caje.
“You were kinda talkin’ like you were back
in the Civil War, Caje. Sounded like you were gettin’ the worst of it, too.” Doc shrugged. “A bad dream, I guess.”
Caje settled back, forcing his muscles to relax before his pounding
head exploded. A dream … just a dream. He reached for his bicep, expecting to find a
bloody kerchief but there was nothing.
Closing his eyes, he whispered to his friend, “Just a dream, Doc. Just a dream.”
“Dream, hell, Caje! Who’s Miss Emma?” Doc demanded, his
words tempered with another grin.
Stunned, Caje’s dark eyes opened again, one brow arching in a silent
question. He chanced a glance at the
medic again, knowing it would hurt. It did!
Doc’s grin grew
wider. “Oh, a
gentleman don’t hear things like that an’ repeat ‘em,
Caje. You know
that.” He settled back in his chair,
crossing his arms across his chest.
Caje relaxed into the bedclothes, aware he hadn’t answered the medic’s
question. Eyes once again lidded, he let
a smile turn up the corners of his mouth.
Just before sleep overcame him, he spoke once more.
“She was just someone I
used to know, Doc, a girl I used to know.”
The End
Barbara G. Boudreau
‘Nana’
Lt. Colonel Henry Monier, Commander of the 10th
Louisiana, wrote this poem in honour of his men,
sometime before 1875
Reader, one sigh for the gallant
Tenth,
One sigh for the fallen brave;
Their tale is told, their deeds at length
But a line in history crave
Where are the dead, and who have wept?
Full many are their graves;
Alas! who comes where they have
slept,
Alone, where the willow waves?
Far from their homes, in a distant clime,
Most from beyond the sea;
Unknown their fate, untold by time,
Buried in mystery.
From the Rhine and Rhone, from foreign land,
From Northern icy shore;
Their hearts beat warm, a noble band,
For the Southern cause full sore.
From Britain Isle, from sunny France,
From Erin dear they came;
And fiercely fought the North’s advance,
And for our Southern fame.
Devoted to death for Southern right,
Fighting in freedom’s cause,
Can country e’er their deeds
requite,
Or honour by the laws?
No more exists the gallant Tenth
With us no more in name
But though extinct and gone in strength
Shall perish not in fame.