Confederate States of America. Army -- Fiction; Historical fiction; United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Fiction
“Further particulars of the fight,” read Judith. “The enemy attacked
at daybreak. They had with them artillery with which they proceeded
furiously to shell General Stuart’s headquarters. The cavalry fighting
was desperate and the loss on both sides heavy. We had only cavalry
and the artillery in action, the enemy having retreated before our
infantry arrived. The fight lasted all day and was conducted with
extreme gallantry. Many individual acts of heroism occurred both among
officers and men. The horse artillery gathered fresh laurels. The
spirit of Pelham stays with it. A gunner named Deaderick—
”—A gunner named Deaderick, a strongly built man, held at bay a dozen
of the enemy who would have laid hands upon his gun which had been
dismounted by a shell striking the wheel. Almost singly he kept the
rush back until his comrades could replace the gun, train, and serve
it, when the attack was completely repulsed and the gun saved—”
Judith finished reading. The crowd thanked her. She stepped from the
great stone and passed with Unity to where the carriage waited. Isham
touched the old farm-horses; they passed out of the town into the June
country bathed in sunset light.
For a while there was silence, then, “Judith,” said Unity, “I am a
talkative wretch, I know, but I can be silent as the grave when I want
to be! Where is Richard? Is he in the horse artillery?”
“Yes.”
“I have never seen you when I did not think you beautiful. But back
there, standing on that stone, of a sudden you were most beautiful. It
was like a star blazing out, a star with a voice, and something
splendid in that, too. Judith, is he that gunner you were reading
about?”
“Yes—oh, yes!”
“Well, you don’t often cry,” said Unity, crying herself. “Cry it out,
my dear, cry it out. We have such splendid things nowadays to cry
for!”
Judith dried her tears. “No, I don’t often cry.... Let it rest, Unity,
between us, silent, silent—”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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