Chapter 18: Lincoln

Sweating junior officers called squads of soldiers from the walls, trenches and firing pits of Fort Stevens, and at a sergeant's insistence, Seth and Jefferson joined a shuffling chow line. The busy cooks never looked up as they served everyone a piece of gristly meat, a hunk of dark bread, and a cup of thick bean soup. The soldiers stood or squatted in the shadiest areas eating and joking about the probable age and source of their meat. They could not decide whether it was mule or camel, but they did agree that it probably came from the War of 1812 rather than from stores left over after the Mexican War back in '45.

When the men in dusty blue finished eating, they lit their pipes and rested under the few trees or beside the thick walls. Sentries kept smokers away from the open magazines where the ammunition was stored. Seth noticed that the men who carried bags of powder to the huge cannons worked barefoot or in their stockings to prevent accidental sparks.

Several soldiers asked the boy where he had gotten his hat, and when he told them, they nodded and asked no more. Seth had stuffed some newspaper inside his hat so it fit him reasonably well and did not fall down over his eyes.

True to the habit honed from an early age in his uncle's store, Seth listened as the soldiers poked fun at the militia and invalids they had replaced. He overheard them complain about not being allowed to chase the Rebs back where they belonged and heard them discuss the merits and shortcomings of the young women among the spectators behind the fort. Several times the boy heard the name "Abe," and he finally got up the nerve to ask the soldier nearest him, "Do they mean President Lincoln?"

"That's right, sonny. They sure do." The lean soldier sucked on his corncob pipe and then knocked the dottle out against his boot heel. "We saw him twict yesterday, yessir. When we got off that miserable steamer down on the river wharf, there he was, bigger'n life and ugly as sin, sitting in his shiny black carriage, wavin' and smilin', pleased as punch. Makin' jokes about Early. He was right glad to see us, an' that's no fooling." He paused to gnaw a corner from his plug of dark tobacco.

When he could talk again, the bewhiskered man continued, "Then the brass hats finally made up their damnfool minds 'bout which way we was to go after marchin' us halfway round the city and back. Heck, old Robin Hood's barn ain't got nothin' on us. Anyhow, when we finally got out here where we was needed, pretty soon, there he was agin. On horseback this time with them long legs danglin' down and that there stove pipe hat stickin' up on top. He went right up to the wall and watched while we pushed them Secesh back."

Overhearing this tale, another soldier joined in. "It's the truth, so help me. He wuz right up there with them minie balls a'whizzing past still wearing that dang fool hat. Tarnation! Couldn't hardly miss seein' him. Wonder what them Johnny Rebs thought. He shook old Joe's hands, that's my mess-mate, and ast him how wuz he and where at did he come from. Joseph, he near fainted dead away. He says the Prez-i-dent's got the biggest and hardest hand he ever felt, and Joe's no midget hisself."

"Heard him tell Genr'l Wright not to let them Rebs get away," said an artilleryman with powder-blackened face and hands.

"Lives right over in the Solders' Home in the summer," said the first, whittling at the inside of his corncob with a heavy clasp knife. "But Stanton and them made him go down to the White House last night, so I hear. Don't 'spect we'll be seein' old Honest Abe today."

Red-faced non-coms called the lounging soldiers back to their duties, and another group showed up to be fed. Seth and Jefferson returned their borrowed mess kits and went looking for some shade. Jefferson tipped his straw hat over his eyes and soon was gently snoring. Seth could not keep his mind off the man they had left bound hand and foot in the French's barn. The constant thought of Wainder burned like a small fire just beneath his heart, making his insides churn.

The sudden smack of cannon fire jolted Seth from a dream of running up an endless hill. The broiling sun seemed fixed overhead as the guns banged away. Soon little remained of the nearby farmhouses except broken chimneys and shattered boards.

At about four in the afternoon, the rate of activity suddenly increased. Guards ran to close off Seventh Street, and riders galloped back toward Rock Creek. The barracks behind which Seth and Jefferson had been resting was quickly converted into a hospital, and doctors and their orderlies seemed to appear out of nowhere with their bags of equipment. Seth shuddered at seeing the saws some of the medical crews carried.

The boy wandered about, trying to stay out of the way. He watched ammunition being hauled to the cannons and noticed that the knots of lounging soldiers had disappeared. Suddenly, he heard some cheering behind him, and hurried back toward the log building that had become the Second Division's hospital. He arrived just in time to see President Lincoln and his heavily dressed wife alight from their carriage and go inside. Two other women followed them, their skirts brushing the dusty ground, both carrying parasols.

Soon a squad of cavalry came clattering up to the barracks, and, a little while after that, Gideon Welles and some ladies with bright parasols arrived in another carriage. Wells was unmistakable because of his unique beard.

"Did you hear," one of the hospital orderlies asked Seth, "some poor jasper stopped the President and his wife down on the turnpike and demanded to see their pass. Had to send a runner to General Wheaton 'fore the boy would let 'em by."

"He's going to be a private for a long time, I guess," Seth said.

"Naw, feller that tole me said Lincoln thought it was funny. He sure likes to fun. You see them cavalry dudes come riding in all hot and lathered? They was supposed to be guardin' him, and he give 'em the slip."

"What're they doing in there?" Seth asked.

"Guess old Doc What's-it is givin' 'em the twenty-five cent tour. He kin talk the ears off'n a brass monkey, the doc can."

Seth waited in the small crowd outside the hospital-barracks hoping to see the President. After what seemed a long time, Lincoln, his Secretary of the Navy and the doctors came out. Even with his hat in his hand, the President looked to be a foot taller than any of the other men. Seth was surprised how deeply lined Lincoln's face was and how big his ears were.

The boy watched as the President joined a small group of well-dressed civilians including some women in hoop skirts. On the far side of the crowd, where Jefferson stood, General Wright appeared, hurrying toward the presidential party. The general seemed to be apologizing and then, with a wave of his hand, inviting everyone to come up to the fort. Seth made his way through the crowd to join Jefferson and together they followed the chattering ladies and dark-suited men toward the gate in the fort's back wall of upright logs, the place Seth had learned was called a sally port.