William Keener - Pearl and the Nigger

Molly slipped her hand over his mouth and replied, “I’d do just that, and you would do as much for me.”

“Yes, but for a man to depend on his wife—”

“Be quiet! That’s enough,” she commanded. “We’ll continue together until the war is over, and we’ll trust fate and our love, an-an-and we’ll stick together till death, Andy—till death separates us.”

They fell into each other’s arms, embracing, and they were silent for a long time.

The next morning, Molly selected flowers growing around the Pines. Then, with Andy, they walked arm in arm by the springhouse to the little graveyard where Molly stopped and placed flowers on her mother’s grave. Andy noticed the newly erected marker nearby her mother’s grave and knew it was her father’s resting place. In silence he watched as she knelt and placed flowers on the newly marked grave. Her head was bowed, but it did not hide the tears that started flowing down her cheek.

Tears filled Andy’s eyes, and he sobbed, “This war, this damn war! What in hell is it all about, anyway? We are one country. We are one people. We are friends. We are neighbors. We are relatives, and why are we killing one another? Think of the terrible destruction of property. Think of the hearts being broken by the lives being sacrificed. Think of the misery and suffering.” Looking upward, he said, “Oh, God, why does it go on? Why did it start? Who is responsible for this hell that is here on us? God, the youth of our country are being slaughtered. Why? Why? There are a few fanatics, a few hotheads who are too affluent to get in the battle lines themselves. God, punish these few. No—no, God, forgive them, Father, because they do not know what they do—no, God, they do not know what they do and they do it deliberately.”

He walked to Molly’s side and, stooping, tenderly placed his arms around the slender waist of his sobbing wife and assisted her to her feet. Still sobbing, he continued, “It’s horrible—the North—my people did this. Please do not condemn them. They are not murderers any more than your husband. Only yesterday I would have done the same and rejoiced that we had killed another Rebel. If our leaders would feel as I do, we would have peace.”

“Yes, I know,” she interrupted. “But if it hadn’t been for this war, you and I would never have met.”

Arm in arm they turned, and in silence they walked back to the house.

On the morning of September 3, 1861, autumn crispness filled the air. The morning mess was over, wagons were being loaded, horses were being saddled and readied for the day’s march to the Big Sewell Mountain. General Lee, standing beside Traveler, gazed east toward the Big Sewell as the first light of day broke across the horizon. He had elected to stay at the Tyree Inn during the last of his encampment, to be with his troops.

Andy and Molly had just arrived, prepared for the day’s ride. General Lee summoned them to him, saying, “Molly, Andy, I believe you two would enjoy a few more days at the Pines. May I suggest that you stay here until 9 September? Wise and Chapman are to withdraw from their positions on the tenth, and you would be safe until then. One of my men will take your loaded wagon with us.”

Molly threw her arms around the general, saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you. We will make the next few days our honeymoon.”

“Don’t forget. Leave here by the ninth,” he replied, as he mounted Traveler.

The next few days were ecstasy as they began to learn the smallest intimate details about each other. Molly and Andy packed picnic lunches and rode out to a rock overlooking the New River, known as Lovers’ Leap. There she related the saga, as it had been told to her, of an Indian maiden and an Indian brave who, because of their undying love for each other, leaped to their deaths from the rock. They rode to the rock where the hawks nested to an overlook atop the beetling cliffs above Gauley, where they could see New River and Gauley joining to form the Kanawha River. On September 9, Molly and Andy strapped the balance of their clothing on the three mounts. With mixed emotions they said their good-byes to Rubin and Nanny, mounted, and rode away from the Pines, never looking back. Andy had packed his uniform and was wearing a gray citizen’s suit at the suggestion of General Lee. The general thought it would allay suspicion and curiosity and would avoid answering unnecessary questions.

General Wise convinced Colonel Chapman that they were able to crush General Cox and his army at Gauley Bridge. Instead of withdrawing from their positions on the tenth of September, they started a heavy bombardment on Gauley Bridge. On September 11, Wise crossed the Kanawha and dug in. On the twelfth he started a slow advance up the river, only to meet tough resistance. On the thirteenth, Rosecrans joined Cox and Wise and retreated across the river. Rosecrans enjoined Cox from following Wise until he could create a means for crossing the Gauley.

Wise joined Chapman when the Union forces crossed the river. They retreated up the old turnpike, joining General Lee on the Big Sewell on the twentieth. By the twenty-fourth, Rosecrans had concentrated his forces, consisting of four brigades, on the Meadow Bluffs, the wide, broad valley south of the Big Sewell and the Southern encampment. The autumn rains set in upon the very day Rosecrans arrived and continued, without intermission, for eleven days.

By the first of October, the cold, thrashing, cutting rain had reduced Rosecrans’ troops, sick and dead, to approximately 5,200 effective men. By the fifth he started a slow retreat to Gauley Bridge.

On October 3, Reynolds delivered a blow upon General Loring’s position on Greenbrier River but found it too strong and had to retreat to Cheat Mountain.

By the end of October, General Lee and his troops left the Big Sewell Mountain on their way to defend the Valley of Virginia, leaving western Virginia to organize a free state.

There was no necessity for any considerable rear guard for defense in the retreat of Lee’s army since General Rosecrans had withdrawn his forces from the Meadow Bluffs. So in peace and quiet, Molly and Andy rode along with the Confederate troops over the old turnpike toward Staunton.

“Molly, these mountains are beautiful,” declared Andy. “Whenever and wherever we locate our home, I hope it can be in these mountains.”

“It must be Chicago,” Molly replied. “It would be best from a business standpoint, and I am sure the opportunity is greater. But, Andy, we’ll have to come back to the Pines for summer vacations.”

“That would be heaven,” Andy replied, excitedly. “I love the city. Chicago is wonderful, but I love these mountains. Whenever best, we’ll discuss where our home will be located, but I am willing to make it anywhere where you will be happy.”

General Lee was not even challenged on his march to the Valley of Virginia. With his army healthy, safe, and in good spirits, he announced that he was leaving for the Confederate capitol the next morning, where he would meet with Jefferson Davis and discuss his new assignment in Charleston, South Carolina, where he was to strengthen the eastern coastal defenses.

Early the next morning, Lee dispatched a courier to the camp of the hero of Bull Run, General Jackson, at Manassas, Virginia. His letter requested that they meet at a prearranged place near Culpepper, Virginia. He requested that Molly’s brother, Lieutenant Levi Campbell, accompany him and his staff. He expressed hope that he could be granted a few days’ furlough to accompany his sister to Richmond. He explained why his army had withdrawn from western Virginia and that those remaining loyal to the Confederate cause were no longer safe and were deserting their homes and seeking shelter within the Confederate lines. Soon after the courier departed, General Lee and his staff bade farewell to his men and then rode toward Culpepper with Molly and Andy accompanying them.