Tobias Seamon
THE CHAIN BRIDGE
Private James Doane of the 307th New York broke camp
in July, 1862, leaving the outer defense works of the
District of Columbia for Confederate Virginia. He
wrote to his father:
"We crossed the Chain Bridge this morning, and the
sensation of departing for an unknown world seemed to
infect the men. Our minds felt the heat more than our
bodies, and the air of Virginia seemed close and
terrifying. The road is strewn with discarded
clothes, blankets, and haversacks. No rebels sighted
anywhere."
"We are green, and jumpy. Eyes widen and jaws clench
of what we think is the sound of guns down Manassas
way. The officers curse us for idiots, ask if we were
born yesterday and tell us it's distant thunder. One
fellow, a weasely man, a shirker, and some say a thief
from back in Utica, claims the officers always tell
the men this, that the rebels are massed just out of
sight, that Bobby Lee and Stonewall are no fools and
that they are waiting for us. The men hiss the thief
down, but we cannot help but believe him too. The
songs have stopped, the heat weighs on our shoulders,
and we hold pebbles under our tongues to fight the
thirst. The only thing to do is keep up with the
company, good boys most all of them. Whether we march,
our mouths full of stone, into cannon or storm cloud,
only God can tell. Either way, I am already
approaching the eye of my enemy."
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Albany, New York
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trowsea@yahoo.com
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42opus, M.A.G., CutBank, The Blue Moon Review, The Mississippi Review, The Pedestal Magazine, Snow Monkey, etc.
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Whalelane
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Contributing writer for the online broadsheet The Morning News
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