by the Union slaveholding state of Maryland on one side and Virginia, which had seceded after Mr. Lincoln issued the state quotas for recruits, on the other side, with only the Potomac separating them.
A few days earlier, the husband of one of Elizabeth’s favorite patrons, Colonel Robert E. Lee, a Virginian, had been offered the command of the entire United States Army, but after careful consideration, he had declined and had gone home to his plantation in Arlington on the other side of the river. Elizabeth knew from conversations overheard in the White House that President Lincoln had fought valiantly to keep Virginia in the Union, and she knew from remarks Mrs. Lee had made in her presence that her husband had not wanted Virginia to secede. For every firebrand eager for war, there seemed to be two or more who had been drawn into the conflict reluctantly but were nonetheless resolved to do their duty with all their might. And with the conflict so obviously pivoting upon the point of slavery, was it any wonder that Negro men too wanted to do their part to help the Union triumph?
“The recruiters must think they’ll have more than enough white volunteers to fill their quotas,” Elizabeth said. “If the fighting goes on longer than they expect, maybe they’ll let colored men enlist later.”
Although the day was balmy, Virginia shivered. “I’d rather have the fighting over before that day could come. How terrible this rebellion would be if seventy-five thousand men weren’t enough to finish it. Can you imagine the bloodshed?”
Elizabeth inhaled shakily, the acrid odors of camp refuse and coal smoke so heavy in the air that her eyes stung and watered. “I can imagine it all too well.”
She tucked her arm through Virginia’s and they turned toward home. Although she thought it was an outrage that men of color were forbidden to enlist, she was secretly relieved that her son would not be required to lay down his life for his country.
Elizabeth wondered if her husband, James, would try to enlist. As a young man he had been full of fight, and after John Brown’s failed raid on Harpers Ferry, he had declared that if he had been there, he would have taken up arms and stirred up the slave revolt John Brown had intended. Suddenly James’s visage appeared so clearly to her mind’s eye that it was as if he stood before her, not rambling and drunk as he hadbeen in their last years together but smiling, bold, and handsome as he had been when they first met.
Elizabeth gasped and stopped short, shaken by the vision. She had not thought of her husband in weeks, perhaps months. Why would he come unbidden to her thoughts now?
“Elizabeth?” Virginia had been brought to an abrupt halt when Elizabeth stopped. “What’s the matter? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
Elizabeth managed a shaky laugh. “I haven’t, not as far as I know. At least not recently.”
Virginia smiled tentatively at her joke, but she looked uncertain. “What’s troubling you, then?”
Elizabeth hesitated. Virginia knew she was married and that she and her husband were estranged, but Elizabeth disliked speaking ill of James, and as a consequence, she had told Virginia little about him. She wasn’t sure why, but she was reluctant to admit that she had been thinking about him then.
So instead she nodded to the scenes of preparation for the defense of the city—all around them, and all inadequate. “Aren’t there reasons enough for all of us to be troubled these days?”
Virginia nodded. They watched a few moments more before continuing on home.
Soon, Elizabeth would wonder whether James’s restless, wistful spirit had indeed visited her in that moment she had imagined him so vividly.
Not two days after her stroll with Virginia, a letter came from Missouri, written in a deliberate yet shaky hand, full of misspellings and apologies.
Dear Mrs Keckley
It greves me to writ and tell you that your husband James past on from this life
A few days earlier, the husband of one of Elizabeth’s favorite patrons, Colonel Robert E. Lee, a Virginian, had been offered the command of the entire United States Army, but after careful consideration, he had declined and had gone home to his plantation in Arlington on the other side of the river. Elizabeth knew from conversations overheard in the White House that President Lincoln had fought valiantly to keep Virginia in the Union, and she knew from remarks Mrs. Lee had made in her presence that her husband had not wanted Virginia to secede. For every firebrand eager for war, there seemed to be two or more who had been drawn into the conflict reluctantly but were nonetheless resolved to do their duty with all their might. And with the conflict so obviously pivoting upon the point of slavery, was it any wonder that Negro men too wanted to do their part to help the Union triumph?
“The recruiters must think they’ll have more than enough white volunteers to fill their quotas,” Elizabeth said. “If the fighting goes on longer than they expect, maybe they’ll let colored men enlist later.”
Although the day was balmy, Virginia shivered. “I’d rather have the fighting over before that day could come. How terrible this rebellion would be if seventy-five thousand men weren’t enough to finish it. Can you imagine the bloodshed?”
Elizabeth inhaled shakily, the acrid odors of camp refuse and coal smoke so heavy in the air that her eyes stung and watered. “I can imagine it all too well.”
She tucked her arm through Virginia’s and they turned toward home. Although she thought it was an outrage that men of color were forbidden to enlist, she was secretly relieved that her son would not be required to lay down his life for his country.
Elizabeth wondered if her husband, James, would try to enlist. As a young man he had been full of fight, and after John Brown’s failed raid on Harpers Ferry, he had declared that if he had been there, he would have taken up arms and stirred up the slave revolt John Brown had intended. Suddenly James’s visage appeared so clearly to her mind’s eye that it was as if he stood before her, not rambling and drunk as he hadbeen in their last years together but smiling, bold, and handsome as he had been when they first met.
Elizabeth gasped and stopped short, shaken by the vision. She had not thought of her husband in weeks, perhaps months. Why would he come unbidden to her thoughts now?
“Elizabeth?” Virginia had been brought to an abrupt halt when Elizabeth stopped. “What’s the matter? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
Elizabeth managed a shaky laugh. “I haven’t, not as far as I know. At least not recently.”
Virginia smiled tentatively at her joke, but she looked uncertain. “What’s troubling you, then?”
Elizabeth hesitated. Virginia knew she was married and that she and her husband were estranged, but Elizabeth disliked speaking ill of James, and as a consequence, she had told Virginia little about him. She wasn’t sure why, but she was reluctant to admit that she had been thinking about him then.
So instead she nodded to the scenes of preparation for the defense of the city—all around them, and all inadequate. “Aren’t there reasons enough for all of us to be troubled these days?”
Virginia nodded. They watched a few moments more before continuing on home.
Soon, Elizabeth would wonder whether James’s restless, wistful spirit had indeed visited her in that moment she had imagined him so vividly.
Not two days after her stroll with Virginia, a letter came from Missouri, written in a deliberate yet shaky hand, full of misspellings and apologies.
Dear Mrs Keckley
It greves me to writ and tell you that your husband James past on from this life
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