War Torn Hearts - Chapter Two

Chapter two
April 5th 1862 - Corinth, MS
About thirty miles southwest of the Union camp, not near enough to see them but close enough for word to reach them about the other army, the Confederate’s Army of Mississippi was setting up their own camp the not far from the Tennessee border. Most men wore tatters of grey coats, stained with blood from the soldiers who wore them before and were not so lucky as to need these clothes anymore and their boots were falling apart. It was only the officers that seemed to wear the new uniforms though the reason for it was that the higher ups tended to live long enough to put them suckers to good use.

Major Jason Daniels, commander of the infantry regiments under Colonel Hardee, sat on a bench in the open park, watching the people go by while he relaxed in the shade. His short, dirty blond hair was neatly combed white his light blue kepi rested beside him on his seat and blue-grey eyes saw every little thing about the pedestrians that walked by, specially the way the women would stare at him and giggle. His double breasted, cadet grey coat, which reached mid-thigh length when he stood up, and his long, darker grey pants matched his ankle high boots’ black color. His rank glinted from it’s place against his collar and the braid along the outside of his coat sleeve indicated his rank to those who couldn’t see his collar. His white dress shirt from underneath the main coat and the light blue lining, like the blue of his hat, screamed his officer position was in the infantry.

He had just been told by the Colonel himself of the Union army that wasn’t too far north of their current position and had been thinking about how best to attack them without losing so many. From what he had heard those stupid Yankees had the numbers but were ill prepared for any kind of fight. Apparently there were too many new men in this Army for the idiot in charge to even bother trying to fortify his position. Perhaps this would be easier than first anticipated. “God damn Yanks,” he grumbled to himself. “You’re almost too easy to beat.”

“What in the name of all that is holy are you doin’ out here?” a familiar voice said suddenly beside the Major, making him start a little and turn. “Ain’t you supposed to be with them men o’ yours?”

Jason relaxed and scooted over a bit on the bench to make room for his friend. “And you, artillery boy? I’d have thought for sure you’d be with your precious guns to make sure they is handled properly.” He purposely dropped the quality of his English to mock the other who promptly smacked him in the arm for it. “I was just kidding!”

The second man that had spoken leaned forward in his seat, the red lining of his mid-thigh length jacket and the crown of his kepi was a matching red, giving away his own position in the artillery just as Jason’s coloring have him away. On this man’s collar, his major star glittered happily in the sunlight and the design on his sleeve was just as intricate as it should be. This man, Major Joseph Roberts, was known to be very proud of his guns and although he was young and relatively delicate looking compared to many men in the Colonel’s good army.

With soft platinum blond hair, kept almost unorthodoxly short and eyes of the richest shade of blue anyone had seen some people could swear he was an angel at first sight. He was kind and very easy to get along with, his sense of humor varying by the group of people he was with. He had a lower voice than most people expected but it wasn’t very low and spoke with a bit of a drawl when he was most relaxed around his friends or his family (at least Jason hoped he was that comfortable around his family). He had a quick mind when it came to mathematics, meaning calculating the angles needed for hitting targets was a quick and fairly accurate process for him, and it was even quicker when it came to comebacks for insults.

“You’re lucky I don’t let my guns fire on you guys one of these days,” he warned with a more professional tone, meaning he was about to go into some rather important business. “and I came to tell you we’ve got some orders to start gathering our men. We’re moving out tomorrow.”

Jason raised a dirty blond eyebrow. “Really? Where to?”

“We have to get our asses up to Tennessee. We’re engaging the Union Army there.”

“Well damn! That’s thirty some-odd miles!”

“And? You think the colonels care? They just want to kick that Grant fella’s ass.”

Jason fought down the urge to groan as he lay his head back and closed his eyes letting the shade of the tree behind him keep the sun away from them. He could feel a headache coming on already. They had just gotten here, just started to relax. Now that stupid general just had to through them back into everything. “So we’re using the same plan we had before or a new one?”

“Yea, we’re using the same one that we came up with a few days ago.” Joseph (or Joey as he was called by his friends), answered leaning forward so his elbows rested against his knees and his hands helt his chin and he rested it on his palms. “Hopefully they didn’t screw up their numbers royally this time.”

“I hope so too or we’re just going to be even more screwed over this time.”

The younger man chuckled and turned to he watched his infantry friend. “Ya know what?” he said, his voice losing the strictness from earlier. “I didn’t have no trouble that time buddy. It was only you and your footmen.”

“Yeah well, maybe if I got real soldiers instead of fresh recruits who haven’t even made out with a woman yet I may have done better.”

The two men laughed together at this joke though it wasn’t so much a stretch of the truth as they would have liked it to have been. Although neither had met his with his soldiers that weren’t directly below them all they had to do was look about a small town they were stationed at like today and watch the privates flirt with the ladies or follow the older soldiers like puppies. It made Jason a bit sad knowing that most of these young ones wouldn’t make it through this war but he also knew that bodies were bodies and bodies were what the army needed most in today’s war.

Joey closed his eyes and sighed as he shifted to get his arms on a more comfortable position for the moment. He had the same problem, Jason knew, but unlike the infantry commander, his boys were well behind friendly lines when they died and more often then not their deaths were much more agonizing that those who died on the battlefield. It was a good thing that his constitution was rather strong, despite his angelic appearance.

It was then that the rather annoying clatter of heavy horse hooves pounding on the pavement caught the attention of both majors and simultaneously the two sat up to address the man they knew was coming. Mentally they winced and Jason made sure to cover his left ear just as the rider came to a halt and practically screamed for his war horse to stop. It did not help very much.

“What is it you want, Major Jackson?” Joey, still cringing from the yell and trying to stop the ringing in his ears. “Did you find one of your horse’s hair was bent and need us to help you find the culprit?”

The man on horseback glared at the blond major. “Very funny Roberts. I am actually here to deliver orders to the two of you.”

Jason looked up at the man at last and had to keep from rolling his eyes. Of course the son-of-a-bitch would come on his personal war horse, in his whole pretty uniform with the major star on the collar on his grey uniform glinting and the yellow lining his coat obvious for anyone who cared to look. His hat, unlike the other two’s, was a broad brimmed thing with a cord on it of gold and a pair of rifles crossing over each other on the front. Knee high boots, bought on his own time, met with the length of his frock coat and gave an overall very traditional look to his uniform, as in Revolutionary War traditional.

“And why would you be the one delivering these orders, Jackson?” Jason asked after a long moment, crossing his legs at the ankle as he stretched them out while he stared into the older Major’s storm grey eyes that matched his salt-and-pepper mustache. “Isn’t that something so very below your position?”

Major Jackson chose not to dignify the latter comment with a response, as the infantry commander knew he wouldn’t, but tossed the letters at them. “Confidential material. Can’t trust the lowly messengers with anything important.”

Joseph caught his first and felt it’s weight, frowning when the envelope was rather thick. “Well damn, they got everything in here don’t they?” he muttered to himself and slipped it inside his coat pocket as he stood, putting his kepi on over his blond hair again. “Thanks I guess, Jackson. Though I do have one bit of advise for ya.”

A thick, peppered eyebrow raised as the Cavalry commander acknowledged his peer. Jason had to restrain himself from laughing. He knew what was coming up and had been waiting for the moment for a while.

“Would ya tell your pathetic boys that if they wanna last a bit longer, riding away from my boys’ gunfire will usually help?”

The indigent glare that was the man’s answer had both of the other officers laughing and as Jason got to his feet, putting his letter in his pocket with one hand while grabbing his kepi with the other, he couldn’t help the grin that broke out on his handsome face. “Or better yet, keep them away from my boys’ bayonets and you’ll get out of there with more horses.” Another burst of laugher came from them as the third Major tried to retort but couldn’t. Eventually he just gave up and rode back to head quarters leaving the two men laughing their heads off together in the streets to attract their own unwanted attention.

It took both young men a moment or two before they were able to stop laughing and compose themselves again. “So, Joey,” Major Daniels said after a long moment, setting the kepi on his head as it was supposed to be. “I guess I had better be getting back to my men before they manage to shoot each other by mistake. This ride north ain’t gonna be easy for them.”

The artillery commander nodded and stretched himself before sighing and rolling his shoulders. “Yeah, yeah, I get ya,” he said a bit dejectedly. He had wanted to talk to his friend some more. “See ya at Tennessee.”

The two said their goodbyes and although they originated from the same point, they had to go separate ways to get back to their men. Major Daniels paused just before exiting the square he had been in and took a deep breath. This may be, after all, the last time he saw calm for a long while.