Bull Run

Nathaniel reaches Centreville, Virginia, with the army. Initially, the men are cheerful and rowdy, stealing from the homes and taking down Confederate flags. However, when a regiment goes to Bull Run and retreats with wounded soldiers, Nathaniel gets even more customers who want their portraits taken. The soldiers want to “live on, framed and set upon a table” (47) if they die in battle. Nathaniel’s showing of the “human soul” photo that night comforts the troops and makes him a lot of money.

Virgil’s company takes the train to Harpers Ferry, Virginia. General Jackson, nicknamed “Old Lemon-Squeezer” (49), attracts the men’s gossip because of his strange habits and his strict Christian behavior. The troops travel to Winchester to escape the approaching Union troops, and then they go on to Manassas to give reinforcement to General Beauregard. The trains send for more soldiers when they arrive, and it is clear there will be a battle. Virgil and his friend Tuck promise to fight next to each other.

General McDowell’s plan to attack the Confederates is put on hold while the army waits for more food. The day before Sunday’s planned attack on Beauregard, McDowell learns that the Eighth New York Militia and the Fourth Pennsylvania plan to leave for home at midnight when their 90-day enlistments end. McDowell entreats them to stay and fight for the Union, but the men continue packing. While walking to his tent that night, he notes more men than usual at the chaplain’s tent, giving confession and writing letters home should they die in battle.

The cavalry waits for battle, their behavior becoming increasingly solemn as the night progresses. Shem finds it ironic that his fellow soldiers are all faithful Christians but will not hesitate to commit the sin of murder on the battlefield. He listens to one man reading Gulliver’s Travels out loud. In the story, Gulliver goes to a land ruled by horses who do not know what soldiers and weapons are. The horses are shocked to learn about war; Shem wishes he was in their country. He vows to learn how to read and finish the book. He visits the stables and tries to put his mind at ease.

At two a.m., the sound of drumming wakes Gideon. His regiment sleepily marches to the bridge at Bull Run. General Schenck orders that the cannons be fired.

While reading the Bible and praying, Flora hears three cannons fired, followed by rifles. Concerned for her daughters’ husbands, she spends the next two hours in prayer on the floor.

Edmund Upwing, a cab driver, wakes up before dawn to drive rich politicians and their wives from Washington to Centreville. They are dressed in their finest clothes and have packed food and champagne, ready to watch a Union victory in battle. They set up a picnic on a hill where many other Washingtonians are already lounging and anticipating a good show.

Judah is ordered to ride toward the battle and report back to Beauregard about where the Union troops are. He ties his horse’s reins to a tree, only to have them break apart with a cannon blast. He is now “a courier whose horse ha[s] sprinted away” (60).

After a morning of delays and wrong turns, Dietrich’s division reaches Bull Run. They are four hours later than planned, and the Confederates are waiting for them. The Confederates fire, and the Union soldiers charge uphill. Dietrich is appalled to see a man with his intestines blown out. While firing his rifle, he thinks back on a childhood toy and his family and then goes dark.

The men in Toby’s regiment are ordered into battle; the band will stay behind, away from the fighting. Toby thinks the soldiers look “proud as stallions” (63), and he is deeply jealous that he has to play the fife instead of fight.

James watches the battle and furiously draws the scenes of commotion and bravery. He becomes so filled with fervor for the advancing Union troops that he stops drawing and starts cheering.

Beauregard is confused because he does not hear his brigades fighting in the planned places. Colonel Brattle thinks that Beauregard’s commands were not communicated well and the commanders do not know what is happening. They hear fighting on the left, where it is not supposed to be. General Johnston grows impatient with Beauregard, who will not ride to the battle, and declares he will go himself.

The men in A. B.’s battery organize into six groups of eight, each group firing a gun at the Confederate troops. Through the smoke, A. B. sees the Confederates dispersing in retreat, causing the Union men to celebrate and claim victory in the war.

Dr. Rye waits miles off from the battle with several other medics. Despite the pleasant sounds of nature, Dr. Rye is focused on the sounds of battle, waiting for the first wounded soldiers.

Edmund waits in his coach while his passengers feast. They are more focused on their abundant picnic than on the battle and the men who are dying. An officer arrives on a horse and announces that the Confederates are retreating. Picnickers across the hill celebrate and drink champagne.

After walking five miles, Virgil’s regiment joins the battle. Virgil sees their bulldog mascot trying to catch bullets in his mouth, and when he tries to show his friend Tuck, he realizes Tuck is already dead. He does not want to charge without Tuck but is pushed into it, feeling “all alone in the world” (70). The charge goes terribly, and they are relieved to see reinforcements coming. However, these soldiers are really Union General Sherman’s men wearing Confederate uniforms. The Union soldiers shoot and kill many in Virgil’s regiment. The Confederates flee but continue to be shot down. General Bee is killed while ranting that General Jackson will not help them.

Dietrich awakes on the grass, unable to move. His legs are covered in blood, and the man next to him is dead. He wonders if he was passed over for dead. He mentally talks to the woman who made his shirt and whose picture he kept. He tells her they both need to stay alive.

A soldier with a bloodied ear tells Carlotta and the other nervous enslaved people that the North is winning. Carlotta nearly celebrates out loud, believing the Northerners will free her, and God will punish the South. The soldier is distraught that the Confederacy and his “good looks” are both “gone forever” (74).

Gideon is eager to join the battle, but his brigade is sitting around, acting “as decoys” (75) to the real attack. He is “boil[ing] with disappointment” (75) that he is not able to fight and has to simply sit and wait.

Judah’s horse does not come back to him, so he mounts the horse of a fallen soldier. He delivers bad news and, when General Smith’s regiments arrive by train, he urges them to join the fight. Smith hurries his soldiers forward when they see the many injured and dying men.

As each side takes turns firing upon the other, A. B. “wonder[s] whether their men were truly all savages” (77) and questions why war is celebrated. A group of blue-uniformed men heads toward them, and A. B.’s officers argue about whether the men are actually Union soldiers or Confederates in disguise. They do not fire at the approaching men, disguised Confederates who soon fire upon them. A. B. is shot in both arms and “run[s] for [his] life” (78); all the horses and many of the men are killed.

Jeb Stuart, the flamboyantly dressed colonel of the cavalry, leads them into a surprise attack against the Union Zouaves. Shem avoids being stabbed by a bayonet, but when the soldier tries to stab Shem’s horse, Shem shoots him “without thinking” (79). He is immediately shocked that he did that and hopes the man lives so his children do not become orphans.