And She Fought At Gettysburg

AND SHE FOUGHT AT GETTYSBURG

After the previous three days of fighting, all he could smell was sulfur and the stench of dead bodies lying in every direction on the ground across the many miles surrounding the small town. He carefully loaded the blanket-wrapped body across the saddle of the horse he found roaming nervously about the battlefield. After he completed his task, he paused to take one last look around and with a tear-stained face mounted his horse. He had so many questions that needed answering and felt they could be answered only by taking the body back to Rosewood Plantation and asking the only two people he knew would know. Lieutenant Potter, his most trusted officer and friend, knew her also and knew what he had to do to help his colonel take special care of her. If she were left here, she would be considered an unknown. The two looked at each other for a lingering moment, and with a nod of his head, Colonel Drake rode off. It was a risk that could backfire. He only hoped that nothing had happened to the Plantation in his absence and the two people she loved as much as he were still there. As he rode toward Rosewood, he remembered how he had met her. He wondered if anyone would ever know or appreciate all that she had been through or how much she had sacrificed for her country. Would anyone know how exceptional this woman was? He knew that if it took him until his last breath he was going to make sure she was remembered, that her story was told no matter how unacceptable her ultimate sacrifice was to society.

His ride was long and lonesome. He kept wondering what could have happened that drove her to fight. He had always considered himself lucky to have met such a beautifully strong, intelligent woman, and the thought of seeing her again was what he knew had kept him alive. He now knew why he had been spared so many times. God truly had a plan for them all.