//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: From One Civil War to Another (Old Version) // by Teal //------------------------------// The Fog of War Chapter 1 Only a day ago, the port at Alexandria, Virginia, was filled with men and supplies, as soldiers made their way up wooden planks and boarded any available vessel that would sail them out of the port and to sea. Under the watchful eyes of the navy, these ships made their way out of the Potomac, creating a vast fleet that dwarfed anything that has ever been seen in this coast before. But that was a day ago, for now; there were barely any signs of the mass fleet. Aside for a couple of supply ships and the occasional navy ship, the port seemed emptier than it was before. The loud ruckus of an army gave way to the silent and calm mornings that usually befell the city, as the few remnants of the army began to make their leave. One such remnant were the men who were now boarding the last ship that would take them out and join the fleet that had left them behind. Left behind due to a technical malfunction on the engines of their steamer ship, the men of the 15th Minnesota and their supporting units were now behind schedule, as they were stuck at port while the rest of the army sailed away. Told to wait for a day, the soldiers who were supposed to be on their way had to spend another night in the city, while they wait for their ship to be repaired. Not that many of the men were complaining, as most of them preferred to have their feet on the ground, than on top of a rocking deck. Raised deep inland, the men of the 15th were not the ones who would like to be rocked around a wooden ship, as they were tossed around by the waves. So when they saw the cloudy skies forming out to sea, most of them shook their heads and became apprehensive about boarding the ship when the time came. Some of them would prefer charging a brigade of rebels than to get on board the ship, but whether they wanted to go or not, they had to, because orders were orders. So the blue cladded men made their way up the gangway and onto the wooden deck, as they pilled themselves on the steamer ship docked before them. Carrying their rifles in their hands and packs slung all over them, these men were ready for war. But before they go fight this war, they first had to get there. Overseeing the boarding operation was the commander of the 15th, Colonel Thomas O’Malley, a West Point graduate and the commander of this veteran unit. Tall yet thin, O’Malley was a native Irishman, one of many who had migrated to the United States, hoping to start a new life here. Having been lucky to have been a son of a rich merchant, he had made a name for himself in the family by enrolling at West Point and passing, earning a commission as a lieutenant in the regular army. But when the civil war broke out, he was surprised and shock to learn that he suddenly rose through the ranks, ending up as a Colonel, to fill the army’s need for competent officers. Having been part of the regiment since it was created many months ago, O’Malley had first had doubts on what he saw. Ragged, unruly and seemingly deaf to orders, the men of the 15th looked like a bunch of civilians given guns, which was what they actually were. Shaking his head and getting straight to work, he began to transform the men using the best way he knew, continuous drilling. Teaching them proper military orders and discipline, he indoctrinated everything he knew by repeating it over and over again. He thought them how to march properly, how to load a rifle, how to form a line of battle. He did this by constantly telling them to repeat it and by doing it with them, personally leading the drills. All the hard work he had done seemed to have worked in the end, as they soon became as good as any regular army regiment. They had proven this when they fought their first battle, where most of them kept their cool. Despite having a few deserters, O’Malley knew that there were always men like that in any fighting unit. The important thing was the fact that they held and held until ordered to fall back. Now, they were off to fight again, to execute the grandiose plan of the commanding general. That is, if they get there. Seeing the clouds in the distance, O’Malley feared that the voyage might be canceled due to bad weather. Despite the reassurance of the ship’s captain, Captain Adrian, that the ships steam engines could get them to their destination before the storm reaches them, O’Malley still had his doubts. “Looks like we’re going to have some bad weather a head of us.” He muttered, as he and two other officers beside him stood on the port by the end of the gangway. “Bad weather indeed…” Lt. Palmer, commander of the small four gun battery that was attached to them, said. “…hopefully my guns would stay in place. Don’t want those restraints breaking and rock the ship even more.” “Yeah, we really don’t want that happening.” Capt. Fredrick of the Sharpshooter Company remarked, with a sick look on his face. Raised in a farm and having lived far away from the sea, Fredrick was one of the men who really didn’t like the idea of sailing on ships. “Well…” O’Malley said. “…if Captain Adrian is right, then we’ll only experience some light waves. If he says he can avoid the brewing storm, then the only thing we can do is take his word for it.” “For me and the sake of the other, I hope he is right…” Fredrick said, sighing. O’Malley nodded in agreement, before turning his head towards the top deck of the ship, were he heard someone call him. “Colonel, sir!” Lt. Col. Williams, his second in command, called out from the ship. “All the men have been boarded and accounted for, sir!” O’Malley nodded his reply, which Williams seemed to have seen, as the man gave a short nod in acknowledgement. “Well, gentlemen, shall we board?” He asked. Sighing, Fredrick shook his head. Looking out to sea, he could see that dark clouds gather as the sound of a storm brewing could be heard in the distance. He may not have been an expert at predicting the weather, but something inside him said that things weren’t going to end well for them. “We might as well get this over with. With that, the three men walked up the gangway and onto the ship, ready to start their voyage. The bow of the ship pushed its way through the big waves, as its steam powered engine tried to fight the elements before it. Strong winds blew upon the ship, toying with it as it tossed it about, while at the same time scaring some of them men inside with its fearsome howl. Slamming against the wooden hull, the waves rocked the ships any way it wanted to, bringing it to different directions as the ship seemed to stay in one place. The bad weather seemed to have materialized all around them, as the distant storm suddenly appeared all around the ship. Despite the best efforts of Captain Adrian to steer the ship away, the stormy clouds just seemed to follow them in equal to great speed. It was as if the clouds had an engine of their own. Now, the soldiers inside the ship were left to face the full force of the bad weather, as they and their equipment were tossed around inside the wooden hull. The sound of creaking wood and the droplets of water made life inside an even more unpleasant experience, as many of the men got sick from all the sudden movement. Trying his best to stay in one place, Color Sergeant John Gregory held tightly to the casing of the regimental colors, making sure that it never leaves his sight or his hand’s grip. Protected inside it’s casing, the regimental colors were well protected from the elements, like the water dripping from any corner. All Gregory had to do was make sure he didn’t lose it, as the rocking and swaying of the ship made any man drop anything that wasn’t tied down. The sound of groaning sea sick men mixed with the loud churning sound of the ship’s engine working, creating a sound that was eerie and frightening. Trying his best to stay in one corner, Gregory grab hold to a metal pole with one hand, while the other kept a tight grip on the color’s casing. Observing the scene around him, it felt that the ship was now spinning, as if it got caught in a whirlpool. Gregory gulped at the prospect; a he felt a shiver ran through his spine, caused by both fear and cold. The sound of waves tossing around and wind blowing was still heard, as the spinning motion of the ship became more evident with each passing second. Nausea took hold of many of the soldiers, as they let lose the contents of their stomachs on the wooden floor. Equipment and men alike were tossed around, as many desperately grabbed hold at anything that was nailed down. During that moment, Gregory was sure that they were caught in a whirlpool, for there was no other force that could spin a ship to such an extent. The thought of the ship and all the men aboard being sucked underwater scared him, but he kept the firm grip on both the metal pole and the casing. When he volunteered for service, he expected to die in the worse ways, either by a cannon ball or by bleeding to death. But he had never imagined dying this way, due to a storm and out at sea. Desperately praying and wishing for this to end, the sounds of terror and anger rumbled upon outside him. Reaching it crescendo, the storm sent all of its force upon them; as a sudden and powerful jolt soon befell the entire ship, tossing anyone who didn’t have a firm hold across the ship. The distinctive sound of wooden cracking could be heard below them, as the loud screeching winds grew softer and softer. Soon, after a couple of seconds, it stopped. Like a great storm that once shrouded the earth, the terrible weather upon them soon stopped. “Now, I’m no sailor, but I’m pretty sure that ships aren’t supposed to be this deep in land.” Capt. Fredrick remarked, as he and all the other high ranking officers inside the ship stood on top of the deck and looked around to see the endless miles of land that was surrounding them. “I think I can agree with that, Fredrick.” Lt. Palmer said, as he stood beside the man, scanning the new surrounding in front of them. All around them, surrounding the ship and the two, was a vast forest of trees, with its green shrubbery all over the place. Normally, there would have been nothing wrong with surrounding like this. But seeing that they were supposed to be at sea and surrounded by water, having trees all around them would raise questions to any man who experienced the same situation. Standing nearby in great shock and confusion was Captain Adrian, who was leaning upon the railing and staring at the distance. Only moments ago, he and his crew were fighting the elements, trying to keep the ship afloat. The great fog the soon surrounded them didn’t help and when the ship started spinning, Captain Adrian thought that all was lost. But instead of finding a watery tomb, he instead found himself in the middle of nowhere and on land, of all the places he could fall on. So now, baffled and lost for words, the only thing the Captain could do was stair and wait. Looking out to the side and observing his surrounding, O’Malley moved away from the rest of the officers as he went to the edge of the deck. From what he saw, he could tell that the ship somehow landed on top of this forest, as broken and crushed trees lay underneath the ship’s hall. On how they managed to get flung there, he didn’t know. Confused and as frightened as anyone else aboard, O’Malley wanted to figure out where they managed to end up here and how. But he knew that the answer to those questions didn’t lie on them standing there and pondering. “Someone get a rope ladder over here.” He called. “I want to figure out where we are and I think we might be able to find some landmarks if we go down.” Soon enough, he and some of his officers went down. Lt. Palmer volunteered to keep an eye on Captain Adrian as the man still looked a little shaky after the entire ordeal. Escorted by a squad of soldiers, those who weren’t too sick to stand, they moved around to see what was surrounding the fallen ship. But they soon figured out that mapping the area from a top the ship was a better tactic, as the forest floor was engulfed in a thick fog. With fog as thick as the one present, anything in front of them was nothing but a shady silhouette. “All I know is that we’re in a forest, which forest, I don’t know.” Fredrick remarked, giving up his survey of the nearby area, as the fog made the task impossible. “But how did we get here?” O’Malley questioned. Fredrick shrugged. “Maybe the storm managed to lift us up and-“ His sentence was cut off by the sound of a nearby twig snapping, as the squad escorting them instantly reacted by presenting arms and pointing them towards the general direction of the sound. Trying their best to see what it was, both O’Malley and Fredrick could only see the faint silhouettes of horse like figures that seemed to be standing nearby. O’Malley wondered if they managed to run into some cavalry, as his thought was justified by the sound of hooves approaching. Weather these silhouettes were friendly or not, they didn’t know, as the soldiers kept their rifles cocked and ready to fire. Soon enough a figure appeared out of the fog, something that added more surprise and confusion to all of them. Small for a horse, this strange creature bore orange fur as well as having a long pastel colored mane. With a hat on top and saddle bags on its bag, the creature approached them with seemingly angry eyes. O’Malley had never seen such anger in an animal as he felt the creature staring at them like a fighter against its enemy. There was such emotion on its face that it brought a chill down his spine, for he never faced such a threat that looked like it was ready to kill him in the most brutal of manners. As the orange creature approached, the silhouettes hiding behind the fog soon came up, revealing sharp swords that were gripped between their teeth. But it wasn’t the weapons that brought the biggest shock to them, as what happened next brought great surprise that almost made their brains come out of their heads. In a distinctive southern accent, the orange creature that seemed to lead them opened it mouth and spoke: “Who are ye, what are ye, and why are ye here?”