April 2nd, 1865 [evening]

Every man was anxious as the Rebels hurried to the innermost parts of the city. They were visibly rattled, almost confused as they all moved to their commanded positions.

Pennon met Sandler, who was at his post.

“It would appear the surprise attack stirred the General into action.”

“Yes, but our orders aren’t very optimistic ones: ‘hold your position in the city until the last man, or nightfall, whichever comes first.’” Matthew shook his head. “Let’s just pray the Yankees don’t get wind that General Robert E. Lee is here. If they do they’ll be attacking like hounds from hell. Yes sir, they will.”

“Well, look on the bright side, Matt. If it pleases the Lord, we’ll be across the Appomattox by morning’”

“It would have to be a miracle NOT to be in glory tonight.”

George Pennon moved on to his post. As he stood there, waiting for the night to simply be over without excitement. He couldn’t imagine sleeping tonight, even if he wasn’t on duty. The city was unnervingly quiet. He peered out, straining to notice any movement in the Union camps. Pennon turned and shuffled nervously as he settled for a long night of anticipation.

 

No shot was fired that night. The union scouts spotted an artillery battery outside Lee’s head quarters, and assumed it was part of a huge unseen force. They hesitate to attack, giving the Confederates their much hoped-for evening of peace.

April 2nd, 1865 [morning]

George jumped awake at the sound of gunfire. It was still mostly dark, the sky above him being a dense shade of gray. If he could guess, it was four in the morning. More firing and horrible screams could be heard in the distance. Had the confederates begun attacking the Union at last?

“God, let it be so.” He breathed, as he stood hurriedly and painfully. It was a sad hope, because the Confederates were weak with hunger and fatigue, but it was something, Pennon reasoned.

As he plodded to the dilapidated main street, he noticed General Lee and his assistants, Generals Longstreet and Hill, shaking their heads sadly, while gazing and gesturing toward the sound of the battle. George’s throat tightened as he came to the realization that  the encounter was unexpected to the Generals.

He ran to where he had a vantage point of the battle. He stumbled frantically over debris and sleeping men in the streets as he hurried to higher ground. It wasn’t even light enough to distinguish between blue and gray, but the fighting was in the Confederate defensive trenches, and Pennon assumed the Union had surprised the poor men suffering in the trenches.

George noticed Matthew walking hurriedly toward him. ‘What the blazes is going on, George?”

“Yankees attacked the trenches, Matt.”

That was all that was spoken between them as they stood watching the indistinct commotion in the distance.

The sky lightened to a rosy hue, it cheery color seeming to mock their dire circumstances. Pennon and Sandler stood side by side, tense, knees and arms locked, their breath almost never coming in or leaving, as they waited in apprehension.

George strained hard, looking toward the trenches,  in an attempt to discover their fate, but eventually he was forced to close his sore eyes.

When he opened them a minute later, the field was partially illuminated. As far as his eyes could see, every standing man on the field wore blue.

April 1st, 1865

George Pennon was frustrated.
 
As he trudged aimlessly along an alley in Petersburg, he tried to block out the groaning and muttering of his fellow comrades along dilapidated walls of the town, their faces all but wasted in agony.

  The Confederate Force had been under siege at Petersburg for months now. But it wasn’t really a proper siege, however much the press wanted to call it so.

In some ways they were at a stalemate.The Union army had cut off the five rail lines that led to the city, leaving no way for supplies to reach the Rebels. But the Appomattox River made it impossible to surround it completely, as it flowed right through the heart of Petersburg.


Pennon’s stomach cramped ferociously as he huddled in a corner, out of the wind.

“If only old Lee would order attack on the blasted Yanks! The men here would rally their last bit of strength for any mode of action” George thought “If not that, we could at least cross the Appomattox River and head toward the Carolinas. I’ve heard  of plenty of food at the Amelia Court House.”

 He exhaled shakily. “All we do is sit around all the time, like lame ducks, and wonder which day is going to be our last!” he grumbled out loud.

His friend, Matthew Sandler slumped down beside him.

“I agree, George, what’re we waiting for? Are we all just going to die here?”

Pennon whistled through his teeth and shook his head. “Matt, I’ve been thinking that if we just lit out across the Appomattox and marched to Amelia Court House, some of us at least would survive to eat the bounty there. But we’ve got to do it now, before it’s too late!”

Sandler nodded his head. “Just think about all that food we could be eating, sitting there! It's enough to drive a man mad!

George leaned toward Matthew and wheezed under his breath, “I hear some are just handing their guns over to the Yanks, surrendering, just to get a mouthful.”

Sandler leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. “Sometimes I start considering that myself, George.”

George Pennon wrapped his arms around himself tightly and groaned with a fresh hunger pang.

 “Me too, Matt; By Jove, me too.”

Introduction

Hi Everyone,

I recently studied the Civil War, and was inspired to write a bit on how the war ended.

The main reason I want to do this is to fix all the details in my mind more permanently, which happens when I take the extra effort to think in depth, in order to portray it in the eyes of the character in my story.

 I am not going to say that this will be my best work, because it won't be. I won't even call this work a book. I merely want to give some insight to the readers about the state of the confederate army before the civil war ended, as well as the events leading up to it.

 I will be taking my information from an amazing book called "Killing Lincoln" by Bill O'Reilly [part 1], which I reccomend highly, as well as online sources.

One section of the story will be posted a day after the first is posted.

The main character, whose name is George Pennon, is a fictitional common soldier in the confederate army. You will be introduced to him at the end of the siege of Petersburg.

He and his friend, Matthew Sandler,(also fictitional) are going to be used for my purpose as basically 'flies on the wall'. Meaning, they don't play important roles in the story or historical events in general, so that the actual occurrences can lead the flow of the storyline.

  I hope you will enjoy this as a way to get to understand the end of the civil war.

 ~ A.B. Elliott