Battle of Bull Run
It's July 1st, 1861. Ulysses Grant stands, thinking about what he should do next. A war-hardened man from Ohio, Grant had quickly been promoted to General of the Union. He wants to march on Richmond, the Confederate capital. I, William Easton, stand idly by, waiting for the order. I'm one of Grant's generals, born and raised in Pennsylvania. Grant turns to me and says, "Tell the troops to attack at Manassas. It's one of the South's railroad junctions, so it'll be well protected."
I nod. "Yes sir." I start to leave, but Grant stops me.
"Oh, and William?"
"Yes?"
"We'll have an audience." He tells me, and I nod. I've seen the people, sitting up on the hill, watching like this war is some kind of game. Well they were wrong. This would be a bloody war, fought between brothers and friends.
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Later, I met the commanders of the troops and told them the plans. They all nodded and off the troops went. We get to Manassas and we see the enemy approaching. We greatly outnumber them. I hear a shot and the battle begins. I hear the Union soldiers all around me yelling, "On to Richmond!" I see the Confederates charging towards us, and I recognize a face. I gasp in horror. It's my old friend, Paul Jones. We were like brothers. I catch his eye, and he recognizes me too. His mouth drops open, and stays like that, because the soldier next to me just shot him dead. I resist the urge to cry out. It's now I find out this really is a war of brothers.
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I continue on fighting for a while. I can't remember how long we fight on for. I have bloodstains on my clothing, but it's not mine. The Confederates start to retreat, and all of a sudden I see a Confederate man on his horse. He just stares and faces us, rallying his men around him. I can't remember his name...it's Stonewall or something? They start to push us back, somehow. We use all our force, but it's no use. I turn to run but fall. I feel a numb pain in my back, and a gunshot rings in my ears. I try to stand...but then everything fades away.
I nod. "Yes sir." I start to leave, but Grant stops me.
"Oh, and William?"
"Yes?"
"We'll have an audience." He tells me, and I nod. I've seen the people, sitting up on the hill, watching like this war is some kind of game. Well they were wrong. This would be a bloody war, fought between brothers and friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later, I met the commanders of the troops and told them the plans. They all nodded and off the troops went. We get to Manassas and we see the enemy approaching. We greatly outnumber them. I hear a shot and the battle begins. I hear the Union soldiers all around me yelling, "On to Richmond!" I see the Confederates charging towards us, and I recognize a face. I gasp in horror. It's my old friend, Paul Jones. We were like brothers. I catch his eye, and he recognizes me too. His mouth drops open, and stays like that, because the soldier next to me just shot him dead. I resist the urge to cry out. It's now I find out this really is a war of brothers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I continue on fighting for a while. I can't remember how long we fight on for. I have bloodstains on my clothing, but it's not mine. The Confederates start to retreat, and all of a sudden I see a Confederate man on his horse. He just stares and faces us, rallying his men around him. I can't remember his name...it's Stonewall or something? They start to push us back, somehow. We use all our force, but it's no use. I turn to run but fall. I feel a numb pain in my back, and a gunshot rings in my ears. I try to stand...but then everything fades away.