Buffalo Soldier Sentinel Ezine

——————————————————————–

Buffalo Soldier Sentinel welcomes guest writer Barbara P. Grainger’s April 2, 2012 essay and review of First Dark: A Buffalo Soldier’s Story.  Her essay presents a thoughtful discussion of the ongoing debate about the role historic fiction plays recounting history.  Renown Mexcian novelist Carlos Fuentes asserted that the real historians in Latin America are its novelists.  In this issue, Barbara Grainger shares her insights on illumination and our understanding of the “real” history.

First Dark, by Bob Rogers, tells the epic story of a young slave, Isaac Rice, as he moves toward manhood as a volunteer in the Union Army during the Civil War.  Isaac’s story stretches across a large section of the American landscape.  It is filled with exploits that are often dangerous and complex.  He meets men and women from various stations in life and learns broad lessons about the man’s inhumanity to man and conversely about man’s endearing concern for his fellow man, regardless of race or station.  He loves women and is loved in return.  Isaac’s adventures cause him to mature into a man whose soul is truly evolved and is in a more majestic place than the common man.

In telling Isaac’s story, Bob Rogers uses a blend of history and fiction. Some are opposed to this type of historical recounting because the injection of fiction is the antithesis of what we know as history.  Injecting fiction often employs the blending of fictional characters with real characters.  There are those who say blending characters can cause confusion and blur the facts.   Why not stick to the facts and leave the historical record as is?

So we raise the question: What are the advantages of historical fiction as opposed to pure recorded history?

As an English major, I am naturally attuned to reading an abundance of fiction as opposed to nonfiction.  With pleasure, I get lost in the world of make believe and in it I find escape from the hum drum existence of day to day life.  There’s laughter, there’s sadness, and there is the entire range of human emotions.  The characters become real and we can react to them, learn from them.  We connect with the page and this interaction breathes life into the narration.

History, on the other hand, as I recall from too many sleepy days in class wishing to be somewhere else on the globe, was a series of dry facts: William the Conqueror and the Battle of Normandy – 1066; the Black Death killed so and so many; six million Jewish people perished during the holocaust; Americans bombed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945; D-Day marked the end of World War II.  I perked up now and then, perhaps when it was mentioned that a coven of witches might have influenced the winds turning, helping to bring about the defeat of the Spanish Armada.  I thought to myself, now here’s a story, but sadly, we returned to old Sir Walter Raleigh.

But, not enough time was spent there.  We had to get on with the facts – a chaste recording of facts.  The lives of nameless personages became secondary to a listing of events and dates.  The events are about people, but the people are removed, frozen into side shots in history books with only their severest countenances exposed.  They were flat characters, as we would call them in English – no depth, no humanity.

I knew some facts about the Civil War.  The more salient ones being that it was fought between the north and the south, and the north wore blue while the south wore gray.  I knew that Sherman burned his way through Georgia and South Carolina.  I knew that an important battle was fought at Antietam.  Lincoln was president and the slaves were freed.  That there was a lot of fighting, and a lot of people died.

Common sense tells us that these events affected people.  There were parents left to shed perpetual tears.  There were young wives who would forever ache for the comforting arms of their husbands.  There were children whose memories would have to be prompted by photographs.  These effects on people were lost along the way behind the list of dry facts and dates along with the real stories of the men who yearned for their families, who watched their friends die beside them, and who saw the human body torn asunder in the most vicious ways imaginable.  Men who felt their lives seep away knowing that they were leaving hurt behind, opening their souls in prayer to God and seeing in the end what no man can record.  None of this is in a history book.

The film, Glory, tells the story of one of the earliest fighting units of the United States Army that was entirely made up of black enlisted men – the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.  Glory is based on the personal letters of the Fifty-fourth’s commanding officer, Robert Gould Shaw, and supplemental materials.  This movie, for one, ratcheted up interest in the Civil War era by its popularity alone.  It won numerous awards, including three Oscars.  The Civil War came alive on screens across America, and it was relived again and again.  As an educator at that time, I saw the film etched into the curriculum as a must for teachers of American History.  It piqued the children’s interest and allowed them to see that history involved people and their lives evoked emotions, and their contributions mattered and impacted lives today.  Eased between the historical facts of the film were real people, who lived, laughed, suffered, bled, and died.  The reality of Shaw fighting amid the prejudices of other officers as well as the enemy in gray gave us something that we could actually feel.  We bonded with the characters and saw them as people and we wept when they died.  Within the annals of history, no tears were shed.  “That’s history” means that it happened and it’s done.

Historical fiction puts past action in the here and now.  When the author injects humanity into the dead facts, he is breathing life into the past and providing an interconnection for us and we trudge through murky swamp waters, hold our breath as the enemy approaches, and our bodies feel a jolt when we fire the musket, or we cry out in pain when the bullet tears our flesh.  And when we bed down at night, we long for those whose heartstrings are knotted to ours, inextricably, forever.

First Dark is set during the Civil War, but the author employs a floating scenario as he follows the main character, Isaac Rice, beginning with his escape from a plantation near Charleston, South Carolina to join the Union Army through a series of adventures on battlefields across the South, through Mississippi and the Great Plains and on into Texas and Mexico.  The story illustrates the guerilla and renegade scrapes between the North and South that occur after the war has ended and during the upheaval of the Reconstruction Era.  Buffalo Soldier Isaac wears two faces during the struggles between the Mexicans, Mescalero Apaches, Comanches, Cheyenne, and the United States Army  in the west and witnesses times when he does not know which side he should be fighting on because he senses the humanity of all men and sees that it is really brother fighting against brother, regardless of color, and for an ultimate end that might not benefit humankind in general.  Along the way, Isaac bonds with a plethora of characters and finds love in the arms of women whose hearts held something beyond race.  He became close friends with men of several ethnicities and found that honor and loyalty were oblivious to color.

First Dark was heavily researched and it is to the author’s credit to bring verisimilitude to his work through the richness of varying dialogues, the depth of characterization, the descriptions of local flora and fauna, the mores and customs of differing cultures, as well as historical facts.  The insertion of trueness teaches us about this important time in our history, and the invented characters interwoven with real characters make the story memorable.

The expression “That’s history,” compels us to turn the page and move on, but in historical fiction, the book is always open and the page breathes continuously linking lives from primeval times to the present – one humanity, one blood, forever interconnected.

Many thanks to author Bob Rogers for allowing the reader a broad glimpse into this particular period in our history by presenting a saga that is so real that we can become a part of it.

                                           # # #

——————————————————————–

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off

——————————————————————–

First Dark: A Buffalo Soldier's Story

First Dark: A Buffalo Soldier’s Story is Isaac Rice’s epic of an ordinary life during America’s violent and explosive years of Civil War, Reconstruction, westward expansion, wars with American Indians, and spillover mayhem from a Mexican Revolution.

First Dark is immensely entertaining with its sub-plots, love stories, humor, hate, revenge, and redemption.  With painstaking research and writing that is respectful of the past, First Dark delivers in word pictures the facts, time-frames, and horrors of history that help us better understand issues in our country during the twenty-first century.

First Dark is top flight entertainment and an easily read lesson of an important period in America’s history.

                                          # # #

——————————————————————–

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off

——————————————————————–

MAKE ME A SOLDIER: Part III of III: The Battle of Shiloh  (James Darby: Civil War Union Cavalryman)

© 2012 by Bob Rogers, author of the novels Will and Dena, and First Dark: A Buffalo Soldier’s Story.

The protagonist in this story, James Darby, plays a prominent role the novel First Dark: A Buffalo Soldier’s Story.  James Darby returns later this month in the Civil War Sesquicentennial FREE ebook novella, James Darby: Civil War Union Cavalryman, “MAKE ME ASOLDIER” re-titled.

More FREE ebooks are coming this summer:

• William Duke: Civil War Confederate Infantryman
• Francesca Dumas: Passing in New Orleans

MAKE ME A SOLDIER: Part III of III: The Battle of Shiloh (James Darby: Civil War Union Cavalryman)

Forage Cap, M1861, US Cavalry

“Halt!  Who goes there?”  As James waited for a reply, he felt the hair on his neck rise.  He was sure he heard a twig snap.  Clutching his carbine, James guessed the time to be half past two.  It was nearly pitch black while a small gray cloud hid the moon.  Sam stirred and slowly sat up.

More insistent, James repeated, “Halt!  Who goes there?”

No reply.  The cloud passed from the face of the moon.  James’ heart pounded, for two eyes shone in the moonlight through a bush still wet from the rain and less than twenty feet away.  It was cold that Friday night, February 21, 1862 at Metal Landing on the Tennessee River.  Nonetheless, James felt perspiration trickle from both armpits.  Sam was now crouched shoulder to shoulder beside James with his carbine pointed in the same direction as James’.  They shared a small depression they had dug in the damp ground for picket duty.

Sam whispered, “What’re you going to do?”

James thought to himself, I have no idea.  But, I’d better think of something fast.  Those eyes are closer than the snapping twig.  James whispered, “Cover me.  I’ma fire.”

Sam nodded. “Okay.”

The sharp crack of James’ carbine echoed through the forest.  He cursed himself for jerking his trigger.  His shot was high.  The eyes charged, crashing forward through the underbrush.  The startled perpetrator ran between James and Sam, knocking them aside.  James held onto his empty carbine.  Sam’s was knocked from his hands.  Both men landed on their backs.  James sprang up and sat on his butt in time to glimpse moonlight glistening off a rapidly receding shiny black coat of fur.

Reflexively, James snapped his carbine to his shoulder.  Then, he realized he could not fire in the direction of their camp – and, he had not reloaded.  Slowly, he lowered his weapon.  Sam was laughing uproariously as he rolled over onto his knees and staggered to his feet.

James was incredulous.  “What’s so damned funny about a Secesh knocking us on our asses?  I need to run and report this to the captain.”

Sam grabbed James’ sleeve.  “Not so fast.  I never met a Secesh, or any other unwashed soldier, who smelled like a bear.”

“What?”

“You heard me.  That was a Secesh bear!”

First Sergeant Allen Parker arrived in time to hear Sam and joined the laughter.

                                               * * *

On Saturday morning, James and Sam stood by the company’s cook fire on the east side of a crude log hut holding thick bacon over the flames with bayonets.  Allen passed by and remarked, “Enjoy your bacon.  That may be the last meat you’ll see for a while.”

James made a grim smile.  “I guess I shouldn’t have missed my shot at that bear last night.”  Tilting his head to one side, he continued.  “Say, isn’t it a tad early for bears to be outta bed?  It ain’t spring yet.”

Allen almost kept a straight face.  “Remind me to send all the damn bears an almanac next fall so’s they can properly set their clocks.”

James and the men around the fire guffawed.

After a long minute, Sam was still holding his side with one hand and his bayoneted bacon in the other.  “I don’t know about early rising, but that bear and all the rabbits, deer, raccoons, and the rest of the critters in this neck of woods have more sense than our whole company.  They know to skedaddle when the water rises.”

Allen pointed to Sam.  “Now, that’s exactly right.  Critters know when to leave.  But, here we sit like fools watching the water rise by the hour.”

James did not look away from his bacon, dripping grease into the fire.  “Yeah, Top.  Our horses are already standing in water.  So, when are we leaving?  Or, do we get to wait and float outta here on the logs of this hut?”

                                               * * *

Monday, March 31, 1862

My dear Pearl,

Thank for your wonderful Valentine poem.  I have read it many times.  I still read it every day.

Please forgive me for not writing for a spell.  As you see, I’m writing on my birthday.  We have been moving about and I’m still not allowed to tell you where I am.  Mail has been spotty.  I received three of your letters the day we arrive at a certain large encampment in Tennessee.  Getting here was an ordeal.  The first place we were sent flooded.  I thought it was bad news when we had to stop setting out pickets.  After a few days, there was not space enough for both the men and horses to stand on dry land.  The horses had to stand in water.   Captain Hotaling didn’t wait for orders.  He and Top began hailing every boat that passed.  When we were down to a space of only twenty by fifty feet of land for the whole company, and after four days of hailing, we were rescued by a steamboat captain who transported us and our horses.

Thank you for sending the articles rumoring a second star and promotion for General Grant.  I’ll tell you, out here with the men, he is a star.  All of us were very happy when he actually got his second star.

Please thank Arthur and our classmates for sending greetings ahead of my birthday.  Sometimes, I wondered if I’d live to see twenty.  But, not anymore.  Now, I’m confident that I’ll be around long after the close of this war. 

Your love sustains me.  Thank you for all you do.  Hope you like the enclosed Tennessee daisy.

With all my love,

James

                                              * * *

 James carefully folded his letter to Pearl and put it in his pocket.  From his leather-bound combination toilet and writing kit, he withdrew a soap brush and his black-handled folding straight razor.  Into a small amount of warm water scooped with his tin drinking cup from the company cook’s kettle, he dropped a small piece of Gossage brand mottled soap.  Briefly, he reflected on his deceased father who knew William Gossage, the soap manufacturer, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, and Aunt Susan who sent him the soap.  With the soap brush, he briskly rubbed and swished the soap, creating sudsy foam which he applied with the brush to the stubble on his face and neck.

Satisfied with the fresh smoothness of his face, James set out with Sam for the sutler’s tent at Pittsburg Landing, almost two miles from their bivouac, to purchase envelopes and mail his letter.  While Daniel carried James back to their company camp at a walk, James mused aloud, “Sam, there must be troops camped damn nigh three to four miles deep from the landing.  How many do you suppose have been in battle?”

Sam turned his head slowly from side to side, scanning the tent cities in the forest that were the many regiments that made up Grant’s six divisions.  “I hadn’t given that much thought.  But, now that you mention it, I’d say less than half have been fired on.”

There was a long pause.  Daniel and Sam’s horse appeared to be in step, like soldiers marching.  Presently, James removed his forage cap and ran his fingers through his brown hair, front to back, like a comb.  Then, he sighed.  “Suppose – now mind you, just suppose – the Secesh decide not to cooperate and wait down at Corinth for us to slowly gather four more divisions from Ohio and attack them at our leisure.”

“What’re you thinking?  Johnny Reb could come and hit us here?”

“Yep.  It seems to make sense.  Why wait until we outnumber them by even more and march on their prized railhead?  Why not blast your enemy before he can lay waste to you?”

“Why, sure, that makes sense.  I guess I would, too.  Do you think they will come, I mean the Secesh?”

“Oh, I don’t know.  Look at the way we’re camping here – spread about and without entrenchment.  It’s clear that General Grant doesn’t think so.  Though we’ve reconnoitered to within sight of Corinth, the general has far more information than us.  So, I’ll keep faith with him.

“You know what?  We’d best get on back.  I’d hate to be late for the grand review General Grant is putting on in honor of my birthday.”  James nudged Daniel into a trot.

Sam laughed.  “Yes, I know what!  Birthday boy, you’ve lost your marbles!”

* * *

 The rains ceased during the night and the morning was fair.  Allen was combing his horse’s mane when James and Sam arrived at their makeshift corral that Sunday morning, April 6, 1862.  James called out as they closed in on Allen.  “Hey, Top.  Me, Sam, and some of the boys are going over to visit some homies in the Twelfth Infantry after breakfast.  Wanna go with us?”

“Sure lads, I got me no special plans.”

Unhurried, they bantered and laughed as they ate.  Still grinning from the last joke, James pushed his last chunk of bacon into his mouth and stood to catch up to comrades heading for the Twelfth’s bivouac area.    Suddenly, James stopped chewing.  Everyone froze.  James heard sustained gunfire that sounded in volleys.  Silently, they looked at each other.  In a split second, First Sergeant Allen Parker took charge.  “That’d be the Rebels!  To the horses, lads!  Get mounted!”    The din of more volleys was heard from various directions as they ran to the company’s corral.  And then, their comrade, J.L. Padgett, sounded “Boots and Saddles.”  Three minutes later, James and all of Companies A and B were galloping behind Captain Hotaling and First Sergeant Parker toward Shiloh Church.

Abruptly, the gunfire ended.  Captain Hotaling halted the companies and formed a line.  He held the line in place and waited.  James felt a butterfly flutter near his bacon.  James knew Hotaling was listening for more gunfire to determine where his cavalry could best help the infantry.  James squirmed on his saddle and cursed his body for trembling.  Ahead, he saw a black snake racing for the cover of underbrush.

Startled, James turned toward the sound of approaching hoof beats.  A small group of horsemen arrived and went straight to Captain Hotaling.  The leader’s campaign hat bore a yellow braided cord about the base of the crown and he wore shoulder boards bearing two stars.  His dark blue saddle blanket, with a double yellow border, also bore two stars in its lower rear corner.  James and Sam exchanged smiling glances.

Captain Hotaling held his salute.  “Good morning, General Grant.”

Grant returned the salute and, with the same hand, removed a cigar from his clinched teeth.  “Captain Hotaling, I detail you on my staff today.  I want you to take charge of the Tenth Missouri Sharpshooters.  Place them and fight them.”

“Yes, sir!”

General Grant turned to Lieutenant Bennett.  “I want you to take Company A and go with as much dispatch as possible to Crump’s Landing.  Present my compliments to General Lew Wallace and tell him to bring his division here immediately, you being the escort.”

“Yes, sir!”

Before Lieutenant Bennett and General Grant exchanged salutes, James and Allen had turned their horses about.  Allen ordered the company into a column of twos and they were off, Bennett galloping to catch up.

James rode beside Allen at the head of the column.  Once on River Road, Daniel skidded into Allen’s horse, causing it to nearly lose its footing.  The road was a deep muddy and rutted way from the recent heavy rains and horse traffic.  To remain mounted, James held onto his saddle horn and leaned from side to side or to and fro.   Without a command, the company slowed their steeds to a trot – and in places where deep water stood, they let their horses set the pace.   They had traveled only half a mile when James heard heavy rifle and artillery fire resume behind them.  The lull was over.  The firing was unrelenting.  He looked at Allen, who shrugged.

James pointed over his shoulder with a thumb toward the battlefield.  “I’ve never heard that much gunfire in my life.”

After a minute, Allen said, “This much sustained fire is more’n I experienced at Molino del Rey.  Me thinks a lot of dying is going on back there.”

Lieutenant Bennett joined.  “That’s all the more reason for us to ride, as the general told us, with as much dispatch as possible.  I sense our guys need General Wallace’s division as fast as we can deliver General Grant’s order.”

James and Allen increased their pace, but were compelled to slow again in the mud after leaving the bridge over Snake Creek.  They moved not much faster than a man on foot in mud, covering the six miles to Crump’s Landing in a bit over three hours.  The company arrived at General Wallace’s headquarters at about noon and found him waiting for orders and he had his division ready to march.

General Wallace ordered one of his brigades to take the point, leaving Lieutenant Bennett and Company A to act as the rear guard instead of escort as General Grant directed.  James, Allen, and Bennett glanced at each other.  Allen spoke what each was thinking.  “This is ass-backwards.  But, like I always say, incredibly stupid decisions get made in war by people who should know better.”

James shook his head.  “The big problem is good men die because of somebody else’s stupid mistake.”

Lieutenant Bennett ignored the criticisms aimed at officers.  He dismounted.  “Top, have the men dismount, eat, and rest our horses while General Wallace’s brigades march past us.  Then, we’ll be their rear guard.”

                                              * * *

 “Top, you’re not going to believe what I see!  The head of the column is coming toward us!”

Allen craned his neck in vain to see past the unit in front of them.  “James, surely you jest!”

“I wish that was true.”

Two minutes later, still shaking his head, Lieutenant Bennett called a halt.  “Let’s get off the road and give our horses a break here in this corn field.  Let General Wallace’s men have the whole road to slog past us again.”

Standing amid the stubble left from the previous year’s corn crop, Daniel nibbled at the three inch nub of a brown cornstalk.  James held his forage cap under his arm and scratched his head.  “Top, instead of spending hours marching in a circle, why do you suppose General Wallace didn’t order the men to simply face about and march back to River Road?”

Allen sighed deeply.  “James, I already told you…”

James laughed and held up a hand.  “Okay, okay.  I know.”

Bennett chuckled and repeated in unison with James: “Incredibly stupid decisions get made in war by people who should know better!”

 Allen slapped his thigh.  “Lads, move to the head of the class.”  Unsmiling, he folded his arms and looked to the south where the battle raged.  “This is no laughing matter.  How many lives will be lost because this column took the wrong bloody road?  Me thinks we’re screwed!  I tell you, the only way the Secesh can lose this battle is by making stupid mistakes of their own.”

                                                * * *

 When Company A crossed the bridge over Snake Creek and reentered the Pittsburg Landing battlefield on the heels of General Wallace’s last brigade, a waiting Tenth Missouri Sharpshooter corporal called out.  “Sir, are you Lieutenant Bennett?”

 “I am.”

“Sir, Captain Hotaling sends his compliments and asks that you and yo’ company follow me to his position at once.”

The sun was low in the west and the din of musket and artillery fire heard when they departed in the morning had ceased.  James thought this is a ride back into hell.  Fouling admiration of the spring’s new light green foliage and perfume of blossoming wildflowers was the haze and smell of blue smoke from gunpowder and the blood of wounded and dying men, horses, and mules littering the fields and edges of woods as far as James could see.  He tried for a moment to ignore the scene before him, but could not, for the moans and cries of the wounded seared indelibly into his brain.  He felt a chill, though weather on the first Sunday in April 1862 was agreeably  pleasant.  James recalled his first smell of blood was that of a hog his father butchered; he found the smell of human blood indistinguishable from that of pigs and horses.  He thought this carnage is only going to be worse before it ends – whenever that is.

They plodded along, wading through a crush of humanity in blue, and horses going to and fro in near panic.  Limericks and artillery pieces drawn by teams of six horses or mules sped across their way appearing to have some specific place to be as dazed individual soldiers stumbling and wandering about moved aside to avoid Company A’s horses.  James noted that a cannoneer rode on each of the three left horses in a set.  At length, they found Captain Hotaling with the Tenth Missouri Sharpshooters felling trees in a hurried attempt to create a breastwork on the south slope of a hill above the steep banks of Dill Branch and the swampy hollow through which it flowed.  Backflow from the swollen Tennessee River, less than a mile away as the crow flies, had raised the water level in the Dill.  Captain Hotaling quickly explained that the mission was simple.  Prevent the Confederates from crossing Dill Branch and overrunning batteries D and K of the First Illinois Light Artillery, led by Captain Stone, and First Missouri Light Artillery, led by Captain McAllister.  With the loss of any more ground and the artillery pieces, the Union would suffer a crushing and far reaching defeat.  With infantry help, the two batteries had turned back an assault by Confederate General J.R. Chambers’ brigade when his men swarmed down the bank on the opposite side of the hollow shortly after five o’clock – just two hours prior to the arrival of Company A.

James pointed to the northwest.  “Hey Top, if this our new front, looks like we’ve lost all those division camps three and four miles out – each and every one in less than a day.  By God, we’re nearly on the banks of the river.”

Allen sighed.  “Yes, all lost.”

Sam put an axe on his shoulder.  “Is all lost?”

Allen straightened to his full height.  “No.  I mean we’ve suffered big losses; including dead, wounded, and just as bad, skedaddlers.  The question to ask is, is our little company, General Wallace’s division and General Buell’s fresh troops too little too late?”  In the waning daylight, James swung his axe again.  He pulled it from the tree and chips fell.  “Top, do you think the Secesh will attack again tonight?”

“Me think not.  But, if they come, we’ll be better prepared than we were this mornin’ – and, they know that.”

                                                 * * *

 Groans and pleas for help came from the wounded Confederate infantrymen who were shot down trying to climb the steep north bank of Dill Branch.  A strong storm arrived early Sunday evening and added to the misery of everyone.  James was soaked, cold, and hungry.  The rain ceased at about three o’clock Monday morning.  While not on picket duty and after the rain stopped, he slept fitfully propped against two trees he and Sam had cut down.

With only a breakfast of hardtack shared by a company of Thirty-sixth Indiana Infantrymen, who were reinforcements fresh off a steamboat, James and Company A sallied forth at six o’clock.  They marched as guardians of Captain Stone’s battery which was in support of General John A. McClernand’s new division of stragglers and broken units.  By midday, in see-saw attacks and counterattacks, the Union line of divisions and brigades had regained most of the ground lost the day before.  On field a mile south and east of Shiloh Church that was fought over three times, inch by inch, James saw one of Confederate General Braxton Bragg’s batteries stand their ground and fire until the batteries of Stone and McAllister had damaged every gun and all of their horses and mules were killed.  Shortly after three o’clock, the Confederate commanding general, P.G.T. Beauregard ordered his divisions to retire to Corinth.    James could hear birds again.  He looked about at the field littered with dead and wounded men, horses, and mules.  He said to Sam in a low and somber tone, “The only way to describe what happened here is to call it a slaughter – a mutual slaughter.”

Sam pointed about.  “One could walk from where we’re standing in several directions for more than five to six hundred feet and step only on bodies of men.”

James sighed and realized the stench of the dead was increasing by the hour.  “Theremust be some way short of this to settle differences….”

                                             * * *

 On Tuesday morning, Company A, rode with several other Illinois and Ohio cavalry units to support General Sherman’s reconnaissance in force with an infantry brigade.  They passed burial details digging graves.  The horses and mules were being burned where they lay.

James asked, “Top, are we going out to run down the Secesh?”

“We can’t do that.  General Grant’s boss told him to stay put.”

“So, why are we out here?”

“Me thinks General Grant wants to know for sure if the Secesh are gone and not out here somewheres lickin’ their wounds and gettin’ ready for another attack.”

About five or six miles into their march along Ridge Road, they came to an old cotton field that was partially littered with fallen trees.  Beyond the fallen timber stood a Confederate hospital comprised of several tents.  They spotted Confederate Colonel Forrest’s cavalry and formed a battle line.  No sooner was the line formed and infantry skirmishers sent out, Forrest ordered a charge.  His men charged from a small hollow beyond the timber shattering the quiet with the rebel yell, firing pistols, shotguns, and some welded sabers.

Daniel was wounded by a shot from a pistol at close range.  He staggered, but held his ground.  The order came to volley and retreat.  James fired and pulled Daniel’s reins to turn and fall back.  Daniel stumbled and wavered, losing precious seconds.  As Daniel went down, James ducked a viciously swung saber and got both feet out of his stirrups before he hit the ground.  On contact with the ground, James twisted his right ankle, but hobbled to his feet and attempted to join the infantrymen.  He tripped over a dead tree limb and fell.

Down on his hands and knees and in great pain, James crawled toward the infantrymen.  He stopped when he saw that they were being shot or captured by Forrest’s men.  Suddenly, a familiar horse stopped beside him.  Allen Parker leapt to the ground, grabbed James’ collar with his left hand and James’ belt in back with his other hand.  Allen swung James onto his horse in one motion.  Forrest’s men were swarming and firing at anything blue that moved.

In the distance, James heard Lieutenant Bennett order, “Rally Company A.”  He knew they would, turn about, fire a volley, and counter charge Forrest’s cavalry without consulting or asking for orders.  In the meantime, Allen hopped onto his horse behind James.  His horse leapt forward and in steps was galloping.  Company A fired a volley and charged.  The Confederates did not stand and wait.  They turned and fled past James and Allen traveling the opposite direction.  Several Confederates fired pistols over their shoulders at the chasing Company A.  One bullet struck Allen between his shoulder blades.  Allen’s grip about James’ waist went slack and he fell from his horse.  James turned the horse about as his comrades passed, chasing the Confederates.

On the ground, James tried in vain to stop Allen’s bleeding.  Allen protested.  “Lad, it’s no use.  It’s over for me.  Time to go on up.”

“Don’t talk like that!  You can’t go.  You’re my teacher.  Besides, I owe you my life.”

Allen’s voice was a hoarse whisper.  “Thanks.  Me thinks you no longer need a teacher.  Pass on what you’ve learned.”

“But, I want to be a real soldier like you.”

“You’re a lad no more.”  There was a long pause.  “You’re already a fine soldier….”

Allen spoke no more.

“Top, don’t go….”    James slowly realized that Allen was gone.  He sat in the muddy former cotton field with his mentor’s head on his lap.  Allen’s horse nudged Allen’s ribs.

James patted the horse’s muzzle. With his dirty yellow gauntlet, James wiped a tear from his cheek.  “We’ll both miss him.”

     # # #

——————————————————————–

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off

————————————————————-

African American Veterans with Diabetes Benefit from “Mentors”

April 2, 2012

VA Study Highlights Safe, Effective Treatment

WASHINGTON–African American Veterans with hard-to-control diabetes made significant gains in keeping their blood sugar under control after working with “mentors” with similar health problems, according to a recent study by the Department of Veterans Affairs.   “This study is another example of the benefits VA research brings to all Americans,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.  “The researchers have shown the potential for the effectiveness of a safe, low-tech approach that can significantly enhance the quality of life for these Veterans.”

Results of the study by the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Center appear in the March 20 Annals of Internal Medicine.  About one in five Veterans who receives care from VA has diabetes. The study included 118 African American Veterans, all of whom were having trouble controlling their diabetes.

Because the study lasted only six months and the study population of 118 people was relatively small, the authors say further research is needed. The new results confirm past studies in which mentoring helped patients with diabetes—particularly minorities—improve their medication adherence, diet, exercise, blood glucose monitoring, and glucose control.

“Peer mentoring appears to be an excellent way to enhance self-management for this group of patients,” says lead author Dr. Judith Long, an internist at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center. She also noted social support is a critical factor in helping patients manage chronic illness.

The study was conducted by researchers with VA’s Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, based in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, along with colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon University. Funding was provided by VA and the National Institute on Aging.   For more information on VA research, visit www.research.va.gov.

     #   #   #

——————————————————————-

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off

———————————————————–

VA Expands Medical Forms Program to Support Faster Claims Processing

March 22, 2012

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today the release of 68 new forms that will help speed the processing of Veterans’ disability compensation and pension claims.

“VA employees will be able to more quickly process disability claims, since disability benefits questionnaires capture important medical information needed to accurately evaluate Veterans’ claims,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “Disability benefits questionnaires are just one of many changes VA is implementing to address the backlog of claims.”

The new forms bring to 71 the number of documents, called disability benefits questionnaires (DBQs), that guide physicians’ reports of medical findings, ensuring VA has exactly the medical information needed to make a prompt decision.

When needed to decide a disability claim for compensation or pension benefits, VA provides Veterans with free medical examinations for the purpose of gathering the necessary medical evidence.    Veterans who choose to have their private physicians complete the medical examination can now give their physicians the same form a VA provider would use.  It is very important that physicians provide complete responses to all questions on the DBQs.  VA cannot pay for a private physician to complete DBQs or for any costs associated with examination or testing.

“By ensuring relevant medical information can be found on one form, we will cut processing time while improving quality,” added Under Secretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey.   DBQ’s can be found at http://benefits.va.gov/disabilityexams.  The newly released DBQs follow the initial release of three DBQs for Agent Orange-related conditions.

Veterans may file a claim online through the eBenefits web portal at https://www.ebenefits.va.gov.  The Department of Defense and VA jointly developed the eBenefits portal as a single secure point of access for online benefit information and tools to perform multiple self-service functions such as checking the status of their claim.   Servicemembers may enroll in eBenefits using their Common Access Card at any time during their military service, or before they leave during their Transition Assistance Program briefings.

Veterans may also enroll in eBenefits and obtain a Premium account in-person or online depending on their status.

     #   #   #

—————————————————————

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off

——————————————————————–

VA Gulf War Task Force Report Released

March 26, 2012

Report Redefines How Care and Services Are Provided

WASHINGTON (March 26, 2012) – The Department of Veterans Affairs has released the second in a series of annual reports from its Gulf War Veterans Illnesses Task Force, outlining how thedepartment will address the concerns of Veterans deployed during the Gulf War of 1990-1991.

The report is available on the Internet at http://www.va.gov/opa/publications/2011_GWVI-

TF_Report.pdf.   “This report, which considered input from nearly 500 Veterans who responded to the draft report, provides a roadmap for our continued enhancements in the care and services we provide to Gulf War Veterans,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We will also apply lessons learned from this Task Force to our engagement with Veterans of all eras.”   VA issued a draft version of this report for public comment on Oct. 21, 2011.  During the 30-day comment period, VA received over 450 comments through a special social media website created for this purpose, along with twenty-five other comments received through mail, e-mail and telephone calls.    The chairman of the Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Task Force is John R. Gingrich, chief of staff at VA, and a retired Army officer who also served in the Gulf War.   “Feedback is critical to understand and serve the specific needs of Gulf War Veterans,” said Gingrich. “This valuable input will guide how the task force communicates with Veterans in the future.”   The report focuses on efforts to improve the delivery of health care for Gulf War Veterans.

One of the most substantial additions is the launch of a prototype clinical care model specifically for Gulf War Veterans, which is the most critical point of service VA provides.  There are also efforts underway to create better links between specialty knowledge on Gulf War health issues and subject matter experts for health care providers serving these Veterans at the point of care.   Gulf War specific research and development is also contributing to clinical practice and clinical education throughout VA.  Two new positions were established in the Office ofResearch and Development for deployment health and Gulf War health-related issues.  Both positions have been filled, are enhancing research efforts for Gulf War Veterans now, and will continue to do so in the coming years.   VA continues to leverage partnerships to improve longitudinal medical surveillance andepidemiology so the department is better able to address the potential health impacts onVeterans from past environmental exposures as well as those on today’s battlefield.   VA recognizes that a great number of Gulf War Veterans use the Internet every day to sharetheir ideas and concerns.  In addition to public interaction via social media, the main VAGulf War illnesses website was recently updated atwww.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/gulfwar/index.asp.  Veterans can subscribe there to receivefuture updates.

     #   #   #

——————————————————————–

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off

FA-18

A U.S. NAVY SAILOR PERFORMS A POST-FLIGHT CHECK ON AN F/A-18E SUPER HORNET. -  A U.S. Navy sailor aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) performs a post-flight check on an F/A-18E Super Hornet from Strike Fighter Squadron 143 while underway in the Atlantic Ocean on March 28, 2012. The Dwight D. Eisenhower is underway conducting training in the Atlantic Ocean. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Julia A. Casper, U.S. Navy.

# # #

  ——————————————————————–

Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off