Steadfast Legacy: A Tale of the American Civil War

Chapter 7: Desperate Alliances

Rebecca said nothing as she stared at this man, trying to understand why Jeremiah, who had dedicated himself to helping runaway slaves, would let a white man who very well might be a slave catcher or bounty hunter into a hideout where she and Tim were staying. The man, Daniel, stayed where he was, hat still in hand, and looked back at her as though waiting for a response, but she had none.

At least, not for him. Turning to Jeremiah, she said, "What are you doing? Who is this man?"

"He's a dissenter," said Jeremiah.

"A what?"

"A dissenter. It mean he a white Southerner who still supports the Union. He tell me he's on his way north to join them in their fight."

Rebecca looked back at the preacher incredulously. "And how exactly do you know this?" she asked.

"Because he told me," replied Jeremiah.

"And you believe him?"

"I been doing this long enough to know a desperate man when I see one," said Jeremiah.

Daniel listened to their talk and nearly hung his head when Jeremiah described him as desperate. It wasn't an inaccurate description, exactly, but it caused him shame nonetheless. He was here because after he had finally reached Virginia, two men on horseback came toward him on the road. He'd tried to simply tip his hat to them and move on, but they stopped and tried to speak to him, asking what he was doing out alone on the road in this dangerous time riding north. Unable to think of a reply, Daniel had simply told them he had "business" to attend to, and then rode away. That should've been the end of it, but this morning he had discovered that they were still following him and decided he needed somewhere to hide. This church was the first place he had come across, and upon finding it he had knocked on the door. The surprise he felt upon seeing that the answering preacher was black was overshadowed by the fear he felt over what would happen if he were caught and discovered as a Unionist, and he had begged the preacher for help - a place to hide, a back door through which to escape, anything at all that would help him get away from these men. The preacher had then led him here to this cellar, which Daniel now saw was used for helping escaped slaves on their own journey north.

The shame in Daniel was born mostly out of regret over how he was handling the situation. He was running and hiding rather than confronting the men head on, and a part of him couldn't help feeling like a coward for it. He remembered the night before. He had made camp and tried to get some sleep; he'd always prided himself on being tougher than those plantation fops who he imagined sleeping in luxurious feather beds, but after trying for three months to get used to sleeping on the ground, he was beginning to feel like he himself had lived a spoiled life by getting to sleep in a bed of any description at all. When he finally had gotten to sleep, he had a vivid dream which he could still recall in detail.

He was somewhere in the foothills of an area he did not recognize, cloudy skies above, the nearby mountains partially covered in mist. A short distance away, he saw a young man with dark brown hair, dressed in a very old-fashioned jacket with a neck cloth, breeches, and a pair of boots, armed with a flintlock musket running across the hills towards a wooded area. Following him, Daniel watched as he met up with a group of other men similarly dressed and armed, who then proceeded into the woods. Before Daniel knew what was happening, the men were fighting hand-to-hand against a larger group of men he had no trouble at all identifying as British Redcoats, armed to the teeth and clearly well trained and disciplined. As the skirmish raged, Daniel watched in awe at the bravery of the Patriots against this foe, and particularly at the young man he now recognized as his grandfather, who, after the other Redcoats were dispatched, successfully captured their commanding officer. Jonathan had then turned and looked Daniel directly in the eye with what appeared to be pride before the dream ended.