Deserters: A Short Story

Summary: Two Confederates desert the Confederacy and try to flee to the West to California.

Characters

David Ewell: A Texas Ranger who survives an attack on his team by the French Foreign Legion. He wants to flee to California because he has lost faith in the Confederacy and Texas.

James Whitlock: A private in a Georgia regiment sent to Texas to help defend Texas from the French invasion.

Bill Tucker: Rival of David Ewell

Story Begins

I am rocking side to side on my horse Austin. We have been riding for 4 hours and the heat and the weight of me and my supplies is wearing him down. He is beginning to buckle under the pressure. I quickly jump off to relieve him. I continue walking through the deserts of New Mexico. The sand is filling up my boots causing my feet to chafe and feel irritated. I see a cactus in the distance. I am so hungry. I hope to God it is not a mirage.

 We approach it. Thank God it is real. I take my bowie knife and cut open the cactus. I start stuffing the meat of the cactus in my mouth. It is so acidic it makes me purse up in pain. I just need to eat something.

Suddenly I hear a gun cocking next to me. Shit, am I being robbed?!

“Turn around!” What? He said turn around instead of give your valuables.

“Turn around and go back the way you came!”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, surprised.

“You are here to arrest me Ranger. Yes, I did desert my regiment and I will not let you take me back to be hung.”

“Excuse me.” I turn around and look at the man holding me at gun point. He is a young man probably around twenty-six. He looks way older due to his disheveled look. He is covered in dirt, dust and unshaven facial hair.

“Listen Texas Ranger I will show you some mercy. Just turn around and go back. You tell your bosses that I somehow escaped. We both don’t die and everybody’s happy.”

I laugh from both the terror of having my life threaten and the coincidence.

“Does being shot amuse you sir?”

“Yeah it would be amusing getting shot by a fellow deserter.”

“Wait, what?” the terrified deserter says.

“Yeah I’m also on the run from the authorities for deserting.”

“Wait, you are not a Texas Ranger?”
“Well I was a Texas Ranger. Now I am fleeing them, along with the French and Mexicans.”

The man puts away his gun. “Oh thank the lord. I had no ammo left. I was just hoping you would just walk away.”

He gives me a firm handshake. “The name is James Whitlock. I am going to California.”
“My name is David Ewell  and I am also going to California.” I reply “We would do better together than we would alone.”

I take some spare pistol ammo from my knapsack and give it to him.

“Now you can hold someone up and actually be able to shoot them.”

We sit down and eat and drink from the cactus. We decide to rest until night before going further West. As the night approaches I pull out a map to plan our journey.

“Alright James, how did you plan on getting to California?”

James gives me a blank stare. Before signing and saying “Oh I was just winging it. My plan was just to go west until I reached California.”
I nod at him like a disappointed mother. I point at the bottom of the map.
“Alright we can’t go too far South or we will be too deep into the Mexican-French Territory.”

“However, if we go too far north we may end up in Mormon country.” I point at the part of the map labeled Deseret.

“Wouldn’t it be safer in Mormon country? At least we aren’t at war with them.” James aren’t you aware of Mountain Meadows Massacre?”

“Uh no. That sounds bad though.”
“Yeah, I had an uncle and cousin from Arkansas who were part of the Baker–Fancher party. They were massacred by the Mormons back in 1857. A few children who did survive were adopted into the Mormon families.”

“Shit! Sorry, David. I had no idea.”

“Don’t worry about it. We are currently in New Mexico but are really close to the Arizona border.” I point at a point close the border of New Mexico. “We should move towards the Grand Canyon and continue towards Los Angeles.”

“What are our plans for food and water? Especially for our one and only horse.” James pets Austin and Austin in turn rubs his face up against James.

“I marked down some camps and towns I have heard about from other travelers.”

We march on to the first town I marked on the map. We each take turns riding Austin. We travel until we reach a town to rest in. We park Austin nearby the saloon to let him drink from the water trough outside the door. James and I walk into the saloon. I sit down at the bar and look at beer and whisky. It all looks so good. I look into my sack and see the Confederate Dollars in my wallet.

“Shit.” I mutter to myself. These scraps of paper that my old country calls “money” are worthless. It is better for kindling or wiping my ass.

“Ah hell perhaps he will accept it.” I show the bartender the money. “Sir how much could I get out of this?”

He takes the money and looks at it closely. All of a sudden he sticks the cash into a nearby candle’s flame. The money burns it into a crisp. I don’t even bother protesting. I would have done the same.

“Sorry, sir. Your cash is not accepted here.”  He says in a snarky attitude. I hang my head and sign.

The bartender sighs. “Tell you what. How about a drink on the house and a free room for you and your friend?”

“Thank you sir.”
He growls “Ah don’t mention it.”

He gives us two bottles of the cheapest beer. It tests like piss. But damn it I need a buzz right now to get through this journey. We go upstairs to rest until morning.

The next morning James and I wake up and go downstairs. The gruff bartender with a heart of gold has some breakfast ready for us.

“Thank you, sir.” I say to the bartender. He waves me off. “Don’t mention it.”

As we eat I look outside to make sure Austin is still out there. He is. Thank God.

As soon as we finish I notice some Indians walk in the bar. However, unlike most Indians they are dressed in coats, hats and armed with pistols. They are also accompanied by one white man whom I recognize. It is Bill Tucker. I trained alongside him in the Texas rangers. He goes up to a group of men sitting in the corner. That man whom I know is Tucker pulls a roll of paper out of his sack. He unrolls it and I can see that the photo in it is of me. My neck hair stands on end and I feel my blood freeze in terror. I grab James by the shoulder and pull him towards me.

“We have to go,” I whisper into his ear. I walk outside to Austin. I see Bill Tucker’s favorite horse Crockett. Oh Bill I am going to slow you down.
“Alright James take that horse over there.”
“David is that someone else’s horse?”
“Just take it!” I whisper loudly. James does what I say and steals Crockett. We both flee the town immediately. I look behind us and thankfully don’t see any.

We ride and ride with our horses galloping at top speed now stop for an hour. I look behind us again to see if anyone is following us. Thank God no one. I take out my map.

“Hurrah! Look at all these goodies this poor sap left behind with his horse.” I look over to James and see that he has ammunition for his pistol and rifle.

I find our position on the map. We are in Arizona and we are getting close to the Grand Canyon. So we ride. We ride towards the Grand Canyon. Whenever I heard about Arizona I always thought the place was nothing but deserts. But on our way their I see a lot of trees both pine and sycamore. It is beautiful. Perhaps I could settle down in this territory. Bah, what am I kidding it is run by those Mexicans and the French overlords. I ain’t taking orders from Mexicans and French Frogs from across the ocean. At least in California I will be among fellow white men.

“Ain’t these trees beautiful,” James says to me.

“Yes they sure are. What do you plan on doing once we get the California?”

James gets really quiet. “Uhhhh. I didn’t really think too much about that little detail hahaha.” He laughs nervously.

“What are you good at, James?”
“Well. I can shoot. So maybe serve in the military.”

“Yeah but we are deserters. Do you really think anyone is going to want us in their army?”
“Well what bright ideas do you have for settling down David?”

“Well. I could prospect for gold.”

“David you know most people who do that don’t make any money.” I groan and scowl at him.

“Geez, James do you have to be such a downer. If not, I guess I could just do some farm work until I save enough to get my own plot of land.”

“Oh David, you optimist.”
“Well what are you James?”

“I am just focused on surviving one day at a time.”

We ride through the forests until we eventually reach the Grand Canyon. It is enormous and gorgeous. The reddish hues make it look like a sunset on the ground. As we are enjoying the view. I suddenly notice the sound of gunfire in the distance.

We ride towards the gunfire to investigate. We carefully approach where the gunshots came from and hide behind some rocks. We see a gang of men standing over the bodies of two men.

“Fucking idiots! These aren’t them!” Shouts one of the men. “Indians! What are they good for?”

Oh shit! That’s my old friend Bill Tucker. He is so close to us.

“Is that your pal Tucker?” asks James. “Yes, that is him.”

“Should we try taking him out?”
“Are you serious? We are outnumbered and wouldn’t stand a chance. We have to ride away.”

We ride at full gallop to escape Tucker and his guides. Hopefully they didn’t hear us running.

BANG! A bullet flies over my head taking my hat right off my head. It lands in my lap with a huge hole in it.

“You’re fucking DEAD!” I hear Tucker shout at us. James pulls out his pistol and fires six shots at Tucker and his Indian trackers. I look back and see two have fallen.

“SHIT! You will pay for that Motherfucker!” I pull out my gun and shoot him.
BANG!
“ARGHHH!” Tucker is hit in the shoulder and falls off his horse. The trackers stop to attend to him in the dead trackers. Not before one of the trackers takes aim.
BANG!

Austin is killed beneath me and I fly forward. I am moving fast yet it feels like time is slowing down. My body is tense like a wound up drum.

CRACK!

I hit the ground and land on my right shoulder and upper right side of my chest erupts with pain. Oh lord I am seriously hurt.

James turns around to retrieve me. He picks me up “ARGHHH!” I yell as he touches the broken side of my body. The pain….. it is so sharp, stabbing pain. My heart is thumping on the left side but it also feels like there is another heart in the injured side of my body that is thumping. The pain is spreading from the impact area to the rest of my body.

James hoists me up on top of the horse. I sit up straight and James climbs on top and drives the horse forward. Bullets are whizzing past us. Thank God none of them had hit us.

We eventually lose them thankfully. However, my condition is only getting worse. I can’t breathe. I am trying to inhale but every attempted breath hurts.

“Hey Help! HELP!” I look over and see who James is calling out to. It is a wagon train. They appear to be westward travelers. They have a lot of guts traveling through Mexican Territory.

We reach the wagon train and James hands me over to them.
“Please save him! Is there a doctor among you?!” A man steps forward. He is an older bearded man. He gives me a bottle of whiskey which I chug in seconds. I get hammered drunk. I feel dizzy from both the whisky and insane pain. The old man is breaking my arms back into shape. I am too disoriented to even care about the pain. I pass out from drunkenness and pain.

I wake up in a tent wrapped in bandages. I’m numb, but tender in the broken side of my body. James walks in and gives me a bottle. “It’s Laundum. It will help with the pain.” I swallow the Landum and enter in a state of estacy and lightheadedness. This is some good stuff.

“James you are the best partner a man could have.”

“Oh, don’t mention it David.”

“No, really you are the best. I feel like…. I could kiss you.” Yes I would….. like to kiss him. It would be so good. I feel so good now.

“Alright David I will come back later after you come down from the clouds.”
“Sure thing…… partner…” I stare at the tent above me. “This is….. a really good tent.”

I hear some laughing outside them tent.

“HHAHAHHAHA! Everything is so good now!” I shout back at my friends.

I eventually pass out and wake up again with a horrible headache.

“Ughh.” James and the doctor walk in. “Alright David it is best we get moving to California now.” Says the old man trying to repress grinning at me. “You gave us quite a show. Those opioids really made ya giddy.” What did I just do? “Sir what are you talking about?” “Of course you don’t remember. It is probably for the best.” He leaves the tent to begin packing. I try to get up but it is very painful. James helps me get up.

“Thank you James. I really appreciate all you have done for me.”

“I know. You told me that pretty explicitly when you were doped up.”

Oh geez what did I do to him. James laughs. “Hahaha!”

I mostly sit out and don’t help with the packing. A kind little girl brings me some water. She is a tiny little thing. Rosy cheeks and an adorable lace bonnet that covered her curly blonde hair. “Mister here you go.” She says in a chipper voice.
“Thank you little one.”
“You’re welcome Mister. My granddaddy is the one that mended you up. He is taking the whole family to California!” Her voice raises when she says California and jumps up into the air.

“We are from Kansas and we had to sneak through the Mormon and Indian Country to get here. We also had to sneak past the Mexican and Reb armies.” I get a little self-conscious when she says Reb. I take a sip of water.

“You hurt yourself pretty bad, Mister. Where are you from?” I get quiet and drink water.

“You are a talkative little one aren’t ya?” I ask trying to stall and divert her.

“Hey Mister!” she says back in a sassy tone. “We saved your sorry hind and now you got to tell us who you are.” She says and smiles at me wickedly.
“Now lets start again. My name is Betty. What’s your name? Where are you from?” She leans right up into my face.

“Haha. You’re a feisty little inquisitor. Alright my name is Mr. Ewell.”

“Full name Mister!” I burst out laughing. She is so cute when she is demanding information. “Alright Mr. David Ewell. I am from Texas. Ya happy?”

“Where in Texas are you from Mr. Ewell?”
“Austin. What part of Kansas are you from little girl.”
A moment of pause and Betty replies “I am not sure Mister. I am only six.”

“Why are you heading to California Mr. Ewell?”
“Have your parents told you about the war by the border?”
“No. But, I overheard them talking about it. We’re within Mexican borders so traveling is very dangerous.”

“Yeah it is. Me and my friend James. We are fleeing the Mexicans. We are trying to go to California to be safe from them.”

“Did the Mexicans break your arm?” Ah geez what should I tell her.

“Um. No. Some Indians shot my Horse from underneath me.”
“Why?”
“You ask too many questions.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Ewell.” I pat her on the head. “That’s alright kiddo.”

After we are done packing we march from the Arizona Border and into the Death Valley. The Death Valley is brutal hot but it is the only way get past the Mexicans.

As we are walking I notice Little Betty coughing. I hand over my canteen for her. “Here kiddo. Drink up.” She gulps the water down. “It’s so hot Mr. Ewell. I am really tired. I pick her up and put her in the Wagon. “Thank you Mr. Ewell.”

Bang BANG! There is gun fire in the distance. “Mr. Ewell what is that!?”

“I’m not sure Betty.”

“James what is that?”

“It appears to be a skirmish between the Mexicans and Sierra Forces.” He gives me a telecope to spot the fight. In the distances I see two armies meet up. The Green Coat Men from Oregon and California are firing upon the Mexicans in Blue. It appears the Mexicans have marched into a surprise attack by the Sierra Army.

BANG! BANG! Those gun shots didn’t come from the direction of the two armies. Those were closer and behind us.

I turn around and see some riders approaching us. Bill Tucker and his Indian boys. They found us!

They are hunting me primarly.

“James get me Bill Tucker’s horse. I have to lead them away from these folks.”
“David I won’t let you go it alone. You are in no shape to fight them.”
“James, they are after me!”
“They are after us, David!”
“Alright, fine. You’re going to help me lead them away.”

James gets the horse we stole from Bill Tucker and we get another horse from the good doctor.
We take our guns and fire at Bill and his boys to get their attention.

“Looking for this?” I point at Bill’s horse Crockett.  

“You’ll pay for that, boy!” He shouts at us while shooting aimlessly at us.

We ride in the direction of the two armies. Tucker and his boys follow us and shoot at us. The gunfire gets unbearable as we get close to the armies. The noise is deafening and we can bearly hear. Some Mexicans see us and begin to shoot at us. They miss and while they were distracted they are taken down by the Sierra forces. We ride towards the lines of the Sierra Army. I begin to pray. “Please God don’t let us die. Please don’t let us die.” Thankfully there commanding officer orders them to hold fire. We look behind us and see the Mexicans routing and Tucker and his boys heading towards us.
I begin to shout towards them “HELP! HELP! They are trying to kill us.”

James screams and points at Tucker “STOP THEM HELP US!”

The riflemen open fire and Tucker and his Indian guides are fallen by a hail of bullets.

“Thank the Lord Almighty! We made it!”

We stop when we reach the lines. The men reload the rifles and aim at us. James puts his hands in the air. While raise my only working hand in the air.
“Halt!” I look closely at the men these men are Chinese. The white commanding office comes over. “Sun Lin disarm these men and take them into our custody for questioning.

“Yes Sir,” says one of the Chinese in remarkably good English.

He comes over to me and takes away all of our weapons and gear.

“Sir. This man is badly injured,” he says while touching my painful side.

“Get him to the field hospital!” shouts the commanding officer.

We are taken to a field hospital outside of the Death Valley near Los Angeles, California. We have made it alive. The weather. It is so mild. Perfect mild warm weather. The wind off of the Pacific Ocean helps create a cool breeze. I look over at James who has been restrained by the Chinese Riflemen. Despite being in cuffs he is giddy with joy. “We made it!” he shouts. “Yes. Our new home!”

The End

The Trent Affair by Brian McAvoy

The Pursuit November 8, 1861

The USS San Jacinto had just left St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies. It is a warm and clear day. It is better than it usually is up in North in Maine. It gets cold in Portland during the fall. Captain Charles Wilkes up deck. “ALRIGHT! We are pursuing the RMS Trent. The Reb bastards are trying to sneak some of their Reb Diplomats to the Brits to get them to recognize their sham of a nation.”

Oh lord I hate that man. He is impulsive and cruel. Back in 1840 Wilkes was in Fiji and had around 80 native Fijians slaughtered. He was court-martialed but unfortunately acquitted. The recent days have been tense with the hunt for the Confederate Ambassadors James Murray Mason and John Slidell. I go to my post at the pivot gun. I look out towards the sea and meet my friend Thomas Perry.
“Thomas you enjoying the weather?” Thomas gives a sigh of enjoyment. “Oh yes. Fall and winter in Erie is the worst. The lake effect snow makes the weather bitter cold and the snow… Oh the snow is unbearable.” We have been spoiled by all the sun and warm weather from being off the African Coast last month. Before getting sent to the Caribbean. “We should have been attacking Port Royal in South Carolina.” Thomas says
“Yeah. I can’t wait to crush the Confederacy and bring those treasonous slave drivers to justice.” I add with excitement.

“Hey remember we are fighting this war primarily to end the rebellion and save the Union. Not to end slavery.” Thomas says correcting me.

“Yeah well it could happen eventually.” I say hopefully. Thomas rolls his eyes and chuckles. “You really think Lincoln can abolish slavery. If he tried to do it, we would lose the border states like Maryland which surrounds our nation’s capital.”

Our ship parks itself in the Bahama Canal ready to ambush the RMS Trent. A few hours pass by. I loosen my uniform while Wilkes isn’t looking to soak up more sun. Suddenly the lookouts scream. “Trent Spotted Captain!”
I look out and see the Trent it flies the Union Jack as it sees us coming. It is clear they are trying to warn us that they are a neutral natural nation.

“Fire a warning shot across the bow!” shouts Captain Wilkes.

I comply reluctantly and fire a warning shot across the bow. My heart is racing and sweat is pouring down my face. It feels wrong shooting at a mail ship of a neutral nation. The shot thankfully didn’t hit the Trent. Usually ships stop when warning shots are fired. However, the Trent just paddles ahead completely ignoring our shot. I look back at the Captain. Wilkes is seething with rage.

“Damn it! Fire another one!” Captain Wilkes shouts at me. I hesitate.
“Damn it Bailey shoot or be shot! That is an order!” Thomas reloads the cannon and I light the fuse for the cannon. The shot is fired. It hits the bow. My God what have I done! Smoke and fire begins to rise from the bow. Captain Wilkes gasps in horror.
“DAMN IT!! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!” Wilkes starts pacing the deck. His face is as red as a turnip and he is sweating like a pig. What are we going to do? We could salvage this by approaching the ship and trying to rescue the passengers.

Wilkes pushes me aside. Perry reloads. Oh lord what is he doing now? He aims and points the pivot gun at the Trent hitting it again.
“All guns’ fire on the Trent! Send her down to the sea floor!” The crew obeys and all guns sink the Trent. The ship explodes and sinks.
Captain Wilkes looks at me and whispers. “You keep your fucking mouth shut, Bailey. I swear to God I will kill you.” “You will hang for this Wilkes! You can’t keep this a secret the world will know what happened! You have damned us all!” Wilkes nails me with a right hook and I black out.

The Wreckage December 1, 1861

It is a cold morning on December. I am in a Boston tavern polishing off another bottle of hard cider, trying to repress the memories of what happened back in November to the Trent. It appears that Wilkes was unable to keep the Trent Tragedy a secret. Some British and Danish ships spotted the explosion and sinking Trent. Some men onboard the ship survived and were saved by the British. James Murray Mason and John Slidell the Confederate ambassadors on board the Trent were killed in the explosion. Others died as it sank. Lord Palmerston the Prime Minister and Queen Victoria who were previously neutral were outraged that British Civilians were killed by the US Navy.

I am on my third bottle when Thomas Perry grabs it, trying to stop me from drinking myself to death. “John don’t do this to yourself!”
“Ahhhhhg! You are drunk too, hypocrite.” Thomas had a whole bottle.
“There is a difference between a bottle and three bottles. Besides John, it isn’t your fault. Wilkes is to blame for this mess.”
“Yeah, he ordered it, but I pulled the trigger. I have as much blood on my hands as he does. If only I shot higher or disobeyed him those innocents would not be dead and we wouldn’t be facing war with Britain.”

“Oh, I am sure it’s all just chest pounding. I am sure nothing will happen. Lincoln has announced Wilkes will be court martialed and hung.”
I pull out the paper. “Look at this,” I say pointing to the front page announcing buildup of British and Canadian forces along the northern border. Thomas sees this and shivers.

“Oh, and not only that.” I open the paper to the second page. “They also announced they will be constructing ships for the Confederate Navy while providing navy support to force open the Northern blockade. Without the blockade the Confederacy will be able The Union has also lost most of the public support that we had in Britain due to the Trent sinking.”
Thomas is trying desperately to be an optimistic. “Well the British need wheat from the Midwest more than they need Southern Cotton.”

“One word Thomas. Canada. The British can get their wheat from Canada.”

Thomas gives me the look of a defeated man and proceeds to follow my plan of drinking to death. I leave the tavern after drinking five bottles of cider. I walk down the street tripping over my feet. Everyone else seems too worried about the British fleet anchored outside Boston to even care about the drunk man that is me. I reach the harbor and see the Union and British ships staring each other down. The water below me is dark and icy.

God forgive me.

I fall into the freezing water. I don’t even bother to struggle. I allow myself to sink into the darkness.

Hello and welcome to 1860s

Hello
Welcome to 1860s. Only things will be different the United States has fallen apart due to the Civil War ending differently. The United States is now five separate nations. In this alternative world there are border wars and new alliances among the new nations created from the devastation of the Civil War. Foreign powers like the British and French empires seek to use the chaos and division to achieve power and influence in the Americas.

Disclaimer. This series is not seeking to promote Alt-Right politics and "Lost Cause" Pseudo-history. I am a staunch opponent of the Confederate cause and anyone who claims the Civil War was a war about "States Rights". The Civil War was started by the Confederacy in an attempt to save the institution of slavery.