Fire Over Atlanta Read Online Free PDF

looked as big as a cannon.
    They’ve got me! He’s going to kill me!
Royal thought. He tried to think of a way to escape. He had no musket. But in any case, there was no chance to pick up a weapon—the Rebel’s musket was pointed directly at his heart. The soldier’s intense, dark brown eyes could be seen blazing under his forage cap.
    Royal waited for the explosion and then the blackness that would follow—but they did not come.
    The Confederate lowered his rifle slightly. “Hold your head up, blue belly!” he commanded.
    Royal obeyed. The smoke was thick, but as the Confederate advanced, suddenly a shock ran through Royal. He knew this man! “Calvin!” he exclaimed. “Is that
you?”
    The Confederate stopped and let his musket droop still lower. “I reckon it is. Didn’t expect to see you here, Royal.”
    The Rebel soldier—Calvin Ramsey—had grown up in a town neighboring Pineville. They had never been close friends but had met at horse races and barn dances and cabin raisings. Once they had been together in a group that made a three-day fishing trip. They had liked each other.
    Now, the fortunes of war had brought them face to face.
    “I didn’t expect to see you either, Calvin.”
    “I reckon you didn’t.”
    Silence fell as the two men, one in blue and one in gray, stared at each other.
    Royal could do nothing but stand waiting, the burden of the wounded man on his back. He said, “I guess you’ve got me, Calvin. What are you gonna do with me?”
    Calvin Ramsey was silent for a moment longer, then sighed. “I almost shot you. Then I thought I’d take you back as a prisoner. But now that I see it’s you, Royal—well, I reckon one more blue belly against us ain’t gonna make much difference. Go on! Git!”
    Royal could not believe his ears. “You mean you’re letting me go?”
    “I think it’s all over anyway. We can’t win. You and me, we’re both Kentucky boys. After the war, maybe you’ll think more kindly of the South. Now, git!”
    Royal swallowed hard. “Thanks, Calvin. I’ll always remember this. Be careful and live out this war. Someday,” he said, “we’ll go fishing on Eleven Point River again.”
    Calvin smiled briefly. “I hope that’s right. Now, you better git, Royal.”
    As Royal carried Dale Hotchkiss back toward the Federal lines, his mind was swimming. Then all of a sudden he was aware that Drake stood in front of him.
    “Who
was
that? Why’d he let you go?” Drake yelled. “What happened?”
    Royal looked back to where Calvin Ramsey had disappeared into the battle smoke. He thought for a while, then turned and said with a slow smile, “What happened, Drake? I guess you might say it was a miracle.”
    Drake stared at him, clearly not understanding. He too looked into the smoke and said, “I reckon it
was
kind of a miracle, wasn’t it?”
    “I’d call it so,” Royal said. “Now, let’s get Dale to the hospital.”

4
Drake Takes a Prisoner
    T he decision to relieve Gen. Joseph E. Johnston of command was due to his having retreated without making a serious effort to stop the Union troops. The man appointed to replace him was Gen. John B. Hood. The men and officers of the Confederate army knew that Hood was an aggressive fighter. He had lost an arm at Gettysburg and a leg at Chickamauga and was admired by all for his courage and loyalty to the Confederacy. But he also was impulsive and apt to lead whole armies to disaster. To a man, the soldiers of his army questioned his judgment.
    Royal Carter talked about the Southern generals as the Federal troops waited outside Atlanta. The squad was eating stew made from jackrabbits that Ira Pickens had snared, and from time to time they listened to the guns that were clearly audible in the action closer to the city.
    “I’ll tell you one man that’s glad General Hood will be commanding the Rebels,” Royal said.
    “Who’s that?” Rosie asked, idly smelling the stew.
    “General Sherman, that’s who. He knew