The Last Battle
By Jo Anzalone
(This is also from a long time ago and is about just one brief moment in time)
This was the last battle for
James Andrew Fielding. Tomorrow his enlistment was
up and he was going home to Ohio. Home to Ma and Pa...home to his little brothers,
Robert and Caleb. Home to the farm...to the land he'd been born on 19 years ago. Ever
since that old ladder broke, his Pa hadn't been able to work the farm by himself. If he
closed his eyes, he could see the wide fields sloping gently down to the creek, could
almost hear the evening wind rustle the tall corn. Home.
The War Between the States was winding to its finish. His job here was
done.
They needed him at home. And there was Peggy, his pretty Peggy, waiting for him
on a near-by farm. Going home. Tomorrow. He noticed his palms were all sweaty.
Must be nerves. He hadn't been so nervous before. The end of all this hell was so
near. So near. He had to make it through one more time...one more day. He HAD
to survive this day!
A shot whined past, grazing his cheek. Quick blood dripped down his
chin. He
ducked behind a bush. Where was his corporal? The gunsmoke was so thick he
couldn't see the rest of his company. Exploding into the ground 20 feet away, a
cannonball showered him with dirt and debris. His heart was pounding, sweat
poured down his forehead, into his eyes, making it even harder to see. Was that his
corporal up ahead? He dashed out across a small clearing. A shot slammed into his
left hand, breaking three fingers. He kept running several more yards, then threw
himself behind a log. Holding his hand close to his face, he just stared at it in shock.
Even now, all he could think was that the plowing would be harder to do. Home.
Going home...tomorrow.
It was such a struggle to breathe. It seemed even more of a struggle to
get to his
knees, then his feet. He tried to reload his rifle. His left hand was useless, though. His
bayonet. He guessed it would have to do. He would survive. He would head home in
the morning.
He squinted his eyes, peering through the smoke-filled woods. There had
to be
more Yanks near-by. He couldn't be alone. Fear rose up inside his stomach, clutching
at his being. There! That was Corporal Thomas for sure! He wasn't alone! He almost
laughed with relief. Keeping low, he ran quickly toward his corporal. Thomas was
crouched behind a rock, firing at a point on a small hill. James was only a few steps
away when a huge Rebel sergeant burst out of the underbrush, rifle aimed at Thomas'
back. James' own rifle wasn't loaded...no time even to yell. Thomas was a dead man,
for sure. Maybe James could get between them and use his bayonet? But James was
going home tomorrow! One thought bumped into another in his brain. Thomas or
home? The last battle...a split second struggle in his own mind. Home or Thomas?
Corporal Thomas heard the snap of breaking twigs, the pound of a few
footsteps,
then a deafening crack as a rifle was fired point-blank behind him. He whirled around,
firing himself as he turned. A Confederate sergeant was in the act of falling, Thomas'
bullet between his eyes. The corporal looked down. Lying at his feet was Private
Fielding, blood flowing from a gaping wound in his chest. Instantly, Thomas knew
that Fielding had stepped between him and the Confederate. He bent low over the
dying private as James mumbled, "Home...going home...today."