Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees." Last words -- Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson ..................................... December 12, 1862 — Fredericksburg, Virginia The morning air is chill, but not freezing, thank God. I’m wearing the standard blue woollen Union army uniform, my McClellan cap or kepi sitting low over my brow, a long-barrelled musket held tight in my nervously-sweaty hands. There’s a frighteningly long straight line of my Illinois friends and neighbours on either side of me, with whom I’ve marched through many dark, cold nights. We are McClelland’s Dragoons, Company A, come from the farms just outside Chicago. There were times on this march to Fredericksburg when freezing rain made the chill run so deep into my core that I sh
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