1A
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | In the second year of the Confederate War, Deacon Joshua | | Lange, the son of a farmer of some standing, received | | correspondence from one Ariel Haivri concerning a matter she | | felt should be brought before his congregation without | | delay. With the permission of Elder David Long, Joshua read | | this epistle to the assembly at the Price Meetinghouse | | following the Wednesday evening service. | | | | House Haivri to our fellow laborers in the vineyard of God | | Most High: though by the sorrows of Providence we are | | separated by the tides of history, yet our hearts remain | | bound together in the bonds of holy fraternity. Be it known | | to you, dear neighbors, that on the seventeenth day of the | | present month, the hosts of war shall clash in earnest among | | the wooded hollows and open fields near your house of | | prayer. In earnest concern for the safety of your people, we | | of the Haivri clan extend to you the offer of refuge within | | our house of prayer. | | | | Any among you who seek shelter from the tumult of battle may | | come without delay. Our doors stand open, and provisions are | | prepared without charge. We urge this for the protection | | of your horses, mules, and cattle; for although the | | secessionists often profess courtesy toward the inhabitants | | of the country through which they pass, it is well | | understood that anything upon four hooves is taken as fair | | spoil. | | | | Take heed also: when the guns open upon the heights, as they | | will this coming Sunday the fourteenth of September, it will | | be too late to withdraw by the surrounding roads without | | risk of your stock and wagons being seized. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1B
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | We therefore entreat you, beloved brethren, that if you | | judge there is wisdom in our counsel, your arrival, whether | | with family or stock, by day or by night, will be taken as | | your assent to this offer of shelter. Our watch will be | | constant, and our prayers remain with you. | | | | In faith and charity, we remain your servants of the Way | | Restored. | | | | In the months to come Joshua learned the heralds of House | | Haivri claimed a lineage reaching far into antiquity and | | were well accustomed to the indifference of both commoner | | and magistrate. For they had endured such treatment as a | | matter of course over many generations. | | | | Though Ariel had sent letters of similar tenor to nearly a | | dozen congregations in the surrounding country, the Lord of | | Hosts Fellowship alone returned an answer. The other faith | | assemblies maintained a silence as predictable as it was | | complete. | | | | The letter from Ariel produced a marked division even among | | Joshua's parishioners. When he read it aloud following their | | Wednesday evening prayers, they learned Ariel had given | | the name of her house of prayer as Congregation Derekh | | Me'hudeshet. This alone was enough to trouble many minds. | | | | Some held that they were not truly Christian, but rather | | heathen, or Jewish, or even, as a few put it, Romish. Others | | suspected a dark design behind the offer, supposing that the | | the promise of refuge served as a pretext by which their | | livestock might be seized. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1C
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | There was also the matter of the portrait enclosed with the | | letter, that Ariel might be recognized as a friend when the | | animals were taken to safety. The likeness itself did not | | appear to be hand-tinted. Instead, it was rendered in | | lifelike color to the last detail. None of the brethren had | | ever seen the like. There was an outlandish tinge to the | | whole affair. | | | | Nevertheless, Joshua, while admitting to knowing very little | | Hebrew himself, suggested Ariel herself had already revealed | | the name of her assembly in her epistle as the Way Restored, | | making her a sister in Christ and her people no different | | from the Lord of Hosts Fellowship in all the ways that | | mattered. | | | | Hearing it put in this manner, a goodly portion of Joshua's | | congregation availed themselves of Ariel's invitation and | | drove their beasts to Williamsport. | | | | On the afternoon of the seventeenth day of the month, one | | week after Joshua received the letter of Ariel Haivri, | | muskets were discharged in great number along two stone | | walls. The sound carried rapidly from man to man, and the | | smoke of black powder stung the eyes of those engaged. These | | walls met at a bridge of dressed stone, where new believers | | at the Lord of Hosts Fellowship were received in baptism. | | | | It was there that the Union Left first came into direct | | contact with the enemy. The Federal troops advanced in heavy | | order and with much shouting. At the first encounter they | | came near to the far side of the stream, but were brought to | | a halt by a sudden paroxysm of violence. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1D
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Under sustained fire, the Federal troops fell back over the | | bodies of the fallen who lay in layers upon the bridge. Some | | were already dead. Others were still alive and grievously | | wounded, their bones broken or their bodies pierced by | | musket shot. | | | | Among the fallen were men who had survived earlier battles. | | Some of these had been at Shiloh Church, where the conflict | | first attained a fearful level of slaughter. | | | | A large gun loaded with canister was brought to bear and | | placed to command the length of the bridge. It swept the | | structure end to end so that a second line of the dead was | | formed upon the first. | | | | Some of those present had fought at Malvern Hill in | | Virginia, where Federal artillery had wrought great | | destruction. In reply, two Rebel guns positioned upstream | | fired bursting shells that rained death down upon the Union | | artillerymen. Another gun delivered accurate solid shot | | until the Federal piece was broken into splintered timber | | and twisted iron. | | | | Following this, the Confederate infantry advanced in | | counterattack and regained much of the bridge, which by that | | time had become a house of slaughter. | | | | During this fierce exchange, a Federal colonel was struck | | squarely by a musket ball. To the astonishment of his men, | | he quickly regained his feet unhurt. The projectile had | | lodged within a small Bible he habitually carried on his | | person. The men took this as a sign of Divine Providence. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1E
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Emboldened, the colonel immediately led another charge | | across the span. In the brutal close-quarters combat that | | followed, soldiers on both sides stood upon the mounting | | heaps of the dead, passing loaded muskets forward like a | | bucket brigade at a fire and casting aside empty weapons. | | | | But the Confederate infantry found their supply of powder | | dwindling, and the officer commanding them perceived their | | resistance at the bridge was coming to a rapid end by that | | stark fact alone. He accordingly ordered his guns withdrawn | | under cover of a sharp rearguard action to permit an orderly | | retirement. | | | | The commander of IX Corps then crossed the stone bridge, | | following the retreating Confederates. | | | | Having formed his command, he directed a lieutenant of his | | staff to ride to headquarters and report that a foothold had | | been secured on the left of the line at the stone bridge. | | | | The messenger, seeing the structure so thickly carpeted with | | the dead of both armies, refused to ride back across it lest | | he needlessly desecrate the fallen. Instead he went down to | | the creek and forded it on foot. The officer suffered no | | hardship in doing this; the water of the run was nowhere | | more than waist-deep in all seasons, a topographical fact | | well known to the local farmers. | | | | By sundown on the day of the great battle the Rebel army had | | been pressed back into a wide bend of the Potomac River. But | | it had rained, and the waters were running unexpectedly | | swift, rendering the fords practically impassable. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1F
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Federal commander surveyed the field but declined to | | renew the advance, despite holding a numerical advantage. | | | | Discontent circulated among the ranks and the officer corps | | alike; it was widely remarked that even if the commanding | | general's strength were multiplied several times over, he | | would still manufacture delays and complain of insufficient | | troops to strike the enemy. | | | | At dusk on the following day the river subsided, and | | a mounted courier arrived with orders for the general | | evacuation of the wounded. Among those awaiting transport | | were three men who claimed to have been grievously wounded, | | but restored by the ministrations of an angel, though the | | medical staff dismissed their accounts as the ravings of | | delirium. | | | | Outside the field hospitals heaps of amputated limbs were | | set ablaze. Ambulances began the grim work of bearing away | | the maimed. At every roughness in the road cries of anguish | | arose from the men confined within the wagons. | | | | No man who witnessed the procession of the casualties, nor | | the carnage left upon the field, could ever again speak | | lightly of the glories of war. This was a sentiment already | | deeply shared by the faithful of Lange's congregation. | | | | The morning of the nineteenth rose gray and thin. Smoke | | still clung in the low places, and the fields about | | the ruined meetinghouse were strewn with cast-off gear | | and darker burdens awaiting the brethren. Daniel Price | | came first among them. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1G
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | He walked with the stiffness of a hard-laboring man who had | | not slept, and after him John Rowland and Samuel Fahrney, | | with Klaus Reichard and David Stouffer close behind. | | | | They espied Deacon Joshua Lange standing motionless next to | | the ruins of the meetinghouse even as his fellow worshipers | | emerged from their homes, in a state of deep apprehension, | | to begin the cheerless toil of burying the dead. But to a | | man they rejoiced to find Deacon Lange seemingly unharmed. | | | | "Brethren," he said, his voice hoarse but steady. "Ye | | have come early to the house of the Lord, albeit the house | | be cast down." | | | | And the men marveled that much of the fallen timber was not | | to be found, as though the men of the armies had carted it | | away to be used in their breastworks. | | | | Lange inclined his head, and told them, "A great timber | | brake my leg, so that I could not rise." He set a hand | | against his back. "Another pierced me here and I felt the | | warmth of my own blood depart me." | | | | Reichard frowned and glanced at the others. "Your leg, | | sir, may we see it?" | | | | Without protest, Lange drew his limb forward. The cloth | | was rent, but the flesh beneath showed no swelling, no | | misalignment, and no sign of fracture. Stouffer shook his | | head. | | | | "There is no break here." | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1H
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | "And your back," Price added gently. | | | | Lange loosened his coat. There, between his spine and his | | hip, was a pale mark no longer than a finger, as from a | | shallow cut long healed. Lange could not see the hurt he | | claimed to have suffered, but he said, "The pain was | | fierce. It overcame me, and I fell into darkness." | | | | Rowland and Fahrney exchanged a worried glance but they said | | nothing. | | | | Reichard said, "Joshua, I believe you were struck upon the | | head. It is the mercy of God that you live, but visions do | | come of such blows." | | | | At this, Joshua reached into his coat and drew forth a | | folded canvas which he opened with great care. Upon it were | | traced winding lines. No names were marked on them, no | | towns, no mountains or borders, only the flowing paths. | | | | The men bent close. | | | | "I know these rivers," Fahrney said | | slowly, though his brow was knit. "Or I think I do. Yet I | | cannot say which is which." | | | | "There are no names," Stouffer said. | | | | Reichard straightened, shaking his head. "A map without | | names is no map at all, one would think." | | | | "And yet it was given me," said Lange. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1I
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Price studied him a long moment, then laid a hand upon his | | shoulder. "However it be, Joshua, you are returned to us, | | God be praised." | | | | Rowland glanced toward them, then back to Lange. "Can you | | walk?" Lange moved without aid. His leg bore him true. | | | | Fahrney gave a quiet, almost incredulous laugh. "Broken, | | was it?" | | | | "So I believed," Lange answered. | | | | In the uncomfortable silence the women of the congregation | | were seen coming to join them. Price spoke again, and his | | voice was heavy. | | | | "Come. There is work to be done. The living must tend to | | the dead." | | | | But Rowland and Fahrney walked beside Lange as they left | | the sacred precincts, neither pressing him further nor | | dismissing what they did not understand. | | | | Now to expedite the necessary burial of the dead, the | | Federal government promised a bounty of one dollar for every | | soldier interred by the local farmers. It was whispered that | | one man of Sharpsburg, unaffiliated with the church, had | | merely dumped scores of bodies into a dry well to quickly | | collect the funds. | | | | Amidst the desolation of the battle, Elder David Long sought | | to rally his dismayed flock. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1J
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Do not grieve overmuch, my friends," he told them. | | "We shall bury the dead, and make our meetinghouse as it | | was before." | | | | "It may be wisdom," Lange countered, "that we accept | | the assistance offered by our new friends of Congregation | | Derekh Me'hudeshet, and remove ourselves entirely from the | | path of the war." | | | | "We must seek the Lord's will in this matter," the Elder | | decided. "Let every man among us pray upon it. And at | | present, there is no prayer better than hard work." | | | | The brethren who had taken the prudent course of | | driving their livestock northward toward Williamsport had | | accomplished the task in strength. Yet following the battle | | Ariel Haivri managed to return, unaided, every horse, mule, | | and head of cattle entrusted to the Haivri family, as she | | solemnly promised. | | | | Ariel seemed to possess an uncanny affinity for the animals, | | a skill that did not pass unremarked by the faithful. And it | | was noted that her own mount was tended with greater care | | than she bestowed upon herself. Even so, Lange found his | | heart drawn to her, which fueled whispers among the more | | suspicious believers that her peculiar power over beasts | | might well extend to men. | | | | When the work of burying the fallen was completed, Elder | | David Long announced his decision to remain in Sharpsburg. | | Joining him was the Price family, who had deeded the land | | for the meetinghouse. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1K
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Though their farm had been laid waste they aimed to restore | | it, grateful at least that their fields had been spared from | | becoming a military graveyard. | | | | Five other families likewise chose to remain. Together, they | | covenanted to rebuild the house of prayer destroyed in the | | crossfire. | | | | Ariel said the Haivri family pledged to assist any of the | | brethren willing to relocate far from the threat of the | | burgeoning war, possibly even to the territories. Several | | families considered the migration, though liquidating their | | land and making the necessary preparations for such an | | overland journey would require considerable time. | | | | Furthermore, the seemingly boundless generosity of Ariel's | | kinfolk continued to engender suspicion among some who | | feared an underlying motive. Lange reminded them of the | | Apostle's injunction: "Be not forgetful to entertain | | strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels | | unawares." | | | | Now when the faithful of the Lord of Hosts Fellowship had | | first viewed Ariel's enclosed portrait many had mistaken | | her for a young man, or even a lad. Lange himself had | | initially shared this misconception. | | | | Riding north along the road toward the Haivri farm he | | often positioned himself slightly behind her, observing her | | closely as his affections increasingly engaged. She sat her | | horse a full head taller than Lange. Her frame was slender | | and her hair was unusually short for a woman of that era. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1L
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | During the march Lange remarked conversationally that it | | might become her to allow her dark, reddish hair to grow | | out, noting that her current appearance gave her the | | aspect of some tall woodland spirit. Ariel dismissed the | | suggestion. "No shears come near my head," she replied. "The | | strands grow only as long as you see, and no longer. Then | | they fall away, one by one, and I scarcely take notice." | | | | As the party neared the Haivri farm, the weather suddenly | | broke, bringing a brief but violent squall. To Lange's | | considerable astonishment, Ariel surrendered the shelter of | | her tent entirely to her mount, electing to remain exposed | | to the downpour herself. In the days that followed, he | | observed that she consistently bestowed far more attention | | upon her horse than she did in assisting her mother Mikaela | | with the management of their household. | | | | Welcomed as an honored guest by Mikaela, Lange took the | | opportunity to inquire directly whether her family was of | | the Jewish faith. To Mikaela, the question seemed to afford | | her a degree of quiet amusement. | | | | She said, "The Haivri family thrived even before the | | construction of the First Temple. We predate the traditions | | that the rabbis have codified in these recent centuries in | | the absence of a sanctuary." | | | | Mikaela went on to say, "My surname, Ha-Ivri, means 'The | | Ones Who Crossed Over.' The word Hebrew is a corruption of | | that term over the passage of much time. We consider | | ourselves the annunciators of God, though men seldom listen | | to us." | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1M
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | "But madam," Lange replied, "certain members of my | | congregation, as well as myself, have already derived great | | benefit from the words you have spoken." | | | | As time went on Lange observed that the Haivri residence was | | seemingly kept in a state of disorder, but the untidiness of | | the dwelling stemmed not from neglect, but from an abundance | | of material goods, testifying to an unstudied wealth. | | Ariel's kin similarly possessed ample means without any | | ostentatious display. They appeared to operate as though | | their resources were permanently assured. Each labored | | industriously in their own specific pursuits. | | | | Ariel seemed to devote herself to her horses from a genuine | | affection; she valued the animals for themselves, rather | | than for the draft or saddle service they provided. | | | | The Haivri family set aside a small cottage for Lange, | | situated somewhat apart from Ariel's own residence. Her | | extended kin scattered around the large holding made similar | | provisions for each of the families from Sharpsburg who had | | joined the tentative expedition. | | | | Rations were supplied daily in abundance and without | | cost. This charity, however, was received uneasily by the | | refugees. It ran contrary to the ingrained independence of | | rural Americans, who were wholly unaccustomed to accepting | | sustenance without offering commensurate labor in return. | | Observing this dynamic, Lange could not entirely shake a | | troubling suspicion: he feared his uprooted congregation had | | become an idle diversion for Mikaela, much in the same way | | he suspected the horses were a diversion for Ariel. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1N
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Regardless of her underlying motives, Mikaela graciously | | granted the refugees the use of Temple Derekh Me'hudeshet, | | allowing the congregation a proper place to assemble for | | their Sunday services. But Lange's growing affections for | | Ariel soon became a source of profound internal disquiet. He | | could no longer dismiss his experience at the ruined | | meetinghouse as ravings of a battlefield fever; the rapid | | healing of his shattered leg stood as undeniable proof to | | himself, even if none of the others believed him. | | | | He suspected the Haivri were real angels dwelling among | | humanity, yet this conclusion brought him no comfort. As a | | man grounded in Scripture, Lange was aware of the teaching | | set forth in the Gospel of Luke, where those who attain the | | resurrection are said to "neither marry, nor are given in | | marriage," being made equal unto the angels. If Ariel was | | indeed an angel, his growing attachment to her was not only | | futile but presumptuous. | | | | Compounding his confusion was how the Haivri family's untidy | | household and Ariel's fascination with beasts hardly aligned | | with orthodox depictions of the heavenly host. Seeking | | clarity, Lange approached Ariel while she was brushing down | | her mount. He broached the subject cautiously, framing his | | dilemma as a matter of theological inquiry rather than a | | personal confession. He asked how a man of faith ought | | to reconcile the revealed nature of House Haivri with | | scriptural teachings. Ariel paused in her work, recognizing | | the personal anguish hidden beneath his question. She | | understood the rigid view of the Bible common among most | | rural congregations, and she was reluctant to dismantle the | | foundation of his faith. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1O
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Joshua," she replied, her tone careful but direct, "you | | read the Scriptures as though they were a monologue by God. | | But consider the texts you know so well. The Book of | | Proverbs promises the righteous will always prosper and the | | wicked will always fall, yet turn to the Book of Job and you | | find a world where the innocent suffer terribly under an | | inscrutable God. Perhaps what we really have is a dialogue | | by men." | | | | Lange conceded the point, though he was unaccustomed to | | hearing it stated so bluntly. | | | | She said, "The scribes who compiled the texts understood | | these contradictions perfectly, yet included them together, | | not to confuse the reader, but to capture the full, | | complicated breadth of existence. You should not assume that | | the nature of my family is bound by a single verse in | | Luke." | | | | One evening at supper Mikaela casually remarked to Ariel | | that she stood in clear need of a male companion, if only to | | quiet certain persistent rumors passing among the refugees. | | The following morning, Ariel promptly purchased a stallion. | | | | On another occasion, Lange betrayed a momentary, sharp | | jealousy upon discovering a strange hair clinging to her | | coat; Ariel simply led forth the horse from which it had | | been shed, to his considerable embarrassment. | | | | Determined to proceed properly, Lange sought out Mikaela the | | next day and asked with all seriousness, "What must I know | | of the customs of the Haivri clan concerning courtship?" | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1P
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Mikaela replied with a certain air of detachment. "If you | | have a mind toward Ariel, then know that she is wholly free. | | The Family keeps no rules of the sort you imagine. If there | | are to be any such customs they shall be appointed by Ariel | | herself, and it will be your task to discover them. That is | | the nature of it, and truth be told, Joshua, therein lies | | the interest!" | | | | Joshua fell silent as he pondered this. The matriarch then | | shifted the conversation to a more serious theological | | footing. "I would ask you, Joshua," Mikaela said, "what are | | your views concerning divorce?" | | | | "The brethren have always held the New Testament to be | | the absolute rule for every part of our lives," Lange | | answered. | | | | "That is exactly why I asked," Mikaela replied. "In the | | Gospel according to Mark, the Lord Yeshua is reported | | to have forbidden divorce altogether. Yet in the text | | attributed to Matthew, he permits it in cases of infidelity. | | Paul also wrote that the marriage bond may be dissolved when | | one party remains in unbelief. Thus, on this specific | | matter, your Scripture says both yes and no, and something | | else besides." By these remarks, Mikaela demonstrated a | | grasp of Christian Scripture far greater than Lange had | | anticipated. | | | | "Be that as it may, madam," Lange answered, "it is of | | no consequence. I truly love your daughter, and I solemnly | | swear to you that the question of divorce shall never be an | | issue between us." | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1Q
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Your words do you credit, Joshua," Mikaela said. "Yet even | | with the veil of affection over your eyes you must have | | noticed how Ariel has a certain manner with animals. And man | | is certainly of their kin." | | | | "I am grieved, madam, that you accept the strange notions of | | Mr. Charles Darwin," Lange replied, genuinely dismayed by | | the comparison. | | | | "We consider it far stranger," Mikaela countered, "to | | suppose that man is altogether set apart from the rest of | | creation." | | | | "Then, madam," Lange pressed, "do you agree with the less | | charitable members of my flock who whisper that I have been | | bewitched by your daughter?" | | | | "No, there is no such enchantment, Joshua," Mikaela answered | | calmly. "Yet as your courtship proceeds, it will inevitably | | provoke discussions regarding the secrets of the Haivri | | family that extend far beyond what you have already | | witnessed in Kemen." | | | | She went on to offer a measured warning. "Mystery is | | certainly part of the charm. But do not allow yourself to be | | overtaken by surprises too profound to endure." | | | | And Joshua perceived that Ariel sought out his company in | | her turn, requiting his affinity in small signs that waxed | | at a stately pace. There came an evening when his suit | | crossed some invisible boundary, and Ariel loosed some of | | the bonds of her corselet. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1R
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ariel discreetly revealed something substantial of what a | | mortal man was set to receive when an elyonoth of House | | Haivri set her heart upon him in return. To Joshua's mind it | | seemed to settle matters. | | | | Yet, rather than feeling triumphant, this development seemed | | to precipitate in him a profound sense of inadequacy. He was | | a simple rural deacon, anchored to the mud and blood of | | Maryland, while she was a living marvel. | | | | Unable to contain his doubts, he approached her one evening | | by the stables. | | | | "Ariel," he began haltingly, "I must confess a great | | bewilderment. You have traversed bounds of history and | | geography in ways that I can scarcely comprehend. What could | | a woman of your vast experience possibly see in a man of my | | humble station?" | | | | Ariel paused in her work, leaning against the stall door. | | "Joshua," she said solemnly, "Clear-sighted were they | | who appointed you deacon of your church. I have never in my | | life met a man more abundantly possessed of the grace of God | | and more willing to share." | | | | Then, dropping all pretense of formality that Lange had | | supposed was foundational to the great game of pitching woo, | | she went on to say, "But I am genuinely astonished that a | | man of your age has never received the Mommy and Daddy | | Talk." | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1S
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | He had expected a philosophical treatise on the nature of | | love across time. The absurdity of her actual response | | shattered his insecurities entirely. The matter was settled | | between them, and their course toward matrimony was firmly | | established. | | | | At her bridal gathering, Ariel received numerous gifts, a | | significant portion of which were, perhaps inevitably, horse | | bridles. | | | | On the day appointed for the wedding itself, Ariel tarried | | overlong mucking and tending the stables. Lange proceeded | | with his vows regardless. | | | | It was not until the second week of July, in the year | | following the battle, that the Remnant, having by then | | adopted the name Root of Jesse Fellowship, set out for the | | western territories. The House of Haivri made the necessary | | provisions, securing for them passage by rail for part of | | the distance. | | | | In retrospect, their departure was well timed. Events in the | | East soon justified that conclusion. Following General | | Lee's Maryland campaign, President Abraham Lincoln relieved | | General George McClellan of command and placed General | | Ambrose Burnside at the head of the army. Burnside, who had | | commanded the bloody and useless contest for the stone | | bridge, advanced upon Fredericksburg, where his operations | | resulted in a severe repulse. A subsequent movement | | undertaken in unfavorable weather was halted before it could | | develop, the President acting upon urgent representations | | from Burnside's own officers. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1T
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Command then passed to General Joseph Hooker, who had | | previously directed the right of the Federal line during the | | fighting at Sharpsburg. By this stage of the war a growing | | sentiment had taken hold in both armies that Lee could not | | be successfully opposed. The impression was not confined to | | the ranks, and appears to have influenced Hooker himself. At | | Chancellorsville, though in possession of superior numbers, | | he failed to press his advantage. Lee, dividing his force in | | the presence of the enemy, achieved another success, and in | | doing so strengthened the prevailing belief in his army's | | invincibility. | | | | The President next appointed General George Meade to command | | the army, a decision widely regarded at the time as sound. | | Meade had previously assumed direction of the First Corps | | when Hooker was disabled during the Maryland operation, and | | was considered a man of resolution. He was accounted more | | decisive than McClellan, yet less impetuous than Burnside. | | And unlike Hooker, Meade did not appear overawed by Lee. | | | | When General Robert E. Lee again crossed the Potomac River | | with the intention of carrying the war into the North, the | | converging roads brought the opposing armies together near | | the town of Gettysburg. The first day's fighting was | | marked by considerable confusion. Lee was absent from the | | field for much of the action, and Meade would not arrive | | until later that evening. | | | | The Federal forces, pressed heavily, withdrew to a ridge | | of modest elevation but considerable extent, where they | | established a defensive line. Lee's position immediately to | | the west was on a somewhat lower height. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1U
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | It afforded only a limited view of the enemy's dispositions; | | his cavalry, upon which he customarily relied for | | intelligence, was not available to provide timely reports. | | | | Efforts were made against the Federal right without success, | | after which the left was engaged with even greater severity. | | The fighting on both fronts was costly, yet neither effort | | proved decisive. The situation thus left Lee with a narrower | | set of options than he had previously entertained. | | | | The decision was made to attempt a direct assault upon | | the center of the Union line. This was preceded by an | | artillery bombardment of unusual magnitude, exceeding in | | scale anything previously witnessed on this continent. But | | the assault itself failed. A small portion of the attacking | | force reached the stone wall, to be sure, but they could not | | maintain their position and were captured or driven back. | | | | The result of the third day settled the contest in favor of | | the Union. After the action, General Lee withdrew his army | | behind South Mountain and made for Virginia with what speed | | circumstances allowed. General Meade followed on a line | | roughly parallel, keeping to the eastern side of the ridge, | | though his movements were necessarily cautious. | | | | The armies came again into proximity near Williamsport. It | | was there, as they later learned, the animals that had been | | preserved from the earlier fighting were taken by Lee's | | army, in addition to all the horses belonging to Ariel. | | Temple Derekh Me'hudeshet, which had long served as the | | chapel of the Root of Jesse Fellowship on Sundays, was | | likewise stripped of its contents. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1V
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | News of these events reached the party after their train | | approached Baltimore. The impression among their number was | | that each misfortune served only to hasten their departure, | | as if circumstances themselves pressed them onward. | | | | The members of the Root of Jesse Fellowship then continued | | west by a succession of short rail lines, joined one to | | another across the Appalachian Mountains. The rails, being | | of wrought iron, did not permit high speed without undue | | wear, and the journey was accordingly slow. The terrain | | imposed further delay; the ridges, running generally north | | to south, obstructed a direct course and required frequent | | deviation. | | | | Numerous stops were made for fuel and passengers, and it was | | not until the better part of two days and a night had passed | | that they arrived at Pittsburgh. In that city they left off | | travel by rail and took passage upon a small steamboat bound | | down the Ohio River. | | | | Though borne along by the current, they were still in its | | upper reaches, where the river ran narrow and winding, and | | their progress was accordingly moderate. The change in | | conveyance, however, afforded some greater comfort. Cabins | | were available upon the upper deck, where most of the party | | were lodged, the women of the party being assigned quarters | | toward the stern. They were spared the necessity, common | | among less prepared travelers, of sleeping upon the lower | | deck among bales of wool and other cargo, and their meals | | were taken aboard in regular fashion. For several days the | | company passed the time in quiet observation as the river | | wound through wooded hills. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1W
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | The vessel made frequent stops at small settlements set | | close against the slopes, where passengers were taken on or | | discharged, and where wood and water were brought aboard for | | the boiler. This machinery, working constantly beneath the | | decks, produced a noise and vibration that, though soon | | familiar, remained a source of some uneasiness. | | | | At Cincinnati they left the boat and resumed their journey | | by rail, the river having carried them through a district | | where the lines were not yet continuous. A similar | | interruption occurred at East St. Louis, where they again | | crossed by boat, there being at that time no bridge over the | | Mississippi River except at a considerable distance to the | | north. | | | | Once on the western bank, they took passage again by rail, | | traveling under the arrangement made with the General | | Materials concern, and from that point their progress was | | more rapid, as the tracks were newly laid and in better | | condition than those they had encountered farther east. | | | | As the train slowed on its approach, Joshua observed among | | those assembled on the platform a woman whom he at once took | | to be of the House of Haivri. She was of uncommon height, | | exceeding most of the men present by a full head, and was | | dressed in a manner not usual among women. Her clothing | | consisted of leather armor worked in overlapping scales of | | red and black, ornamented with brass from neck to foot. | | | | Straightaway Ariel went forth to embrace her. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1X
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ariel said, "Lailah, I doubt not that Gabriela did prevail | | upon thee to adorn thyself for this occasion." | | | | Lailah replied, "Nay, Ariel; for I was required to bring | | these wagons hither one by one, and I did fly back unto the | | farm to fetch more." | | | | Ariel answered, "Then let us hope in flying that none did | | see thee." | | | | From Independence they proceeded south into the valley of | | the Blue River, which enters the Missouri River between that | | town and Kansas City. There they traveled with Lailah in her | | seven mud wagons, and under her direction the whole company | | moved along the course of the stream. The route passed a | | number of small farms and required several crossings of the | | river before they came at last to a substantial structure | | set close against its western bank. This place was called by | | Lailah Big Blue, and it was constructed of large blocks of | | limestone fitted carefully together without mortar and | | raised only a single story in height. | | | | The structure appeared strong and serviceable, though Joshua | | noted that a coating of whitewash would have improved its | | appearance. It stood within an enclosure, fenced about, in | | which there was kept a small herd of oxen. The animals had | | consumed the grass down to the root and were thereafter | | maintained upon stored hay alone. | | | | The men and elder boys of the company unharnessed the | | fourteen horses that had brought the party from the station | | to that place. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
1Y
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ariel led them into the pasture, where they were permitted | | to graze among the oxen, and she provided them with alfalfa | | in abundance, which they consumed with evident satisfaction. | | | | Following Lailah, the thirty-three pilgrims entered through | | the great double doors of the house known as Big Blue and | | observed the interior. Within was a large bay wherein stood | | ten prairie schooners yet unfinished, their frames rising | | nearly to the ceiling under the arc of the roof. At one end | | of the structure was an area set aside for the taking of | | meals in common. | | | | Along the walls were arranged chambers of various sizes, | | allotted to the several families among the company. Lailah | | then addressed them, saying, "I bid you all welcome unto | | this place which we have made ready for you. There is much | | that ye must learn before ye shall be prepared to complete | | your journey." | | | | Lailah further said that when those under her charge had | | been instructed sufficiently, it would already be too late | | in the season to complete the journey and prepare all things | | before the coming of winter. For this reason, she declared | | that they should abide at that place until the spring. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
Terminal Cruise 