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| Blue Line to Richmond
Excerpt
October 1861
The cattle car smelled musty and foul as the old steam locomotive thundered through the Virginia countryside, each mile putting more distance between Paul and his beloved Boston. He sat on the bare wooden floor in the bleak hours before daylight, listening to the wind whistling outside. The temperature had dropped considerably since they had left Leesburg two days ago, and he struggled to keep warm.
"Paul, are you awake?"
The major recognized the voice of his brother a few feet away and smiled. He couldn't sleep either.
"Yep," he replied, keeping his voice down. There were 50 other men in this cramped car who were trying to rest, some lying together for warmth while others curled up in a fetal position. A few covered themselves in the thin layer of straw provided by their Southern hosts.
"Wonder how far we've traveled. It's been almost three hours since Manassas."
"I expect we'll reach Richmond by daybreak, maybe sooner," Paul answered. He thought about the last few hours and, although the train was not the Waldorf, it was a hell of an improvement from the day before.
The rain had started just hours after they had been corralled in the gates at Leesburg, but the powers that be thought that would be a perfect time to hit the road. Dozens of Confederates, most of them from states in the Deep South, hustled hundreds of Federal soldiers along in the pitch of night through dirt paths, destination unknown. At least the locals had stopped pelting them with rocks and insults when the waterworks began.
The men hiked for hours in the darkness without a break, their line stretching for over a mile through the thick woods. Paul's leg hurt again, and he fell a few times in the slippery mud that covered every inch of their way. He tried to endure the pain on his own, but after a few hours he allowed his brother to support him. Charlie Peirson relieved the doctor after a time, but the going was rough for all of them. Several men collapsed along the route and did not rise again. Perhaps they were the lucky ones, he thought grimly.
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