XVI

Burnside Lee, being a Democrat of the Whig tradition, voted against secession. His family were Burghers of Athens who made their fortune on hardware and believed in internal improvements and high tariffs. Still, he owned twelve slaves and 150 acres at his plantation Cerro Gordo, which he had specially constructed in the Spanish style of a hacienda and named after the battle in which he never ceased to recount. He was a proud veteran of the Mexican War where he fought under a bright constellation of heroes like Robert E. Lee, P.G.T. Beauregard and U.S. Grant. He had brought home a senorita, Romina Delgado, who was dusky and exotic and domineering. He called her his esposita.

After Fort Sumter, when Lincoln called up his 75,000 to suppress the rebellion, he threw in his towel with the secessionists like most other Southern Whigs. He personally financed a company of volunteers in Limestone County and called them the "Athenian Hoplites." He even designed a uniform (grey with bronze epaulets) and armed them with the excellent 1841 Mississippi rifle. Several scions of the Greeks joined up, including Bill Marmaduke and Branse Havelock. They were sworn into the Confederate Army in Huntsville, Ala. as Company A of the 19th Alabama Infantry Regiment. "With the Old Guard." Their commanding officer was a dashing young Georgian named Joseph Wheeler. He placed the colors into the hands of Burnside Lee who would lead Company A in battle - a blue field with a white border and the image of an ancient Greek hoplite sown into the center.

They rode the cars to Mobile where they spent the next nine months drilling in the invariably stifling air of the Gulf. Their sergeant major was a profane martinet who whipped them into the most parade-sharp company in the regiment. In the winter of '62, Fort Donelson on the Tennessee-Kentucky border fell to Grant's army. Nashville was abandoned and the Confederate Army was falling back into the Deep South. If the Hoplites were eager for action, they were soon obliged. They were shipped north to join the mighty army of General Albert Sydney Johnston then concentrating at Corinth, Mississippi. It was time to strike back.

Their target was the army of Ulysses S. Grant, who had disembarked at a place called Pittsburgh Landing on the Tennessee River, near the Shiloh Church. He intended to collect more reinforcements before advancing with superior numbers on Corinth. General Johnston decided to strike first, and his army sallied forth to smash into Grant's exposed position. The great Battle of Shiloh opened with a surprise attack on the Yankees as they were cooking their breakfast. A crescendo of fire and thunder alerted Grant to the danger and the Yankees dug their heels in and made the rebels pay for every yard of ground.

A rider rushed forward and gave a crisp salute to Burnside Lee and passed him a slip. Sir, you are hereby ordered by Colonel Wheeler to advance your company up the Savannah Road and drive the enemy from his position. It sounded simple enough. Only the courage was lacking, so Burnside Lee withdrew a flask and emptied it down his gullet. Then he withdrew his sword, nodded to the drummer boy and they all stepped off to the cadence of The White Cockade. The entire 19th Alabama surged forward towards a peach orchard on the left side of the Savannah Road.

Nobody could see the enemy. Peach blossoms were raining down like confetti from an incessant rain of shots. They sounded like bees. As they reached the firing line men started dropping. The wounds were grievous. Burnside could see the flash of muskets from behind the curtain of smoke that blanketed everything. He halted the company. Make ready! They checked their primers. Take aim! They levelled their muskets with a clacking sound. Fire! The line erupted with a flash and long stabs of smoke. Load! It took a long thirty seconds to load a musket. They repeated this business for fifteen minutes during which men continued to fall with troubling regularity. Nobody could tell if they were hitting anybody.

Whatever the effect of their shooting, the firing receded. The Yankees were falling back. They then advanced up the right side of a road and found a grove where they rested for an hour. Rations were brought up, but there was no water. A nearby pond was greased with too much offal and blood to drink. Firing was heard everywhere around them as they ate. The boys were shocked to find their ranks missing so many friends they knew. Rumors started going around that General Johnston was dead. They could believe it. The fighting had been a maelstrom of bullets flying everywhere. No one was safe from that. PGT Beauregard was in command now.

They made the final push to drive Grant into the Tennessee River towards dusk. Company A was mustered into line and sent forward again. This time the Yankees weren't driven back. They had massed ranks of cannon and threw thick black shot you could see into the Hoplites' ranks. The men were simply blown back, or torn to pieces. Exhausted, they broke into camp for the night. Old Bernie walked around encouraging his boys then retired to his tent to weep. No one slept because Yankee gunboats on the Tennessee kept throwing shells into their camp.

The next morning it wasn't even contest. Grant had been reinforced by the army of Don Carlos Buell and had counterattacked with overwhelming numbers. It was the Hoplites' turn to feel the pressure, and they gave in. They had lost too much blood. General Beauregard called for a retreat. The Battle of Shiloh was over. They slogged back south to Corinth where the hospitals were swamped with casualties.

It was time to take to stock of their losses. In its first action, Company A lost over half of its ranks. They mustered 122 before battle. When they returned to Corinth only 55 remained fit for duty. Burnside Lee was crestfallen. He had lost so many of his boys. For the Athenian Hoplites, Shiloh was only the beginning of a war that would arc across three more Aprils.