Fighting Lincoln's War: Return to Gettysburg

FIGHTING

LINCOLN’S

WAR

RETURN TO GETTYSBURG

LOUIS SALTZMAN

Copyright © 2019 Louis Saltzman.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

1 (877) 407-4847

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2250-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2249-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-2251-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019902123

Balboa Press rev. date: 03/22/2019

To my sons and their families—Joshua, Amy, and Sadie Saltzman and Daniel, Suzy, Brody, and Piper Saltzman—my parents, Bertha and Paul Saltzman; my sister and cover artist, Alisha Diamond Saltzman; my aunt, Clara Mahler; my cousins, Norma and Richard Mahler, Jeannette and Alfred Mahler, Tina Mahler, Stan Jacobson, and Martin Saltzman; and my friends, Susan and Barry Berger, Gene Braunstein, Steve Butler, Jay Leno, Gerry and Steve Visco, and a special thanks to Pauline and John Sarjoo.

These are just names on a page. But each one gave me support with a word here and there that gave me the confidence to follow a dream, and I thank them so much.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

As a young boy growing up in a housing project in the Bronx, New York, I had many friends from families who had moved into the new neighborhood that was built in 1950. It was a melting pot of races and religions. I played punchball, basketball, marbles, and baseball.

Something happened when I was about seven years old. I began to read. My parents bought me books, The Hardy Boys, Chip Hilton, and Tom Swift. I could not get enough and read every night under the covers with a flashlight. Lastly, they gave me three Landmark biographies of different presidents. The first two were on George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and I loved reading about them. But something special happened when I read the third. It was a biography of Abraham Lincoln, and it touched something in me that I could not understand. It would take many years before it would make sense. All I knew was that this man’s life fascinated me. I had no concept until years later of what the Civil War really was and the horror of over 600,000 deaths. At the time, all I cared about was learning about this strange-looking tall man who saw things that others could not. I identified with his statements, among them, A house divided against itself cannot stand. He said also, If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is. He was a spiritual, if not a religious, man. Both the North and the South claimed God was on their side. Yet Lincoln wrote a note that was discovered after his death that said, God cannot be both for and against the same thing.

I spent more than seven years writing my first book, Zefram’s Journey. It was most personal, and I struggled, as I had never written before. Being in my early sixties did not help matters, as I was frustrated when it came to putting it in a proper framework. Yet I was finally able to finish and publish it. Many people said nice things about it, for which I am most grateful.

I believed I was capable of writing something else and spent weeks thinking about different ideas but was not satisfied. Having a love for history I visited many different centuries and narratives. But in the end, I always returned to the nineteenth century and the tall man with his scraggly beard who suffered from depression and grew as a president more than any other who occupied his office before or since. His story captivated me.

I realized that I had neither the means nor the knowledge or time to write anything based upon reality that could add to the legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Finally, I began to see an idea. Lincoln was not perfect and had to do a great deal of learning on the job. Since the Ric Burns documentary series, The Civil War was released in 1990, interest in the war and Lincoln began to dramatically increase. That increased interest led to many new books and films, and the genre of fantasy fiction became popular. Most alternative history books about the Civil War had to do with the South winning the war. My own what if" could not duplicate what had been done before. That held no interest. What did excite me was the alternative of the North winning the Civil War earlier with the aid of the future Government of the United States.

By early June 1863, Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia had won stunning and devastating victories—at Fredericksburg in winter 1862 and at Chancellorsville at the end of May 1863. There was serious concern in the states of the Union that the South could win. The numbers of casualties continued to shock the public, and the newspapers filled page after page of the names of dead Union soldiers. The president signed the Emancipation Proclamation on New Year’s Day 1863, and the focus of the war shifted to freeing the slaves, in addition to the president’s earlier stated goal of preserving the Union.

While this story is fiction, two things became very important as I wrote it. Firstly, I wanted to have the people who were central to the story be where they were in 1863. Secondly, I wanted to do my best to present the president as the man he was. All I can say is that I hope I came close to finding him.

Most political pundits of the period underestimated his political abilities. He was frustrated with the quality of his generals, and it took time to find men who agreed that the way to win the war was to defeat Robert E. Lee. Lincoln knew the North had more men and supplies, and that was how they would finally win. This story depicts a way it could have happened sooner.

I hope you enjoy reading and learn a few things along the way. Most importantly, I wish to thank all those who supported my work these past years. I will always be grateful to them for it.

A special thanks to Rosie Lenoci for putting in so many hours editing my drafts. I confess I did not make her job easier.

I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoyed telling it.

Thank you.

Louis Saltzman

November 2018

While the rest are grinding their little private organs for their own glorification the old man is working with the strength of a giant and the purity of an angel to do this great work.

—John Hay on Abraham Lincoln

He always worked with things as they were, while never relinquishing the desire to make them better.

—John Hay in John Taliaferro’s All The Great Prizes: The Life Of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

—Abraham Lincoln

Judge not and be kind

Me

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Washington, DC, 2022

Paul Diamond, Time Travel Team Leader

Captain Jackson Barlow, Team Member

Captain Steven Butler, Team Member

Captain Gene Shanahan, Team Member

James Conklin, Mission Director

Army of Northern Virginia, 1863

Robert E. Lee, Commander

James Longstreet, Commander Corps I

A. P. Hill, Commander Corps II

Richard Ewell, Commander Corps III

Jeb Stuart, Commander Cavalry Corps

George Pickett, Brigade Commander, Longstreet

Walter Taylor, Chief of Staff, Lee

Charles Marshall, Aide-de-Camp, Secretary, Lee

Sam Hood, Brigade Commander, Longstreet

Lafayette McLaws, Brigade Commander, Longstreet

Johnson Pettigrew, Brigade Commander, Hill

Porter Alexander, Artillery Commander, Longstreet

Washington City, 1863

Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States

William H. Seward, Secretary of State

Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War

Gideon Welles, Secretary of the Navy

Salmon Chase, Secretary of the Treasury

John Nicolay, First Secretary to the President

John Hay, Second Secretary to the President

Francis P. Blair

Frank Blair, Congressman (R), Missouri

Martin Duffy, Servant, Francis P. Blair

Fernando Wood, Congressman (D), New York

Thaddeus Stevens, Congressman (R), Pennsylvania

Charles Sumner, Senator (R), Massachusetts

Herman Haupt, Manager, US Railroad System

Montgomery Meigs, Quartermaster, US Armies

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, July 1863

Harry Heth, Brigade Commander (CSA)

John Buford, Cavalry Commander (US), Corps 1

John Reynolds, Commander (US), Corps II

Daniel Sickles, Commander (US), Corps III

Winfield Scott Hancock (US), Corps II

Alexander Webb, Brigade Commander (US), Corps II

A. P. Hill, Commander (CSA), Corps III

Richard Ewell, Commander (CSA), Corps II

CONTENTS

Prologue

PART ONE

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

PART TWO

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

PART THREE

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Epilogue

PROLOGUE

On June 15, 2022, Dr. Paul Diamond sat in a wooden chair in a NASA laboratory at the Goddard Space Flight Center just outside of Washington, DC. He wore a wide-brimmed brown hat, a long brown lightweight coat, and brown leather boots that were scuffed to make them appear worn. On his lap was a saddlebag that held the clothes and papers he would need for his trip. He was surrounded by five six-foot-high machines with spotlights pointed at the wooden chair. They would generate enough electrical power to send him on his trip back through time. Paul had no clue how they worked and what they did. His specialty was American History and he had a Doctorate in 19th Century American Studies. All he knew was that the machines would generate enough power and he hoped he would reopen his eyes when he was transported to his destination.

The machines began to hum for thirty seconds and a voice began a countdown beginning with ten. At five, the hum got louder, and Paul closed his eyes and tightened his grip on his bag. Through his eyelids, he was able to see bolts of electrical energy and a bluish-colored orb that was created by the electricity that encircled him. Paul felt the now familiar jolt that threw him back into the chair. And then he vanished.

PART ONE

CHAPTER 1

Washington City, June 15, 1863

T he trip was a bit bumpy. In the end, though, he arrived somewhat dizzy but otherwise no worse for wear. Paul attributed this to the number of times he’d made the journey, and he already he knew this would be his final one. There were only so many one’s body could take. If this one were not so important and personal, he would still be back in his office with reference material in piles all around his desk. Every trip he survived was a blessing.

The landing spot was a wooden chair in a narrow alley behind the Willard Hotel in Washington City. His head was still spinning, so he tried to focus on what had led him there. All the jumps had taken their toll on his mind, and the last had put him out of commission for six months.

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, May 28, 2022

Paul Diamond had been back at work for almost a year when the phone had rung and his assistant had told him Dr. Conklin was on his way to see him.

Paul worked in a secret division of NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center fifteen minutes outside of Washington, DC. Technically his department was in the Astronomical Investigation Unit where he researched black holes and spatial phenomenon having to do with the possibilities of string theory. There was no mention of parallel universes and alternate time lines that had been proven to exist twelve years earlier or the ability to travel back and forth in time.

A small group of nations had begun to work together fifteen years earlier, and they were managed by the highest levels of each government. While the United States ran the program, Switzerland, England, and France provided scientific and financial support.

The transport was done via the time jumper sitting in a chair and his or her body being bombarded with electrical charges while surrounded by a circular blue orb that would propel the person to a prearranged time and place. A handful of scientists could make it work, maintain the machinery, and reverse the trip.

Theoreticians designed an implanted electric device that could send simple Morse code messages from the past to the present to advise of the status of the time jumpers. The inside joke was the old expression You never saw me, and I was never here.

The true purpose of the department was developing a means of transporting individuals through time to critical hot spots in history to avoid potential disasters. Besides the potential damaging outcome if it did not work, there was a concern about the effect on the health of the travelers themselves and the impact on the time line by mistakes that could be made, as well as their connections to people they would meet. It was imperative to avoid any instance of affecting anything other than what their actual mission was.

It was virtually impossible to eliminate all possible contingencies for contact, but the travelers were trained to limit interactions with people who were not involved in the mission on the ground. There was a careful selection process for team members, with a premium placed on individuals with scientific and military backgrounds; and they needed to have historical knowledge of the times they were sent to, as any mistake could have serious repercussions.

Paul was a different case. His area of expertise was American history, with a specialty in the nineteenth century. At forty-seven years old, he was also older than all the other team members. Paul’s last jump had been physically difficult and had not been successful, but events had proved to be beyond his control.

Andrew Jackson had finished his second term as president and was succeeded by his vice president, Martin Van Buren. President Jackson had succeeded in his quest to break the Bank of the United States. He pulled out all federal funds and then transferred them to several politically cooperative state banks, shutting the national bank down. Combined with the bursting of the bubble of land speculations in the western lands, the young nation found itself in its most severe depression. Van Buren and his administration were doomed. He was defeated in his bid for reelection.

Diamond was sent, not to save President Van Buren, but to try and stem the financial collapse. Shortly after his arrival, he realized he brought too little and had arrived too late. No jump could last more than twenty-one days before the physical effects of time travel literally ate up the cells of the body. There was not enough time to do anything, and his return to 2022 had been a rough one. Paul had suffered a brain aneurysm. He’d been told by the NASA medical staff that, without undergoing an untested new procedure, he would be grounded. Even if the procedure was done successfully, there was no guarantee he could survive another round trip.

Unable to return to the time when history was being made and so many events were taking place had been extremely difficult for him to accept. He’d decided to have the surgery and had been told it was successful, but the surgeons gave him enough caveats about returning to active status that he felt his hair was going to catch fire.

So, he’d returned to his first love—historical research of the nineteenth century. He had come to accept his new status. After all, he was helping the jumpers train and learn about what they were doing and what they would find when they arrived at their destinations.

Management was very cautious about approving trips, and a great deal of research was done before any were approved. When he was told that the director was coming for a visit, he found it unusual and a bit surprising. Normally, he would have been asked to make the trip downstairs.

CHAPTER 2

T here was a knock on the door, and Dr. James Conklin rushed in to Paul’s office. I see all the books are right where they were the last time I was here, he said with a smile.

Paul answered, You know me well enough by now, Jim. Now what brings you rushing up here?

Paul, it’s important, and the subject is right in your wheelhouse. I don’t know if I should even be telling you about it.

Paul stared at his friend and quietly said, What is it?

The director whispered, How are you feeling?

Paul immediately answered, You get my monthly exam reports. I feel fine.

Jim turned to look at a painting hanging on a wall. It was of Pickett’s Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War. Then he quietly said, You may want to sit down.

Paul sat down in his chair and stared at his friend.

Conklin continued. Today is May 28. At this moment in 1863, General Joseph Hooker is preparing his newly trained and refitted Army of the Potomac for an attack on Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.

Paul Diamond sat in his chair and said quietly, Chancellorsville.

Yes, answered his friend, but that is not our objective. We found some information that our friends on the other side made a move that we were not prepared for but did not work, but you know all this.

A few years ago, an unknown group of ultraconservative industrialists hacked the NASA computers and stole programs that allowed them to try to duplicate time travel.

Dr. Conklin went on to explain that their adversaries had tried to send back a modified version of an Uzi handgun to Antietam in 1862 that had failed to operate. It was found, he said, A photograph was in a file of General Sedgwick Corp. It was forgotten for decades. A junior research assistant named Jacob Hansen found it by chance.

Someone is doing a book on General Sedgwick, and we always provide help when we can to make sure nothing is revealed that should not be. This led us to begin asking questions and put together a basic plan that we think can work. And it ties in to another related issue.

What? Paul asked.

It would involve someone going back with a supply of automatic rifles that could theoretically be used at Gettysburg and Vicksburg.

He turned away from the painting and stared at Paul. That person would have to see President Lincoln.

All Paul could say was, Oh my God.

Jim Conklin knew there was no other historical figure Paul Diamond thought more of than Abraham Lincoln.

Conklin went on to explain that, if used properly, thirty of these automatic rifles could stop Lee from escaping the Union Army by cutting him off after the Federal victory at Gettysburg. Knowing how Lee was going to try to get away and cross the Potomac to Virginia was invaluable information for the Union Army to have. The rebels could be sealed in from both sides, and their soldiers could be cut down like wheat from a thresher. The other guns would go to Vicksburg.

Paul, it could end the war right there. Is it possible?

Paul placed two fingers of his right hand on his forehead and thought for a moment. Then he said, Theoretically, it could. But there are problems with transporting the guns and training men to use them. I seem to remember Secretary of War Stanton having a group of men he used for special projects. But there is such an enormous risk for collateral damage by the number of people involved and all the moving parts in a project of this size. You know how I feel about messing with the time line, Jim.

Jim Conklin continued, There is another matter, and it involves Robert Lincoln. You know he lives a long and successful life. There is one exception.

Paul held up his hand to interrupt his friend. The death of his son.

Wasn’t he named for the president? asked Conklin.

Paul answered, Yes, you know everyone called him Jack. It was a lot to expect for a young man to take on being named for the assassinated president who led his country to victory in the Civil War. Robert accepts an appointment to serve as ambassador to Great Britain, where his only son dies. It must have been devastating.

Jim finished by saying, "We would like