The Novel
In real life, after two years’ preparation by the US Army, 54,000 Civil War veterans gathered in July 1913 for a reunion, a National Encampment at Gettysburg. 100,000 civilian spectators came each day on 47 trains, by wagon, automobile and on foot. Hundreds of domestic and foreign reporters scribbled stories about reunions, forgiveness, speeches by dignitaries. All watched to see if North and South could meet and make peace on the bloody ground Lincoln called “hallowed.” And history notes that all those gathered and all watching were white.
In this fictionalized account, Eeman poses a question: what if 5,000 black veterans had also attended, and by their very presence dared America not only to reconcile blue and gray, but also black and white? Marian Anderson sings, and W.E.B. DuBois and Woodrow Wilson speak, but it is the white-haired veterans who heal the burdens and fury of their past. Zachariah, Lucius and Calvin could have been among the thousands at Gettysburg who shared food, drink and memories while burying the ghosts of slavery and hatred. They could have led America beyond the divisions of section and race and laid the foundation for a post-racial society decades before our time.
