“As yet, we do not know. The captured British soldiers, like soldiers in any army, just followed orders. I hear that an officer has also been captured, but he is badly wounded. But for whatever reason the British attacked the South we must accept the fact that they did and make the most of it. This opportunity will not occur again. I pray only that Jeff Davis be of the same mind as the rest of us.”
The shore shimmered in the summer heat haze, but there was a cool sea breeze moving across Chesapeake Bay so they traveled in comfort. Only when the little ship turned into the York River did the heat return. The river here was more than wide enough for easy navigation, and only narrowed after it had passed the landings at West Point Depot. The ship’s engine shut down as they drifted slowly towards the dock at the depot. The lines were thrown, but instead of boatmen or longshoremen grabbing on, gray-coated soldiers hooked them over the bollards. Hay shivered at the sight of them, seized by the sudden thought that perhaps this was all some kind of desperate ruse to kidnap and kill the President. But, no, he had seen General Lee with his own eyes.
Word must have been sent ahead when the yacht was first seen in the river for there was a carriage now coming towards the landing. The Southern soldiers, in their motley and patched uniforms, had been drawn up and stood at attention. President Lincoln stood at the rail, patting his old, tall hat into place.
If there was ever a moment of historical significance this was surely it. In the midst of a terrible war there was suddenly peace. The guns were silent, the fighting stopped. Now the leaders of the two warring sides, which less than a day ago had been locked in mortal conflict, were prepared to meet each other in peace.
The carriage pulled up on the wharf and the top-hatted and elegantly clad figure that climbed down now could only be one man. Jefferson E. Davis, the elected President of the breakaway new nation. He conferred briefly with the officers who awaited him. Then he strode alone confidently towards the companionway that had just been pushed ashore. There he stopped for an instant.
President Lincoln who was waiting at the other end did not hesitate but walked down to meet him. For the first time since the war had begun he was standing on Southern soil. The long moment of silence was broken when he spoke.
“Mr. Davis, it was a brave and courageous thing you did to arrange this meeting. I thank you.”
“I thank you, Mr. Lincoln, for your instant response and for your bravery in coming here deep inside Virginia.”
Lincoln smiled at that. “I am no stranger to these parts. My grandfather, Abraham, for whom I was named, was from Virginia. So I feel that I am coming home.”
“I know that, Sir, since I was born here as well. Our birthplaces are less than a hundred miles apart, I do believe. I am normally not a superstitious man, but I cannot feel but that there is a hand of destiny here.”
There was silence and a certain hesitation. Too much in the past separated them. Lincoln, the man who had brought war and destruction to the South. Davis, slave-holder and oppressor. But this must change — this had to change.
Both men strode forward at the same instant. By common and instant decision they clasped hands. Nicolay felt the breath catch in his throat, seeing this, yet not believing what he was seeing.
“Do come aboard, sir,” Lincoln said. “And out of the sun.”
Nicolay stepped aside when the two presidents turned, climbed the companionway and stepped aboard the ship.
“We shall use the main salon and we will not be disturbed,” Lincoln said. Both secretaries nodded in silence. “That is not until General Sherman arrives and meets with General Lee. You will then please tell them to join us then.”
With a guiding and friendly hand to the shoulder Lincoln escorted Davis into the low-ceilinged and comfortable salon and closed the door behind them.
“Would that I were but a fly on the wall in there!” Nicolay said, wringing his hands in real anguish. Hay nodded agreement.
“We will hear in good time. Now — let us seek some protection from the fury of this Virginia sun.”
Despite the heat of the day the portholes in the cabin were closed so what was said here could not
possibly be overheard. Lincoln shrugged out of his jacket and dropped into the comfortable armchair that was bolted to the deck. Davis hesitated, started to open his jacket, then rebuttoned it. Perhaps formality might be put aside, like so many other things that had made this meeting possible. But he was a formal man who could not shake the habits of a lifetime. The jacket remained on. He hesitated, then took a pair of strongly tinted spectacles from his jacket pocket and put them over his severely inflamed eyes.
“The war in the north, Sir,” he said. “Is there any news?”
“None other than that a desperate battle is now under way. Before engaging the enemy General Grant telegraphed that he had retreated to prepared positions. He added that he would not retreat again nor would he be beaten.”
“You must believe him,” Davis said. “We did not at Shiloh. It took 10,000 of our dead to prove him right.”
“And 12,000 of ours killed in the doing thereof.” The thought drove Lincoln to his feet, to stride awkwardly the length of the small cabin, then back. “I am filled with a sense of wonder and of hope. We are facing together a common enemy — ”
“Which in order to subdue and destroy we must unite in common cause.”
“I could not agree more. We must seize this ceasefire and turn it somehow into a peaceful union that will enable us to fight our joint enemy. Will your Southern troops enter into such an agreement?”
“With enthusiasm. Firstly, despite the horrors and death that this war between the states has thrust upon them, up until now it has been a war of soldier against soldier. All this has changed. A foreign power has not only invaded our land but has ravished and murdered Southern womanhood. This must be avenged.”
“And so it shall be. And a fine start was made when our conjoined troops attacked and destroyed the invaders.”
“But not all of them. Many fled the beaches and escaped by sea. While your ironclad and warships were engaged in battle a good part of the enemy fleet scattered despite the efforts by your ships to capture them. Thus the invaders escaped a second time. They will surely be used to reinforce the British invasion of New York State.”
“Will you join us and do battle with them there?” Even as he spoke the words Lincoln realized how filled with portent they were, how grave and world-changing the answer might be. Davis’s response was instantaneous.