Emily Carter

Emily Carter

         Before you read further, I would like to inform you of the timeframe of this story. It is in 1863. The president is Lincoln. America is split apart by a bloody Civil War. The southern army commander, General Robert E. Lee is undefeated. The Northern General, Major General J. Hooker was just replaced by General George G. Meade.

         Emily was a nurse, and as a nurse, she had witnessed the dreadful reality that is war. She walked with her head bowed. The wind was whipping her long black hair into her face. She didn't move it. She wasn't even bothered. After seeing thousands of dead and wounded, Emily could care less about her own comfort. Everywhere she looked, she saw terrible visions of war. She imagined her beloved husband lying on the ground, clutching his stomach a blood gushed through the cracks in his fingers. Emily looked behind her. There was her husband. He had made it through several battles almost unscathed.
         Emily loved her husband very much. He had recently hurt his arm. Now, he pretended that the injury did not exist. Emily had tried to get him removed from the Army of the Potomac, but her husband firmly refused.
Although Emily was very much concerned about her husband's health, she knew there were much greater things to worry about. The union army had received news that the undefeated General Lee was heading North towards Pennsylvania. Emily knew that if the Southern army got to Harrisburg, the war would most surely be over with a southern victory.
         Soon, Emily went back to worrying about her husband and lost track of time and place. Emily heard a distant voice,
         "Sir, the rebel army has been spotted near the small town of Gettysburg." Then, she heard the voice of Colonel Joshua Chamberlain responding,
         "I am well aware of that. Major General Sykes has ordered the V Corps to march toward Hanover, which is just West of Gettysburg, and as we are part of the 3rd Brigade of the first division of the V corps, we are headed toward Hanover."
         "Yes, sir."
         Before Emily joined the Union Army as a nurse, she would have complained of her legs and feet, but Emily knew better than to complain. There were people who she knew that were missing arms and legs.
         On July 1, the 20th Maine, Emily's regiment were forced to march in the middle of the night, which brought them to a location behind Cemetery Ridge.
After the march, Emily's husband, Joseph Carter, doubled over in pain. 'He can't fight alone,' Emily thought to herself. She went to the hospital tent, where her friend Betty was working.
         "Betty..." Emily began. "I need your help."
         "With what?" Betty asked. Emily leaned toward Betty's ear.
         "I must disguise myself as a man to protect my husband."
         "Excuse me?" Betty drew away.
         "I need the uniform of someone passed on," Emily said. "I have to do this."
         At first Emily didn't know how she could get into the 20th Maine. Then, an opportunity arose. Several mutinous soldiers who had been assigned to the old second Maine were brought into camp. Joshua Chamberlain gave a brief speech to the soldiers. Emily couldn't believe it. Almost every single one of the soldiers was willing to fight for the 20th Maine. Emily had put on a uniform, leaving the jacket off. She claimed she had taken it off because she had not wanted to serve anymore. This is how Emily joined the mutinous soldiers under Colonel Joshua Chamberlain.          She did not make herself known to any of the soldiers. Barely anyone took notice of her. If she was asked her name, she replied, "Emmett Car." Emily was given a rifle and an old union jacket.
         The fifth corps was called to the front, and fighting began at four o'clock. Chamberlain's men were rushed to the southern slope of little round top, the far left of the union line. Soon, they were holding off confederate skirmishes coming from General Law's Alabama brigade on Big Round Top. Emily knew barely anything about firing a rifle, but she had learned enough from watching the soldiers while searching the field for wounded. The 15th Alabama Infantry, which was commanded by Colonel Oates, had climbed over the summit of the larger hill and had reorganized. They were now sweeping northward toward the Union line.
         Emily fired and fired, but it seemed to make no difference. The confederate rebels kept on coming. They came in wave after wave. The 20th Maine was losing men fast. As Emily fired, she found ways to get slowly closer to her husband to make sure that she could help him in any way she could. The love between Emily and her husband was so strong that she could almost feel his presence. Finally, the men began to run out of ammunition, but the rebel waves kept coming. Emily looked around her to find more ammunition. The man beside her was shot in the stomach. He moaned and moaned. Emily knew he wouldn't survive because stomach wounds were fatal.
         She slowly reached into his ammunition bag whispering a short sorry, but he was already dead. Emily couldn't stop the tears from coming to her eyes as she loaded her rifle. She cocked the rifle and fired. She looked at Colonel Chamberlain as he encouraged the men to keep fighting. Suddenly, a bullet came whizzing dangerously close to Emily's ear. She saw it hit the colonel's left thigh. She wondered that the blood did not come. Chamberlain picked up his metal scabbard, which had been hanging next to his thigh. A bullet was wedged in it.
         Chamberlain let his scabbard fall back to his legs, climbed on his horse and began to encourage the men more fiercely as bullets became scarcer.
         Emily looked beside her. Two men away, she could see her husband load his rifle. Then, he caught her eye. He got a look of such surprise on his face that Emily was sure he had seen her, but then, she decided that he hadn't because he kept firing as if nothing had happened.
         "Men!" Colonel Chamberlain called. "We are out of ammunition! Ready bayonets!"
         Emily took her bayonet and put it in the end of her gun.
         "We are going to charge at them like a swinging door to drive them away from the left flank. The men on the far left will charge first. Then, the others will follow!" Emily took a deep breath.
         "You," she whispered to herself. "Must protect your husband." She felt something inside her stomach. She reached down to touch it. It was a familiar sensation. I'm pregnant! She thought to herself. Her fervent will to protect her husband tripled over the period of two seconds. This child must have a father! She told herself as tears streamed from her eyes.
         "CHARGE!" Chamberlain shouted to the men. The charge began. When the people to the left of Emily began to run, Emily followed trying to picture the swinging door in her head as she ran behind her husband to protect him. She couldn't run in front of him for fear of losing him. A bullet ripped through his clothing.
         "Joseph!" she whispered. He wasn't bleeding. It had only gone through his pants. Emily smiled relieved. Her bayonet was extended in front of her as she ran at the rebel troops. She killed two men.
         "Aaaah!" she felt her own voice cry out as a bullet grazed her arm. Her husband was still fine. Then, a rebel rushed up behind her husband with his bayonet. SLASH! Emily's bayonet went right through the skin on his right wrist. He dropped his bayonet falling to the ground in front of her. His face was contorted with pain.
         "Kill me please," he whispered. "I'm a writer, and I can't write with my left hand."
         "I am sorry," Emily said. "I cannot do that. You won't be able to use your right hand, but you will live. If you are truly talented, your talents will go on. You will find a sweet heart one day, and you will be grateful for this."
         Emily ran away from the man, and rushed towards her husband. Suddenly, she lost sight of him. She looked around as she charged. He wasn't there. After a few minutes, the charge was nearly finished. Most of the rebels were retreating. Emily (still looking for Joseph) heard a loud thud behind her. She looked around. A man had been ready to run her through with a sword, when Joseph Carter stuffed a bayonet into his stomach. He fell to the ground.
         "Thank you," Emily said.
         "No problem, Emil... Emmett." Emily could tell that her husband knew who she was and was angry. She watched the retreating gray uniforms. Joseph hugged Emily.
         "I had to protect you," Joseph said. "And this one." He touched her stomach.
         "How did you know?" Emily asked.
         "I could feel Robin, couldn't I?" Robin had been Emily's first child, but he had died soon after birth. Tears came into Emily's eyes. Joseph held her close. The battle wore on for two more days. Emily changed back to her women's clothing, and her husband agreed to have his arm checked. It turned out to be a slight sprain from twisting his arm the wrong way while holding his rifle.

         Emily bore a son, and named him Joshua. After the civil war had been over for a few years, Emily's friend, Betty fell in love with a man who had fought in Lee's army. He was a writer, but he had wounded his hand. Sometimes, though conflict can come between people, it can't stop them from getting together after. When you visit Gettysburg, you can sometimes feel the bond between Emily and her husband.