Field of Lost Shoes Page #2

injustice you thought

was gonna befall you here today

of one human using his

authority over another

without decency or conscience

and of the need to assert

a code of honor

that transcends the

temptations of power.

I hereby raise you above the

level of common rat.

You shall be known in this

company as Sir Rat.

Yeah.

Now put your shirt on, son,

before we find ourselves a

healthier specimen.

You hungry, boy? Oh, yes, sir.

What do you gentlemen say to a

little midnight requisition?

What?

Never mind! It's tradition.

Right there. Shh.

All right.

All right. Shh, shh, shh.

Come around.

Help me with this doorknob.

Easy. Easy.

Go ahead.

Oh, smells good.

Oh, that does smell good!

There's us some bread, boys.

Here we go, huh?

That's pretty good right there.

That one's mine.

That one's mine.

Well, now, evening, Judge.

No need to be afraid of

Old Judge, boy.

He's just a grumpy old slave.

I may be the property of

this Institute,

but I have the ear of

the Superintendent

and the full trust and

confidence of the Commandant.

I'm the master of

this bakery.

You also have a cleaver.

There's nothing worse in a time

of conflict than a thief of food.

Tell the Judge why we're here,

son.

Uh, we're...

we real hungry, Mr. Judge,

and those loaves

smell awful good.

I'm new just today,

but Mr. Wise here tells me

that the bread is the best

part of this school.

Go on and get yourself one of

these loaves, son.

I suppose I could spare

three or four.

Thank you, Judge.

Oh, that's good.

That's fresh.

I'm not here for a handout,

Judge.

I'm here to negotiate a

business arrangement.

Now, you seen the best of us on

the shooting range.

Jewish boy's the best,

then you.

We'll bring in some squirrel,

rabbit and some possum,

harvest a fugitive

chicken or two.

Your people share in the meat.

In return, we

liberate some bread.

See, the terms of

this arrangement

is a little more serious for

some parties than others.

If this comes crashing down,

it will not fall on you.

Tell me this one is different.

We think so.

He's not afraid to take action.

It's a welcome change from

your other generals.

Some call Grant a butcher.

Well, sir, that may be

precisely what we need.

General, congratulations

on your victory and promotion.

Gentlemen, thank you.

They say you are the general

the nation has been

praying for.

They also say you fight

like a savage.

Oh, I agree with both.

War is not opera nor theater.

It is for winning.

Winning ends the death, ends

the destruction,

begins the healing.

And to win, brutality

is required?

Each game has its rules, Mr.

President.

Are we to play chess or war?

And if I were to name you

General in Chief?

I will attack our enemies at

all times and all places.

I will take away his crops,

his animals,

the food he has sheltered,

his railroads, his industry,

his clothing,

his ammunition,

his gunpowder,

his steel, his armament,

his salt,

and I will take from him the

flower of his youth.

I will destroy everything

my enemy loves

and anything that might give him

the means or the hope to prevail.

Do you see me as a monster, Mr.

President?

I see you as a true general.

The only way back across

the Blue Ridge

and into our flank...

...through the New Market Gap,

and that's where Grant

will send 'em.

Uh, sir, General Lee

does not believe

an attack will come

this spring.

Well, then, General Lee

is dead wrong.

The Federals will

come and soon.

Inform my brigade commanders to

concentrate the army

and move at best speed

towards New Market.

And I am going to need

everything they got.

Sir,

you're asking me

to tell the commander

General Lee is wrong?

Well, thank God you

been listening.

I won't have to repeat myself.

If General Grant is the wolf

and we are the lamb,

then New Market Gap is

surely our throat,

and trust me, the

wolf will come.

Shoulder arms!

Order arms!

Shoulder arms!

Order arms!

Shoulder arms!

I'm okay. I'm okay.

Order arms!

Shoulder arms!

I got it. I'm good.

Sam, help me. Come on. Come on.

Sir, the battalion is

formed and ready!

All cadets are present or

accounted for, sir!

Ladies, can you help us out?

Can we, uh... Thank

you very much.

Oh, watch him. Thank you.

Uh...

we, uh...

May we help you?

Uh, we, uh...

Order arms!

Is he dead?

What kind of thing is

that to say?

Shoulder arms!

Uh... We got company!

Sam, what happened?

I don't know.

Ma'am.

Uh, ma'am?

Oh, my goodness. He isn't dead,

is he?

No, ma'am,

notwithstanding what that girl

decided to the contrary.

Well, young man, that girl

is my daughter,

and we're not from these parts,

and she has never seen

a cadet before,

so she would not know what is

normal or not normal around here.

And the only thing she decided

is that there is an

intellectually impaired cadet

at my doorstep with...

perhaps a drunken colleague,

hmm?

Well, bring him in.

Let's see what we can do.

Let's go. All right.

You're, uh, not from

around here?

I should say not.

My aunt lives here.

We live up at New Market,

you know, up north where

Jackson fought.

Hmm.

So is this the best you can do?

At conversation?

Well, I...

Um...

Yeah.

Pleasure chatting with you.

While I'm taking the main army

south towards Richmond,

I'm sending General Sigel west

to the Shenandoah Valley,

Lee's breadbasket.

If we take the Valley before

the summer harvest,

we'll cut off Lee's food

supply and end the war.

Excuse me, gentlemen.

This campaign is going to be

something of a family affair.

Our First Lady, Mary

Todd Lincoln,

is a cousin to the

Rebel general

we're going to be facing

in the Valley,

John C. Breckinridge.

You're wondering what the hell

you're doing here.

As a matter of fact, sir, I am.

Well, Franz Sigel is a

politician, not a soldier.

All he has to do is

take the railroad,

but I'm not gonna

take any chances.

I'm gonna attach you

and your guns

and a regiment of Ohio boys.

asd

Ah, is that your daily

briefing from Mary?

Ever since she turned 10,

the girl just won't let me run

the war without her.

Well, then, what does

your daughter

say about the New Market Gap?

Hmm.

She says that Grant has

a big problem.

Yeah, the only sizable force

he has to throw at us

is Franz Sigel.

Heh. Ah, she says

Grant knows that

Sigel's an idiot,

so he will surely send a real

soldier along to help him out.

But she thinks Sigel

is almost certain to

take offense

and resist the help.

Smart girl, huh?

So then at New Market...

We will break Grant's back

and save Lee's Army.

Jolly.

Unless, of course

the soldiers I asked for

don't arrive in time.

Which case, we'll lose the war.

It's my fault,

it's your fault,

and from the Union

gallows next to you,

I'll surely remark that

I told you so.

We already got our delivery,

son.

This is from me.

This is extra.

One slave to another?

Not exactly.

I just thought, you know,

some families could use these.

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