FanPost

Letters from the Front: Mt. St. Mary's

My Dearest Elizabeth,

I write to you from Fort P.N.C in the capital with the first tidings of the war. I will attempt to catch you up on my journeys since I left you back in the country. Like the Presidents of the 350 other sovereign nations, President Yow announced her intentions of beginning a new campaign to claim Minneapolis by early April. I enlisted, as I do every year, with the 109th North Carolina State Light Artillery under the command of General Keatts. The 109th Wolfpack of Raleigh are General Keatts elite unit, taking orders directly from him, and will no doubt see much action in this campaign.

General Keatts began training by working in new tactics that he was unable to employ in last year's campaign due to the constraints of the unit.We trained for months in preparation and it was not without casualty. Along the way the unit suffered injuries to Pvt. Bates and Lt. Beverly. It is unfortunate that Pvt. Bates will not be able to join in the battles on campaign but he stays with us for morale. Lt. Beverly should be rejoining us before too long, as it seems impossible to keep the Duke of Hazard, Kentucky down. I tell you Elizabeth while the Kentuckian is small in stature he has great humor and an even greater beard, I hope that his absence is short and does not cost us dearly in our battles to come. It was not all gloom though as we got to play war games with the boys from Chowan where we gave them a great whipping.

I write to you because this very night we had our first real skirmish with the enemy, an overmatched and outmanned detachment from St. Mary's Mountain. It came as a great surprise that they would storm Fort P.N.C with us so fiercely dug into it and for a while as a result of this surprise we seemed to struggle to find our rhythm in the heat of battle. But nonetheless after a half an hour of fighting the old hands seemed to calm us and help shake off the rust. You should have seen it Elizabeth, Maj. Dorn and Capt. Johnson were all over the place in the heat of battle with the Major unleashing a storm of fire only interrupted by the Captain's highly accurate but infrequent sharpshooting. Without a doubt, this was Maj. Dorn's career high moment as a member of this Wolfpack. At one point in the second half of the battle, Capt. Johnson fired a round into enemy territory that I at first thought to be wholly off the mark, but I was shocked to see Maj. Dorn fly through the air and deflect the shot right into the enemy position. I swear I could see it crush their spirit right there. I don't want you to think the battle was wholly old hands though Elizabeth, as newcomers Cpl. Walker and Sgt. Bryce were also worth mentioning as were many others. I believe both these new members of our Wolfpack will be integral if we are to be successful in March and into April. Sgt. Bryce was nearly as active as Maj. Dorn throughout the battle in all facets. Cpl. Walker while a huge intimidating man showed nimbleness and a level head in the heat of battle, assisting the fighting men of the unit with their shots more often than I am used to seeing of such a large soul. The enemy began to panic and their shots at us began to miss wide. Over the last 15 minutes or so of the battle it felt like they landed only ten shots give or take. We continued to press them and force them to defend the entire length of their position, which cost them greatly. I knew the battle was at its end when Pvt. Funderburke, another new face to the unit, unleashed a single massive round into the enemy position with a great crack. His shot had so much force and authority to it that I think it will not be long before the men of the unit begin calling him Pvt. Thunderburke. In the end we routed the poor souls from St. Marys completely with minimal contest and escaped without injury. I know that in future battles we will surely have to start with more clarity and poise but the campaign is fresh and we have survived to fight another day.

Morale in camp is very high; men whisper that "General Keatts is a conqueror" and because of our fierce shooting defense President Yow saw fit to reward everyone at the battle with a special meal consisting of a sandwich of fried chicken and pickles. Our scouts indicate a unit from Maryland's Eastern Shore has been sighted marching towards us intent on battle, I promise to write you if I am able.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that the men of the unit have taken to calling me "Big" as a term of endearment and while I do not understand it, I do find it quite humorous.

Your friend,

"Big" V. Theman