1824: The Arkansas War

N OVEMBER 7, 1825

Sheff Parker was surprised when Julia Chinn ushered Winfield Scott into his room. He knew who the man was, of course, and had even seen him a time or two on the streets before his injury. But they'd never exchanged so much as a single word.

He lowered the newspaper he'd been working his way through, with some relief. He'd have preferred reading an account of the new National Democratic-Republican Party's program in an article written by Cullen Bryant and Scott. But Bryant had left a few weeks ago. He'd decided to remain in Arkansas for the duration of the war. But, that being the case, he had no desire to remain separated from his wife and daughter, so he'd gone to get them and bring them back with him.

From what Sheff had been told by Julia, Scott had considered the same course of action. But either because his family was larger-five children in all-or because his wife came from Virginian upper crust, or because he was apparently planning to cover the war from both sides of the line, he'd decided otherwise.

Unfortunately, from Sheff 's point of view, that meant the analysis of the new party's program was being written by John Ridge and Buck Watie. And they tended toward a far more flowery style of prose. Sheff 's ability to read was improving rather quickly, now that he had so much time on his hands. But this was a strain.

Scott came to the bed and leaned over to see what Sheff was reading.

"Oh, dear Lord. I don't envy you that. I leave aside the fact that their assessment misses the mark wildly, and on at least three counts."

"Why do-ah, please have a seat, General."

"Thank you. Why do I think that?" The tall former officer drew up a chair. "Let's start with the most basic. If you took that seriously, you'd think the entire program of the new party-well, let's say nine points out of ten-was essentially a fraud. Then let's consider the fact that the estimable Ridge and Watie can't decide whether that's good or bad. Which is understandable enough, given their predicament. The Ridge family estates in Oklahoma have more slaves working them than all but the wealthiest plantations in the South. After that, we can move on-"

"Is it true that most of the slaves will never see freedom?"

"Oh, yes, Captain Parker, that's quite true. The same thing will happen in Tennessee and Kentucky-and Missouri, though perhaps not Delaware-that happened in New York and most of the Northern states that adopted gradual emancipation. Before the time limit expires, most slave-owners will have sold their slaves to masters somewhere in the South. I'd be surprised if more than one out of five people who were scheduled for manumission ever receive it. The black populations of most of those states dropped precipitously in the years prior to emancipation-and I can assure you they didn't move to Canada, the most of them."

He nodded toward the southeast. "They-or their children-are laboring on a plantation somewhere in the Carolinas or Georgia, or perhaps working as stevedores on the docks of Savannah or Charleston. As I say, Delaware may be an exception. The Quakers and Methodists will be vigilant, and they may be able to keep that to a minimum. In any event, Delaware already has the largest freedmen population of any state in the nation, at least in percentage terms. The people of the state are fairly accustomed to it by now."

Sheff studied the man's face. For all the cynicism that rested on the surface of Scott's expression, something else lay underneath.

"Please explain," Sheff said. He lifted the paper a bit. "Why that goes against what they're saying."

"Because they're like men on a battlefield who see only the casualties and don't consider the fight. In the long run, Captain Parker-yes, I know this will sound very callous to you-it doesn't matter what happens to those people. Give it two generations, three at the outside, and slavery is dead. Jackson knows that, Adams knows that, and you can be quite sure that John Calhoun knows it, too."

Scott waved a dismissive hand at the newspaper. "Those lads-they're very young, so I'll grant them the excuse-are approaching this as if it were simply a moral issue. Which it is, of course. But battles are not won with moral splendor. They're won by the brute force of the clash of arms."

Sheff just waited, patiently. Sooner or later, he figured the man would get around to it.

After a moment, Scott smiled at him. "You are smart. Patrick told me you were."

He lifted one long leg and crossed it over the other. Then, folded his hands in his lap.

"Here's how it is, Captain Parker. Slavery expands, or it dies. For two reasons. First, because the agriculture involved is frightfully wasteful of the soil. Within a much shorter time than you might think, so-called King Cotton will look like a bedraggled down-at-the-heels little robber baron. As it already does in the northern tier of slave states. The truth is-my father-in-law dislikes to admit it, as do most of my native state's gentry-Virginia's main crop nowadays is slaves themselves. Whom they breed like so much livestock in order to sell to cotton growers in the Deep South."

A sneer came to his face. "Remember that, the next time you read one of John Randolph's perorations on liberty. But you can see where I'm going. How are slave-owners in Georgia and Alabama to make the same transition-from King Cotton to King Negro-when there are no new slave territories into which cotton production is expanding?"

Sheff thought about it. "Well, there's Texas."

Scott chuckled. "Yes, indeed. And-remember I told you this-I expect within ten years we'll be seeing a war down there, too. But Texas alone, even if the South can seize it, won't be enough. Once Kentucky and Tennessee and Missouri are closed to slavery, it begins to die in its own waste. But it won't come to that, anyway. Because the other reason slavery needs to expand is political. The population of the North and the West in the United States grows much faster than that of the South. Because of immigration, if for no other reason. No immigrants except wealthy ones-and they're but a handful-want to live in a slave state. Slavery depresses wages, and it stifles opportunity for small enterprise. So they move to the North and West. And now-"

He pointed to the newspaper. "- this is the essence of that program, which the estimable Ridge and Watie managed to miss completely. The border states have finally decided they are part of the West, not the South."

"They haven't actually decided yet," Sheff said mildly. He wasn't trying to be disputatious, though. He was just deeply interested in the former general's assessment and wanted to draw it out as far as he could.

Winfield Scott really did have quite a magnificent sneer. Sheff was impressed.

"Ha! With that band of brigands leading the charge? My dear captain! Should the legislature of Tennessee be so bold as to defy Andrew Jackson, he's quite capable of ordering the militia to train their guns on the state capitol. I believe he still holds the rank of major general in the militia, which remains fiercely attached to the man. By 'guns,' I include twelve-pounders. There are precious few slave-owners in the Tennessee militia, and those not major ones. One or two slaves, more like family servants than the chattel labor on big plantations. Hired hands, once they're freed, which is an easy enough transition for all parties involved."

Once again, he waved his hand dismissively. "No, no. With Jackson and Benton and Johnson and Carroll and Desha calling for it, the border states are lost to slavery. Not immediately, but they're lost. And once they're gone, the South will slide further and further into political impotence. The slave states have already lost the House, and the imbalance will grow deeper every year. Now, soon enough, they'll have lost the Senate. And I doubt if you'll see more than-at most-one Southerner ever sitting in the president's house again, so long as slavery lasts, where the first four of five came from the region. Five out of six, if we count Clay. Which I suppose we must, given that he's thrown himself into Calhoun's clutches. The blithering idiot."

Sheff studied him for a moment. "And that doesn't concern you?"

"Oh, of course it does. But it concerns me as a soldier of the United States, not as a Virginian. My loyalty is to the nation, Captain Parker. It always has been. I have no use for men with divided loyalties. On that if nothing else, I've always agreed with Andrew Jackson. So:I imagine I'll be returning to the colors one of these fine days."

The handsome patrician head looked very much like one of the Roman busts Sheff had seen in the Wolfe Tone Hotel. He'd wondered, a bit, why the Laird had gone to the trouble and expense of having them shipped there all the way from Philadelphia. He was normally quite frugal.

He figured he finally knew, now.

"You think there might be a war over it."

"That's:putting it too strongly," Scott mused. "But it's a possibility, yes. Although I think it's more likely to take the form of a series of armed clashes than what you could properly call a war. Either way, I expect I'll have work to do. My real line of work, so to speak."

He said that last with a smile. "Which, actually, brings me to the purpose of my visit. Patrick insisted I come. I didn't dare refuse him, of course. Him being my old master sergeant and a troll of most frightening proportions."

They shared a laugh at that. Sheff decided he liked Winfield Scott. Not that he could imagine ever being what you could call a real friend of the man, given the chasm of their origins. Although:who could say what the future might bring? As each year-each month-passed, Sheff was finding the future less and less predictable.

It was an enjoyable sensation, even a thrilling one, for an eighteen-year-old who could well remember how the future had looked not more than two years earlier. Extremely predictable, indeed. A life-probably a short one-filled with hard labor and poverty, ending in a grave. A pauper's grave at that.

There was a little commotion at the door. "Ah, that'll be the workmen," said Scott. He gave the small bedroom a quick inspection. "We'll have to move that dresser to another room. I'll let Julia figure that out."

He rose and went to the door, leaving Sheff to frown at the dresser.

Why would they need to move The answer came within five seconds. Two men entered, carrying between them a very large oak bookcase. It was bigger than any bookcase Sheff had ever seen, except the one in the parlor of the Wolfe Tone. Behind them came two more men, each bearing boxes. From the strain in their shoulders, heavy ones.

The next few minutes were simply confusing. Scott didn't seem to feel that explanations were needed. But when it was all done, the dresser in the corner was gone, and the bookcase was in its place. Filled with books, now.

Sheff could hear Julia talking with the workmen in the corridor beyond. Trying to decide where to put the dresser, he imagined, but he didn't spend any time worrying about that. None of his own clothes had been in it. All of his clothes, even the two uniforms, fit into the locker that was shoved under his bed.

"There you are, Captain," Scott said, presenting the bookcase with an outstretched hand. "Mind you, it's only on loan, and I'll want it back when my peregrinations are finished. Since my partner chose to leave for a few months to fetch his family, I'll let him handle the American side of the reporting. I'm off-tomorrow, in fact-for the first of several tours of the Oklahoma front. Colonel Taylor has agreed to give me an interview. I expect I'll be visiting the Red River region as well. But by the time that's all done, you should be fit for active duty again."

He wagged a finger at Sheff. "Mind you, I'll expect them all to be in the same good condition. Some of these books took me years to track down."

Sheff 's expression must have finally registered on Scott.

"What?" he exclaimed. "Patrick didn't tell you? What a troll!"

But he was smiling, quite widely. "It's my famous military library, Captain Sheff. Patrick felt that it was time you applied yourself to your work seriously instead of lolling about in comfort and ease. General Ross agrees, with the caveat that he expects to be able to borrow from them himself. And now, I must be off. Good day."

He paused briefly at the door and looked back. "I spoke with the surgeon, by the way. Your wound seems to be quite similar to my own. The one I acquired at Lundy's Lane. If so, Captain, expect it to hurt off and on for the rest of your life. But there shouldn't be any other problem of any consequence. And if pain is a major concern to you, then you'd best start looking for a different line of work."

He was gone.

Ten seconds later, his head reappeared in the door. "One last thing. If you're still struggling with your reading, I'd recommend you start with the biographies. The technical manuals can be quite dismal."

Gone again. Sheff stared at the bookcase.

After a while, defying the surgeon's orders, Sheff levered himself out of bed and began to examine the titles.

Eventually, he decided on Julius Caesar's The Gallic War. He had no idea who the Gallics had been, but at least he'd heard of Caesar. Now that he thought about it, in fact, that might be one of the busts in the hotel.

But maybe not. It was always hard to know with the Laird. Being as he was a man who hated tyranny, but never seemed to have any trouble being a tyrant himself when he thought he needed to be.

Not that Sheff cared. Like almost everyone in New Antrim, he'd seen tyranny at its most naked. No nebulous abstraction that someone like John Randolph might declaim against, but the real faces that had murdered his father.

So if it took a tyrant to deal with that tyranny, he'd surely be the tyrant's legionnaire. Not hesitate for an instant, not though he waded through an ocean of blood.

He'd only gotten through the first few pages, though, when there was another commotion at the door. Julia Chinn came in with a white man Sheff had never seen before.

"Will this do?" she asked.

The man shook his head vigorously. "Impossible, Mrs. Johnson. Not for what you want. We really need a much larger room, where we can place at least three chairs."

Julia nodded and gave Sheff a quick inspection. "Can you sit upright, Captain? For-" She cocked an inquiring head at the stranger.

"Two hours at a stretch, Mrs. Johnson. Though I'd prefer three."

Julia turned back to Sheff. "Can you manage that?"

"Oh, sure, Miz Julia. Truth is, I'd find it a relief. I get real tired of lying in bed, no matter what the surgeon says."

"Splendid. Let's begin at once then, since Mr. Wiedeman has the day free, and that's hardly ever true."

Wiedeman gave Sheff a curt nod and left. Julia moved over to help Sheff out of the bed. "That's Lyle Wiedeman, Captain Parker. He just arrived in town less than two weeks ago. Everyone's thrilled, of course. First real artist we've ever had in New Antrim. Well, painter, at least. But for this purpose, a wood-carver like Antoinette simply wouldn't do at all."

It was odd hearing Miz Julia talking so properly. Not that she couldn't when she wanted to. She always did, in fact, on the frequent occasions when General Ross's wife, Eliza, came to visit. But Sheff wasn't accustomed to hearing her talk like that when just he and the girls were around.

After she helped him to his feet, she shook her head, smiling widely, and indicated his bedclothes with a finger. "And that won't do at all, either. Can you manage to put on your uniform, Captain? The dress uniform, I mean."

"I might need some help with the coatee, Miz Julia, but I can do the rest. If you give me just a few minutes."

"Certainly. But there's one other thing, Captain, I'd much appreciate."

"Yes, Miz Julia?"

" That. It won't do all, either. Not any longer. So I must insist."

The words were said sternly-whatever they meant-but she was smiling more widely than ever.

"I don't understand, Miz Julia."

"Mrs. Johnson, Captain. That's my name. Please use it, henceforth."

1824: TheArkansasWar