Blood of the Union

Alternate History

To His Majesty, Lord Lincoln, the duly elected Probationary Monarch of the Whig States, 

I am writing to confer to His Majesty dire news of the delegation dispatched in His service. As the appointed leader of said expedition it is with upmost regret that I inform Your Lordship of the delegation's failure. I will inscribe the details of the ordeal here for the sake of posterity that you might make the most informed decision in pursuit of our most righteous cause. 

We had made landing in Virginia Beach a fortnight prior to the incident. Many goods meant for the purpose of gifts in our cause to sue for peace with the United Northern Kingdoms had arrived and were being loaded aboard our ship. It was the final day before our departure to Hampton Roads. 

We had received missives from our agents in the north in consultation with the Black Duke, Lord Jefferson III, and were assured that we had his support in our goals. The Jefferson faction of nobles has long believed that the Kingdom States should be independently ruled and not conjoined under a single monarch. The grandson bears the title of his forebear proudly. The same cannot be said of King Washington, may feculence fill his crown. 

We left our offices on the morning of the first of the month of February. There was a crisp breeze in the air and the sun was shining warmly. It was such a pleasant morning that we took it as a portent of success for our mission, I fear we may have dropped our guard a bit. 

We strolled down one of the narrow boulevards that fed into a major avenue that would take us to the docks. You did not entrust fools to this errand of grave import. Besides myself the five other delegates and twelve men of brutish body and mind, everyone one of us armed, formed the our entourage. 

I confess I have never been a city man my lord. I do not care for the sense of entrapment that comes with so many tenements and other structures built so close together. Nor do I care for the ever-pressing throngs of unwashed bodies held in such close quarters by the walls of their own making. I understand Your Lordship came from the humblest of beginnings as a woodsman in Kentucky, even if your heart no longer shares the fondness of rolling hills and trees you can understand the sentiments of those who do. 

It should have been these circumstances that forewarned us sooner though I admit I know not what it would have accomplished. It was in the narrows of the boulevard where the tenements pressed upon us like cattle for slaughter. It dawned upon me then that despite the calling of the early morning bells a street of such circumstance should be choked with the traffic of brown collared men and other beasts of burden, yet this was not the case. 

I had been admiring the architecture though I did not care for being forced to observe it in such close quarters when I felt the presence of unseen malefactors. The bodyguards of our entourage felt it instinctively and I called out to everyone to take shelter as the first rounds fell upon us like lead rain. 

There was shouting and screams. The cacophonous thunder of firearms echoed through the narrow street. I managed to seclude myself in the confines of a nearby doorstep. Others had done the same but at least four of us had fallen in the street, including John Campbell. 

Given what we had just endured I guessed a score of ill-spawned excuses for men had taken roost on the rooftops. There was a lull in the shooting, the murderer’s meant to reload and fire again. I took the moment to peek around the edge of the brick laden wall that shielded my body. 

Across the street I saw Robert Hunter brandishing a Springfield while another man tied cloth around his shoulder where he had been shot. As you are most assuredly aware sire that in such circumstances, a lot can be said with just a look. I know not the ash and dust from whence God made the men that opposed us, but I know for certain that it was inferior to the stock and craftsmanship that he poured into the bodies of Southern nobility. 

In Unison, your delegates and the men that sold their lives to protect them took to the street and began returning fire on the sacks of filth that sought our demise. Williamson fired shot after shot from his Henry. I strutted forth with my LeMat held high and split the skull of one of the assassins as he peeked over the edge. 

Robert joined me and fell another cur though he favored his arm as the shot kicked. I tell you now, it was not madness that fueled the audacity of our boldness to stand in the open as we did. Nor was it the self-righteousness of our cause, though every soul among us did rightfully feel that way. It was in fact a more deeply rooted feeling in the blood and bones of our birthright. Pure stubborn refusal to submit. 

A righteous man standing his ground with a well-aimed shot even from a position of disadvantage is a force to be reckoned with. As we stood our ground we were soon joined by others and pinned the miscreants where they cowered. Lest any of them show their frocks we would send them back to the spawning ground they came from. 

We learned as schoolboys the laws of physics as written by Sir Isaac Newton. That to every action there is an equal but opposing reaction. The Northern Kingdom sought to seize hegemonic power over these United Kingdoms and in opposition to that we showed Southern obstinance and banded together to secede from the union. We sought peace in lieu of secession and our enemies opposed us with this ambush. Against this we defied them and spat back. What came next, we were unprepared for and may have solved the riddle of the unstoppable force. 

Gathered there in the center of the muddy road as we were, we must have made for such a tempting target. Around the bend in the boulevard men in unmarked garb bearing no livery hauled a canon but one unlike any I had ever seen. A curious sight to be sure, though I have faced the eye of God that a canon bears on its victims before, this one had multiple smaller barrels. I assumed at the time it would fire a spread of grapeshot and told the men to spread out. 

We understood we were facing death and every man prepared himself accordingly. I told them that though they or their comrades fell the survivors were to avenge the fallen and carry on with the mission. We raised our guns towards our enemies. The multiple barrels turned towards us, and the firing man turned the crank on the side of the contraption. 

I saw the horrors of battle in the war with Mexico, but never before did I see the likes of what befell us. The canon, if you could call it that, began firing shot after shot at us. As if someone strapped a series of repeating rifles to a top and aimed them all at us. The man to my left erupted into heaps of flesh and viscera and the canon mowed the others down like the Black Angel’s scythe. The shots kept firing and even now I wonder what measure of intervention spared me as nary a bullet touched my flesh, as man and soil exploded all around. 

Madness came over me and I charged the cannoneers firing my pistol as I ran. My LeMat burned in my hands as two of the men fell. Whatever luck saved me made the canon stop and with the blazing steel in my hand, I clubbed the remaining scum to death. Through the madness and blurred vision, I managed to find Robert, seeing the gravity of his injuries I hauled him to his feet and carried him away as fast as I could. 

I made for the port immediately hoping to seek safety on our ship only to discover that arson had claimed it and our soldiers assassinated. I shamefully admit to the theft of a horse as I fled the town with Robert in tow. It has been a few days and I have managed to find safety enough in the town of Wilmington and will be making my way back. 

I for the grace of God managed to escape the ordeal unscathed but I regret that Robert may succumb to his wounds. He is as stubborn as any of us and fights to live with a tenacity unlike any man I have ever known. But The Lord’s calling is undeniable, and I fear we will miss his strength in the days to come. 

It is such matters that I wish to discuss with you now my king. We had no doubts that there would be opposition to our mission but to operate so openly and with such force was unthinkable. I know not the extent of our opposition’s capabilities, but I fear that at this point their endeavors have been successful and that a war will be inevitable. 

It had been but a few years since the Founding Nobility won our independence from the yoke of English rule and now we are set on a path to fight each other. I can only imagine what our forebears would think of us. 

On the matter of the hellish contraption that was unleashed upon us. I have been informed that it is a new age weapon called a Gatling gun and its propensity for violence is unmatched. I have it on good authority that it is a sensitive beast and is subject to the whimsy of chance like all machinations of its kind as many fall victim to the ferocity of its own use. 

I hope my letter finds you well in this trying time though the news is ill indeed. I shall be leaving on the morrow without Robert, whether he is counted among the living or not. I have bid my goodbyes to him with his own understanding of the urgency. 

I remain your loyal friend and servant to the Southern Crown. 

Sincerest regards, 

Duke of South Carolina, Alexander Hamilton Stephens