Somewhere in the World

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Lovell, Massachusetts 

November 1862-May 1863

The day of Fanny Thornton's wedding, Margaret found herself at the beck and call of the harried bride. Last-minute alterations had to be made to the dress so that it fit her perfectly; a small tear in the veil waited to be mended, and the bouquet was in need of a few more flowers to make it look resplendent. In short, Fanny was short-tempered and querulous, ready to weep at the slightest word or unforeseen circumstance, and in desperate need of careful handling.

Margaret bore her fits with good nature; her own wedding day was recent enough that she could remember feeling uncertain and edgy, as she knew Fanny must. The girl may fuss about her appearance and every small detail, but her pallid complexion and frenetic pacing revealed her anxieties. So Margaret meekly fetched and mended and hemmed and adjusted whatever Fanny needed done with a smile and soft word. Mrs. Thornton stopped her on one of her many errands to thank her for all of her assistance.

"It is nothing," Margaret began, but Mrs. Thornton cut off her protest.

"I am grateful for your patience with Fanny. I regret that she is being so difficult today; I only wish that John...." Her voice trailed away and to Margaret's horror, the older woman's eyes swam with tears.

Margaret clasped Mrs. Thornton's arm to brace her; she knew her mother-in-law would never forgive letting her witness such weakness. "I wish he were with us, too," Margaret replied with a sad smile, "But he is not. So, we shall have to bear up and carry on without him." She was heartened to see Mrs. Thornton draw herself up and nod briskly before departing to the kitchen.

Once she was in the privacy of her room, Margaret expelled the breath that she felt she had been holding the entire morning. She missed her husband dreadfully; he was a calming and leavening influence in the house. Without him, everything was out of balance. How sorely she had felt his absence this month! They had heard little from him, just a hasty note stating that he had joined his regiment in Boston, and a second short missive from Washington.

From Boston, he had reported that he was well, but weary, and, like most of the men, longing to journey south and see some action. However, they were a raw group of recruits who had to be outfitted and trained, the newest officers as well as the incoming troops, and those in command refused to depart until there was some semblance of order and rule within the ranks. Marching, marching, marching was the order of the day; it was critical to keep the men in tight knit formation as they marched, in preparation for the day they must cross into enemy fire. No stragglers were allowed-if gaps occurred in the formation, the men would be stopped until the unit closed up and regrouped. Mr. Thornton wrote that he would dream of marching until the shrill notes of the bugle roused him from his tent at dawn, to commence another day of marching.

Upon arriving in Boston, he had written to Margaret, he learned that many of his fellow officers resented their commanding officer, Colonel Richard Byrnes, who was Irish-born and had been a Regular Army officer. Many officers of the __th Massachusetts were offended that someone they considered to be an outsider had been placed in command (and in all probability were aggrieved that one of them had not been chosen for the position). Seething with resentment, a group of these men had crafted a petition of protest and forwarded it to the Governor, but their petition had been denied. That, however, was not an end to their umbrage; these subordinates often showed a remarkable degree of insubordination to their commanding officer, as Nicholas had remarked. Mr. Thornton informed Margaret that, contrary to the officers, the enlisted men respected Byrnes and thought he would prove a capable regimental commander. If only the officers-and it is not all of us!-would put aside their enmity, and look to fight the enemy rather than their own commander, we would present a formidable opponent to the Rebels, he wrote.