To My Dearest Robert | Glory

War Has Begun

As everyone in the neighborhood of West Roxbury was suspecting, on one early April morning the first gunshots of the civil war went off on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. The news spread like wildfire through the North and South and when the news arrived at the Taylor's, Abigail had no idea how her life was about to change. Two days after the twelfth of April, when the war began, was when the senator, Charles Sumner, arrived at the Taylor's early that morning. This was not a strange occurrence, for he took William's place when he decided not to run for re-election. The two had much in common and would often help each other out, which was needed in the harsh world of American politics. Charles was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and William worked very closely with him, as did Josephine, for their passion for ending the act in the South did not stop when William left office.

It was on that morning that Mary stayed in the kitchen and told Clara to answer the door, little did they know it was the senator. Clara knew who he was when she opened the door and greeted him with a smile, 'Good morning Senator, I assume you are here to see Mr. Taylor' Clara said as she moved to the side to let the man into the home, 'You assume right Miss. Clara' he tells her and she nods her head before heading to Williams study. She knocked on the door and opened it when she heard his voice tell her to come in, 'Senator Sumner is here to see you sir' Clara told him and, like Abigail, his face showed exactly what he was thinking.

    William looked worried to Clara like he knew why the Senator was here and he knew exactly what he was going to tell him. Clara stood for a few seconds before William cleared his throat and told Clara to see the Senator into his study, and Clara did just that. When the Senator sat down, William nodded to Clara and she shut the door, leaving the two alone in William's study. Clara was a smart young woman and she knew when to listen to the whispers coming from William's study, and while she did, Clara wondered if it had finally happened.

The door shut to Williams study and he decided to take a seat behind his desk before Charles started, 'Good, you need to sit down for this' Charles said causing William to quickly glance up at the man, 'It started' William asked already knowing the answer but he needed to hear the Senator say it before he could believe it. Charles sat for a few seconds before he began to speak, 'Yes, four-thirty in the morning on the twelfth' he said wanted to continue but giving William a chance to catch his thoughts up with what Charles was saying, 'Confederates fired first, on Fort Sumter, that's Charleston' the man said. Charleston, William knew how much that city meant to his daughter and wife, they loved it, every time they would go he remembered how they would never stop talking about the houses and the harbor, it made him smile for only a split second until he was taken back into reality by Charles, 'I'm waiting on the news, but I've heard rumors Major Robert Anderson is going to surrender, the Union will lose the first battle of this war.'

    William sat for a moment and thought before deciding to speak, 'After the South began succeeding, we knew this was going to happen' William said thinking over the recent events, 'We knew it was coming, I just thought I would be the one to tell you, but that's not all, as you know I haven't been senator for long and as the leader of the anti-slavery in the house, I need a trustworthy right-hand man.' William thought for a minute who would be a trusting good man for the job but he could not think of one at the moment, 'I'm sorry Charles, you will have to give me a day to think of a good man for the job' he told the Senator. Charles laughed, 'Willam, I want you to be my right-hand man' he said making sure his point was clear this time, 'Charles, I have a wife and daughter, I don't know if I can get involved in the war' William said trying to protest the offer but not having much evidence of why he should not. Charles stood up to leave and looked at William once more, 'You and I both know Josephine would want you to do this, and Abigail too' he says pausing and looking down waiting for William to accept his proposition at any moment, 'How is Abigail, has she found herself a nice husband' Charles asks. That's a question William and Josephine get a lot, but William shakes his head, 'Not yet, but let us not bring my wife and daughter into this, those are my only conditions' William said standing from his chair behind his desk and holding out his hand for the Senator to shake.