The Father General reveals The Plan of Providence

The Father General was permitting himself an incredible indulgence. After breakfast, he poured a rare second cup of tea, and sweetened it with an unprecedented third cube of sugar. He paused only for half a second, before plunging each of the two extra cubes into his steaming cup. He enjoyed the drink with relish as he grinned over the newspaper.

The paper was relatively fresh, just two days old and came from Boston. It detailed the start of McClellan’s withdrawal from the peninsula as well as Lee’s violent stop, put to him at Malvern Hill.

When he met with his staff during officer’s call, he was quick to proclaim the victory of Providence.

You see, his mission had been to cut Federal lines of communication into Western Maryland, which he easily accomplished. His secondary mission was to serve as a distraction, helping to divide McClellan’s attention and compel the Union to shift its forces north, thus relieving pressure on Richmond.

Both of these missions were now accomplished. It did not matter that the Union lines of communication were quickly restored, or that he himself had been cut off for nearly three weeks. The region was largely unspoiled so the forage was excellent. Of course, each item taken from a home was paid for with a bond, redeemable by the Confederate government (States of Maryland, Virginia, Mississippi and Georgia, respectively) after the inevitable Confederate victory now just weeks away. And failing that, each bond bore the signature of the Father General or his officers, each promising in their own hand that the Father General himself would guarantee the bond with his personal fortune if needed.

With his officers arrayed around the table, the Father General quickly laid out the plan of attack on Washington, placing blocks and markers on a map to symbolize the various forces under his command.

Gold coins were set on top of, or next to the Confederate blocks, symbolizing the forces of Providence which would serve as very real reinforcements in the Father General’s mind. His commanders accepted this eccentricity as just that and paid close attention anyway, taking notes of their expected routes and avenues of attack.

McClellan’s retreat was his personal Sign from Providence to make the final attack on Washington. Nothing else mattered.

General Georgia had come to root him out of the mountains, but Providence had confounded his effort. It mattered little in his opinion that General Seitzinger had also arrived to occupy the Union marauder who happened to be badly distracted by buxom and shiny things. It was Providence, not thousands of Confederate dead, which got all the credit.

As the final day wore on, the men and officers busied themselves with preparations for the march. Soldiers drilled for the last time, officers practiced ordering swift attacks on imaginary fortifications and around obstacles, which the mountains, boulders and trees simulated nicely.

The Father General pondered. How was it possible that General Lee’s direct frontal assault at Malvern Hill failed?

According to his read of the paper, Lee had done everything right. His men advanced uphill, in perfect lines, charging against Union guns, lined hub-to-hub firing canister. In the Father General’s mind, such a blatantly courageous and faithful attack should have won the day.

Ah – but he knew. Providence showed him.

The reason why Lee and Seitzinger both were losing their battles was Abomination.

Indeed, both armies must have Abomination in their ranks. It was the only way they could lose. The Father General couldn’t do much to warn General Lee, who was oblivious to the insidious nature of Abomination, but he could at least warn Seitzinger.

As the Sun reached noon, the Father General called for a scout. Corporal Jenkins, one of his best and a slave of one of his other scouts, presented himself. The Father General returned the corporal’s salute, an unusual egalitarian gesture given the peculiar stance of the Father General on the issue of slavery (his grandfather was a great plantation owner outside the peaceful hamlet of Atlanta, a plantation he himself would inherit before the end of the war).

Passing a gold coin to Corporal Jenkins (he personally paid all his scouts in specie) he gave him directions. Jenkins was to retrieve General Seitzinger and bring him to his headquarters before nightfall. It was a courageous task, given that Seitzinger was protected by nervous pickets, but a detail from the 1st Mississippi would ensure that anyone who leveled a rifle at Jenkins would be in Hell before he could pull the trigger.

Seitzinger would be on his own against General Georgia, serving as a fatal distraction while the Lost Division fell upon the Union capital. Short work would be made of the forts, and then Lincoln would be hanged and his corpse given a fair trial.

Of this the Father General was certain. It was now less than a week before the war would end.

Now afternoon, the Father General called upon his steward to bring more tea --and the treasured sugar.