Sam Ford was a Union soldier. He was of medium build, with short, dark brown hair, dark green eyes, and small lips. He was now Colonel Ford of the Union Army. Sam thought about his brother as went to get his rifle. He was wearing a dark blue uniform, with sky blue trousers.
Today was April 13th, 1865, and he was in Virgina. Sam sighed. It had been four years since he first enlisted in the Union Army. His younger brother Will, had joined the Confederate Army. He was a year younger than Sam. Sam was now twenty years old, the same as his brother because Sam’s birthday hadn't come yet. It would come in two months.
He got his rifle, his belt, and his cap. He put his blue cap on and walked outside of his tent, and saw many soldiers rushing to get their supplies before going into battle. Sam was looking at the soldiers running up the hill when the sound of water spilling made him look down at a young woman in her late teens. She had her light brown hair in a slightly messy bun, and she was wearing a light blue dress with a white apron in front of it. Water went around his black polished boots, like a river splashing against the rocks.
Sam knelt down in front of the woman and asked, “Ma’am do you need any help?”
The woman gasped. Then she looked up at Sam with a pale, angular face and blue eyes. Sam looked at the woman in surprise. “Sam, is that you?” the woman asked.
“Amanda? What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay at home!”
“I’m sorry. I thought that you were dead.”
Sam’s face softened. He said quietly, “I never was.”
Gunfire sounded throughout the bottom of the hill. He grabbed Amanda’s shoulders. “Listen, go home. I don’t want you to be hurt. Please.”
Amanda nodded. “I will. But after you return.”
Sam shook his head at his sister. “No. If my brother or I die, you are the last of the Fords. Now please, go!”
His sister's eyes looked like they died. She lowered her head. She raised it. Then her eyes lit up again “Fine. But not after you tell me your rank and Will’s rank. And I have to fill the bucket for the soliders.”
Sam sighed, annoyed. Amanda you’re crazy, he thought. “Very well. I’m Colonel-“
“Colonel?!”
“Yes. Colonel Samuel Ford of the Union Army. Will is Major William Ford of the Confederate Army. Happy
now?”
Amanda grinned. “Very.”
Sam hugged his sister and kissed her on her head. “That’s if I do not return, sister. Farewell. Say goodbye to Cathy for me." He took a few steps forward and stopped. "Oh, that’s right. Here’s a letter to Cathy. Give it to her when you see her.” Sam took a letter out of his coat gave it to Amanda, who took it.
“Goodbye, Sam,” said Amanda quietly. Sam let go of her and picked up the bucket before handing it to his sister, who watched him go up the hill. He waved to her and she waved back.
Sam looked at the battle below. Many soldiers were dying. Some were lying on the ground either wounded or dead. It was a clash of blue and gray uniforms on the battlefield. In the distance, he saw a man with straight, light auburn hair that went down to the bottom of his ears, single handily fighting two Union soldiers. Sam looked back for his horse, Nightwind, a very fast black stallion. He called a drummer boy to get his horse’s saddle while he got Nightwind.
The drummer boy brought Nightwind’s saddle and Sam put it on his horse. He swung himself over the black horse and held on to the smooth, leathery reins with one hand and his rifle with the other. “Ya!” he said to Nightwind. Nightwind galloped up the hill and went down. Sam yelled as he went through the plains. He let go of the reins and aimed his rifle before firing at a Confederate solider at the heart. The solider gasped and collapsed to the dirt, dead.
Adrenaline rushed through Sam. His mind raced and his breathing quickened. His senses seemed to double their normal ability. Gunfire sounded everywhere. His brother had killed the two Union soldiers. Sam rushed to the dead soldiers and looked at the emotionless faces of his friends. Anger went through him and he roared to the sky in anger.
Sam looked around for his brother, but he was nowhere to be seen. Sam turned Nightwind sharply around to face his brother, Will. “Will! Today, it ends here!” said Sam.
Will shot Nightwind, and the horse fell, along with Sam. Sam tumbled into the ground, his saber nearly cutting his neck. He got up to find Will laughing. “You speak too much, brother!”
Sam was infuriated. He went in close, pointing his saber at his brother. Will tried to slash Sam, but he blocked it, and the fight turned into the brothers panting and sweating, with their faces red, and their sabers pointed at each other’s throats.
The brothers glared at each other. Sam saw a glimpse of sadness in his brother’s eyes. Why are we fighting each other? Sam glanced at the seeping wound in his shoulder and looked back at Will and the soldiers fighting. He looked on sadly. We all want to win. We all want to end this fighting. Will stood up and pointed his rifle at Sam.
Sam did the same. Will and Sam both fired their rifles. Blood spurted out from Will’s chest and Sam’s leg. They stared at each other grimly. And fired again and again until their rifles were out of bullets.
Sam and Will looked terrible. Blood was smeared on their uniforms and their wounds were causing them great pain. Sam had a two shots to his right leg, a shot to a scar from another battle, a bullet was in his chest, shoulder, and one to his head, but it had scraped against his skull. Will had a few shots to his chest, arms, and leg. Blood trickled down along Sam’s face as he stared at his brother, tasting the tong-tingling taste of blood. Will was having a hard time breathing and his arms shook, as Sam aimed for the finishing shot.
But he couldn’t do it. Sam lowered his rifle, not able to kill his little brother that had always looked up to him. He didn’t have the will to finish him.
It was in slow motion. Will gasped and dropped his rifle, which spun to the earth, like leaves falling from a tree. His face turned white and he touched his final wound, in his heart. He buckled to the ground and reached out a hand as he fell. He crashed to the grass with a thud. His eyes were dead and had lost their usual life. A shadow of sleep passed over him, a light in the darkness. “No!” Sam screamed.
He looked for the soldier who had killed his brother. He couldn’t find him. Sam knew that he was not allowed to get revenge for one of his allies killing his brother. He began to run to Will, but he never made it. Sam heard a gun shot and smelt the coppery smell of blood. He stared dumbly at the red that was blooming like a red rose. He gasped. A feeling of acceptance went over him. He was going to die. And he was going to face Death. He dropped his rifle and collapsed to the ground, his hand outstretched to his brother. He stared at the dead body of Will, his eyes losing their sight. Brother, my brother, tell me, what were we fighting for? He recognized the face of Death, an old friend of his. Death was a endless dream for him. Sam took his last breath and closed his eyes, smiling.
It was at his and Will’s funeral. A letter was in both Sam’s and Will’s uniform’s pockets. Will’s letter was this:
Dear Sam,
If you’re reading this I want to tell you, I was always the meaner of us. I loved to hunt, but you . . . You never liked to kill any animals at all- only except when necessary. You were nicer than me. You made more friends than I and you kept them. But after you told me about how to make friends when we were little, I began to get more and more friends, all because of you. If I kill you, then I shall remember you and honor your bravery. If I am killed by you, then do the same to me. I wonder . . . What shall happen if we both die together? Will it be by our enemies? Or will it be each other?
I wonder what’s heaven is like. I think it’s Paradise. No more pain or suffering, all you worries gone, and your wounds and scars faded. Everyone would wear white clothes, the type that shine, and everyone would be nice to each other. If you’re reading this Sam and I’m dead, I want you to know, that it wasn’t too high a price if I die for my country, may it be slave-free or non slave-free.
Your brother,
Will
Maj.William Ford of the Confederate Army
Dear Will,
We face against each other from different sides, yet we never forget that even though we’re fighting each other, we’re still brothers. I would ask you what good is winning when you can lose your brother, but then, you’ll say, ‘It’s for our country.’ And I’ll say, ‘What good is fighting for your country, if it’s torn apart?’
That was a conversation that I remember when we were younger.
If I shall die in this battle, know this: We will meet again. Someday. I will wait for you if I die first, and I know that you shall do the same to me. Tell Cathy that I said, ‘Do not mourn for me and she can marry what ever man she chooses. I will approve.’ Also tell her, ‘Death is the final journey of my life. Except I will feel no pain, but happiness.’
Will, I if I am dead now, remember that you have to fight for freedom. Like the freedom of slaves that I fight for. If I am dead now, know that I have paid the ultimate price for what I believe in.
And for freedom. . . the one gift that all humanity deserve to have.
Your brother,
Sam
Colonel Samuel Ford of the Union Army
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