It walks on four legs

Prologue : A day in November

Colonel Leib woke in Time to watch the break of day over the shallow water at the edge of town.

It almost felt dishonest to call Milken's Bend a town. It was really a cluster of building cut in half by a river, surrounded by the Louisiana swamps.

for the last two and a half years of the war it had been a major link in there supply chain. However as the fighting had moved further east it's importance had diminished severely.

His orders had been to maintain this station till, new orders came through. He'd been given the less than ceremonious task of trying to train newly freed slaves. Men who'd never held rifles in their lives.

While a few had shown decent marksmanship, most of them would be better off using their rifles like clubs.

He thought perhaps it would be simpler task, pulling rotten molars from angry jawbones.

With a decent stride he made his way through camp. His bland breakfast of musty carrots and hardtack had left a particular itch on the gums behind his upper teeth he couldn't seem to lick away.

Coming from one of the hospital tents, he spotted Brigadier general Dennis sporting a fresh bandage on his right hand. the day before he'd been instructing the new recruits knife fighting techniques, it hadn't ended well.

"Perhaps next you should use a dull knife." Lieb stated with some levity.

general Dennis clenched and unclenched his hand a few times.

"I believe you're correct sir." He responded not much in the mood for jesting.

They began walking towards the target field where the colored troops were training, both silently hoping for a small miracle.

"Do you think any of them will be worth more than spit soon?" Lieb asked the general.

the quiet man thought a bit.

"I reckon so, but no soon enough. If the rebs come through the trees in Two months, I'd still put a wad on them too cut us in half." He said.

Lieb felt differently. "They may not be killers yet, but I don't see us having much grief fending of rebs. They'd have to wade through the muck to get too us, we've got cannons on every building here, and we got Barrett's boys from Illinois to round out the numbers."

General Dennis nodded, considering Lieb's words. "I suppose the odds are in our favor." He pointed his finger back in the direction they came from.

"From the north end we're sitting on the bottom of a slope, if they've got enough straight shooters sitting in the trees, it's gonna make running the cannons a death warrant."

Lieb patted the man on the shoulder, reassuring him."I don't think they'll make much fuss about us. We don't got much food or munition. It wouldn't be worth the blood and bones to fight us here and now."

"I hope you're right Hermann, I do."

They spent the next few hours watching former slaves trying to shoot targets and instead watching them cut up trees instead.

Lieb watched the midday sun move through horizon to a gentle wind and thought perhaps the day would be forgotten by tomorrow, that this day would simply turn to night and be no great matter.

But he was wrong.

heavy strides through ankle deep water followed by a young voice cut into his mind.

"Soldiers approaching! Soldier's approaching!"

Lieb ran through the camp, he watched every body in motions take of battle positions.

From his place at the break of the river he spotted confederates descending the hill from the northern side, just as general Dennis had feared.

Hermann Lieb took up his rifle and prayed to god he would survive this day.