The 102nd Virginia

(This series is only loosely based on facts surrounding the Gettysburg campaign of 1863. None of the major characters are intended to represent any real persons. Units, corps, and other battle-related facts are not meant to exactly mirror the actions of either army at Gettysburg.)

June 30, 1863

Cashtown, PA

Jack Campbell was on the march again. The 102nd Virginia infantry awoke to orders to march east from Chambersburg to a place called Cashtown in southern Pennsylvania. By all indications, the day promised to be warmer than the previous few and none of the men welcomed it. Luckily, trees were plentiful and water was abundant in a multitude of small streams.

Jack and two of his mates had been lauded the day before for their successful foray into the countryside where they 'purchased' ham, bacon, and many sacks of supplies from a local farm.

Only the three men themselves knew what they had really taken from the owner, Elizabeth Wade. Twenty five year old Jack still had her face and body on his mind as they approached Cashtown. Young private Wilson had trouble thinking of anything except his time in Elizabeth's tub. Sam Fisher, the oldest of the three, couldn't erase the memory of the sight of her bare ass.

But they had moved on nearly fifteen miles when a large, two story inn appeared ahead on the left side of the road. The 102nd was ordered to camp in the fields west of the inn. The men gladly threw off their gear and claimed spots.

Soon, loud cheers rang out and the stately form of General Lee on top of his grey horse Traveler drifted past, toward the inn. There was nothing more comforting to the men than knowing that 'ol' Bobby Lee' would never lead them into danger they couldn't get out of through hard fighting.

Jack hadn't been in a fight for over a month and that was fine with him. All he wanted was to return to his home in southern Virginia and to his wife Jennie. He had thought of her, too, after his encounter with Elizabeth in the cellar of her farmhouse. But he attributed their sex to nervous energy built up over the long march north, and Elizabeth's uncanny resemblance to Jennie. Still, he felt a strange combination of guilt and attraction to Elizabeth.

Fortunately, he would never see her again and his one indiscretion would be forgotten amid the horrors of war.

It was mid-afternoon by the time the camps were set up. Jack had put his rolled up knapsack on the ground and his head had barely hit it when Sam Fisher kicked him in the boot.

Jack opened his eyes and saw Sam holding the reins to a very large, healthy horse, a rarity in the Confederate army. Obviously, it had been borrowed on the way north.

"Get up Campbell. Direct orders down from Lee. Somebody's to ride back and take this message to General Longstreet. All the other messengers are out on the road."

Sam held up the folded paper.

"I told the corporal you were the best man. Longstreet's just outside Chambersburg, on this same road. Go find him."

Yesterday, Jack was happy for the opportunity to get away from camp. Today was different. He was beat from marching and he was hot. But at least he wouldn't have to walk. The horse looked decent and the air might feel good.

He got up, took the reins and the message, and disappeared in a gallop. Jack thought of little besides his mission during the hour it took to get to General Longstreet just east of Chambersburg. There were no Union troops in the area and the local citizens were non-threatening, so his task was fairly easy.

Once completed, and after filling his canteen, Jack turned the horse in the direction of Cashtown. He travelled less than half a mile when he passed the road he and Wilson and Sam had taken the day before; the road that led to Elizabeth Wade's farm. Jack pulled up on the reins and brought his horse to a stop. He looked in the direction of her farm, hesitated briefly, and then turned the horse that way with a kick of his boot and an audible urging for speed.

Horse and rider quickly crested a hill that overlooked the house, barn, and outbuildings that he recognized from the day before. A moment later he was guiding the mount around to the back of the house. Jack tied the horse to a tree and jumped up on to the back porch.

He knocked on the unsteady door.

"Who is it?" the familiar female voice called out.

"A visitor, ma'am," Jack replied.

He saw the curtain on the back window flutter, and then the door opened a crack. He thought he heard her gasp faintly.

"I have nothing more to give you. You must know that."

"I do, ma'am. I'm not after anything today. May I talk to you?" Jack said.

"Talk? About what?" she asked, allowing her full face to be seen behind the door.

"About yesterday."

She looked bewildered. "That was yesterday. It's done, unless you are returning my flour."

Jack grinned. "I can't do that, ma'am. But I can apologize for what the others did to you. It was..."

"And what you did does not deserve an apology?"

In her irritation, Elizabeth had opened the door enough for Jack to see that she wore a robe instead of a dress; unusual, he thought, for this time of day.

"If you'll let me in, ma'am, I'll explain."

The door opened another inch or two. "Or will you once again take advantage of me and go back to laugh about it?"

"Please," Jack begged.

It hit the right chord, and Elizabeth allowed the dusty soldier to enter her kitchen.

She walked over to the table and sat in a chair, leaving another for Jack. His eyes never left her even as he sat. The beauty he saw in the thirty year old woman the day before seemed heightened today by her damp hair and fresh face.

"I bathed today. Alone. In the same tub your...," she began with obvious anger in her voice.

"I'm sorry. I do not know your name," Jack said calmly.

The statement so shocked Elizabeth that she never finished her sentence. She said simply, " Elizabeth."

"I'm Jack. Jack Campbell. Elizabeth, what those men did to you yesterday was wrong," he said. "You have every right to be mad."

"Those men? And what you did was NOT wrong?"

Jack paused, watching Elizabeth clutch at the front of her robe as she leaned forward to make her point. Then he said, "I believed I sensed some, um, well, some...willingness."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "Willingness to be taken by a stranger—a rebel stranger, at that—against the wall of my cellar?"

Jack had not wanted to say it, but he felt the situation called for it. "Did I not hear you cry out with satisfaction, maybe more than once?"

Her face blushed and she tried to pass it off as resentment. "Satisfaction is hardly the word for it."

"Then I believe the word is orgasm."

There was a towel by Elizabeth's hand and she promptly threw it at him, which Jack barely blocked with one arm. He laughed.

"Why are you here, Jack?" she asked. "To insult me some more?"

His expression quickly turned serious. "To reassure you, Elizabeth. We are not the awful men you have doubtless heard about. At least, I am not. We want to be here less than you want us. You told me your husband was in Virginia. So is my wife, Elizabeth. That's where I want to be. But when I looked into your eyes yesterday, I saw her. And I saw her fear and loneliness. I saw her need...for me."

Elizabeth, already shaken by the man's return, was on the verge of tears.

Jack said, "You won't admit it, but it wasn't my eyes you were looking into yesterday, was it?"

She lowered her head into her hands on the top of the table and sobbed uncontrollably. Jack pushed the towel toward her and she used it. After a moment, he rose from his chair and walked over to her. Jack put his hand on her back.

Elizabeth nearly jumped from her chair and threw herself at him. He instinctively wrapped her in his arms and she did the same.

"Oh, Jack. Jack," she wailed. "I want him back."

He ran his hand across her hair. "He'll be back, Elizabeth. This has to end soon. The next major battle will finish it. I'm convinced of that."

"Do you really believe that?" she sobbed, her face still buried in his chest.

"Yes, I do, Elizabeth."

It took many seconds for her to gain some control of her breathing again. Still, she didn't loosen her grip on him until she looked up. The day before, he had kissed her first. Today, she instigated the meeting of their lips. If it had been tentative last time, this embrace turned passionate very quickly.

Elizabeth's hands reached up to Jack's head, and he stroked her back through the soft robe. The kiss lingered considerably longer than Jack imagined it would.

Then Elizabeth said, "Why? Oh God, why?"

"Why what, Elizabeth?"

"Why did God send you here."

Jack clung to her lovingly. He didn't have an answer and felt powerless because of it.

"I can't answer that, Elizabeth."

"It's OK, Jack. Only He knows," she said, once again looking up into his chiseled face and dark eyes.

"Would He approve?" Jack asked, wiping tears from her cheeks.

She shrugged. "You stole my flour and sugar. He wouldn't approve of that."

"And I took you."

She shook her head. "I let you borrow me."

Jack put a hand on the opening to her robe, pulling it back just a bit. Her skin was even smoother and brighter than he remembered. Perhaps it was the bath. Perhaps it was the afternoon light. He looked for more and she let him.

Elizabeth put a hand in his crotch and barely made contact with his cock. It wasn't hard, like yesterday. She rubbed a little firmer and finally felt the reaction she expected.

Jack had one side of the robe open far enough to see the top of one breast. He leaned down and kissed her soft skin.

Elizabeth clutched at him and stroked him harder. Her body began to prepare for what she knew would happen; what she wanted to happen.

She didn't wait for Jack this time. She leaned back on the table, sat on the edge, and then descended onto the hard, flat surface. Once she was laying down, she untied the robe and drew it open. She watched Jack's eyes scan the entire length of her naked body.

Then he started to open his pants. Very quickly, he had them on the floor with his semi-erect cock pointing at Elizabeth. He moved towards her and ran his hands over her breasts. Elizabeth found his shaft and stroked it rapidly, bringing him to a full erection in seconds.

"Go slower, Jack," she said softly. "Not like yesterday."

He nodded, bending down to lick her breast and suck on the nipple. She held his head in place, forcing it down until he lightly bit her and caused her to moan with joy. She felt his cock against her thigh, stiff and warm. Her pussy was more than ready for him, but Jack was intent on fulfilling her wish.

He moved up and kissed her long and hard. Elizabeth wrapped her legs around him in a prelude to sex, her hands roaming his body in anticipation. Jack put a hand between her legs and instantly felt the moisture collected there. He spread it over her clit and Elizabeth gasped louder. He insert a finger inside the warm hole and she lifted her ass off the table to meet his gentle thrusts.

"Oh, Jack. Now," she urged.

"What happened to slower?" he said with a grin.

"Next time."

Jack put his cock at the entrance to her hole and nearly didn't have to move. Elizabeth slid down to him at the same time he pushed forward and they came together in a sudden, wonderful fusion. Now, he honestly tried to slow down. He kept a steady, deliberate rhythm that was not at all aggressive or rushed.

"That feels amazing, Jack. Just like that, please," Elizabeth said.

He put his hands under her ass and held her delicately. He watched her breasts roll on her chest in time with their movements. She occasionally tightened the muscles around his cock, only to hear his groan of approval.

Five minutes passed. The pace picked up and their mutual moans grew louder and more frequent. Jack was thrusting into her much harder than before and Elizabeth was begging for more. They were lost in their own worlds, yet could hear each other pronounce how close they were to orgasms. The mutterings merged into one piercing sound as they climaxed together. The otherwise sturdy table rocked under them, but withstood the long, long orgasms that left Jack and Elizabeth exhausted.

He collapsed on top of her, beads of sweat on each of their brows.

###

Jennie Campbell had no particularly pressing chores to do on the oppressively hot late May day in southern Virginia. She was walking on the farthest edges of the farm, checking on the condition of the field. Feeling exceptionally lonely and having heard the frightening news that Lee had his army clear into Pennsylvania, she walked farther down the wagon path to the most comforting spot she knew: Jackson's lake.

The small, but deep lake had been a favorite destination for Jennie and her childhood friends in their earlier years. Spring fed and clean, it was an idyllic place to gather for a swim. Now, it offered solitude as Jennie sat on the bank and thought about Jack and what dangers he faced in a land that seemed so far away.

She missed him desperately. He hadn't written in ages. Was he even alive? Wounded and in a hospital somewhere?

She threw a stone into the placid water and watched the ripples. She thought back to the splashes that occurred when her and her friends jumped into the lake fifteen years ago. They weren't even ten and they swam naked without giving it a thought.

She smiled and wished for those innocent days again. After a few seconds, in a rush of happy memories, Jennie began to undress. Piece by piece, her clothes piled up next to her until she was standing naked in the hot sun. With youthful exuberance, she sprinted ahead and dove head first into the lake.

The water was cool and refreshing. Jennie dove down and surfaced again, using both hands to pull her long, soaked hair behind her head. The only thing missing were the shrieks of her playmates as they frolicked next to her.

Jennie swam leisurely nearly to the other shore. After a brief pause, she came back.

It was then, when she stopped and looked up once more, that she heard the wagon. Her eyes quickly focused on the path near her clothes and she saw a man driving a one horse cart. She recognized him immediately; it was Henry Evans.

The twenty year old son of the local grain store operator had treated Jennie to coffee in the store's office the day before. Before she left, their attraction to each other had nearly led to an unfortunate incident. Though Jennie stopped it in time, neither of them could have forgotten about it overnight.

Jennie had been like a big sister to Henry, while being only four years older. Any attraction between them now had far more serious consequences than in their early teen years.

Henry brought the wagon to a halt and jumped off when he spotted Jennie.

"Can't remember the last time I saw you in there," he shouted out to her.

"You were just a kid, Henry," she replied.

He looked down at her clothes. "I probably didn't even notice back then that you were naked."

"Probably not."

Jennie was floating with the water up to her neck, her arms treading back and forth under the surface. Henry always had, and she presumed always would, stir something inside of her when she looked at him. He wasn't the strongest or best looking man she'd ever seen. But she liked him, a lot.

"Where you heading?" she asked him.

"Nowhere, really. The store's being minded and it's slow anyway, so I thought I'd come out and, well, you know, talk to you," he said.

"About what?"

"About yesterday."

"Not much to talk about," Jennie said.

"Yeah, but..."

Henry dipped his head and kicked at a rock.

When it was clear he wasn't going to finish, Jennie said, "Then come in here and let's talk."

He looked up with a shocked expression she could pick up even from her distance.

"Just like when we were kids, Henry."

He moved in slow motion, taking off his shoes first. It seemed to Jennie that it would take him forever to undress. She smiled when he turned to the side, almost with his back to her when the last piece of clothing came off. Then he nearly ran to the edge and dove in head first.

Henry wasn't the county's greatest swimmer and Jennie worked her way towards him so they could both stand. Jennie made sure to crouch low enough so the water still covered her to the neck. Henry squatted in an attempt to match her height.

The lake wasn't crystal clear and only a hint of Jennie's breasts were visible through the murky water. Still, Henry tried not to stare.

"So, let's talk," Jennie said calmly.

"I'm sorry for what happened," Henry answered quickly.

"Don't be. It was kind of nice," Jennie said. "Nothing came of it."

"I want you to be my friend forever. It was damn stupid on my part."

Jennie grinned. "We aren't little kids any more, Henry. You fought for two years. I'm married and trying to work a farm. Things happen when you're grownups."

"Jack would kill me if he knew I touched you," Henry said.

Jennie expressed her uncertainty with a sideways nod of the head. "If he's alive."

"He's alive, Jennie. Killing yanks, I hope."

She smiled and moved closer. "It's OK to touch me, Henry."

His expression turned serious and questioning. Jennie noticed it and suddenly used both hands to splash water up into his face. Henry shouted and turned away, attempting to escape. Jennie leaped after him and ended up on top of his back while Henry attempted to steady himself. She wrapped her arms around his chest and hung on.

"Hey, not fair," he bellowed.

With surprising strength, he pivoted in place and flung Jennie into the water. She gripped one of his arms at the last second and Henry fell on top of her, stopping himself by inadvertently pressing down on her chest. She was laughing when she got her head above water, next to Henry's stunned face.

"Just like when we were kids," she said.

But then she reached up for him, pulled Henry down, and covered his mouth with hers. They were barely above the surface while they kissed. Henry struggled to find a place for his knees, ending up straddling his friend's waist. The kiss lasted longer than either of them probably expected and they found themselves clumsily crawling to shallower water. Eventually, Henry was able to lay flat on Jennie, who's torso was now exposed.

"Is it OK to touch you like this?" he asked.

"It is," she answered.

He looked down on her body, mesmerized by its beauty but unsure what to do. The beads of water on her breasts glistened in the bright sunlight. The nipples were hard from the cool water. Henry became aware of his own hardness and tried to move so she wouldn't feel it.

It was too late.

"Touch them, Henry. Kiss them like you did my lips," Jennie told him.

He slid one hand over a single breast, lightly squeezing it before rolling the nipple between his fingers. Then he lowered his head and licked it. Just as Jennie was about to help him with her hand, Henry opened his mouth and engulfed a large portion of the breast. She leaned her head back and sighed with delight as he licked and sucked her tit.

Each breast got the same treatment and Jennie felt her pussy tingle. She also felt his erection press against her leg. She reached for it and was surprised at the size. A couple strokes completed the task of making him hard.

"Henry, move up so I can...so I can, uh, taste you," Jennie said timidly.

He only hesitated for a second. Then he was inching forward on his knees, his rigid cock above the water and moving closer to her face. Jennie guided it with her hand and eagerly put the tip between her lips. Soon, she was methodically bobbing her head up and down on the shaft, sucking it with increased tension as the seconds passed. Henry closed his eyes and reveled in the unexpected event.