Chapter 5: Cracks

“It’s just a horse,” a Mexican soldier muttered as Grant’s steed ran past. “Must have gotten scared by all the gunfire going on.”

The squadron continued on with their march, ignoring the sprinting beast. Across the battlefield, Taylor kept watching the animal as it made its way through camp, her eyes widening as it stopped in front of the storage shed’s iron doors.

“My God!” Taylor exclaimed as Grant appeared just behind the horse, picking up a spare box of ammunition off the ground.

“What happened?” a nearby soldier asked.

“I can’t say for sure,” Taylor smirked, “but by the looks of things…I’d say that daredevil just rode through this battlefield clinging to his horse’s side for cover!”

At the storage shed, Grant tucked the ammunition underneath his arm, then rotated back onto his horse’s side before sprinting over towards Taylor.

“Hey…” a Mexican soldier remarked as the steed ran past, “isn’t that the same horse we saw a second ago?”

Another soldier stared at the horse, noticing the flaps of a blue army uniform dangling just beneath its chest.

“It’s the enemy!” he snarled, “Fire; fire!”

Grant cooly rotated onto his steed as the rifles shot out, ducking down as a stray bullet zoomed over his head. The horse whined at the bullets, but Grant stroked its mane, quieting the beast.

“It’s alright, girl…I’ll get us through this.”

Grant turned around, locking eyes with the Mexican soldiers as they aimed their rifles. He continued watching until the moment their fingers touched the triggers of their guns. Then, with one swift movement, Grant pulled hard on his reigns, shifting his horse aside as the bullets shot past them. The Mexican soldiers started realigning their sights, but Grant tapped his horse’s neck, inciting her to sprint straight ahead, escaping well out of their range before they even had the chance to fire another shot.

“Excellent work there, soldier!” Taylor exclaimed as she greeted Grant’s return, taking his box of ammunition and distributing it out amongst her troops.

“This one did all the hard work,” Grant replied, scratching his horse’s ears.

Taylor loaded up her rifle, then looked back to Grant.

“I know you’re not planning to stay with us long term…but you really ought to reconsider. I’d hate to lose a man of such exceptional ability.”

“Me…an army man?”

Grant looked behind him as the fighting raged on in earnest, his heart oddly calm amidst the chaos around them.

“…you know…” he finally spoke up, “that doesn’t sound half bad.”

“That’s what I was hoping you’d say! And if you’re staying with us long-term…” she gestured to a well-dressed soldier standing beside them, “…you’d do well to get on this man’s good side. He’s the rising star of our engineering corps, and the first person you should turn to if you need any fortifications made.”

“Oh madam,” the older officer chuckled with a bow, “your praise is far too much for one as humble as myself.”

Grant got off his horse, extending his hand to the gentleman.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir,” Grant, the future commander of the Union Army, said with genuine sincerity, “I’m Odysseus Grant.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” the future commander of the Confederate Army replied in turn. “My name…is Robbie Lee…”

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

In the present, Eisenhower swung her tank head as Grant’s horse stepped aside. A dozen rifles fired from the horse’s chest, only for Eisenhower to slide down her roads, dodging the attack.

“These two are way too nimble!” Thompson screamed. “Between Grant’s horse and Eisenhower’s roads, there just doesn’t seem to be a way for either of them to land a attack against one another! Yes, it seems like this fight is in a total gridlock, folks!”

“It is for now,” Truman agreed, “but such high intensity fighting can’t go on forever. Sooner or later, one of them has to fall...”

Then, just as Truman spoke these words, a series of cracks appeared across Eisenhower’s roads…

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Grant’s Flashback II. Ulysses Grant really did ride a horse sideways during a battle to grab ammunition for his troops, but many details were simplified in the novel. In particular: he didn’t do this because he was quartermaster (in fact, the quartermaster wasn’t even in charge of ammunition), this event didn’t happen on his very first day on the job, Zachary Taylor was not present when it happened, and he didn’t meet Robert E. Lee right directly afterwards (though the two really did meet briefly during the Mexican War).

Another fun fact: Ulysses Grant really was planning to become a mathematics professor after his term of service, but instead ended up finding his calling in the army during the Mexican-American war.