Both were silent for a moment.

"He is relentless once fixed on an objective. Though sensitive to the point of illness at the sight of blood, he can stand back and let it flow. Shiloh is an example we should look at carefully, sir. He turned it into a grinding match that finally broke Beauregard."

"Yet in many ways that battle was inconclusive."

"Inconclusive only because he did not have the authority to follow up. Halleck stepped in. I dare say, if Grant had been given full authority then, he would've pushed Beauregard clear to the Gulf of Mexico and not just to Corinth."

"Halleck. Sadly, those days are over," Lee said quietly, taking a sip of his tea.

"Precisely, sir."

"What do you think that portends?"

"That Lincoln has not yet lost his nerve, not by a long shot. In a way, he's sacked perhaps two of our best friends. Halleck, as you know, was always by the book. Stanton tended to work at cross-purposes to the administration in Washington."

Longstreet slapped the table with his fist and shook his head.

"Sorry, sir. I forgot to tell you. Lincoln did indeed sack Stanton yesterday." Lee said nothing.

"Sorry. Word was out on the wires late yesterday. We have some boys who've tapped into the line from Washington that they've run across land to the Chesapeake. Stanton is out."

"Replaced by?"

"Elihu Washburne. Congressman from Illinois. The man who nominated Lincoln at the Republican convention. Perhaps more importantly he was Grant's congressman and apparently a close friend of his."

"That is news," Lee said quietly. "That means Grant has the full support of the administration. Carte blanche from now on."

"Sir, you just asked me to speak freely." "Yes, I did."

"I think it's time for us to get back across the Potomac."

"Why so?" Lee asked.

"There is nothing more to accomplish here."

"I would disagree, General Longstreet. We hold Baltimore, we still threaten Washington, we have supplies to see us clean through the spring if need be."

"Sir, may I present my case?" Longstreet asked.

"Of course, General. I need to hear what you have to say, though it does surprise me, your thought of conceding this ground without a fight, when I believe we could finally settle the issue here once and for all."

"Sir, we've destroyed the Army of the Potomac, a stated goal of our mission back in June. We've brought Maryland into the Confederacy. I think, at this point, a strategic withdrawal into northern Virginia would be prudent.

"We do a methodical and orderly withdrawal out of Baltimore now, and Grant just swings on empty air when he comes in. We also take apart the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as we pull back, take down every bridge, burn all the rolling stock left behind, tear apart the switching yards, burn the roundhouses, and take the heavy tools and machinery.

"If we pull out now, starting tomorrow, we can take with us every locomotive in this town, tear up track to take as well, even haul some of the machinery out of the factories as we go. Escort all that as we leave, and it would be a bonanza for our railroads in the South."

Lee did not respond.

Longstreet, warming to his position, pressed forward. "Sir, you might recall all the equipment that Jackson snatched from the Baltimore and Ohio back at the start of the war. It was brilliant and gave our side locomotives we desperately needed."

Lee smiled at the memory of how, in the early days of the struggle, Jackson had pulled off a wonderful hoodwinking of the Baltimore and Ohio, convincing them that they could only run trains in convoys at certain times, but he would not interfere with their operations in Maryland. Then, when the moment was right, he had raided across the river, blocked the track, and trapped an entire convoy of locomotives, supplies, and rolling stock. The equipment had been taken into Virginia and proved essential in keeping the Southern cause alive.

"Sir. If we take all their locomotives and rolling stock, then tear everything else apart, it would cripple their logistical support for months. It'd give us a lot of breathing room once out of Maryland with nothing but the wreckage of railroads behind us. Grant's offensive would grind to a halt."

"You know I don't like wanton destruction," Lee replied. "And remember, Maryland is now on our side. We cannot abandon it so lightly, or engage in such destruction in a state that is now part of our Confederacy.

"And what of our president's orders to hold Baltimore?" Lee asked. 'To hold Maryland?"

Longstreet said nothing for a moment.

"Sir, you asked for my opinion, which means relating to the military situation, not a response to what the civilian government told us to do."

"Why the caution now, General Longstreet?"

"The cost, sir. Our total casualties have been well over sixty thousand since May. We've lost over a dozen generals, scores of regimental commanders. Some of our finest divisions have been fought to a mere shell. Pickett, Pender, Anderson, Johnson, Heth are all down to a fraction of their original strength.

"Withdraw across the Potomac, hold the fords-and in another eight weeks the campaign season will be over till spring. That will give time for the wounded to heal, to reorganize, bring regiments back up to strength. Our boys will understand it, sir. In fact, they'll welcome it."

"And yet that gives Grant time as well," Lee said. "We believe he has four corps with him at this very moment. Wait till spring and it might be six or seven corps."

"Sir, though it's not our realm, I think Secretary Benjamin would agree with me as well. It would give time for Europe to react to your victories, perhaps bring France into the picture, with luck maybe even England, too. This war is, ultimately, one in which we achieve a political victory. Either Lincoln is impeached or is voted out of office. All we need do now is hold on till one or the other happens. Lincoln is undoubtedly pushing Grant to fight. Let us not give him that opportunity, and then see what happens."

Lee said nothing, letting his gaze drop to the maps on the table.

He had originally sought Pete's advice simply to examine the moment, what needed to be done the next few days, but instead his "right arm" had opened a far broader examination: a fundamental decision of what was to come not just tomorrow but in the weeks ahead.

"I cannot withdraw," Lee said, staring at the map.

"Because of President Davis?"

"Yes, in fair part. We have been ordered to hold Maryland and Baltimore, and I must not abandon such orders lightly. There is, as well, a logic to his orders to us. If we do indeed win the peace this fall, it is essential that Maryland be part of our new nation. It will force the Federals to abandon Washington as their capital, will insure that the Chesapeake Bay is controlled by us, and give us the one major industrial center in the South. We abandon that, we abandon a major position of stability after the war is over."

"Even if, in holding, we lose all, sir?"

"We will not lose," Lee said bluntly. "General Longstreet, we will not lose."

"Sir, if I might be so bold, please enlighten me about your thinking," Longstreet replied.

"Just this, General. I see no reason to assume that an encounter with Grant will go against us. Yes, he has caught us off guard for the moment, but such is war.

"You were not with me in May, when Hooker made his move up the Rappahannock. I will confess, in private, he did catch me completely off guard with the audacity of that move. We were outnumbered, before your arrival, nearly three to one. Whichever way I turned I would be flanked, and yet we did fight our way out of that, turned the tables, and won a stunning success, thanks be to God."

"The cost, though, sir-Jackson lost, nearly twenty thousand killed or wounded."