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Lincoln's Inauguration
Jefferson Davis had been inaugurated as the President of the Confederacy two weeks earlier. The former Illinois Congressman had arrived in Washington by a secret route to avoid danger, and his movements were guarded by General Winfield Scott's soldiers. -
Battle of Fort Sumpter
The nearby fort Johnson opened fire on Fort Sumter. The guns opened fire at 4:30 in the morning on April 12, 1861, and fired for 33 straight hours. The garrison returned fire, but this return fire was ineffectual, partly because Major Anderson didn’t use the guns mounted on the highest tier of the fort, where the crews would be more exposed to confederate fire. -
Delphine and Calinda arrive
It was the spring of 1861 when Delphine and her dark slave, Calinda arrive. The war has just begun. They come up the Mississippi River on a steamboat named, "Rob Roy" and supposedly have a destination to St. Louis to visit Delphine's aunt but they need to find somewhere to stay so mama offers for them to stay with the Pruitt's because the hotel is terrible. Even though Delphine and Calinda are from the South, which the Pruitt's are opposed to, she still lets them stay. -
Period: to
River Between Us
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Noah falls for Delphine
Noah watches Delphine at every moment and is completely mesmerized by her. He watches her every move and does everything she asks -
Battle of Bull Run
This was the first major land battle of the armies in Virginia. On July 16, 1861, the untried Union army under Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell marched from Washington against the Confederate army, which was drawn up behind Bull Run beyond Centreville. On the 21st, McDowell crossed at Sudley Ford and attacked the Confederate left flank on Matthews Hill. Fighting raged throughout the day as Confederate forces were driven back to Henry Hill. Late in the afternoon, Confederate reinforcements extended and -
Battle of Belmont
Grant lost 120 dead and 487 wounded or captured, while the Confederates lost 105 dead and 536 wounded or captured. Although he gained no ground, Grant demonstrated that, unlike many other Union generals, he was willing to mount a campaign using the resources at hand rather than calling for reinforcements. This trait served Grant well during the war, and it eventually carried him to the top of the Union army. -
Delphine goes shopping
Delphine decides to go shopping so Tilly takes her down to the only store of the town. Only men go in but Delphine regards this as absurd and goes in anyway and buys 8 lamps, tons of oil and wicks and a box of matches. Curry and Tilly are completely shocked because usually only doctors can afford and buy at the most, one. Price has no meaning to her. -
Delphine takes the family to a showboat
Delphine hears that a showboat is coming to town and takes Calinda and the whole family with her. They get front-row seats in fancy gilded chairs. One of the bandmen of stage recognizes Calinda from New Orleans where she is a famous dancer and Delphine crazily encourages her to dance all night until Delphine passes out and Calinda runs home -
Noah leaves to be in the army
The night of the dance, Noah leaves to join the 31st Illinois Infantry. He leaves after dancing with Delphine so that he knows he has something to come home to. -
Delphine and Tilly leave to get Noah
Mama gets mad at Tilly and tells her to bring Noah back. She says, "I can spare you but i can't spare noah." They packed all of the stuff from the sick draw and many provisions. They took as much as they could possibly carry. -
Delphine and Tilly arrive in Camp Defiance
They arrive in Noah's camp, escorted by Dr. Hutchings. Some are at the point of death and Delphine and Tilly are horrified by what they see. Noah is too weak to rise from bed and their tent is hot, stuffy, and muddy, with no ventilation. -
The story has finished
Tilly finishes the story and the grandchildren realize Delphine is their grandmother and Noah is their grandfather. Not Tilly and Dr. Hutchings. They also learned that mama commited suicide and Noah fought against papa and papa was killed. Cass died a year after the war at age 17 and Calinda ran off to California.
