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Analysis Of The Book ' The ' Essay

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Callum shouldered his sack, eyes focused on the back of the man before him, trying not to think about the ache in his feet, the soreness of his back, the grime that layered his body. “Just keep marching, keep moving” Callum repeated in his head like a mantra.

Callum could see in the distance beyond the trees the faint outlines of green hills. Hills that he last remembered were bathed in red and flesh. Over a year has passed since the First Battle of Bull Run and so much as changed since then. With a lack of manpower and volunteers, the Confederacy issued a draft for all men of age. Of course, Callum could have bought his way out of the draft, if it were not for his rat bastard of a father. Said war would put some hair on his chest - that it would be good for him and then refused to cover the draft fees.

So here Callum was, trudging alongside several thousand men under General Lee’s command. The Union has been trying to gain control of Virginia since the very inception of the war. After Virginia joined the Confederacy, it was rewarded with the Confederate capitol in Richmond due to its industry and factories. His hometown was the only large-scale industrial city in the Confederacy. Having the capitol and the bulk of the army here allowed for easy restocking of supplies. It was a logistically sound move, but also a dangerous one.

Virginia lies at the border of the Confederacy and the Union, not even a hundred miles south of the Union’s capital in Washington. Losing

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