by Yvonne Mason
Chapter One
2009
Present Day
Andersonville,
The Decision
The day began like any other hot, humid summer day in South Georgia. By noon the sun was so hot the red Georgia clay was like a brick. Jonas Biggs, who had been contracted for this dig by the local historical society of the city of Andersonville, Georgia, was a tall drink of water standing six feet tall in his socks, with dark eyes that seemed to always have a hint of hidden humor in them. His hair was still thick and black even though he had slivers of gray at the temple. Although in his early sixties he acted like he was in his forties. He had been doing digs for most of his adult life and today was the first day of the dig at Andersonville.
However, there was no humor in those dark eyes as he bent over into a trench with sweat running in rivers down his lean back and his furrowed brow. Trying to work through the red clay was like trying to shovel bricks. The earth refused to budge. The clay was so hard one could have cut it and used it to build a house. Frustrated he wiped his brow with the back of his hand and sat back on his feet. It was going to be the slowest dig he had ever done. It was a good thing he was a patient man. This dig was going to be enough to try the patience of Job. Reaching for his canteen he unscrewed the cap and took a large swallow. It felt good sliding down his dry and dirt covered throat.
“Ahh, the nectar of the gods.” He thought as he covered the canteen with its cap. “How did the ones who survived manage without the basic element of water?”
As he looked around he thought about growing up here as a child. The camp had always intrigued him. He had heard stories from his family and he had studied it in school. He knew the prisoner of war camp had killed over 25,000 union soldiers between 1864 and 1865.But he had always wanted to know more.
He laughed to himself when he thought about the ghost stories he and his brother John would tell each other at night, the stories about those souls who haunted the park. During the day they would wonder thru the park pretending to be soldiers and trying to imagine what it had been like during that time. He always knew some day he would come back and try to find out. As he took off his hat and wiped his brow as he looked at the markings in the side of the trench. He had a feeling of unease but he didn’t know why.
When Jonas had been asked to do this dig, he went back and read some of the history on the camp. What he read almost made him sick. He saw the atrocities of war on a level he had never seen. Even though he had been told the history he was not taught the entire story. The story of how the north had cut off supplies going south by train. He read how the Yankees under General Sherman had blown up the entire rail lines north, south east and west. Sherman had determined that if the rail lines could be destroyed, the Confederate Army would be defeated. He was right. However, what he didn’t realize was that not only did he defeat the South; he killed some of his own army who were prisoners of war at Andersonville Prison.
Jonas at first didn’t want to take this dig because he didn’t have a good feeling. From the time he had been a young child he had always been able to feel the pain and terror and death which had been associated with the prison. But yet, he just couldn’t stay away. It was as if this was his destiny and when his niece, Savannah who was in her last year of college said she wanted tag along, he decided to take it.
She was getting her major in history and she wanted to be either a teacher or an anthropologist. So Jonas figured this would be good for her. He thought she could learn not only what happened at Andersonville, but how the south lived during that time period. It also didn’t hurt that she could count this dig as an intern credit.
Savannah O’Riley Biggs was a beauty at five feet five, with shoulder length coal black hair, black eyes and the body of one who worked out. She had always felt that she had come from Irish Stock because she had the fiery temper of the Irish.
Savannah was getting ready to graduate from the University of Georgia in the spring of the next year. Even though she was a good student, she was of a restless nature, always wanting to know what was around the bend, over the next hill and the next county. She could not stay in one place to long, she became bored. This had caused a great divide with her parents, Jonas’s brother John Dixon and his wife Amanda Lucy Windom Biggs.
Savannah wanted to be independent, but her parents were slow to let her go, causing Savannah to have a chip on her shoulder. She had become rebellious and not so very nice. When Jonas told John and Amanda about the possibility of the dig, Savannah had begged to come along.
“Uncle Jonas, please. I will be on break from school. I need to get away for a while. My parents are driving me crazy.” Savannah said one night at dinner.
Jonas looked at John, who just smiled and nodded.
“She needs to get away for a while. You know Savannah can’t stay in one place too long before she gets rambling fever. It will do her good to go on this dig. She will be too tired to try and find something to debate about at night.”
John, the oldest looked much like Jonas. In fact the two brothers were only fifteen months apart. They looked more like twins. John’s hair had a bit more gray. They were the only two children their parents had so they had grown up very close to each other.
John continued. “Besides, Jonas, this dig is important. We grew up around that place. We know the history of Andersonville. You remember the story our grandfather told us about his father and you remember how the other adults used to say it was just the ramblings of an old man. Somehow, what he said seemed right. According to dad his father wasn’t born here. He just showed up one day and settled down. He was a young man and he came in on the train. Dad said he told folks he was from back east and was looking for a warmer climate. No one seemed to know much about him. He kept to himself.”
Jonas snapped his fingers and said, “You are right I had forgotten about that. I remember grandpa always saying there was more to the family than anyone knew. I wonder what he meant by that.”
Amanda watched her daughter as the two men discussed the dig. She saw herself when she was younger. She had the same dark eyes, the same dark hair and the same intense look when she wanted something. She watched as Savannah drank in every word of the conversation between her uncle and her dad. Amanda smiled; she knew that Savannah needed to be with her Uncle on this dig. She understood the free spirit of her daughter.
Smiling that same secret smile at her daughter Amanda spoke up. “Jonas, it will be good for Savannah. This can only help her credits toward her major. If she goes into teaching she will be able to say she had been to Andersonville. If she goes into Anthropology she will already be a step ahead with her views on the lasting results of the civil war. This will be good for both of you. Besides, you have always said that if you ever got the chance you wanted to do a dig there.”
Jonas looked at his sister in law. He saw the passion in her eyes for the love of her only child. He knew exactly what she was telling him. She at one time had that same kind of spirit. The spirit that needed to know what was going on in the world around her. The three of them had been children together in Anderson. They all knew the stories of the atrocities committed during the war at the prison. They knew the blame was solely placed at the hands of the confederates. They also knew this was not true.
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