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At that moment, a man dressed as a captain in the Union Army strode into the room. He was wearing a new uniform with a sword at his side and a hat festooned with a feather. His name was Johannes and he knew this plantation. He had accompanied Georg and his new wife Louisa from Paris to their New Orleans sugar plantation long ago. But he left the plantation several years before the war began after their first harvest of sugar cane.
He walked into the room and was shocked to see Louisa lying dead on the settee. Georg and his daughter were lying prostrate over her body sobbing heavily. Georg looked up and instantly recognized him.
“You, you,” Georg stammered.
Johannes took off his hat at the sight of the dead woman and the crying child. His face looked ashen when he turned back to look at Georg.
“What happened?” He demanded of the sergeant guarding Georg and his daughter.
“She fell, Captain Sir!” He said as he saluted Johannes. “Nothing we could do.” The sergeant said curtly.
Johannes swore at the soldier and dismissed him. Georg stood up to face his old friend now dressed in a Yankee uniform.
“I thought I would never see you again.” He said angrily.
Georg turned away to look down at his daughter still lying prostrate over her dead mother. Johannes placed his hat back on his head and stood erect.
“I came back to help you. But I see I am too late.” He said.
“Too late?” Georg cried incredulously. “Your soldiers killed my wife,” and he pointed at his dead wife.
Johannes winced and said nothing. “Well, maybe I can still save you and your daughter.” He said in a low voice.
“Save me, how can you save me. She was my whole life!” Georg fell to his knees and took his head in his hands.
Johannes helped him back up.
“We have to leave now,” Johannes said. “I can escort you to the New Orleans wharf where you and your daughter can take a ship that will take you wherever you want to go. It’s the least I can do.” His eyes fell back down on the dead woman lying on the settee.
“I need to take a few things,” Georg said.
“Hurry, we don’t have much time. General Butler’s aides will be here soon, and they have confiscated this house. And if you stay, they will arrest you!” Johannes said matter of factly.
Georg went into his study and grabbed his ledgers, bank records and several gold coins he had hidden in the fake bottom drawer of his desk. Luckily, the soldiers had not discovered the coins in their hurry to steal all the plantation’s valuables.
Georg asked if he could gather more of his daughter’s things. Johannes ordered a black Union private soldier who accompanied him to go to his daughter’s room and fetch a few dresses and other clothing. The soldier returned with a small bag and gave it to Georg.
“Now we must go!” Johannes said.
Georg gathered up his sobbing daughter and carried her into a small carriage waiting for them outside. Johannes and the black private climbed into the carriage and they traveled to the wharves in New Orleans. One of the last of the Confederate smuggler’s ships was waiting for the rising tide to leave before the Union occupation of the city.
Georg and his daughter climbed onto the ship. He ignored Johannes’s outstretched hand and his words of goodbyes and gathered up his bags, refusing any help from the black private soldier either.
After the ship had sailed, Johannes and the black private returned to their carriage. “Did you find your family Joseph?” Johannes inquired.
“No, sir,” Joseph replied. “I had escaped before he and his wife took over the plantation. Several of the older plantation folks told me my family ran away. They heard rumors my wife and two children ended up in New York City. When will we be able to return to New York City so I can find my family?” Joseph asked.
Johannes slapped the reins and the carriage horses began to trot back into the city. “Soon, Joseph, soon.” He said.
Johannes and Joseph began peeling off their Union Army uniforms and putting their own clothes back on as they rode. They needed to return the borrowed uniforms to the Union Army encampment outside of the city before they were missed.
