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Chapter 10
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Across Five Aprils, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Coming of Age
The Realities of War
Self-Determination
Personal Conviction
Hardship, Suffering, and Beauty
Summary
Analysis
Nearly six months go by before Nancy receives another letter from John. In the weeks of silence, she and Jethro try valiantly to understand the confusing newspaper reports of the chaotic Battle of Chickamauga Creek, where the Confederate forces deal a terrible but incomplete defeat to the Union Army in September 1863. Although three of the Union generals lost control of their troops in the confusing, mountainous terrain, John’s wing of the Union forces holds firm under the rock steady leadership of General George Thomas. And while he feels deep shame over the Union loss, he also takes pride in his and his comrades’ brave action.
Confederate forces didn’t just win the Battle of Chickamauga—they did so despite being vastly outnumbered by Union troops. This defeat deals another blow to the North’s hope for an end to the war. It also reminds readers of the costs the war exacted as it dragged late into its third year. And John’s pride as his unit was under fire reminds Jethro of a key component of maturity—courage in the face of danger. And, like all other acts of courage that soldiers demonstrate throughout the book, it contrasts directly with the cowardly actions of men like Guy Wortman who cover up their fear with hatred and harsh words for others.
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After repulsing most of the Union forces, Confederate snipers pin down the remaining men and prevent food or supplies from reaching them. John describes eating the company’s horses and mules to stave off starvation, but they hang on until reinforcements arrive, including Grant’s army. At first, John and his comrades resent the arrival of these fresh men, although the success of the battle hinges on their presence. John describes how the generals assign his unit, despite the valor they showed in holding out under Confederate siege, the easiest point of attack. But when the charge came, their ferocious attack broke straight through the Confederate line.
John’s letter doesn’t fully clarify the timeline of events; after the Battle of Chickamauga—fought on September 19 and 20—defeated Union forces retreated to Chattanooga, Tennessee to take shelter in its strong defensive position. Confederate forces pinned them there and cut off their supply lines, besieging the men for weeks. The attack John describes took place on November 25 after two months of siege. His letter thus reminds readers yet again of the terrifying reality of war—and of the bravery that animates men (and adults in general) of conviction.
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Jethro copies the letter and forwards the original to Shad and Jenny in Washington. He describes the battle to John’s sons, and John writes to Nancy how much it comforts him to know that the “one brother [he’s] got left” watches over his boys.
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In November 1863, the newspapers all carry the transcript of President Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg, although opinions divide over its value. When Jethro reads it to Ellen, she declares that it has the ring of scripture. It seems like the end of the war may be in sight, but this just makes Northerners angrier at the Confederate states. President Lincoln offers amnesty for former Confederate soldiers and charts a path for Confederate states to rejoin the Union. This makes him unpopular in the South and the North, where increasingly vindictive mobs call for “wholesale execution of rebels.”
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Over the winter of 1863–4, the Union forces seem to stabilize with the promotion of General Ulysses S. Grant, although losses continue to mount. Shadrach slowly recovers his health, and since Jenny stays with him in Washington, his letters now come addressed to Jethro. In one, he describes seeing President Lincoln and General Grant riding through the streets of Washington. Both men have rough-hewn, unpolished looks, but hard experience has taught Shad (and Jethro) to distrust charm and polish.
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Throughout the spring of 1854, Jethro pays attention to the presidential primaries—and the violent feelings they inspire in people. President Lincoln’s merciful character makes him unpopular with some in his own Republican Party and among Democrats who want to punish the South for its obstinacy. War weariness and anger over the lost lives—which now number in the tens of thousands—gives the Democrats an advantage over the incumbent Republican administration. This increases with the disastrous battles of the Wilderness and Cold Harbor, where Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee finally come face to face. Grant refuses to retreat in any of these engagements but neither side can claim a conclusive victory.
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As anger against President Lincoln rises, people begin to predict his defeat in the fall’s general election, although Ross Milton maintains that in the end, he will win because Northerners aren’t willing to admit that their men “died for nothing.” To face him, the Democrats nominate George B. McClellan, disgraced former commander of the Union forces. In a letter, Shad confides to Jethro that this raises McClellan in his opinion, since a presidential campaign demonstrates a character trait Shad thought McClellan lacked—the “courage to risk being wrong.”
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In August, Union forces capture the important Confederate seaport of Mobile, Alabama; in September, they win Atlanta; and in October, they score a key victory in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. With final victory feeling so near, the North—especially its soldiers—vote for President Lincoln by a wide margin. Within weeks of his reelection, an ill-advised attack by Confederate forces on Union soldiers (including John) ends in a bloody defeat for the Southern army at Franklin.
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John writes home about the Battle of Franklin. Afterward, he finds Bill among the captured Confederate forces to whom he hands out rations. His commander allows him a private talk with his “own blood brother,” and he relates all the family news, happy and sad. Bill stares silently at the ground. When John stands to leave, Bill calls him back and tells him to write to Ellen that he was at Shiloh but that he promises that he did not fire the bullet that killed Bill.
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