CHAPTER XVIII
THE AFTERMATH
Socola dismissed his hope of a speedy end of the war and devoted himself
with new enthusiasm to his work. His eyes were sleepless--his ear to the
ground. The information on conditions and public sentiment in Richmond
and the South which he had dispatched to Washington were of incalculable
service to his government. One of the immediate effects of the battle
was the return of Jennie Barton to the Capital. Her mother was improving
and Jimmie had been wounded. Her coming was most fortunate. It was of
the utmost importance that he secure a position in the Civil Service of
the Confederacy. It could be done through her father's influence.
Socola watched the first division of Northern prisoners march through
the streets amid the shouts and laughter of a crowd of urchins black and
white. A feeling of blind rage surged within him. That the tables would
be shortly turned, he was sure. He would play his part now without a
scruple. He would use pretty Jennie Barton as any other pawn on the
chessboard of Life and Death over which he bent.
Jefferson Davis watched the effects of the battle on the North with
breathless interest and increasing dismay.
His worst fears were confirmed.
He had hoped that a decisive victory would place his Government in a
position to make overtures for a peaceful adjustment of the conflict.
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