The sun was out; it’s bright face casting the three o’clock shadow across the land.

Manassas wasn’t too far away, and neither was Bull Run. But the north and south knew that anyways. They had named it, and they had fought it.

But what business was that of mine? Why should I know the reason I butcher and kill like a beast?

I shouldn’t.

The sun moved again. It must have been in the fourth hour of the day. The tree no longer stood in the sun’s way, and it hit me full on.

My eyes couldn’t take it anymore and I looked away, a sharp pain flying through my body.

I could feel the damp spot covering my body, starting in the middle of my stomach and working it’s way across my uniform. My lower body had already gone numb. I couldn’t feel my toes or my feet.

But what do I need toes or feet for? Nothing more. No more than I needed to feel the bullet firing through my skin, tearing it’s way through the threads of my clothing.

It had felt like fire. Pulling at me to succumb to it. I haven’t.

Yet.

I felt the sweat across my body as it baked in the sun, mixing with the blood across my chest. The wool was sticking in every place it could and it didn’t feel pleasant.

Lifting my head slightly I looked around for my regiment. I didn’t see them. The gun smoke hadn’t completely disappeared, and it still clouded the air.

Three men from my unit lay next to me, suffering their last breaths or cold from the death that had overtaken when they had gotten shot. Three of mine compared to seven of them. Hopefully seven that I myself had not killed.

Killing them was something I could not bear in my final minutes of life. I think I was praying. Praying and weeping. Praying for those I had shot, killed, or hurt in anyway. Maybe they would forgive me in another life. Just maybe.

My breath was becoming short as my body struggled to fix itself. Fix the damage that the union had done.

I don’t think it was working. I could feel the life draining from my soul as the last shots were fired.

I think I saw the general’s horse off in the distance. It’s screams pierced the silent air as shots shattered it’s life and mine as well.