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Chamberlain. “I’m not familiar with your record, Captain Green.”
    Chamberlain puffed himself up in imitation of a self-important politician. “My commission is fairly recent, based upon my performance in the last presidential selection.”
    “I see.” Lee’s tone, only formal to this point, dropped several degrees toward freezing, but that was fine. The less he thought of Chamberlain’s Captain Green persona the less he would hopefully concern himself with worries about this unheralded arrival of a cavalry company. “I will expect a full report in the morning, sir. You are to call on me promptly at nine o’clock.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Lee turned to go, then paused, and instead pivoted toward the supposed prisoners. “How many men do you have, captain?”
    “Eighty-one, sir.”
    “A bit understrength for such a mission. And how many prisoners?”
    “An even dozen, sir.”
    “You took them without a fight?” Lee pressed. “In Mosby’s territory?”
    Chamberlain sank deeper into his role. “Of course there was a fight. I do not know what you are implying, sir.”
    “Surprise that your column was not cut to pieces, captain, with an inexperienced commanding officer and such small numbers moving through such a hazardous region, and that no word of your movements from any source came to us prior to this. You and your men are to wait here while I telegraph the War Department and find out more regarding this matter.”
    Mosby himself came up close to Lee. “I respectfully request that you remain here, colonel.”
    Lee frowned at Mosby, the sort of Olympian glower which must have reduced many a lower-ranking man to helplessness over the years. “Your request is insubordinate, lieutenant.”
    Mosby’s pistol came up and centered between Lee’s eyes. “I believe this outranks you, colonel. My request is now an order.” To either side, the sentries and the lieutenant were also being menaced and their weapons taken by other false cavalrymen from the column. The supposed prisoners in the column also produced weapons of their own and moved to help guard the regulars. “All of the sentries on the walls have already been disarmed and taken prisoner while we waited. As long as everyone remains silent, no one shall be harmed, but if anyone makes a sound they will be the first to die.”
    Lee betrayed no fear, his icy gaze fixed on Mosby. “Do I know you, sir?”
    Mosby inclined his head slightly toward Lee. “Colonel John Singleton Mosby of the Army of the New Republic, at your service, sir.”
    “You are no colonel. Neither are you a soldier. You are a bandit and a traitor to your country. When you are captured, you shall hang.”
    Mosby smiled, his teeth showing white in the darkness. “The capturing is the hard part, colonel.”
    “Colonel Lee.” Chamberlain stepped forward, dropping his performance. “Surely you have seen that the government operates in violation of the Constitution of the Republic. You are being ordered to take actions contrary to the liberty our forefathers bequeathed us. If all good and honorable men would join in demanding that the government and the army abide by the Constitution and cease their tyrannical actions, then this country would be a republic of free men again in truth.”
    Lee turned his frosty gaze on Chamberlain. “And you are?”
    “Joshua Chamberlain, Professor of Rhetoric, Bowdoin.”
    “Former professor, you mean to say,” Lee corrected. “When you are taken prisoner, you will find a cell here awaits you.”
    “Better a cell here than the fields of a plantation! I was convicted of exercising free speech and other rights guaranteed by the Constitution! Nothing else! A professional such as yourself knows that partisan politics should have no role in the appointment and promotion of officers.”
    “You do not speak for me, sir. Freedom does not mean anarchy. I will stand by those who believe in the rule of law.”
    Chamberlain spread his hands. “You will not do