Father Comes Home From the Wars

Content Warning: The source text and the guide discuss enslavement, racialized physical abuse, racism, and rape. The guide quotes and obscures the author’s use of racial slurs.

It is late summer of 1862—several months after the events of Part 1. In a rural part of the South, the Colonel has taken a Union man named Smith captive. The Colonel sings a war song and scolds Smith for not singing along. He continues singing, and Smith joins in but changes the words to say he’s “being held prisoner by a drunken dumb Jeb / When I get my freedom I’ll cut off his head” (58). The Colonel is angry that Smith is ungrateful for being saved after being abandoned and wounded in the field.

Cannons sound around 10 miles off. The Colonel wandered away from his Regiment and found Smith. He plans to bring him back alive for a reward. Smith is a captain for the “1st Kansas Colored Infantry” (61). The Colonel asks what it’s like to lead Black men. Smith says they are brave and hardworking, so it’s just like leading any group of men. Smith denies the Colonel’s inquiries about whether he’s likely to “own” another human, and he declines the Colonel’s offer of a drink. The Colonel thinks that when Smith is on his deathbed in his old age, he’ll regret both decisions. The Colonel himself enslaves 100 men. Smith recalls a captured Confederate soldier who was a poor white man. He signed up in to fight in a rich man’s place, just for the promise of 10 people to enslave.

The Colonel thinks that “deep down,” Smith and the Union “think like we think” (64); Smith claims otherwise. Smith taunts the Colonel, saying that Hero—who left to get firewood an hour ago—has “run off” (66). The Colonel claims he knows Hero, and Hero would think running away is the same as stealing. He tells Smith that Hero joined him freely in the war after the Colonel promised him his freedom. He won’t answer when Smith asks him if he intends to keep his promise.

Hero arrives with a report that the Union Army is approaching fast and in large numbers, while the Confederate forces are smaller and weaker; however, the Confederates are slightly closer to where they are. The Colonel tries to goad Smith into guessing how much Hero is “worth,” but Smith refuses to play along. Then, the Colonel says if Smith can guess Hero’s “worth,” he’ll give Hero to Smith. Smith says he’d free Hero instantly if this were to happen. Smith asks for Hero’s permission before engaging further.

The Colonel begins to inspect Hero to determine his worth; Smith guesses too high, but Hero claims he could be worth more now than when the Colonel enslaved him. The Colonel asks Hero to undress for the inspection to continue and implies he will make him forcibly orgasm, essentially raping him. Smith demands that the Colonel stop; the Colonel acquiesces, but he hits Hero. The Colonel tells Hero how heartbroken he’ll be once Hero is free. He then thanks God he is white and says that he can manage any adverse economic circumstance with the consolation that he’s a white man.

Smith asks the Colonel how much he thinks he’d sell for himself “up on the auction block” (83). He continues to nettle the Colonel about his “worth” until the Colonel gets ready to shoot him. He shoots, but the gun isn’t loaded: it was a trick to make Smith show fear. Then the Colonel tells Hero to watch the camp while he scouts the approaching armies.

With the Colonel gone, Smith tries to engage Hero in conversation. Hero asks him about the Union army and General Grant. He tells Smith that the Colonel only enslaves 10 people—not 100, like he claimed. Hero notices that Smith is wearing two coats, one for a private and one for a captain. Smith says the private’s coat is from one of his men who fell, but Hero notices that the private’s coat fits Smith better. Smith admits he is a private in the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, and he passes as white.

Hero asks what it’s like to fight in the war as a private and whether Smith thinks the Union will win. Smith shows Hero a brand on his arm from his former enslaver. Hero releases Smith and asks if he ever “ran off.” Smith says he was freed when his enslaver died. Smith tells Hero that “when Freedom comes” (95), neither of them will “have a price” (95). Hero says that when patrollers ask him “whose” he is and he says the Colonel’s, they leave him alone. When he imagines saying “I belong to myself,” he knows the patrollers will hurt him (96).

Smith tells Hero to try on his Union captain’s coat. Hero says it “feels good.” He admits that he calls the Colonel “Peacock” behind his back because of a large feather he wears in his hat, which makes him look foolish. Smith compliments Hero’s name and asks what name he would take if he could name himself; Hero doesn’t know.

Smith says that “the heart of the thing” won’t be fixed when they get freedom, but the “mark of the marketplace” will linger (98). He thinks Hero needs to “steal” himself and “steel” himself (99). They hear the Colonel returning and Hero returns the coat. The Colonel orders Hero to pack up camp so they can find their Regiment. He puts a rope around Smith’s neck and makes Hero lead him as the Colonel scouts ahead.

When the Colonel is out of sight, Hero takes the noose off Smith’s neck and tells him to go. Smith gives Hero his private’s jacket and tells him to come with him. He has Hero swear to the Union army and tries to pull him away, but Hero won’t go. Finally, Smith embraces him and leaves. Hero puts on the Union coat under his Confederate coat, and he then follows the Colonel.