Secret Service Agent in charge, Gates, and the agent known as Jack stood on a hill apart from the growing crowd of spectators. Off in the distance, a vast cloud of dust hung in the moist July air. The dirty brown cloud marked the advancement of the Rebel Army led by Jubal Early. Fifty thousand strong, some said; on their way to take Washington, the country"s gold and the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.
Panicked citizens raced up and down the streets of Washington, D. C., going nowhere. But in their minds, they were at least doing something. Gates said to Jack, “Grant took our cannon and the crews that manned them. We have only green troops to man the defense. The army is grabbing clerks and anyone else they can talk into donning a uniform and can fire a musket to defend t
