Numbering all the Bones

Before they search for Neddy’s burial site, Eulinda tells Dorence that Neddy’s body may have the stolen ruby ring on it. She says, “I don’t want you to make yourself part of anything unsavory, Mr. Atwater” (133). He laughs at this thought and asks, “Can anything be more unsavory than all of this?” (133). With Dorence’s map, they locate Neddy’s grave. Dorence tells Eulinda to step back so she cannot see what he is doing as he unearths the body. He finds Neddy and gives Eulinda the ring, along with the body tag that was attached to his clothing. Neddy is reburied next to the body of Thomas Jefferson’s grandson, who was also a Black Union soldier.

Eulinda is given the job of lettering the wooden headboards for the graves, beginning with Neddy’s. A man with a diverse racial background approaches her, Arnold Cater, who was the former valet for the governor of Georgia. He and his wife Lily, an expectant mother, came to Andersonville to seek help from Clara. Clara grows fond of the Caters, eventually saying she wishes she had the means to take them with her to Washington. In the next breath, Clara asks Eulinda if she would be willing to move to Washington and work as her secretary. Eulinda says, “All I could do was get up, go round to her and hug her, by way of an answer” (144).

As Clara continues her work at Andersonville, the news of her presence spreads and more freedmen show up at the camp seeking her help and the truth they sense she will tell them. When a group of two dozen formerly enslaved people asks Clara if they are truly, permanently free—since Lincoln was assassinated—Clara assures them they are free. To prove it, she takes Eulinda with her to get a copy of the Emancipation Proclamation and protective orders from General Wilson.

As they journey to town, they are greeted by Mistis, who invites them to come to a tea at Pond Bluff where they will meet other ladies from the area. As they are parting, Mistis asks Eulinda if she found the ring in Neddy’s grave. Eulinda, who has the ring tied in a handkerchief in her pocket, says no. Clara senses immediately what sort of a person Mistis is and later remarks to Eulinda, “That woman is a viper. How could you have worked for her” to which Eulinda answers, “I had no choice” (151).

After finding the ring, Eulinda is uncertain about what to do with it. She believes she has received a sign when the Caters’ new baby is a little boy whom they name Zeke—the name of Eulinda’s missing little brother.

Clara reads the Emancipation Proclamation to the gathered freedmen. She relates orders from General Wilson that allow them to remain on their home plantations and receive payment or crops for their work.

On the way to the social event at Pond Bluff, Clara tells Eulinda the story of her life. She concludes by saying, “I’ve had many challenges and met them. But I fear this one now will be my worst, having tea with the good Southern plantation mistresses of Andersonville” (157).

At the gathering, Clara makes certain that Mistis seats Eulinda at the table with all the white women. Throughout the event, nothing is mentioned about the prison at all. As they are leaving, Mistis calls Eulinda back into the dining room and threatens her with prison if she does not return the ring. Moreover, she threatens to dig up Neddy’s grave. Clara comes into the room, and Eulinda tells her of Mistis’s threats. Clara threatens Mistis in return, saying she is under the protection of Secretary of War Stanton. She also tells Mistis she knows that she pretended to be a Secret Yankee while being a war profiteer. All the gathered women overhear the exchange. As they leave, Hampton salutes Eulinda.

The evening after the tea, Eulinda waits up for Clara, who is tending a dying man. When she comes back to her tent, Eulinda presents her with the ring and asks her to use it to relocate the Cater family to Washington.

In mid-August, William announces that the work of renovating the camp and building the cemetery has been completed. The next day, the flag is to be raised by Clara over the new Andersonville memorial.

Clara asks Eulinda to come forward with her to raise the flag over the cemetery, saying, “Come, Eulinda, for you have a brother buried on the hill and another sold off in time of slavery” (164). Eulinda is filled with a sense of completion and the recognition that, at last, she has “come true” (164).

The Author’s Note spells out who among the characters is an actual person and who is fictional creation. The stories of Clara Barton and Dorence Atwater are given context, pointing out that Dorence was jailed for months for not turning over the list of prisoners. Clara’s lecture tour in 1865 helped to release him from jail. His list of the dead was eventually published in 1866. William Griffin, a Confederate officer who initiated the restoration of the camp and the reburying of the Union soldiers’ bodies, was indeed a historical figure, though—just as Eulinda could learn nothing about him—his history remains unknown.