"Eric Flint - TOG 02 - 1824, The Arkansas War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Eric)

trans-Mississippi region, Winfield?тАЭ

тАЬYes, that should do.тАЭ

Adams was at the door to the presidentтАЩs office. тАЬThis will take a moment. ThereтАЩs no point sending a
servant. HeтАЩll just waste time not finding it and then waste still more time trying to think up an excuse.тАЭ

It was said rather sarcastically. Adams said many things rather sarcastically. It was a habit his wife
chided him about. As did a veritable legion of other people, including Adams himself. He tried to restrain
the habit, butтАж

Alas. John Quincy Adams had many virtues. Even he would allow that to be true, as relentlessly
self-critical as he was. But тАЬsuffering fools gladlyтАЭ was not and never would be one of them.

Still, he thought God would forgive him that sin when the time came. As sins went, it was rather a small
one, after all. Even Jesus, if you studied the New Testament from the proper angle, suffered from it to a
degree.




By the time Adams returned to the presidentтАЩs office, Monroe had cleared his desk of all the materials
on it. Adams, with Scott assisting, spread the large map across the surface.

тАЬGood. This will make it all much clearer,тАЭ Scott said. тАЬLetтАЩs begin here, at the confluence of the Ohio
and Mississippi.тАЭ

A long, powerful-looking finger pinned the spot, then slid to the north. тАЬThen, up the Mississippi to St.
Louis. At St. LouisтАФupstream again, youтАЩll noticeтАФyou move along the Missouri, skirting the Ozarks to
the south. ThenтАжтАЭ

He looked up, giving the other two men a sardonic glance. тАЬThenтАжwhat?тАЭ

тАЬThereтАЩs the Grand River,тАЭ Adams suggested, but with no great force. тАЬEventually.тАЭ

тАЬAh, yes, the Grand. Also called the Neosho, I believe. Hard to tell from this map, but it doesnтАЩt really
look all that grand, does it? And do please note that you have to traverse a considerable distance before
you can reach any headwaters of the Arkansas. By now, youтАЩve gone hundreds of miles upstream,
followed by a land march with no means of supplying your troops except with horses and wagons. ThatтАЩs
difficult even without enemy resistance being encounteredтАФand weтАЩre bound to encounter some. From
the indigenes, firstтАФthose are the Osage, you know, a fierce tribeтАФeven before we come into Cherokee
territory.тАЭ

He straightened. тАЬI wonтАЩt say itcanтАЩt be done. It could, certainly, with the expenditure of enough time,
effort, andтАФmost of allтАФmoney. ThereтАЩs simply no way around it, Mr. President, Mr. Secretary. West
of the Mississippi, the main rivers all run west to east, or northwest to southeast. There is no real help
there for an army large enough to do the job that tries to approach the Confederacy from the north.тАЭ
 Monroe pushed aside a portion of the map and sat down heavily in his chair. тАЬI understand. The gist of it
is that there is no practical alternative, unless one is prepared to wage a long and costly war, to launching
a major expedition against the Indian Confederacy except up the Arkansas River valley.тАЭ