Why Couldn't It Have Been Robert?

From Laughter's Gentle Soul: The Life of Robert Benchley, an account of the death of Robert Benchley's brother Edmund in the Spanish-American War:

After landing in Cuba and setting up camp near Santiago, Edmund's company had marched into the battle of Fort San Juan at dawn on July 1, and the front line which he was a part of crossed the San Juan River under heavy fire from Spanish magazine guns, resulting in many casualties. At that point, according to the report filed by company commander Captain L. W. Kennon, "the brush was so thick that the other companies could not be seen, and the Colonel directed them to be brought up at once so that a full line of attack could be formed. He called Lieut. Benchley and directed him to recross the river--it had to be waded, being about waist deep--and carry orders to the battalion and company commanders to bring their troops forward at once. He started immediately on this important and dangerous duty and had succeeded in giving the orders to several of the commanders when he received a bullet through the heart, killing him instantly."

The terrible news of Edmund's death, coming as it did amid the ceaseless battlelike sounds and smells of Independence Day celebrations, was just too much for Jennie to bear. She began screaming uncontrollably, and it was several hours before her sister Lizzie, summoned from her nearby home by a distraught Charlie, was able to get her even slightly calmed down. When she finally appeared to have regained her senses, the first clear words she spoke were frighteningly blunt. "Why couldn't it have been Robert?" she cried--an outburst that so troubled those friends and relatives at her side that it was decided it would probably be best if Lizzie took Robert over to her house until his mother was back in her right mind again. (For the rest of his life, Robert would hate the sound of firecrackers--a grim reminder of the day he found out his brother was dead.)

It was a few days before Robert was able to return home. Somehow during that time, news of what Jennie Benchley had said got out among her neighbors, and it was quite a while before the gossip and behind-the-back chatter finally subsided. But whether it was primarily out of remorse over what she'd said, a need to repair the hurt she'd caused, or the instinctive protectiveness of a mother who'd already lost one child, Jennie Benchley soon was devoting much of her considerable energies to pampering Robert. She would allow no one to say a bad word about him or to him, encouraged his interest in drawing and music (he had his own mandolin and banjo by the time he was fourteen), and waited on him hand and, literally, foot; it wasn't until he was in high school that Jennie stopped tying his shoes for him. And while Jennie obsessively showered him with attention, Robert dealt with Edmund's death by trying to follow in his brother's footsteps, developing intensified interest in reading, drawing, dramatics, and charity work--hoping to be, for his mother's sake, as much like Edmund as possible.

Comments

[Maven]

Interesting post, and made me seek out and read a long article on Robert Lincoln. Thanks :)