Union Colonel

An unnamed Union colonel with "a bright short beard and hard bright gray eyes," whose name is revealed in a later story in the series to be Colonel Nathaniel G. Dick, in command of an unspecified Ohio cavalry regiment. In "Ambuscade," his cordial encounter with Granny Rosa Millard following the shooting of a Union horse, and his choice to accept her claim that no children were present on the premises, contrasts with Sergeant Harrison, who is intent to find and punish the boys responsible for the shooting. The colonel clearly knows that she is lying, and he seems to find some amusement in the manner in which she has had to hide the two boys under her skirts, but he is serious in trying to prevent the situation from escalating to something worse, telling her, "I have three boys myself, you see. And I have not even had time to become a grandparent” (15). His kindness in this story becomes important in a later story in the series, in which Rosa Millard seeks out his help in recovering the family silver and livestock taken during a raid by other Union soldiers.