The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by the DuPont Company, makers of better things for better living through chemistry, presents the redemption of Lottie Moon, starring Lucille Ball. The time is 1863. The place, Cincinnati. General Ambrose Everett Burnside has just taken command of the U.S. Army's Department of the Ohio. When I entered upon my new duties that bright spring day in the third year of the war, the memory of my disastrous failure in the field at Fredericksburg a few months before was still haunting my thoughts. When my adjutant knocked at the door... Come in, come in. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Captain, Captain. For the report you requested. Carol. We have an early visitor, sir, and most impatient, Colonel Hanson. We have an early visitor, sir, and most impatient, Colonel Hanson of General Halleck's staff in Washington. From Washington so soon? No. Show him in, Kemper. Yes, sir. This way, sir. Good morning, Colonel. Good morning, General Burnside. You're looking well soon. And feeling miserable as usual. What can I do for you? Our mission general is a somewhat delicate one. For reasons of military security... These walls have no ears, Colonel. And all missions out of Washington appear to be delicate in nature. What is it this time? Graft in the Quartermaster Corps? No, sir. Espionage. We have reason to believe that a notorious Confederate spy is being sheltered in or near Cincinnati. Spies who allow themselves to become notorious should be easy to catch. Not this one, sir. He's a will of the wisp. Oh, a woman? Yes, sir. He's been a thorn in our side for two years. But it's a most recent exploit that has caused our greatest concern, sir. More acquainted, I believe, with Secretary of War Stanton. I am. A pompous but able political wire puller. A most successful manipulator of men and events. General Burnside. After Fredericksburg, sir, I have nothing more to fear from man, guard or cabinet officer. Proceed, Colonel. Well, sir, Secretary Stanton wants this woman apprehended. A few months ago, the secretary was introduced by friends at a ball in Washington to a certain Lady Hull, ostensibly an English gentlewoman. And Lady Hull made herself most agreeable to Secretary Stanton. Before the evening was over, she asked Secretary Stanton. But Your Excellency, I couldn't think of causing you such inconvenience. No inconvenience whatever, my lady, if you can manage to wait a few days. On next Tuesday, I am driving to Maryland to review the troops. President Lincoln will accompany me. If you wish, you may share our carriage. How charming. The president himself. You'll find him uncouth, but interesting enough. But Mr. Secretary, however, shall I journey from Maryland Heights to Warm Springs in Virginia? It will be my pleasure to provide you with a neutral escort through the opposing lines. After that, you may proceed without further inconvenience to your destination. Mr. Secretary, how can I ever thank you sufficiently? Now, my lady, it's nothing really, nothing at all. Well, General Lady Hull was no Englishwoman. She was a southern spy with a packet of information for General Lee. And she rode out of Washington, big as life, sitting between the president of the United States and the secretary of war, right smack through the entire army of the Potomac. You'll pardon me, Colonel, if I fail to suppress a small smile. General, it's no laughing matter, I assure you. We know who she is. The story this time was too good for her to keep. Time and again she'd given us the slip under one disguise or another and kept mum. But this time vanity loosened her tongue. She told the story and it reached us. Lady Hull lives or did live in Cincinnati. You know her real name? Yes, sir. Her name is Charlotte Moon. What did you say? Why, I said Charlotte Moon. Lottie Moon. Lottie Moon. You know the woman, sir? I knew her. I knew her very well indeed. Much too well. And in the general's memory, crowded still with the accusing ghosts of Fredericksburg, new shapes took form out of the past. A quieter time some 11 years before. A quiet, verdant college town, Oxford, Ohio. Oxford, under its grand old forest trees, now listens to talk. Talk in exclamation points. And the subject, Miss Lottie Moon, age 17, recently arrived with her father and sister from Tennessee. Oh, how Oxford did whisper and rustle in the spring of 1852. 1852. 1852. 1852. 1852. Why, at a meeting of the local lady's aide, for instance. A hussy, that's what she is. A hussy. I've forbidden my willy to go near the moon house again. Charlotte is a bit high-spirited, I've no doubt, Miss Mizzies. What a good girl at heart, surely. The moons of Memphis are very respectable folk. High-spirited fiddlesticks. Didn't she dress up like a man? And didn't she play poker with those no-good lopers at the Mansion House Hotel? Did she, Miss Smithers? So my willy says. And my willy's a good, truthful boy. And that's not all. Her and that lawyer, Clark, well. If you'll just move your chair a little closer, Mrs. Watkins. Now, I wouldn't breathe this to a stone, but I will. And among the floating male population, drowsing in the sun outside Joe Follinsby's livery stable. So she promises that fathead willy Smithers she'll meet him outside Old Man Moon's barn at midnight, a week or so ago. Then she tells the same thing to Pud Collins, Jethro's boy. Well, Willie and Pud, they collided the barn and get the scrap and hammers and tongs. And there's Lottie up in the hay mow, pouring dirty water all over him out of the top, and laughing fit in the bush. Oh, she's a cute one, all right, little Lottie. Here tell she's got that visited West Point fellow, and what's his name, Burnside? Here she's got him on her string now, too. Well, I wouldn't doubt it. It'll take a real man some time to get to the bottom of the barn. And I'm sure she'll be able to get to the bottom of the barn. And I'm sure she'll be able to get to the bottom of the barn. And I'm sure she'll be able to get to the bottom of the barn. It will take a real man, size man, to break our Lottie to harness. Someone like Jim Clark to lower her, maybe. How about it, Joe? Well, tell you what, boys. If I was 25 years younger and $25,000 richer, I'd like to take on that job myself. But as things is, I'll stick to handling horses, they got more sense. Get up there. I tell you, I don't care what they say about me. I'll think what I like, go where I like, do what I like, and I'll marry who I like, too. Now, Charlotte, Charlotte, as your father, it matters greatly to me where you go and what you do. I can hear them whispering behind my back wherever I go. Let them whisper. Let them yell if they want. They can't run me. Well, clearly, I can't control you anymore. I've done everything for you, given you everything. Everything but what I wanted. I wanted to go to New Orleans or New York even, and be an actress. But could I leave this town? No. No daughter of mine is going to act on the stage. Don't you realize, Charlotte, that you're ruining your chances of making a good marriage by these goings on? Ruining my chances? Why, I could marry any man in Oxford just by crooking my little finger at him from Namby Pamby Ambrose Burnside down to that lout Willie Smith, as any one of them. Yeah, you certainly have a high opinion of yourself, young lady. Of course I have. Why not? Look. Look at your daughter. Stop it, Charlotte. Dancing and prancing and whirling about. Showing yourself. Don't I resemble my mother? And was she not beautiful? And didn't you break her heart? Well, not for me. If any hearts are going to break, I'll do the breaking. Jezebel Lilith Scarlet Woman? Your obedient daughter, sir. And don't be ridiculous. Get out. Get out! All right. No, wait. I had forgotten why I sent for you. Does it matter now? Yes. It's been called to my attention that you've been seen in the company of J.C. Clark, the lawyer. Well? That I won't have, Charlotte. The man's no good. He's a gambler, a drinker, and a dissolute fellow in every way. And he's double your age. I'm going to marry Jim Clark, Father. What? Why? Oh, he objects to the arrangement, but my mind's made up. He's coming in by stagecoach from Cincinnati tonight. And Joe Follinsby, the stage driver. He's a very good friend of mine. What are you going to do? I'm going to hold up the stage outside town. And then I'm going to give Jim Clark a ride here and remember the rest of his life. Charlotte! Oh, get out of my way! Quiet, Prince. Quiet, boy. Quiet. Here she comes now. Hold! Go up there! Hold her off fire! Oh, oh, oh, there. Now, what's all this? It's a holdup. Get down off that wagon, friend. Look, there ain't been a holdup around here since you hear the big wind. Ain't nothing to hold up for. Watch your dodge, boy. Get down, Joe Follinsby. Get down quick. Bloody moon. Well, I never. Get down! All right, all right. I'll get down. Now, what's this all about? Jim Clark in town. What's this all about? Now, what's this all about? Jim Clark in there. Oh, sure. Sound asleep, I reckon. He's the only passenger. There's an outside lock to that coach door. Sure. Lock it. Go ahead. Lock it up. Now, look here. Lock it up, Joe. All right. Anything you say, Lottie. Anything you say. I don't know what you want the door locked for, though. Give me the key. Now, give me your whip, Joe, and that big horn. Lottie, now, listen, a joke's a joke and all that, but after all, I can't... But you're a coach, isn't it? You're in the mine, Joe. You meant what you said. Oh, sure, sure. Now, give me the whip and the horn and a hand up, Joe. Well, if this don't feed off... Say it's ten miles into town, Lottie. What am I gonna do? Ride friends home for me, Joe. Here we go! Horns honking Horns honking Hey-o! Get up there! Ha-ha-ha! Horns honking Come on! Come on! Get up there! Ha-ha-ha! Horns honking Horns honking Horns honking Horns honking Horns honking Horns honking Horns honking Whoa, whoa, whoa, up there now, whoa! Horns honking Let me out! Let me out, I say! Just a minute. I'm coming, I'm coming. Horns honking Horns honking Oh-ho! So it's you, you little devil. Have a nice trip, Jim. You nearly broke my neck in there. Why? You needed a lesson in not breaking appointments with Lottie Moon. So that's it. I think we need to have a little talk, young lady. In my office, yonder. We can talk right here on the sidewalk. Oh, no, we can't. Come along in my office. Well, do you want me to carry you in? Yes. Yes, I do. All right, I will. Ouch, you wild cat! You can't get away with this! Ouch! Ouch! Well, that's better. No more tears. That's how it is, my dear. I'm not going to marry you. But, Jim, you said you loved me. Heaven help me, girl, so I do. That's why I've never given either you or your father cause to complain of my conduct. Have I ever kissed you, even touched you, Lottie? No. And that's what I don't understand. Can't you see, girl? We're two of a kind. Both outlaws. We're both strong. You'd run me or I'd run you. Either way, life would be devilish unpleasant for both of us. It wouldn't work. That's why I didn't show up last Tuesday. I was furious, Jim. I threw a tea party at my sister, Jenny. Yes, I can imagine. I often throw things myself. Jim, if you won't marry me, I'm going to marry Ambrose Burnside. That little tin soldier from West Point? He's mighty handsome in his uniform. Used to be a tailor's apprentice over in Indiana before he went to the Point. Do you suppose he makes his own uniforms? You don't like the idea, do you? Me marrying someone else. You don't like it at all. I see. It's a threat. Don't you think I'd marry him, Jim? Don't you think I'd dare? Yes, yes, I suppose you would. But it won't work, Lottie. I'll not be held up at the point of a gun. We'll see about that. Yes, we'll see. Now look here, Lottie, you'd better get out before I forget to be strong and sensible. And take that silly coach horn with you. I'll leave it here. If you ever change your mind, Jim, you just sound that horn. I'll come a-running. A romantic notion, my dear. To think how ridiculous I'd appear to the good people of Oxford. You don't care what good people think. Neither do I. I'll leave the horn. Goodbye, Lottie. My regards to your soldier board. Goodbye, Jim. Oh, Walter. Yes, sir? Come in, please. Yes, Mr. Clark. Bring me the file on Arthur's will. Take this coach horn out back. No, no. Leave it here. Just for now. You are listening to the Cavalcade of America starring Lucille Ball in the redemption of Lottie Moon, sponsored by the DuPont Company, makers of Better Things for Better Living through chemistry. Among DuPont's Better Things for Better Living are the best of the best of the best of the best of the best of the best. DuPont's Better Things for Better Living are DuPont vegetable garden dust and DuPont floral dust. Home gardeners know how much trouble insects and plant diseases can cause. The harm they do now will reduce the yield for the rest of the season. That tender new growth is just what bugs like best. So to protect your garden, start a regular effective program of spraying or dusting. To make the job easier for you, DuPont has combined into one compound chemicals which help control both insects and plant diseases. If you grow vegetables, you'll want DuPont vegetable garden dust. If you grow flowers, you'll want DuPont floral dust. Both of them are chemical aids to help you to enjoy better gardens. Both are among DuPont's Better Things for Better Living through chemistry. We continue our DuPont story, the story of Lottie Moon and General Ambrose Burnside. Young Burnside, a visitor in Oxford, had never heard of Lottie's infatuation for Jim Clark. He proposed, she accepted, and a great day came. What time is it now, Myron? It is now exactly twelve minutes past two. That's the third time you asked me in the last five minutes. Anybody think you were going to face a firing squad instead of the prettiest gal in the state of Ohio? Lottie is beautiful, isn't she? Oh, ravishing. I don't know an old silver-sized like you ever landed her on. She's unpredictable, Myron, absolutely unpredictable. When I asked her to marry me, she said, why not? When I asked her to name the day, she said, any day is a good day. I couldn't tell why she was laughing. Oh, she's young, my friend. She'll settle down. I hope so. I'm giving up my career in the army, going into business. You lucky dog. When I'm back there in the barracks, you'll be reveling in the joys of canubial felicity and making money hand over fist. Perhaps. What time is it now? Comrade, the moment for the attack has arrived. It's two-fifteen. Myron, do you think she'll be there? Of course she will. Hey, look, she's coming in the church now. Praise that old man for the honor of the corps. Now, to the right, by fire. By fire? What? Ambrose Everett, do you take this woman, Cynthia Charlotte, to be your wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish from this day forward, as long as you both shall live? I...I do. Cynthia Charlotte, do you take this man, Ambrose Everett, to be your wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish from this day forward, as long as you both shall live? Cynthia Charlotte, do you take this man, to be your wedded husband? Say, I do, Lottie. No, sirree, Bob, I do not. Lottie, what is it? I'm coming, dear, I'm coming. Get out of my way, Ambrose. Lottie, please. Get out of my way. I'm coming, dear, I'm coming. I'm coming, dear, I'm coming. I'm coming, dear, I'm coming. Get out of my way, Ambrose. I'm gonna marry a real man. Those searing words out of the past echoed in my mind as Colonel Hanson spoke that name, Lottie Moon, in Cincinnati, 11 years later, in the midst of a cruel civil war. And the name wiped out for the moment even the remembered cries of the wounded at Fredericksburg. And Colonel Hanson continued. We must find this woman, General. Yes, we must, and quickly. For two years now, she's been the go-between for a Confederate information ring in Toronto and the rebel army of Northern Virginia. She may know now that we're on her traces, or she may not. In either event, she'll try again. Yes, she was never one to give up easily. Call upon my headquarters here for any assistance you require, Colonel, and keep me informed. I shall, General. Good day to you, sir. Oh, excuse me, Colonel. All right, Captain, come in. Come in. Thank you. General Burnside, sir? Yes, Kemper. A woman to see your general, an old friend, she says, Mrs. J.C. Clark. What? She wouldn't dare. What's that, sir? Yes. Yes, that's exactly what she would do. Captain Kemper, admit the woman, and post a squad of men at each entrance to the building. Do you understand? Yes, sir. And she and I are not to be disturbed. Well, we're in. Please come in, ma'am. Thank you. Well, Mrs. Clark, what can I do for you? You... you don't remember me, Ambrose? Of course I do, Lottie. I thought maybe you'd rather I pretend not to remember. You haven't forgiven me. It happened so long ago. So many terrible things have happened since then. Yes, yes, there's awful war. That's why I came to see you. It's my sister. She's in Richmond, and she's ill. Very ill indeed. Near death. I must get to see her, to nurse her. And you need a pass through the Union lines. Yes, that's it, Ambrose. Oh, you were always so kind, and have so little right to ask. Why didn't you apply to Secretary of War Stanton, Lottie? What? Or President Lincoln himself. I understand you're on excellent terms with both those gentlemen. So you know. Yes, Lottie. I've heard about Lady Hall. It was a chance I had to take seeing you. My only chance. But not my last chance. Not while I have this. A gun? Well, well. Still a child, Lottie. General Burnside, you will sign an order permitting me to move through Union lines as I please. Or I'll kill you here and now. There are soldiers guarding every exit to this building. Kill me and you'll hang. You'll sign that order or I'll put a bullet through your heart. I'll not hang. And I'll not go to prison as a spy. I'll kill myself first. After I kill you. Don't you think I'd do it? Suppose we find out. I will not sign the order. The choice is yours. Eleven years ago, Lottie, you used the threat of marriage with me as a gun in the ribs of Jim Clark. He gave in to you. Everyone has always given in to you. Up until now. I've never regretted my choice. I suppose not. But I've heard your voice through many sleepless nights. I'm going to marry a real man, you said. No man has ever had a sharper spur to ambition and accomplishment than you gave me then, Lottie. No, listen to me. Only a few months ago I took command of the finest army in the history of the world, the army of the Potomac. And then at Fredericksburg, I led that army into a trap. I watched my regiments being blown to pieces by 300 hidden cannon, shredded to bits by the fire of riflemen concealed in a sunken road. I sent Marr's Irish Brigade up the slopes of Mary's Hill against the rebel cannon. And I watched half of those men fall in the tall, dry grass of the slope and the plain below. Then I sent Hancock's division after Marr. And I watched the flower of my army done to death. Then the tall grass caught fire. Then the tall grass caught fire. The grass caught fire, Lottie. And I could hear the shrieks of the wounded. I could see those boys ride and shrivel in the flames. And I had sent them there. I wanted to lead my own old corps, the 9th Corps, against that hellish wall of fire, but my officers would hear none of it. And so I withdrew back across the ramp of Hancock to defeat, to disgrace, to destroy, to disgrace. After what happened to me as I watched that sea of burning grass below the hill, do you think I'm likely to yield to your childish demand? I tell you, there's a part of my mind that would welcome a bullet from that gun. Well, the choice is yours. I... I can't do it now. I could never have done it. You're stronger than me. You're stronger than Jim Clark ever was. I'm beyond pride and strength or fear of weakness, Lottie. I've grown older. I grew older rapidly in the evening of battle when icy sleet put out the fires. And many of those burned and broken men froze to death at last on the hill. On the hill I tried to take at the peak of the ambition your words had forged in me so long ago. I knew some of the men who died on that hill. There were two boys from Oxford from the college. Did I kill them, Ambrose? Who can tell? It's not a simple thing, this war. It's difficult and hard to understand. To me it was an adventure to fool Secretary Stanton, to ride through your army in high style. I never thought about about killing men. You were a child in Oxford. You were a child in Washington. You were an actress seeking applause. Yes, I know that now. Can... Can you ever forgive me? I forgave you then, my dear, in the freezing wind by the river's edge as I tried to pray to find God. And now what will happen to me? I can spare your prison and I'm in command here and I have no wish to cause more suffering. I can spare you. But I can do it only if you promise never to attempt to pass through the Union lines again. Will you promise that? Yes, yes, I will promise. But how can you trust me? I think you too have grown suddenly older. This choice is mine. Come over here to the window, Lottie. Down there is the Ohio, a barrier between brothers at war. See the barges waiting for troops, more troops for other flaming hills. When will it end? When will it ever end? Pray God it will end before our country's life blood all runs out. Our thanks to Lucille Ball and our cavalcade players for tonight's story. Now, Bill Hamilton speaking for the DuPont Company. Every time you buy something, you cast a vote for the manufacturer of the product. It's your vote that keeps him in business. It's a healthy heartening thing that this vote is cast every day of every year for sound, well-made products. Where an old product is best, Americans loyally stay with it. On the other hand, when a new product comes along, Americans are more likely to be more active in the market. On the other hand, when a new product comes along that is better, everybody is eager to give it a fair trial. That is why America is still the land of opportunity. That's why more than 2 million new businesses have started in the United States since the war ended only 5 years ago. And speaking of new products, DuPont now has a new automotive product for you. DuPont spray glaze. DuPont spray glaze is not a wax. You don't put it on your car yourself. You go to your car dealer or to a garage or service station in your neighborhood. There your car is cleaned with a DuPont cleaner which removes all film and chalked pigment. Then a specially trained man pressure sprays it from top to bottom with DuPont spray glaze. Even the hubcap, even the bumpers. Your car, new or old, gets a hard, long-lasting protective coating with a high, brilliant luster. One garage in Oxford, Pennsylvania tells us that a car they spray glazed more than 6 months ago looks as good today as when it was sprayed. Car dealers, garage men and service station men have known the DuPont No. 7 line of automotive polishes and other specialties for a quarter of a century. They recommend them because they have found from long experience that these DuPont products serve you well. Probably there is a dealer near you who is already spray glazing cars. If there isn't, there soon will be. For garage and service station owners are alert and eager to bring you new products of merit. As in the case of spray glaze. Newest of the DuPont company's better things for better living through chemistry. Next week, Cavalcade presents the distinguished Hollywood star Edward Arnold. Our DuPont play tells a present day true to life story of a deeply moving experiment. An experiment in humanity. Be sure to listen. Tonight's DuPont play was written by George Faulkner and was based on a short story by Walter Havighurst and a portion of the book The Ohio Story by Frank Seidel published by World Publishing Company. Lucille Ball will soon be seen in the forthcoming Columbia picture Fuller Brush Girl. In tonight's cast with Miss Ball you heard Barry Kroger as Burnside Les Damon as Hanson and Stotz Cotsworth as Clark. Music for the DuPont Cavalcade was composed by Arden Cornwell and conducted by Donald Voorhees. The program was directed by John Zoller. The DuPont Cavalcade of America comes to you from the stage of the Belasco Theater in New York. And is sponsored by the DuPont company of Wilmington, Delaware. The best of better things for better living through chemistry. Applause Don't forget Starlight Concert tonight on NBC. Music
