Cincinnatus Driver
From Turtledove
| Cincinnatus Driver | |
| Fictional Character | |
| Southern Victory | |
| Appearance(s): | American Front
through |
| Nationality: | United States (born in the Confederate States) |
| Date of Birth: | 1890 |
| Occupation: | Driver |
| Parents: | Seneca and Letitia Driver |
| Spouse: | Elizabeth Driver |
| Children: | Achilles Driver (son)
Amanda Driver (daughter) |
| Relatives: | Karen Driver (granddaughter) |
Cincinnatus Driver (b. 1890) was born in Covington, Kentucky and a resident of the Confederate States. Cincinnatus worked as a delivery driver before the Great War, which in itself was suspicious to many whites, who did not want black men to drive. When Covington was overrun by the United States, Cincinnatus found himself working for Lieutenant Straubing as a military driver. He also found himself a pawn in the intelligence game between Confederate and black Marxist forces in Kentucky.
Following the Great War, Cincinnatus took the surname "Driver" (blacks in the Confederacy were not allowed surnames) and moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where he set up business as a hauler. He was briefly lured back to Kentucky by Luther Bliss and arrested by the Kentucky State Police head, but freed due to the legal efforts of attorney Clarence Darrow.
Driver returned to Kentucky in late 1940 to see to a family crisis, but was trapped behind the international border when the Confederates reoccupied the state. (He was hit by a car and partially crippled). He and his father, Seneca Driver, were exchanged in 1942 and he returned to Des Moines, where he volunteered as a civilian auxiliary driver for the U.S. Army, this time being allowed to carry a weapon. He was part of the spearthrust into Kentucky in 1943 and accompanied General Irving Morrell's army through Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. In Huntsville, Alabama, Driver helped move and feed liberated political prisoners, and some months later, Driver witnessed the surrender of Confederate General George Patton.
After the end of the war, Driver returned to Des Moines, via Covington. He discovered the black section of the town empty except for a couple of collaborating blacks in the Brass Monkey bar. He also encountered Bliss who told him the entire black population had been cleared out by the Confederates.
With a heavy heart he returned to Des Moines. There he witnessed his daughter's wedding.
