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Cincinnatus Driver
Fictional Character
Southern Victory
POD: September 10, 1862
Appearance(s): American Front
through
In at the Death
Type of Appearance: Direct POV
Nationality: United States (born in the Confederate States)
Date of Birth: 1890
Occupation: Delivery driver, military driver
Parents: Seneca and Livia Driver
Spouse: Elizabeth Driver
Children: Achilles, Amanda
Relatives: Karen Driver (granddaughter)

Cincinnatus Driver (b. c.a. 1890) was born in Covington, Kentucky as 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.[1] 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 with false claims that his parents were in trouble, 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 his ailing mother, Livia, who was in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease. He was hit by a car and partially crippled, and was subsequently trapped behind the international border when the Confederates reoccupied the state. 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, and tried to put the war behind him by enjoying his family, which including attending his daughter Amanda's wedding.

References[]

  1. American Front, pgs. 20-22, HC.
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