Chapter 21 Summary

The Yankees had made their way to Jonesboro and the Confederacy was abandoning Atlanta. Scarlett sends Prissy to find one of the women of Atlanta to help her with the baby, but all of the women have either left town or are at the hospital helping with the large number of wounded men.

Scarlett heads down to find Dr. Mead to help with what she knows will be a difficult birth, but he refuses to leave the dying soldiers lining the streets, which are numerous and nauseating to Scarlett. Scarlett returns grateful that Prissy knows about midwifery until the finds out Prissy lied. For the first time in her life, Scarlett strikes a slave.

Despite her worries that Yankees will be invading the city soon, Scarlett searches her memory for what to do during a birth and starts ordering Prissy about. Scarlett resigns...