On the grounds of the Beaune Estate, there is a grand obelisk honoring the men who gave their lives in the Civil War. You can see it out the window of the Beaune Museum, and there are pictures on display.
Robert Beaune went to war as an officer for the Union cause, and rose to the rank of Major in the Engineers. He was the only denizen of Beauneville to so serve; locomotive production was critical to the war effort, Beaune Valves were critical to the production of locomotives, and workmen were critical to the production of Beaune Valves. Auguste and Daisy made repeated visits to Washington, so that Members of Congress and staff of the War Department could be informed about the benefits of the Beaune Valve; they were assisted in these efforts by a bevy of young assistants, all of them female.
Serving in the Military Railway Service, Robert Beaune was largely safe from hostile fire. Of course, the soldiers who actually operated the trains did so at great personal risk. Men died from boiler explosions, derailments and coupling accidents, as well as from unexpected cavalry raids or long-range artillery fire. For an administrator such as Robert, however, the hazards were of a different nature. For example, Washington is quite hot during the summers, and in the days before air conditioning the office buildings were most unpleasant. Refrigeration in those days was not as effective as it is today, depending for the most part on large blocks of ice. Consequently, perishable foods such as oysters were a little less than fresh when served in Washington's fine restaurants, so a working evening with war contractors could be downright dangerous.
As Sherman marched through Georgia, Robert Beaune marched through the brothels of Washington, an activity which, in the absence of antibiotics, was also quite risky.
Finally, almost exactly four years after the guns fired on Fort Sumter, General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomatox Court House. Washington celebrated. Major Beaune and a bevy of young female assistants mounted a party wagon headed for Arlington which, regrettably, fell into the Potomac. The ladies were rescued by a party of Zouaves; Robert, unfortunately, was not.
In Beauneville, Auguste Beaune's grief for his eldest son was worsened by Marie-Helenes' constant whining and also by the behavior of his younger son, who appeared to be determined to impregnate every tavernmaid in Dingman's Hat.
His grief, however was largely mitigated by his great wealth, and by Daisy's charms, as well as those of his young female assistants, of which there were two and twenty.
During the War, there had been little progress on the manor house; it remained little more than a foundation. But with the War over, Auguste Beaune determined to finish the place.
