Escape Across the Potomac

In the early morning hours of February 16, 1862, after learning the garrison of Confederate troops under General Simon Buckner at Fort Donelson, near Dover, Tennessee was about to surrender, Lieutenant-Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest led his Confederate cavalrymen and artillerymen from Donelson to safety, thus escaping the humiliation of sharing in the surrender to Federal forces under Brigadier-General Ulysses S. Grant.

On the evening of September 14, 1862, 14,000 Federal soldiers at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, under the command of Colonel Dixon S. Miles, a 43 year veteran of the United States Army were surrounded on three-sides by 23,000 Confederate soldiers from the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of Lieutenant-General Thomas (Stonewall) Jackson. Among the besieged Harpers Ferry garrison were 1,594 Federal cavalrymen hoping to receive orders to duplicate Forrest’s performance.>>Read More

Northern Fire

The Civil War was the most devastating conflict to rage its winds of fury across the North America Continent, costing the sacrifice of over 600,000 American lives that fought for either the blue or gray. In the war’s aftermath, the 11 Southern states that seceded from the Union were left in political, economical, and social turmoil with many questions of their destiny to be decided.

While families struggled to find the money to rebuild homes, farms, and businesses lost by the conflict, Northern politicians struggled over the issues of how the rebellious states and the conditions they would have to meet would be re-admitted to the Union.

Another challenging issue for the Nation would be the integration of the former slaves into a free society with all the rights and privileges that a free republic guarantees under its Constitution. >>Read More

Sabers and Roses

During the historical period in American history known as the Civil War, the nation embarked on one of its darkest journeys. Between the years of 1861-1865 over 620,000 Americans became casualties of war, either by wounds received in battle or succumbing to various types of disease. Every household in the North as well as the South was affected in someway by this great conflict and the tragedies that it offered.  It was the first time in American history that families were sorely divided over the social issues of states' rights and the morality of slavery.

What was even a greater tragedy was the fact that son fought against father, brother against brother, and friend against friend. Never had the nation in its youthful history been faced with such a dramatic challenge for survival such as this conflict presented, and afterward, the unprepared changes the nation as a whole would have to encounter with the era of Reconstruction. >>Read More About Sabers and Roses

 I do quite a bit of reading and I just finished this book. Kudos' to the author! This was an excellent book to learn the history of the United States bloodiest and horrific war! I do not read non-fiction books, and I found that with the author writing a story centered on the Civil War,
a reader can learn the history.

This is a great way that young adults can learn history also. The writing of this book is meant for ALL eyes to see. I do hope that the author has a sequel coming out because I have some questions unanswered about some of the characters! Again, thank you for a great book.
Emily B. Martin (Acushnet, Massachusetts)