Fact or Fiction: The Civil War
In Fact or Fiction I recommend a fiction and nonfiction book on the same topic. This month you can choose a suspenseful novel about a conflicted young woman hiding a Yankee soldier, an absorbing history of the American Civil War or both! Either way you'll gain an understanding of the last grim year in America's deadliest war.
The Jackal’s Mistress by Chris Bohjalian
Hiding a wounded Yankee captain left to die by his troops is the last thing young Libby Steadman needs. She's already worried about her missing husband and overworked with running a gristmill. Nursing and keeping hidden a gravely ill enemy soldier holds little appeal and a lot of danger, especially in her part of the Shenandoah Valley. She’s not even a friend of the Union. She despises Lincoln and Grant, yet she just can’t let the man die.
With the help of Joseph and Sally, the freedman and his wife working for her, Libby hides Captain Weybridge in her upstairs bedroom and nurses him back to health. At first a burden, a friendship, perhaps even an attraction, gradually develops between Libby and the captain. When suspicious Confederate soldiers start visiting her house, Libby realizes the neighbors suspect his presence. Joseph and Sally will surely hang for aiding the enemy and Libby will be sent to prison if their daring plan to return him to the Union fails.
Based on true events, The Jackal’s Mistress features an indomitable heroine willing to defy conventions to save an enemy soldier.
Hymns of the Republic by S.C. Gwynne
The final terrible year of the American Civil War began with pomp and promise notes historian S.C. Gwynne in his book Hymns of the Republic. After suffering through years of timid and blundersome generals President Lincoln believed he had at last found a commander capable of defeating the surprisingly resilient Confederacy. Ulysses “Unconditional Surrender” Grant with his dogged pounding of the enemy would surely turn the tide of war in 1864.
But there would be blunders too in 1864 – blunders, stupidity and a staggering loss of life. The final year of war ushered in a different kind of fighting, vicious and deadly, as field entrenchments and Grant’s unrelenting push for Richmond produced an astonishing number of casualties. From the fires of the Battle of the Wilderness to the catastrophe of the Battle of Crater a new kind of war was born.
Each battle, each loss, took on a special significance in 1864 because of the upcoming election. Both sides were convinced the fate of each nation hinged on the outcome. Lincoln was vulnerable. War Democrats, Peace Democrats, Radical Republicans, even clandestine Confederate emissaries maneuvered and schemed to defeat Lincoln. The president desperately needed Grant, Sherman and Sheridan to win the battles and win the war.
Compelling and readable, Hymns of the Republic is the perfect book for those who don’t need the minutia of battlefield tactics but want a fresh overview of the last year of the Civil War.
