Three true tales of Civil War combat, as recounted by a #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
The acclaimed historian of the American West turns his attention to the country’s bloody civil conflict, chronicling the exploits of extraordinary soldiers who served in unexpected ways at a pivotal moment in the nation’s history.
Grierson’s Raid: The definitive work on one of the most astonishing missions of the Civil War’s early days. For two weeks in the spring of 1862, Col. Benjamin Grierson, a former music teacher, led 1,700 Union cavalry troops on a raid from Tennessee to Louisiana. The improbably successful mission diverted Confederate attention from Grant’s crossing of the Mississippi and set the stage for the Siege of Vicksburg. General Sherman called it “the most brilliant expedition of the war.”
The Bold Cavaliers: In 1861, Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan and his brother-in-law Basil Duke put together a group of formidable horsemen, and set to violent work. Morgan’s Raiders began in their home state, staging attacks, recruiting new soldiers, and intercepting Union telegraphs. Most were imprisoned after unsuccessful incursions into Ohio and Indiana years later, but some Raiders would escape, regroup, and fight again in different conflicts. “Accurate and frequently exciting” (Kirkus Reviews).
The Galvanized Yankees: The little-known and awe-inspiring true story of a group of captured Confederate soldiers who chose to serve in the Union Army rather than endure the grim conditions of prisoner of war camps. “An accurate, interesting, and sometimes thrilling account of an unusual group of men who rendered a valuable service to the nation in a time of great need” (The New York Times Book Review).
Dorris Alexander “Dee” Brown (1908–2002) was a celebrated author of both fiction and nonfiction, whose classic study Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is widely credited with exposing the systematic destruction of American Indian tribes to a world audience. Brown was born in Louisiana and grew up in Arkansas. He worked as a reporter and a printer before enrolling at Arkansas State Teachers College, where he met his future wife, Sally Stroud. He later earned two degrees in library science, and worked as a librarian while beginning his career as a writer. He went on to research and write more than thirty books, often centered on frontier history or overlooked moments of the Civil War. Brown continued writing until his death in 2002.