Confederate General Pat Cleburne

Civil War Novel Turns 1!

/ sandramervillehart

I am thrilled that my third Civil War romance, A Musket in My Hands, has its first anniversary this month!

The novel is 2019 Serious Writer Medal Fiction Winner and a 2019 Selah Awards Finalist.

Two sisters have no choices left. Callie and Louisa disguise themselves as men to join the men they love and muster into the Confederate army. It’s the fall of 1864 and the situation worsens for Southerners as they march closer to the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee.

This month is also the 155th anniversary of the tragic Tennessee battle that claimed so many lives. The Battle of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864. The fierce fighting was over within hours but left thousands dead and wounded. Six Southern generals were killed, including General Patrick Cleburne, and others wounded–losses the South could not recover from.

The sisters in our story find themselves in the thick of this battle. No one can emerge from such an event unchanged.

I’d love to know what you think of the story!

This Week in History: Civil War Battle of Franklin

/ sandramervillehart

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Wednesday, November 30, 1864

 Jacob Cox led Union soldiers under General Schofield south of Franklin, Tennessee, around dawn where they set up a line of defense as well as along the Harpeth River. Federals wanted to hold the city long enough to repair bridges for crossing.

Confederate General John Bell Hood resolved not to allow the Federals to reach Nashville. He arrived with 30,000 troops around 4 pm and launched an assault on the Union front. Though they almost broke through, the Southerners took heavy losses.

Some of the whole war’s bloodiest fighting happened at the Carter House. Tragically, Confederate soldier Tod Carter was fatally wounded in the frontal assault and died in his childhood home.

The battle that raged well past nightfall claimed the lives of 6 Confederate generals, including Pat Cleburne, tragic losses for the Southerners.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Sources

Long, E.B with Long, Barbara. The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac 1861-1865, A Da Capo Paperback, 1971.

“Franklin,” Civil War Trust, 2016/08/04 http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/franklin.html.