Gettysburg residents have worried for months that a battle in the War Between the States might be fought near them. Fearing capture, most of the men in town fled when Confederate troops were spotted nearby.
The women left in town feared the worst.
Then it happened.
“We are out of the frying pan now, Sarah. We have no choice but to stand.”
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I am thrilled to be a guest on the blog of Norma Gail, fellow author. This is the first of two posts on Norma’s blog. She gives all the important links for my Civil War romance releasing tomorrow!
A Rebel in My House is set during the historic Battle of Gettysburg and the tumultuous days that followed. The soldiers didn’t leave–after the battle the uniforms on men in the streets were blue. In a town filled beyond capacity with wounded, some soldiers are caught behind enemy lines.
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Please visit Norma’s blog and leave a comment. There will be a book giveaway on her blog that you can enter starting next week!
Stone wall on Confederate side of battle – Gettysburg Battlefield
Reverend William G. Browning joined a group of ministers who arrived at Gettysburg by train on Friday, July 10th, just one week after Pickett’s Charge. The Methodist pastor helped nurse wounded at the hospitals.
Homes, churches, and other public buildings housed the wounded. Union and Confederate wounded “lay side by side as brothers” in some hospitals.
An offensive odor permeated the air. Fences lay flattened. Bullets and shell destroyed homes and trees.
Browning visited the battlefield. He found a rebel field hospital in a barnyard. Confederate officers and soldiers who had been too severely wounded to retreat in their army’s ambulances were left behind. Browning saw more misery there than he ever expected or hoped to see again.
Some of the dead had been moved to a nearby field. Yet others who had died of their wounds remained in the barn and the barnyard with their dying comrades. No one had carried the corpses away.
The sufferers were unattended. Arms and legs heaped near a board used as a surgeon’s table. Wretchedness and despair filled the faces of the wounded.
Browning, though not a nurse, walked among them and did whatever he could to relieve their suffering. While there, he asked why they enlisted.
Two men answered that they were led into it.
Browning figured they were as sincere as any Union soldier. The Southerners felt wronged. They defended themselves from an oppressor.
Browning felt strangely fascinated when walking the battlefield. He stepped over broken guns, hats, bayonets, coats, and cartridge boxes. He saw many dead men who hadn’t yet been discovered. Many lay where they fell.
He found the marker of one of his parishioners in a field. He noted the area so that family and friends could find it, which they later did.
He preached at a memorial service for that parishioner on August 2, 1863. He used 2 Samuel 1:19 for his text: “The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!”
-Sandra Merville Hart
Sources
Gragg, Rod. The Illustrated Gettysburg Reader: An Eyewitness History of The Civil War’s Greatest Battle, Regnery History, 2013.
Lutheran Seminary from McPherson’s Ridge
I am so thankful to be Sandra Ardoin’s guest on the Serious Write blog today. My post, “Writing that First Novel,” shares the way I got past writer’s block–on the first page! Read about it here.
As a guest on Carole Brown’s blog, Sunnybank Secrets, I share photos from my research trip to Gettysburg. These pictures are locations that coincide with different parts of my story. (You may also recognize them from my book trailer that Carole posted.) Read the details here.
Thanks for hosting me, Sandra and Carole!
This nonfiction book tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg in a way that resonated with me. The author tells the history and then shows a diary entry or account or general’s report that digs deeper into what happened.
Gragg begins with details from May of 1863 and goes on from that time.
I especially enjoyed reading the accounts from folks who experienced the events. These really bring history to life.
Great book for anyone interested in the Battle of Gettysburg, Civil War research, and history lovers.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Shouting men were in the streets with her. They ran through alleys. Fear prevented her from deciphering their words. Did she really want to understand what they said?
Their terror transferred to her so that coherent thought disappeared. Her courage failed at the fear on strong men’s faces. If they were afraid, how would she survive?
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A recipe in an 1877 cookbook for Egg Gruel claimed to be good for treating a cold. It was included in a section titled “Food for the Sick.”
As a historical novelist, I’m always interested in learning tidbits from our history. Gruels were given to Civil War soldiers in hospitals.
To make the gruel, take one egg and separate the egg yolk and white. Add a tablespoon of sugar to the egg yolk and beat.
Whisk the egg white separately. As there were no guidelines, I whisked until frothy. This worked well.
Stir a cup of boiling water into the yolk mixture.
Add the egg white. Add any seasoning you desire. I sprinkled salt over the mixture and stirred it once more.
It looked far more appealing than expected but I didn’t taste it. I don’t have a cold at the moment or I might have been tempted.
Good luck! I’d love to hear if you try this recipe.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Sources
Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 1877.
Confederate First Lieutenant Louis G. Young, aide to Brigadier General James J. Pettigrew, accompanied his commander on reconnaissance on June 30, 1863. They planned to search Gettysburg for shoes and other army supplies.
Major General Henry Heth, Pettigrew’s Division commander, ordered him not to attack any portion of the Army of the Potomac. If he encountered a home guard, he could drive them away easily.
While on his way to Gettysburg, a spy of General Longstreet’s warned Pettigrew that Brigadier General John Buford’s Federal cavalry division held the town.
Pettigrew sent a message to General Heth requesting instructions. Heth reiterated his previous orders yet expressed doubt that the Army of the Potomac was in the area. Pettigrew withdrew.
He left Young, his aide, and Lieutenant Walter H. Robertson in the rear to watch Buford’s Cavalry, who followed their retreat from a distance.
Young easily watched them follow on the rolling countryside. The two officers hid on ridges where they could see and not be seen until the Union cavalry was 300 to 400 yards away. Then the pair rode into the open. Union troops halted until the Confederate soldiers rode away before following again.
This happened several times. Both sides observed the other without attacking.
Pettigrew reported what he’d seen to Heth and to Lieutenant General A.P. Hill, the corps commander. Neither believed that their enemy was nearby in force.
They called in Young to question him. He verified that the troops he saw were well-trained.
They didn’t believe him either.
The two generals’ disbelief was so emphatic that Young doubted any of the other commanders believed Pettigrew—including General Archer, who led Heth’s Division with his Tennessee Brigade to Gettysburg the following morning, July 1st.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Sources
Gragg, Rod. The Illustrated Gettysburg Reader: An Eyewitness History of The Civil War’s Greatest Battle, Regnery History, 2013.
This nonfiction book tells the story of the Battle of Gettysburg. Military events are recorded along with what happened in and near Gettysburg in the days leading up to the famous battle.
So much happened during the three-day battle that the author includes each day in a single chapter, taking events in chronological order—sometimes in hourly increments.
The chapter for the second day’s fighting, for example, is well over one hundred pages. Lots of wonderful details! There are many helpful maps showing troop movements throughout the book.
Great book for history lovers and anyone interested in the Battle of Gettysburg and the Civil War.
-Sandra Merville Hart
Their terror transferred to her so that coherent thought disappeared. Her courage failed at the fear on strong men’s faces. If they were afraid, how would she survive?
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