Spies of the Civil War series

Vicksburg Didn’t Celebrate Independence Day for About a Century

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by Sandra Merville Hart

Learning that citizens of Vicksburg, Mississippi, didn’t celebrate our country’s Independence Day for about a century prompted me to dig into the city’s history during the Civil War.

What I discovered so touched me that I had to write about it—and it required three books to tell the story. The main characters are fictional…the historical backdrop is real.

Vicksburg’s strategic location on bluffs along the mighty Mississippi River during the war was often a topic among leaders of both sides. Confederate President Jefferson Davis sent troops early in the war to protect the city and keep Union ships from passing on the river. More troops were sent as the focus on Vicksburg increased from the Union army.

President Abraham Lincoln felt that “Vicksburg is the key” to winning the war. Union General Ulysses S. Grant was determined to capture the city.

That was easier said than done.

The Union Navy bombarded the city for sixty-seven days from May to July of 1862. Confederate soldiers fired cannons on the fleet while citizens hunkered in hastily dug cave shelters. One battered Confederate ship called the Arkansas possessed enough power to convince the Union fleet to head south on July 27th.

The defeat only whetted Grant’s desire to take Vicksburg by force. The following year, Union ships once again attacked the town for weeks from the Mississippi River—this time while the Union army battled the Confederate army surrounding Vicksburg.

The surprising discoveries found while digging into Vicksburg’s history inspired books four, five, and six in my Spies of the Civil War Series.

Streams of Courage, Book 4, begins before the war starts in early 1861 and goes to the fall of 1862.

River of Peril, Book 5, tells the story of Felicity and Luke. It begins in December of 1862.

Tides of Healing, the sixth and final book, tells the story of Vicksburg resident Savannah Adair and Union First Lieutenant Travis Lawson, who was among those who march into the city to seize control on July 4, 1863. Their first meeting begins with fireworks—and not the kind typically associated with an Independence Day celebration.

Beginning in 1861, three fictional heroine friends living in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the start of the Civil War are each affected in different ways by the events of the Civil War as their city becomes a target for the Union Army.  

Streams of Courage, Book 4, Julia and Ash fall in love against her mother’s wishes. Townspeople accuse Ash of cowardice because he doesn’t become a soldier in the Confederate army. He begins spying for the North in his Mississippi city, a dangerous undertaking that puts his family and Julia’s family at risk. The story starts before the first battle in early 1861 and goes to the fall of 1862.

River of Peril, Book 5, tells the story of Felicity and Luke. They started courting before the war began. She volunteers as a nurse to distract her worry for her soldier—then her worst nightmare happens. Luke has been wounded in battle. Worse, he doesn’t remember her…or why he was fighting for the Confederacy when his loyalty is with the North. It begins in December of 1862.

Tragedy strikes one of the friends, Savannah, in Streams of Courage, Book 4 in my Spies of the Civil War Series. This feisty, spirited Southern belle has been chomping at the bit to tell her story. She gets her chance as our heroine in Tides of Healing, Book 6!

Here’s the back cover blurb for Tides of Healing:

A Southern belle fights to reclaim her home, but will her spying destroy the Union officer she never meant to love? 

Savannah Adair has endured the unimaginable, hiding in a cave while her beloved Vicksburg was under siege. With the city now occupied by Union soldiers, Savannah cannot stand by and do nothing. So when one of the gaunt, half-starved Confederate prisoners asks her to spy for the South, she can’t refuse the chance to take back her home. 

First Lieutenant Travis Lawson takes pride in the Union army’s hard-fought victory, but he quickly realizes that the challenges of rebuilding and reconciliation are just beginning . . . and not everyone is appreciative of changes he’s making. Namely, the fiery and alluring Savannah Adair. Despite their differing loyalties and the societal divide between them, Travis cannot deny the growing feelings he has for her. When he is tasked with finding Southern spies in Vicksburg and he captures a female spy, Travis is forced to consider that the woman he’s beginning to love may be the enemy. 

I hope that you enjoy the whole series!

Sources

Bearss, Edwin C. with Hills, J. Parker. Receding Tide: Vicksburg and Gettysburg, the Campaigns that Changed the Civil War, National Geographic, 2010.

“Vicksburg National Military Park,” National Park Service, 2025/02/09 https://www.nps.gov/vick/index.htm.

Union General Ulysses S. Grant Attempts to Bypass Vicksburg During the Civil War

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by Sandra Merville Hart

President Lincoln saw the capture of Vicksburg, Mississippi, as a vital key to winning the Civil War. General Ulysses S. Grant agreed that it must be taken.

The Union Navy bombarded the city for sixty-seven days from May to July of 1862. Confederate soldiers fired cannons on the fleet while citizens hunkered in hastily dug cave shelters. One battered Confederate ship called the Arkansas possessed enough power to convince the Union fleet to head south on July 27th.

The defeat only whetted Grant’s desire to take Vicksburg by force. He’s in command of the Army of the Tennessee at the end of January, 1863, when he arrives at Young’s Point just north of Vicksburg. He studies the abandoned remnants of canal that had been started by General Thomas Williams’s troops to in the summer of 1862. The canal had been intended to go through De Soto Point and divert the flow of the Mississippi River to the south of Vicksburg because the city on the bluffs above the Mississippi River had proven to be difficult to capture.

Grant sees that the idea still has merit. He orders General Sherman to complete the canal. Using picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows, troops were to dig Grant’s Canal to a depth of 6 – 6 ½ feet, 60 feet wide, and 1 ½ miles long.

It wasn’t an easy task. Work began on January 24th. Vicksburg residents watched Union troops and black men dig from across the river. Most saw the attempts to alter the mighty river’s flow as foolhardy.

Indeed, the task was ridden with challenges from the start. Men got sick from cold, rainy weather. The Mississippi River’s seasonal floods caused some deaths when it reached the camps. They were using steam pumps to remove the water by February 19th. The troops took heart when the river crested and then receded.

Heavy rains at the end of February halted the work. When steam pumps stopped working, floating steam dredges were brought in. Confederate artillery at Vicksburg drove the dredges away.

The river floods again, and a massive crevasse pours water into the camp, forcing the soldiers to seek the safety of higher ground.

Confederate soldiers, who have watched everything happening at Young’s Point from across the river, move big cannons south to guard the canal’s exit.

Grant gives up on the idea and ordered work to stop on March 27th.

But he has not given up on capturing Vicksburg as the whole state of Mississippi realizes within two months.  

Grant’s Canal takes place in my novel, River of Peril, Book 5 in my Spies of the Civil War Series. This book tells the story of Felicity and Luke, who were courting before the war began. She volunteers as a nurse to distract herself from her worry about her soldier—then her worst nightmare happens. Luke has been wounded in battle. Worse, he doesn’t remember her…or why he was fighting for the Confederacy when his loyalty is with the North. It begins in December of 1862. Grant’s Canal worries the Vicksburg citizens in history and in the story.

Sources

Bearss, Edwin C. with Hills, J. Parker. Receding Tide: Vicksburg and Gettysburg, the Campaigns that Changed the Civil War, National Geographic, 2010.

“Grant’s Canal,” National Park Service, 2025/02/09 https://www.nps.gov/vick/learn/historyculture/grants-canal.htm.

Roasting and Brewing Fresh Coffee in a Tides of Healing Scene

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by Sandra Merville Hart

The final book in the Spies of the Civil War Series, Tides of Healing, shows that everyone had difficulty adjusting to Union occupation in Vicksburg after surrender.

In an early scene, Southern belle Savannah Adair wants to make coffee for the wounded men convalescing in her parlor. The feisty young woman, who has never even boiled an egg, makes a watered-down flavorless beverage unrecognizable as coffee. That prompts one of the wounded soldiers to demonstrate how to roast and brew the coffee.

It’s a lighthearted scene in the midst of one challenge after another.

But how many modern coffee drinkers would do any better when faced with handfuls of raw coffee beans?

The authors of an 1877 cookbook urged readers to buy raw coffee grains or small amounts of freshly roasted beans. They preferred Mocha and Java or a mix of the two flavors.

Place washed raw coffee beans in a skillet. Begin by roasting them in a moderate oven (probably about 350 degrees) and then increase temperature so they roast quickly, stirring often. The beans are ready when tender, brittle, and a rich dark brown color. Test for doneness by pressing one bean with your thumb—it will crumble if done.

Coffee beans can also be roasted on a stove burner but make sure to stir constantly.

Add a lump of butter to the hot, roasted beans or let them cool and stir in a beaten egg white. This clarifies the coffee beans.

Simmer a few minutes and then strain the beans.

Grind roasted coffee beans. Many people owned coffee grinders similar to the one in the photo. Turning the crank grinds the roasted beans. The grounds are collected in the drawer beneath the grinder. Some grinders attached to the wall.

Allow one heaping tablespoon of ground coffee per person and add “one for the pot.” Mix the grounds with an egg (part or all of the egg) with enough cold water to moisten it thoroughly.

Boil a pint of water per person less one pint. For example, if ten people are drinking coffee, use nine pints. (If you find this confusing, read the original recipe!)

Place the prepared coffee grounds into “a well-scalded coffee-boiler.” Then add half the boiling water to the coffee pot.

Stop up the spout with a rolled-up cloth to lock in the flavor. Boil for five minutes “rather fast,” stirring as the mixture boils up. Then simmer for ten to fifteen minutes.

Add the remaining boiled water to the coffee when time to serve.

Store the unused roasted coffee beans in a tightly-closed tin.

Read Tides of Healing to discover how they fare with coffee making and so many other challenges following the city’s surrender.

Amazon

Sources

Compiled from Original Recipes. Buckeye Cookery and Practical Housekeeping, Applewood Books, 2011.

The Vicksburg Part of the Spies of the Civil War Series is Complete!

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by Sandra Merville Hart

For those who have been reading the series, you’ve met our three heroine friends living in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the start of the Civil War in 1861.

Streams of Courage, Book 4, Julia and Ash fall in love against her mother wishes. Townspeople accuse Ash of cowardice because he doesn’t become a soldier in the Confederate army. He begins spying for the North in his Mississippi city, a dangerous undertaking that puts his family and Julia’s family at risk. The story starts before the first battle in early 1861 and goes to the fall of 1862.

River of Peril, Book 5, tells the story of Felicity and Luke. They started courting before the war began. She volunteers as a nurse to distract her worry for her soldier—then her worst nightmare happens. Luke has been wounded in battle. Worse, he doesn’t remember her…or why he was fighting for the Confederacy when his loyalty is with the North. It begins in December of 1862.

Tragedy strikes one of the friends, Savannah, in Streams of Courage, Book 4. This feisty, spirited Southern belle has been chomping at the bit to tell her story. She gets her chance as our heroine in Book 6.

Here’s the back cover blurb for Tides of Healing:

A Southern belle fights to reclaim her home, but will her spying destroy the Union officer she never meant to love? 

Savannah Adair has endured the unimaginable, hiding in a cave while her beloved Vicksburg was under siege. With the city now occupied by Union soldiers, Savannah cannot stand by and do nothing. So when one of the gaunt, half-starved Confederate prisoners asks her to spy for the South, she can’t refuse the chance to take back her home. 

First Lieutenant Travis Lawson takes pride in the Union army’s hard-fought victory, but he quickly realizes that the challenges of rebuilding and reconciliation are just beginning . . . and not everyone is appreciative of changes he’s making. Namely, the fiery and alluring Savannah Adair. Despite their differing loyalties and the societal divide between them, Travis cannot deny the growing feelings he has for her. When he is tasked with finding Southern spies in Vicksburg and he captures a female spy, Travis is forced to consider that the woman he’s beginning to love may be the enemy. 

Pick up your copy today!

Announcing the Release of Tides of Healing!

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by Sandra Merville Hart

It’s Release Day for Tides of Healing!

Savannah’s and Travis’s story is the sixth and final book in the Spies of the Civil War Series. While writing it, I felt as if I’d written the entire series to tell this story—and reading each book in order will give readers the greatest impact.

Readers often wonder what inspired a book or series. The inspiration for Books 4-6, set in Vicksburg, has been a long time in the making. Huge, important battles in Gettysburg and Vicksburg ended in a Northern victory on the same day. I had studied the Battle of Gettysburg before writing A Rebel in My House.

A few years later, the Battle of Vicksburg captured my imagination.

The Confederate army lost both its army and the city at the Civil War Battle of Vicksburg. They surrendered on July 4, 1863. I learned that Vicksburg citizens didn’t celebrate Independence Day for about one hundred years.

What made that experience so terrible that the city couldn’t celebrate the independence of the United States for a century?

I had to discover what those citizens endured. It took three books to write their story. From 1861-1863, through mainly fictional—and a few historical—characters, Books 4 – 6 transport readers to a small Southern city on a bluff beside the Mississippi River, one that the Union was as determined to conquer as the Confederacy was to protect.  

I visited Vicksburg twice to discover its Civil War history. The battlefield there is beautifully maintained and well worth a visit!

Here’s the back cover blurb:

A Southern belle fights to reclaim her home, but will her spying destroy the Union officer she never meant to love? 

Savannah Adair has endured the unimaginable, hiding in a cave while her beloved Vicksburg was under siege. With the city now occupied by Union soldiers, Savannah cannot stand by and do nothing. So when one of the gaunt, half-starved Confederate prisoners asks her to spy for the South, she can’t refuse the chance to take back her home. 

First Lieutenant Travis Lawson takes pride in the Union army’s hard-fought victory, but he quickly realizes that the challenges of rebuilding and reconciliation are just beginning . . . and not everyone is appreciative of changes he’s making. Namely, the fiery and alluring Savannah Adair. Despite their differing loyalties and the societal divide between them, Travis cannot deny the growing feelings he has for her. When he is tasked with finding Southern spies in Vicksburg and he captures a female spy, Travis is forced to consider that the woman he’s beginning to love may be the enemy. 

Amazon

Tides of Healing Coffee Scene

/ sandramervillehart

by Sandra Merville Hart

The final book in the Spies of the Civil War Series, Tides of Healing, shows that everyone had difficulty adjusting to Union occupation in Vicksburg after surrender.

One of the lighter scenes early in the book has Savannah Adair and her mother unpacking a box of food that the Union army had provided. They find beans that smell like coffee. They’re not the brown color they’d have expected.

The green color confuses them but the two women who have never cooked or baked anything figure that coffee beans turn brown while boiling.

Adding to the urgency are the wounded Confederate soldiers in their parlor. The men need sustenance even more than Savannah and her mother.

Read Tides of Healing to discover how they fare with coffee making and so many other challenges following the city’s surrender.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

A Southern belle fights to reclaim her home, but will her spying destroy the Union officer she never meant to love? 

Savannah Adair has endured the unimaginable, hiding in a cave while her beloved Vicksburg was under siege. With the city now occupied by Union soldiers, Savannah cannot stand by and do nothing. So when one of the gaunt, half-starved Confederate prisoners asks her to spy for the South, she can’t refuse the chance to take back her home. 

First Lieutenant Travis Lawson takes pride in the Union army’s hard-fought victory, but he quickly realizes that the challenges of rebuilding and reconciliation are just beginning . . . and not everyone is appreciative of changes he’s making. Namely, the fiery and alluring Savannah Adair. Despite their differing loyalties and the societal divide between them, Travis cannot deny the growing feelings he has for her. When he is tasked with finding Southern spies in Vicksburg and he captures a female spy, Travis is forced to consider that the woman he’s beginning to love may be the enemy. 

Amazon

Author Background for Streams of Courage

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by Sandra Merville Hart

In Streams of Courage, Book 4 in my Spies of the Civil War Series, Julia, our heroine, has suffered several significant losses in her life, including her father and two siblings. Her mother’s insistence that Julia stop courting Ash, a saddler, and find instead a rich suitor makes no sense. Surely her father had provided for her.

Then she discovers that her parents have only provided for her younger brother, whom her mother had always adored. Julia will be penniless when her mother dies. The knowledge crushes her.

Ash is already supporting his mother and siblings. As Mama points out, adding a wife and children will stretch his income to the limits. Mama will not give her blessing should Ash propose. Julia, who had been raised in comfort, must find some means of support.

As I considered how Julia could make money in a war-time economy, it was clear her mother, as the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner, would never condone her working in a shop. What can she do?

Tatting lace.

Her lace patterns have received compliments in the past. With fewer ships bringing goods into the city, lace is in short supply. Granted, the demand for lace has diminished because even dress fabric isn’t as available as before the war.

I enjoyed researching this skill that was once so prevalent among young ladies in society. I watched videos on making lace with a special needle called a tatting needle.

The most basic stitch is the double-stitch. There is a special way to hold the needle and thread so that the first stitch grabs thread from under the thumb and the second stitch grabs it from over the thumb. There is a rhythm to the stitching in the hands of a skilled lacemaker.

I watched videos that demonstrated making rings with picot trim. There is a variety of stitching. The variations create beautiful patterns. The lace is then rolled for storage.

Fascinating. It’s mesmerizing to watch the different patterns emerge.

Tatting is a small yet interesting aspect in the adventurous story. Ash has become a Union spy. For her and her family’s safety, he keeps his dangerous activities a secret from Julia.

Part of my research for this novel and the next two novels included a trip to Vicksburg, Mississippi. I toured the museums and walked the streets of the historic city. Though I wasn’t certain of my story at the time of my visit, I was inspired by the history.   

Avenue of Betrayal, Book 1,is set in the Union capital of Washington City (Washington DC) in 1861, where a surprising number of Confederate sympathizers and spies lived. Boulevard of Confusion and Byway to Danger are set in Richmond, the Confederate capital in 1862. Actual historical spies touch the lives of our fictional family.

Through both real and fictional characters, this series highlights activities spies were involved in and some of the motives behind their decisions.

I invite you to read the whole “Spies of the Civil War” series!

Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Books2Read.

Announcing Spies of the Civil War Series Book 4 Release Today!

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by Sandra Merville Hart

I’m thrilled to announce the release of Streams of Courage, Book 4 of my Spies of the Civil War Series today, March 26, 2024!

Books 4 – 6 of the series are set in historic Vicksburg, Mississippi—a city the Union is as determined to capture as the Confederacy is to retain. Much happens here during the Civil War, not the least of which is spying.

The city’s population swells when the war begins. Southern citizens try to wipe out Unionist support. Fear silences some of the Unionists. Others are emboldened to spy for the North, like our hero.  

Here’s a bit about the book:

In a world turned upside down by war and betrayal…will his role as a spy bring them closer…or tear their future apart?

The war that Julia Dodd prayed to avoid is now reality, and with it, her world has been turned on its head. Her fellow citizens, who stood with her in their support of the union, have crossed firmly to the side of the south. And her mother, lost in her grief over the loss of her husband and children, can think of nothing but protecting Julia’s brother’s inheritance. She insists that her daughter seek a wealthier husband than Ashburn Mitchell.

Ash knows what his fellow citizens think of him when he refuses to fight for the Confederacy. Shouldering the accusation of being a coward and refusing to hide behind his limp, Ash remains in Vicksburg to support his family as a saddler while his two best friends join the fight. Struggling to increase his business so he can marry the woman he loves, Ash becomes a spy in support of the Union. He can’t fight for the South but won’t raise a musket against them.

As tragedy instigates Ash to risk greater danger to speed the end of the war, Julia can only pray it won’t cost them everything. She’s already lost her father and two siblings. Must she lose the man she loves too?

Order your copy today on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, and Books2Read.

Receiving A Gold Medal for Byway to Danger

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by Sandra Merville Hart

I learned a few weeks ago Byway to Danger, Book 3 in my Spies of the Civil War series, won the Gold Illumination Award for Romance Fiction. What fun it was to open the package containing the award, a gold medal, and seals for the book!

When we think of winning medals, our thoughts most likely go to the Olympics where we celebrate our gifted athletes. It’s such an honor to win this award.

I love the hero and heroine in this book as I hope you have grown to love this fictional family in the whole series who live in the turbulent times of the Civil War where the way isn’t always clear. Though this series is about a fictional family, there are actual historical spies who touch the stories.

I’m happy to announce that this series will be extending! Book 4, where we move to another section of the country, will soon be submitted to my publisher.

More about that later…

Byway to Danger is set in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, in 1862. Because Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy, the Union army was often threatening the city. One might suppose that all of Richmond’s citizens supported the Confederacy, yet there were a lot of Union supporters and Union spies in the capital.

Here’s a bit about the book:

Everyone in Richmond has secrets. Especially the spies.

Meg Brooks, widow, didn’t stop spying for the Union when her job at the Pinkerton National Detective Agency ended, especially now that she lives in the Confederate capital. Her job at the Yancey bakery provides many opportunities to discover vital information about the Confederacy to pass on to her Union contact. She prefers to work alone, yet the strong, silent baker earns her respect and tugs at her heart.

Cade Yancey knows the beautiful widow is a spy when he hires her only because his fellow Unionist spies know of her activities. Meg sure didn’t tell him. He’s glad she knows how to keep her mouth shut, for he has hidden his dangerous activities from even his closest friends. The more his feelings for the courageous woman grow, the greater his determination to protect her by guarding his secrets. Her own investigations place her in enough peril.

As danger escalates, Meg realizes her choice to work alone isn’t a wise one. Can she trust Cade with details from her past not even her family knows?

Order your copy today on Amazon,  Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and Books 2 Read!

Announcing Release of Byway to Danger!

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by Sandra Merville Hart

I’m thrilled to announce the release of Byway to Danger, Book 3 of my new “Spies of the Civil War” today, July 19, 2022!

Though the series is about a fictional family, there are actual historical spies who touch the stories.

Byway to Danger is set in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, in 1862. Because Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy, the Union army was often threatening the city. One might suppose that all of Richmond’s citizens supported the Confederacy, yet there were a lot of Union supporters and Union spies in the capital.

Here’s a bit about the book:

Everyone in Richmond has secrets. Especially the spies.

Meg Brooks, widow, didn’t stop spying for the Union when her job at the Pinkerton National Detective Agency ended, especially now that she lives in the Confederate capital. Her job at the Yancey bakery provides many opportunities to discover vital information about the Confederacy to pass on to her Union contact. She prefers to work alone, yet the strong, silent baker earns her respect and tugs at her heart.

Cade Yancey knows the beautiful widow is a spy when he hires her only because his fellow Unionist spies know of her activities. Meg sure didn’t tell him. He’s glad she knows how to keep her mouth shut, for he has hidden his dangerous activities from even his closest friends. The more his feelings for the courageous woman grow, the greater his determination to protect her by guarding his secrets. Her own investigations place her in enough peril.

As danger escalates, Meg realizes her choice to work alone isn’t a wise one. Can she trust Cade with details from her past not even her family knows?

Order your copy today on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and Books 2 Read!