First published 2018
William Archibald Forbes faces an impossible choice when war arrives in 1861. The VMI graduate has built a new life teaching at a Clarksville college, with a wife and children who depend on him. But his mother and sisters still live in Richmond, Virginia, where he grew up after losing his father at ten. As a defender of state's rights, Forbes cannot avoid the conflict tearing the nation apart. He takes command of the 14th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, training and drilling many of his own former students for combat. Forbes leads his men through the mountains and valleys of Virginia, serving under Confederate generals including Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. The weight of protecting two families while commanding troops in battle tests every principle Forbes holds dear. His journey from orphaned boy to college instructor to military leader reveals a man torn between duty to family and devotion to cause, facing challenges that will define both his character and his fate.
Genres: biography, american-civil-war, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: duty-vs-family, fish-out-of-water
Setting: Clarksville, Richmond, Virginia
Period: 1861
226 pages · Paperback · Independently published