First published 2005
In early 1864, Confederate Major-General Patrick Cleburne faces a desperate situation after his Army of Tennessee suffers defeat at Chattanooga. The "Stonewall of the West" makes a radical proposal that shocks his fellow officers: train the bravest slaves as soldiers and grant freedom to those who remain loyal to the Confederacy. Initially rejected, Cleburne's idea gradually gains support from Confederate leaders including Jefferson Davis, Judah Benjamin, and Robert E. Lee. The proposal sparks heated debates in Southern newspapers and parlors as more enslaved people escape to Union forces. Bruce Levine follows this controversial plan through its evolution, showing how soldiers in Lee's army eventually voted on the measure. The Confederate government finally enacted a version in March 1865, issuing military orders just two weeks before surrender at Appomattox. Through voices of blacks and whites, planters and farmers, officers and politicians across the South, the book examines what the Confederacy truly fought for and whether black Southerners would have defended it in significant numbers.
Genres: american-civil-war, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-fiction, 19th-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: alternate-history, historical-fiction
Setting: Chattanooga, Appomattox
Period: 1864, 1865
272 pages · Hardcover · Oxford University Press
Content warnings: slavery