Novel.  162 pp., 2008, E-Book Time, LLC, www.e-booktime.com, $12.95, softcover.

In the fall of 1864 Capt. John Drewry was traveling by train to his new assignment. It seemed an age ago that he was a member of the West Point graduating class of 1861. He and many of his classmates had resigned their newly awarded commissions in the U.S. Army rather than fight against the South.

John did not join in the early euphoria of war. Rather, he accepted it as the price of freedom for his newly formed nation. Another part of that price was the loss of his sweetheart, who married another rather than wait for him to accomplish his duty as a soldier.

He also lost most of the friends who fought at his side. Ben died at Shiloh, and Frank and William fell at Antietam. Another, Simon, fell at Gettysburg in Pickett’s Charge. John Drewry himself was seriously wounded at the Bloody Angle on the same field.

While recovering from his wounds, John wrote a poem about Pickett’s Charge:

   With the waning of shells Pickett’s men formed a line,

   Saluting Virginia they stepped off in time.

  Through shot and shell over one mile away,

  Fell many a man on this bloodiest day.

  To the wall they charged, possessed of the mission,

  But when the smoke cleared, Lee had lost a division.

  He asked for forgiveness and regrouped his men,

 They then headed south, the Union would win.

Now, at 26 years of age, John was reporting for his first assignment since his recovery. His train pulled into Norfolk, Va.,, where he was met by Tim, a soldier assigned to his team.

 “Do you know anything about this assignment, Tim?”

“No, sir.”

Taken to a camp outside the city, John met others who were equally puzzled by the vague orders. The following day he was shocked to meet two old comrades; he had believed both men had been killed at Gettysburg.

Once all the men were gathered, they pushed on to another small town. Invited by the Rev. Samuel Wilson to a local ball, John met a beautiful young lady, Elisabeth Sommer. The two quickly fell in love. They soon became inseparable each time John returned to her shop from his time away training for his mysterious mission. On one occasion he read her a poem he had written while away:

   From across the room she caught my eye,

  Our eyes locked on, I felt her sign.

  She floated to the veranda door.

 The warmth I felt was something new,

 She made me feel that we were two.

 With passionate eyes she called my name,

 And from that point I was not the same. 

The Civil War seemed to be coming to an end; possibly John might have to fight again. In that atmosphere, he and his Beth married. Following the ceremony, the reader is like a mouse in the corner, watching two happy people enjoying one another oblivious of the war being waged around them. As he read Beth his poems of Shiloh, The Retreat, Incident at Owl Creek and Reunion at Antietam, we are struck by the sadness expressed for a lost cause.

The author crafts a charming and interesting tale that leaves the reader anxious to learn what fate 1865 will bring to John and Beth. Schneider effectively uses poetry to help the reader understand the deep emotions of patriotism and love that consume his characters.  

Reviewer: Michael J. Deeb

Dr. Michael J. Deeb is author of The Drieborg Chronicles, www.civilwarnovels.com