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Dabney Family Saga #3
By Valour and Arms
The epic of the Arkansas, built in the wilderness by men who hauled her iron and guns hundreds of miles by ox wagons, is one of the most amazing and little-known dramas of Civil War history. The Arkansas struck terror from Illinois to New Orleans and became a ship that men whispered about; a ghost ship whose guns kept blazing although there were no men aboard her.
The building of the Arkansas and the siege of Vicksburg provide not just the backdrop, but the flesh and bones of the third novel in the Dabney family series. Author James Street warns his readers that they will not find the Civil War of Lee and Jackson in this book.
A galaxy of characters bring the story to life ― a gunner's mate who hates war, a British soldier of fortune whose lust for battle is exceeded only by his lust for drink, social and racial outcasts who outwit society's elite, dashing heroes, loyal sweethearts, melancholic husbands, shrewd and scheming wives, and perhaps most intriguing of all, a fat, cold and deadly, nine-inch Dahlgren gun.
During the Civil War human life was worth less than rotten mule meat while scoundrels and mountebanks worked and cheated in the red glare of Vicksburg's guns. In spite of human failings and the misery of war, James Street still maintains that there will always be honor, decency, and dignity for those willing to fight for them. From the makings of cannon powder to the use of spoiled pork to fire up the engines of the ironclads, this is history as it happened.
The building of the Arkansas and the siege of Vicksburg provide not just the backdrop, but the flesh and bones of the third novel in the Dabney family series. Author James Street warns his readers that they will not find the Civil War of Lee and Jackson in this book.
A galaxy of characters bring the story to life ― a gunner's mate who hates war, a British soldier of fortune whose lust for battle is exceeded only by his lust for drink, social and racial outcasts who outwit society's elite, dashing heroes, loyal sweethearts, melancholic husbands, shrewd and scheming wives, and perhaps most intriguing of all, a fat, cold and deadly, nine-inch Dahlgren gun.
During the Civil War human life was worth less than rotten mule meat while scoundrels and mountebanks worked and cheated in the red glare of Vicksburg's guns. In spite of human failings and the misery of war, James Street still maintains that there will always be honor, decency, and dignity for those willing to fight for them. From the makings of cannon powder to the use of spoiled pork to fire up the engines of the ironclads, this is history as it happened.
614 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1944
3 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
James H. Street
19 books10 followersFrom Wikipedia:
James Howell Street (October 15, 1903 – September 28, 1954) was a U.S. journalist, minister, and writer of Southern historical novels.
Street was born in Lumberton, Mississippi, in 1903. As a teenager, he began working as a journalist for newspapers in Laurel and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. At the age of 20, Street, born a Roman Catholic, decided to become a Baptist minister, attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Howard College. Unsatisfied with his pastoral work after ministering stints in Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama, Street returned to journalism in 1926.
After briefly holding a position with the Pensacola, Florida Journal, Street joined the staff of the Associated Press. The AP position took him to New York, where he began freelance writing fiction. Hired away from the AP by the New York World-Telegram in 1937, Street sold a short story ("A Letter to the Editor") to Cosmopolitan magazine, which caught the eye of film producer David Selznick, who turned it into a hit film, Nothing Sacred. The Broadway musical, Hazel Flagg, was based on his short story, as well as the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis-film Living It Up.
His success allowed him to write full-time, and throughout the 1940s he worked on a five-novel series of historical fiction about the progress of the Dabney family through the 19th century. The Dabney pentology--Oh, Promised Land, Tap Roots, By Valor and Arms, Tomorrow We Reap, and Mingo Dabney--explored classic Southern issues of race and honor, and strongly characterized Street's struggle to reconcile his Southern heritage with his feelings about racial injustice. The series was a critical and popular success, with several of the books being made into feature films. Street modeled characters in his Dabney family saga on Sam Dale, Newt Knight and Greenwood LeFlore.
Street also published two popular novels about boys and dogs, The Biscuit Eater and Good-bye, My Lady, both were turned into movies, and a set of semi-autobiographical novels about a Baptist minister, The Gauntlet and The High Calling, both were bought by Hollywood but never produced.
Street's short stories and articles appeared regularly in Cosmopolitan, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's and Holiday.
Street died of a heart attack, in Chapel Hill, N.C., on September 28, 1954, at the age of 50.
James Howell Street (October 15, 1903 – September 28, 1954) was a U.S. journalist, minister, and writer of Southern historical novels.
Street was born in Lumberton, Mississippi, in 1903. As a teenager, he began working as a journalist for newspapers in Laurel and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. At the age of 20, Street, born a Roman Catholic, decided to become a Baptist minister, attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Howard College. Unsatisfied with his pastoral work after ministering stints in Missouri, Mississippi, and Alabama, Street returned to journalism in 1926.
After briefly holding a position with the Pensacola, Florida Journal, Street joined the staff of the Associated Press. The AP position took him to New York, where he began freelance writing fiction. Hired away from the AP by the New York World-Telegram in 1937, Street sold a short story ("A Letter to the Editor") to Cosmopolitan magazine, which caught the eye of film producer David Selznick, who turned it into a hit film, Nothing Sacred. The Broadway musical, Hazel Flagg, was based on his short story, as well as the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis-film Living It Up.
His success allowed him to write full-time, and throughout the 1940s he worked on a five-novel series of historical fiction about the progress of the Dabney family through the 19th century. The Dabney pentology--Oh, Promised Land, Tap Roots, By Valor and Arms, Tomorrow We Reap, and Mingo Dabney--explored classic Southern issues of race and honor, and strongly characterized Street's struggle to reconcile his Southern heritage with his feelings about racial injustice. The series was a critical and popular success, with several of the books being made into feature films. Street modeled characters in his Dabney family saga on Sam Dale, Newt Knight and Greenwood LeFlore.
Street also published two popular novels about boys and dogs, The Biscuit Eater and Good-bye, My Lady, both were turned into movies, and a set of semi-autobiographical novels about a Baptist minister, The Gauntlet and The High Calling, both were bought by Hollywood but never produced.
Street's short stories and articles appeared regularly in Cosmopolitan, The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's and Holiday.
Street died of a heart attack, in Chapel Hill, N.C., on September 28, 1954, at the age of 50.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 28, 2022
This Civil War historical focuses mainly on the Confederate naval happenings that occurred around the Natchez and Vicksburg areas dealing mostly with the finding of iron in order to build the Arkansas. Then, once it was destroyed, the struggle to find more iron to repair it.
There is no doubt that the author did quite a bit of research as the skirmishes are tediously described in encyclopedia like detail, in a very detached from the plot and characters kind of way.
It felt as if the author left the story he was writing as a sacrifice to historical accuracy. Which left me as a reader wishing for more connection to the characters. I questioned why there was so much put into battle accuracy, but then when it came to the actual story, any semblance of reality was pushed aside.
For example, the characters who were part of the military wandered around checking up on loved ones and leaving their posts at the drop of a hat. At one point, a man joins the Union army with the intent to get revenge on a man in the Confederate navy. As if he would be able to dictate his travels. He also leaves a significant military event to follow this man, as if he would’ve been able to track him at the same time he was doing combat, and could simply leave his regiment whenever he felt like it.
Let’s just say after all that, putting his life in danger etc., the ending was a major cop out. No one would believe that he would’ve joined the military and starved and fought for that ending Nope. Plus, the ending makes the hero, Wyeth, a deserter.
When the writing came around to the plot and characters again, it was good. However, the underlying love story running throughout is massacred once the hero, Wyeth, who is supposed to be head over heels in love with Laurel, suddenly spends all of his time lusting after another man’s wife, Morna. It broke any belief I had in him or the validity of his feelings for Laurel. Not a believable love story. Epic fail on that front. I wanted Laurel to realize what a dog turd he was.
2 stars for research even though it wasn’t executed very well.
There is no doubt that the author did quite a bit of research as the skirmishes are tediously described in encyclopedia like detail, in a very detached from the plot and characters kind of way.
It felt as if the author left the story he was writing as a sacrifice to historical accuracy. Which left me as a reader wishing for more connection to the characters. I questioned why there was so much put into battle accuracy, but then when it came to the actual story, any semblance of reality was pushed aside.
For example, the characters who were part of the military wandered around checking up on loved ones and leaving their posts at the drop of a hat. At one point, a man joins the Union army with the intent to get revenge on a man in the Confederate navy. As if he would be able to dictate his travels. He also leaves a significant military event to follow this man, as if he would’ve been able to track him at the same time he was doing combat, and could simply leave his regiment whenever he felt like it.
Let’s just say after all that, putting his life in danger etc., the ending was a major cop out. No one would believe that he would’ve joined the military and starved and fought for that ending Nope. Plus, the ending makes the hero, Wyeth, a deserter.
When the writing came around to the plot and characters again, it was good. However, the underlying love story running throughout is massacred once the hero, Wyeth, who is supposed to be head over heels in love with Laurel, suddenly spends all of his time lusting after another man’s wife, Morna. It broke any belief I had in him or the validity of his feelings for Laurel. Not a believable love story. Epic fail on that front. I wanted Laurel to realize what a dog turd he was.
2 stars for research even though it wasn’t executed very well.
October 8, 2018
Not as much story as history. Very interesting - things I never knew about the civil war. The footnotes were as interesting as the story in that respect. I recommend it for history buffs.
March 16, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed this unique depiction of the middle stretches of the Civil War. Street paints a vivid picture of the real-life but little known saga of the Confederate ironclad Arkansas, ingeniously built in the wilderness, and the Union ram Queen of the West. The battle for Vicksburg is the other drama that makes up this big story.
The epic of the Arkansas fired my imagination and I cheered to see a little scrap-iron boat send the Union fleet of well-built and maintained ships fleeing down the Mississippi River. The Arkansas created more havoc than the Merrimac, the pride of the Union. Fun!
There is a rich variety of characters in this book but most of the action swirls around three fascinating Confederate sailors and their cherished nine-inch dahlgren gun on whose breech was engraved By Valour and Arms.
The epic of the Arkansas fired my imagination and I cheered to see a little scrap-iron boat send the Union fleet of well-built and maintained ships fleeing down the Mississippi River. The Arkansas created more havoc than the Merrimac, the pride of the Union. Fun!
There is a rich variety of characters in this book but most of the action swirls around three fascinating Confederate sailors and their cherished nine-inch dahlgren gun on whose breech was engraved By Valour and Arms.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews