Shenandoah

The Civil War Battle Series #8

by James Reasoner

In this eighth volume of the ten-volume Civil War Battle Series, the action returns to northern Virginia and Culpeper County. The long absent Titus Brannon returns home on Christmas Day, 1863, just over a year since his disappearance during the battle of Fredericksburg. As much as his family is startled to learn that he is alive, he is surprised to find that his wife, Polly, is now married to his brother Henry. And she is pregnant.Unwilling to accept Polly and Henry's marriage, Titus insists that Polly is still his wife, and a judge agrees. He refuses to divorce her, and later Polly's body is found at her father's plantation. The evidence points to Titus, and he is arrested and jailed.

As spring approaches, Will Brannon recuperates from his Gettysburg wound and returns to his regiment. In the meantime, a new commander leads the Union army into northern Virginia -- U.S. Grant. To block Grant's march on Richmond, Robert E. Lee attacks. Grant, however, does not retreat after this surprise engagement but marches on. The two armies clash again and again, maneuvering ever closer to the Rebel capital.

Will throws himself into the battles with abandon. At last his pain ends at the portentously named crossroads, Cold Harbor.

After Titus's innocence is proven, he joins the partisan rangers of John S. Mosby. This guerrilla-style warfare suits his nature, and the rangers so effectively harass the Federals in the rich farmland of the Shenandoah that Grant dispatches a special force to squash Mosby. This unit adopts a policy of total war in the valley so as to undercut Mosby's support.

Titus vows vengeance on the Yankees for this wanton destruction, but even he knows that there is littlechance that the tide will be stemmed. Both the Confederacy and the Brannons have suffered much in the year 1864. Now even the hotheaded Titus begins to wonder if the nation and his family will survive into 1865.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Civil War, Fiction, American Civil War, Historical

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd Reading:
This time I read the actual book; it was so much better--I knew the characters really well and deeply felt their anguish as the war came burning into their farm country. The characters of Titus and Will have been extremely well-developed as the series has progressed.

1st Review:
I couldn’t stop listening to this story of a Virginia family during the Civil War. It has romance, a mystery, historical figures. It was so good I decided to listen next to Book 1 of the series.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story of the Brannon family, with the exception of Titus' story line which was hard. However, the historical context of the series had a strong undertone of lost cause mythology.

I stumbled across this series when I learned my second great-grandfather was wounded fighting for the Union at Chickamauga. I enjoy learning history through stories (ala James Mitchener) so I checked out Reasoner's book about that battle, not realizing it was book seven in a 10-book series. Having been hooked by the story of the greater Brannon family, of course I had to read the entire series.

The story element of the series is top notch. The battle details are hard but necessary. And we also get to know Confederate leadership better. However, the causes of the war Reasoner suggests are pure Lost Cause mythology, as are portrayals of General U.S. Grant and all Yankees. The few Northern sympathizers are portrayed as evil, naive or misguided.

But the greatest Lost Cause error is the treatment of prisoners. Yes, Camp Douglas was bad and prisoner treatment was shameful. By all measures, Andersonville was worse. The death rates of both camps prove that. Overall POW death rates for Union POW's was 15.5% vs. 12% for Confederates. No doubt the gap would be wider if: 1) Union soldiers were in as poor condition as Confederates when taken; and 2) surrendering African-American Union soldiers murdered by Confederates were counted among the dead POW's.

While ignoring such evils, Reasoner is willing at least to portray some Southerners as flawed (though there's no hint that Nathan Bedford Forrest was once a slave trader and would go on to lead the Klu Klux Klan).

That said, I wish I could read more about the post-war greater Brannon family.

[Allison Kirchner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hurriedly grabbed this book at a library clearance sale, thinking it was related to "Shenandoah" the movie and not realizing this was #8 in a series. I read it anyway, hoping that I didn't miss too much by jumping into the series so late. I believe the author did a pretty good job of catching me up by mentioning all of the family members in the first part of the book. However, that was my least favorite part of the book -- hard to get through due to unlikable characters and dubious story lines. Once the action switched to the battlefields throughout Virginia, I sped through the rest of the book. Almost all of the action took place within 75 miles of my home, and I have visited many of the battlefields mentioned. I will look forward to future field trips to the smaller battlefields that I haven't yet visited. I particularly appreciated the information about the skirmishes in the Shenandoah Valley since that part of the war has been underrepresented in other Civil War books that I have read.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a more depressing book than the previous but that is fitting. Most Southerners are beginning to realize that the cause may be lost but they are going to go down fighting. We end the book wondering if Titus has it in him to redeem himself.

[T.S. Folke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reasoners finest effort , a decent yarn in a mediocre series. Titus the drunk soberly chases tail up and down the valley, joins Moseby’s raiders , attempts to get laid, executes some Yankees, etc etc

[MARY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book in this series but sad at the end. My favorite character in this ten volume set died at Cold Harbor. He had been shot at Gettysburg never got better from that chest wound and got shot in the chest again. It was a bummer but he fought bravely to the end. Two more to go!

[Mary Ellen Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy the battle detail but a bit light on characters and predictable.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another winner in the series! One reviewer noted that the beginnnig was soapy and then enjoyed the military tactics which just shows that we all can find something in this series because my opinion is the opposite. I really enjoyed the "murder mystery" but got a little bored with all the tactical discussions. I've been waiting to hear about Mosby's Rangers and for Titus to join them was icing on the cake. I've already started book 9 "Savannah" before I stopped to write this!

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one got a little soapy, then went in an interesting direction at the end.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of action in this book, especially with the family dynamic. Another great book in the series. At this point, the South is realizing they are rapidly descending to total defeat.

[Hank Pharis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might be the best of the 8 books in this series that I have read thus far.
Lots of twists and turns and drama.