{"product_id":"the-secret-of-war-a-dramatic-history-of-civil-war-crime-in-western-north-carolina","title":"The Secret Of War: A Dramatic History Of Civil War Crime In Western North Carolina","description":"\u003cp\u003eCivil War crime in western North Carolina is the subject of The Secret of War  by Terrell T. Garren. Based on the true-life experience of Delia Russell Youngblood  the great-grandmother of the author  the book \"captures what the Civil War was like in the mountains and throughout the south.\" After hearing his great-grandmothers story  Garren spent nearly fifteen years researching this story in particular and the Civil War history of western North Carolina in general. It is the story of Joseph Youngblood and Delia Russell of Hoopers Creek in Henderson County  North Carolina. The reader will follow Joseph through his enlistment as a part of Company H  the \"Cane Creek Rifles \" of the 25th North Carolina Infantry Regiment to the Battle of Malvern Hill  Virginia  and to battle in Sharpsburg  Maryland  where he was captured. Taken to the Union Camp Morton in Indianapolis  Indiana  he finally escapes and make his way down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers into Mississippi. Attempting to make his way back to North Carolina  he is in Dalton  Georgia  in May of 1864 when fourteen Confederate soldiers  including a brother  are executed for \"desertion.\" Ultimately  being recaptured  he goes back to Camp Morton until the end of the war. Told with historical accuracy  names  battles  and places in this story are true to fact. Readers will recognize place names in Henderson  Jackson  Haywood  Cherokee  Transylvania  Clay  Macon  and Buncombe Counties in North Carolina. Family names mentioned include Fletcher  Carland  Lewis  Bishop  Bryson  Freeman  Henderson  Fowler  Whitaker  Wheeler  Summey  Russell  Barnwell  Ward  Lanning  Hammond  Garren  Youngblood  and Blake. What sets this book apart from many  however  is the story of what happened to the women left behind at home. The story reveals how the lowest criminal element found its way into the Union Army. Many mountain men motivated by greed and an awareness of the demise of Confederate authority signed up with no interest in any cause but their own. Union officers who enter the picture include Generals George Stoneman  Alavan C. Gillem  and William J. Palmer. Palmer enters the story late but emerges as a man of genuine integrity and selfless bravery opposed to and fighting this element in his own army. Dr. Newton Smith of Western Carolina University says  \"The Secret of War\" is that rare historical novel that captures both the romance and the grit and gore of war on the home front without distorting the history. It is about time someone did the story of the Civil War in the southern mountains right.\" Rob Neufeld  writing in the Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times  has said the book \"is a must read\" and \"as a contribution to our understanding of the most disturbing passage in our history  it is indelible.\" He further writes  \"Fiction? It really happened; and  if it hadnt  the author wouldnt be around to tell it....Although Garren has written fiction  he wants you to treat it as history. After all  at the back of his book  he provides an index.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44964298031157,"sku":"ByrdShop_0871525453","price":45.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780871525451.jpg?v=1770456028","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-secret-of-war-a-dramatic-history-of-civil-war-crime-in-western-north-carolina","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}