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| Category: Fiction:Historical |
(requires Adobe Reader)
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| About the Book | |
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James Darby, a nineteen year old son of an English immigrant, enlisted in Company A of the Second Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Regiment during the late summer of 1861 when the Civil War was not going well for the United States Army. From the beginning, James battled his nerves and doubted his courage prior to each battle. Through his eyes we see the carnage and horror of the war in West Tennessee. It was there that the misery of men fighting in a cold, wet winter illustrated the hardships and determination of both warring sides. James and his common soldier comrades were eyewitnesses to the earliest successes of Ulysses S. Grant and subsequent rise to fame. Riding with James and Company A, we see and feel the battles fought for the fate of West Tennessee and see the Union open a gateway to the conquest of Mississippi – especially the massive killing field where there were more than 23,000 casualties, including 3,400 deaths, in two days of fierce fighting around little Shiloh Church. Between battles of mutually assured slaughter, James writes hopeful letters to Pearl, his high school sweetheart. James’s story is based on a history of Company A written some fifty years after the war by company member Samuel H. Fletcher. James’s mentor was First Sergeant Allen Parker, who, like his father, was born in County Derbyshire, England. Parker illustrates a mystery at Shiloh seen in wars and elsewhere by those who sacrifice their lives for their comrades. James’ mentor, a veteran of the Mexican War, makes an indelible mark and influences James’ life throughout his role in the novel First Dark: A Buffalo Soldier’s Story.
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| About the Author | |
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Bob Rogers is an author, entrepreneur, past IBM intrapreneur, speaker, and volunteer Information Technology instructor. Bob is a former army captain, paratrooper, and combat veteran of the Vietnam War in Troop A, 10th Cavalry. Bob and his wife tend their spring and fall gardens in Charlotte, North Carolina. |