Synopses & Reviews
In the fourth book of this ten-volume series, the action is divided between northern Virginia and the western front. In Vickburg, Cory Brannon finds Lucille Farrell, his sweetheart, and also helps to establish a supply line from Texas, bringing food, weapons, and ammunition into the besieged city. That path, however, is strewn with renegades and outlaws, and on the horizon there may be a rival for Lucille's affections. Meanwhile, in Culpeper County, Virginia, after a brief visit to the family farm by Will and Mac, the newlywed Titus feels obliged to answer the call to duty. The South gains a gifted rifleman in time for the December 13, 1862, battle of Fredericksburg. Also thrown into the fray is Nathan Hatcher, former beau to Cordelia Brannon, although his uniform is Union blue. After the terrible Federal defeat, news comes that Titus has been lost. In her grief, Titu's widow, Polly, finds a comforting friend in Henry, the youngest of the Brannon sons. As winter turns to spring in early 1863, a fitful calm pervades the Virginia front until the Union army marches into the Virginia wilderness again and confidently stalks Robert E. Lee. Near a roadside inn at Chancellorsville, Will and Mac witness the boldest move a field commander can make and observe firsthand the greatest loss the Confederacy can ill afford--the wounding and subsequent death of Stonewall Jackson.
Synopsis
The Civil War Battle series allows readers to experience the war through the trials, discoveries, and battles of the Brannons, a fictional family living in Virginia. Reasoner has created an incredible fictional tale and interweaved historical information throughout the work.
Synopsis
The narrative of Chancellorsville begins in Mississippi and the situation on the western front. Before reaching Vicksburg, Cory Brannon stumbles into a campsite where all is not well and briefly encounters a cautious Confederate patrol. A veteran of the battles of Forts Henry and Donelson and Shiloh, but not a soldier in the Confederate army, h continues to search for Lucille Farrell, the daughter of his late employer. When he finds her, he also discovers that he may have a role to play in supplying the South with the food, weapons, and ammunition being brought in through Texas by blockade-runners. The path, however, is strewn with renegades and outlaws, and on the horizon there may be a rival for Lucille's affections.
Meanwhile, Cory's brothers, Will and Mac, enjoy a brief visit with the family members still in Culpeper. Will is greatly relieved that his mother, Abigail, who had banished him from the farm in the weeks before the war, now welcomes him with open arms. Brother Titus's marriage to Polly Ebersole comes as a surprise to the two brothers in gray, but their presence stirs a sense of obligation and duty in the hotheaded Titus. Shortly after the two return to their units--Will to the Shenandoah with Jackson and Mac with Stuart near Richmond--the Confederate cause claims another Brannon, this one a gifted rifleman.
In December 1862 a new Union commander launches another campaign to claim the Southern capital, and Ambrose Burnside brings the Federal army to Fredericksburg. With him marches the conscience-driven Nathan Hatcher. When the battle breaks loose, Will and Mac are on the right side of the Confederate line, and Titus is on the left. After the terrible bloodletting of the Federal defeat, news comes that Titus has been lost. The brothers carry the information back to Culpeper, where the aloof Polly surprisingly grieves over the loss of Titus, her husband. She reaches out to the Brannon family and finds a comforting response from the people she has tried to keep at arm's length.
In early 1863 a fitful calm pervades the Virginia front until yet another Union commander is named. Joe Hooker leads his army into the wooded wilderness of the Rappahannock again and confidently stakes his fortunes to an encounter with Robert E. Lee near the roadside inn at Chancellorsville. As the battle rushes toward them, Will and Mac witness the boldest move a field commander can make and the greatest loss the Confederacy can struggle to bear.
Chancellorsville is the fourth book in a series of historical novels spanning the Civil War.