The owner and managing editor of The Whiskey Reviewer published his new novel today, the second volume in the Stonewall Goes West series.
As Part Two of the Stonewall Goes West trilogy, Mother Earth, Bloody Ground continues to answer the greatest “what if?” of the Civil War: what if Stonewall Jackson had survived the Battle of Chancellorsville? Through a combination of misdirection and audacious aggression, Jackson led the hard luck Army of Tennessee to its first real victory of the war at Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, but that was only the beginning of his campaign against the Northern armies under William Tecumseh Sherman.
With Sherman organizing a reinforced army in Nashville, and George Thomas still poised to invade Georgia, Jackson must adapt his strategy and find a way to permanently liberate the “Mother Earth” of Middle Tennessee. While generals like Patrick Cleburne, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and A.P. Stewart prove reliable, others like Leonidas Polk continue to vex Jackson’s efforts. Meanwhile, Sherman must contend with sniping politicians from above and a scheming Joe Hooker from below as he works to hurl Jackson’s army back into Alabama and continue his drive on Atlanta.
What ensues across the early and mid-summer of 1864 is a colossal struggle pitting two of the Civil War’s greatest generals, Sherman and Jackson, against each other. The outcome will decide the fate of Middle Tennessee, and with it the course of a Civil War destined to be changed in unforeseen ways.
The author also made sure to include a few hints of his love of whiskey, expressed through characters like Frank Cheatham and William Harrow.
