First Chapter Reveal: The Amazing Legacy of James E. Hanger, Civil War Soldier by Bob O' Connor

James E. Hanger was wounded at Philippi, Virginia on June 3, 1861 and became the first amputee of the American Civil War. He hated the Yankee peg leg his Union doctor gave him. Instead, he used his ingenuity and engineering background to invent an artificial leg with a joint at the knee and a hinge at the ankle. He patented his Hanger Limb.

His invention revolutionized the prosthetic industry. The company Mr. Hanger founded still operates today (Hanger Inc.) as the country’s largest provider of artificial limbs. His story is quite remarkable.

First Chapter

We arrived in Philippi in the early morning. I asked directions and then drove the buggy directly to the Garrett Johnson farm. I knocked on the door and asked for Mr. Johnson. An elderly gentleman came to the door. He said he was Mr. Johnson. I introduced myself and my wife, telling him who I was and why I was here. He invited us to come in and sit down.

“You are a legend in this town, Mr. Hanger,” Mr. Johnson said. “The first amputee of the War Between the States. I had heard the accident and the amputation of your injured leg had taken place in my barn. You look like you are doing well.” He was looking me over, likely trying to see if he could figure out which of my legs had been lost in his barn. I don’t think he could figure it out.

“The action that took place here in your barn and in Philippi changed my life forever,” I explained. “I now am a businessman. I didn’t volunteer for the distinction or the fame. But I have made the best of it. My company provides artificial limbs for veterans from both the North and the South.”

I rolled up my pants leg and showed him my Hanger limb. I continued. “I think some good has come out of that crazy war. I would like to show Nora the barn.” I rolled my pants back down.

“Do you mind if I walk with you?”

“Of course not.”

He walked to the door of his house and held it for us. He led us to the barn. The closer I got to the building, the harder my heart began to race.

When we walked into the barn, it looked just like I had remembered all these years. There was nothing unique about it. I certainly remembered being in this barn before. I didn’t have to say anything to Nora. She knew the story. The barn was where the wayward cannon ball had mangled my leg. This was where the men had lifted me onto what I was told was a door. And this is where Dr. Robison’s surgery had saved my life.
I had to lean on the wall to hold myself up. I started to quietly cry. I was embarrassed, but could not stop. I tried to remember the excruciating pain I must have felt or the horrible sound of the doctor’s bone saw cutting through my leg. I could not remember either.

But I did remember Dr. Robison’s description of the operation and the pain that I endured for weeks and weeks afterwards. It seemed so real, like it was happening all over again. I crumbled onto the floor. Nora stood by quietly. I cried loudly, unable to stop. My thoughts of what happened here enveloped me. I was unable to move.

Dr. Robison’s face appeared clearly in my mind. He had been so calm in telling me several days later what had happened. He acted like it was routine – no big thing. Yet he must have been afraid too. That was his first amputation. I had not felt even one thread of doubt that he had done the best he could. His determination and confidence helped calm my fears. Dr. Robison was a Union doctor who had operated on a Confederate soldier. I still have problems imagining that just any Union doctor would have tried to save me. After all, I was the enemy. Yet Dr. Robison had conducted the operation, as he said, the same as if I had been his own son. And his successful surgery had pretty much been an integral part of every other step that I had taken in the last twenty years. I owed him everything.

I was so overcome with emotion that I was unsure if I could go on. I had to take deep breaths to bring myself back into the present.

Nora stood beside me as she had for so many years. She had heard my story. We both had wondered what would happen when I returned. Now we knew. It had been exhausting for me.

I finally struggled to get up. Nora knew I had to do this on my own, but held out her hand. She wanted me to know it was there, even if I wasn’t going to take it. This time I did take it. I let her help me up. She held me tight for several minutes to let me know that everything was all right.

We finally moved on. I was still shaken, but knew I had to leave.

My wife wondered out loud if going into the barn had jarred my memory. She asked me if I remembered getting hit by the cannonball or going through the operation.

“Not really,” I admitted. “And perhaps it is a good thing that I don’t remember.”

We walked back to the buggy. I thanked Mr. Johnson. And we left. I turned the buggy and travelled across the long covered bridge. I asked a lady on the street to point out the United Methodist Episcopal Church on Church Street in the downtown.

Publisher: Infinity Publishing
Pages: 298
Genre: Historical Fiction
Format: Paperback
Purchase at Amazon!


Bob O’Connor’s first book was published in 2006. He now has ten books published including 6

historical novels and 4 non-fiction books. He has been named finalist four different times in national book competitions conducted by Indie Excellence Awards and USA Books.

O’Connor writes about the Civil War in a way in which persons of interest find compelling as he writes about the soldiers on the front lines instead of the generals and the battle strategy. He speaks around the country on the Civil War and has appeared over 600 times in 18 states since his first book was published. His presentations have spanned the spectrum, as he has spoken to first graders and cadets at the U.S. Naval Academy, in national parks and public libraries, at historical societies and Civil War round tables.

His main topics include abolitionist John Brown, Abraham Lincoln’s bodyguard (Ward Hill Lamon), the United States Colored Troops, the invention of modern prosthetics, and brothers fighting against brothers.

His latest book is the historical fiction, The Amazing Legacy of James E. Hanger, Civil War Soldier.

You can find out more about the author at his website www.boboconnorbooks.com or connect with him on Facebook.

Book Review: The Last Confederate Battle by John Cline

Steeped in Civil War history, The Last Confederate Battle by John Cline is a novel of three brothers and how the War between the States impacted their lives. It is also the story of Frank Stone, New York City Chief of Detectives and Allan Pinkerton, as they search for answers to mysterious murders and work to find out who is behind war-profiteering to bring them all to justice.

In this moving story, Cline brings the Civil War up front and close to readers as they explore how the conflict impacted the lives of several fictional characters. The three Davis brothers are called on to play different important roles for the Confederacy, and Andy pays a huge price for it.

The alternate plot finds Frank Stone brought in from New York City to assist Pinkerton in uncovering certain plots at President Lincoln's request. I like how Cline portrayed Lincoln in this novel. The caring persona that evolved throughout the story is exactly how I feel Lincoln has been remembered throughout history. In addition, Lincoln did what he felt was best to win the war, not necessarily what made him popular with Congress.

How the author tied the stories together is well done. I was wondering exactly how he would pull it off, but he managed quite nicely and it all made sense in the end.

My one challenge with this novel is that it is very plot-driven. The author obviously is well-versed in Civil War history, and he includes an abundance of historical detail within the pages of The Last Confederate Battle. While I enjoyed this aspect, since this is my favorite time in American history to read, the extensive pages of narrative made it read more like narrative non-fiction than a novel. Typically, with historical fiction, you have historical events molded around the characters. In this instance, it felt like the characters' stories were molded around American history, and this means the characters can get a bit lost in the shuffle. It puts a character-driven reader at a slight disadvantage, because you don't get to know the characters as well as you would like.

Now, for some this won't be an issue. Many readers enjoy plot-driven novels. I've read many of them myself. The Last Confederate Battle is a good book that accurately depicts the times in which the story is set. I would definitely look for more books from Cline in the future.


Title:  The Last Confederate Battle
Author:  John Cline
Publisher: Borderline Publishers
ISBN-10: 0984366997
ISBN-13: 978-0984366996
SRP:  $7.99 (Kindle and Nook)

Guest Blogger: John Cline, Author of The Last Confederate Battle

Today's special guest is John Cline, author of The Last Confederate Battle. For those who might have missed it, I am a Civil War buff. I have an entire bookshelf in my home dedicated to nonfiction titles about the conflict and Abraham Lincoln. I also own and have read several novels set during this time period. It remains one of my favorite time periods in American history, despite it being such a dark time for our country.

Look for my review of The Last Confederate Battle on November 14th.

History records that the last battle of the Civil War was fought on the red clay soil of the Rio Grande River at Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, Texas. That battle took place in mid-May 1865, more than a month following General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Virginia. There are factual accounts of skirmishes that took place long after Lee’s surrender. The historical attention to detail is highly accurate giving the reader a front row seat to life before, during and after the Civil War.

The Last Confederate Battle brings to light the perspectives from both sides, revealing the positive and negative natures of men. Conflict within our own country is remarkably described through the writings of John Cline; the main characters of this multifaceted story come to life as real historical experiences are interwoven into each page.

The Story, Inspiration and Research Behind The Last Confederate Battle by John Cline

First, let me thank The Book Connection for the opportunity to talk about my book, The Last Confederate Battle. I think readers will be surprised to learn that the book is not so much about war, as it is about people – individuals in a wartime setting. Also, I guess it should be revealed here that no one was more surprised that I wrote a novel in a Civil War setting than me. While I have always believed that the Revolutionary War may have been our nation’s brightest moment in history, I have similarly believed that the Civil War was our darkest years with Americans fighting (and killing) fellow Americans, and the country ripping itself apart in an epoch that didn’t have to happen.

Regarding the story behind the story, there are several: By 1861 the United States was entering the Industrial Revolution. Some forward-thinking Southern planters were realizing that they could make greater profits by getting away from slave labor and turning to machinery; they were severely shunned for their beliefs. The fictitious stories of U. S. Senator Hill and his Chief of Staff, Winston Harrison, highlight the effects of unelected power brokers called “staffers” within the network of Congressional offices. And the liaison of really big business and individual Members of Congress depict how corruptible the lure of money from the private sector can be, and how that corruption can effect Main Street and the average citizen. And lastly, the expansion of railroads across the country during the Reconstruction Period was sometimes laced with accounts of violence that have largely gone untold. The economy, following the Civil War, played a major role in westward expansionism. But it was the Panic of May 9, 1873 that was so devastating, especially in the West. It did, however, allow me to start thinking about a sequel, tentatively titled, Rebuilding American Dreams.

The inspiration for The Last Confederate Battle, came from a mental image of a Confederate soldier squatting beside a small campfire near midnight on what had been the lawn in front of a grand plantation house that had been put to the torch during the war. I gave it little regard at the time, but the image would not go away, so I did the most dangerous thing a writer can do. I began asking questions. Why was he there? Why was he alone? What had happened to the plantation that was only miles away from Madison, Georgia, one of only seven towns that had not been put to the torch during Sheridan’s March to the Sea? Those questions, and a lot of later research, resulted in the book being written.

What methods of research were used? First, I am a product of the South, having been born in Memphis, Tennessee, so I was regaled with many Southern stories. As a boy, I spent summers visiting the battlegrounds of the Revolutionary War, upon which many of the Civil War battles were fought. I didn’t care for History in school because classes were all about the rote memorization of names, dates, and places without stories. So as a child, I went to the battlegrounds in search of those stories. I was fortunate, again as a child, to meet survivors and relatives of survivors who had Civil War stories to tell. I guess those people and their stories remained in the deepest storerooms of my memory, lying dormant these many years. The computer and several city, county and university libraries became my greatest sources of information. As a matter of interest, the antebellum house on the cover of the book, a house that actually survived the Civil War, is located in Madison, Georgia where several stories in the book take place. A friend, with whom I served in the Navy, and with whom I remain in constant contact, detoured on a road trip to stop by Madison where he and his wife took several pictures and emailed them to me for use in the book.

John J. Cline
The Boise Author
http://www.theboiseauthor.com/

Following a twenty five year career in both the enlisted and officer corps’, John Cline retired from the U.S. Navy as a Limited Duty Officer (Mustang) in July 1993 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He was the director of the Idaho Bureau of Disaster Services until he retired in 2005.


He has a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in Workforce Education and Curriculum Development from Southern Illinois University, and a Master of Art degree (M.A.) in National Security Studies; Homeland Security and Defense from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy (140th Session), and was nationally certified by the National Coordinating Council on Emergency Management and the International Association of Emergency Managers. He is an avid Amateur Radio Operator with the call sign W5USN. John and his wife Pat have three children and four grandchildren.

Civil War History in Corrigans’ Pool by Dot Ryan

Today's guest blogger is Dot Ryan, author of the Civil War historical novel,Corrigans' Pool--which we reviewed here. Today, this talented author will discuss the historical setting of her debut release.

"Civil War History in Corrigans’ Pool" by Dot Ryan

I am often asked why I decided on the setting of Savannah, Georgia for my Civil War era novel, Corrigans’ Pool. “After all,” someone said, “after Sherman burned a sixty mile wide path from Atlanta to the coast where Savannah lay, he pretty much left the city intact.” True. And he did so to the surprise and relief of Savannah’s terrified and near starving citizens—who afterward were highly insulted when he settled into one of Savannah’s most luxurious homes and penned a letter to President Lincoln, offering up Savannah as a Christmas present. There are several theories as to why he did not raze the city exactly as he had done other towns and plantations on his merciless march to the sea. Perhaps after months of making a smoldering mess of the rest of the state, he wanted an unscathed spot to rest his bones before moving on to other battles.

The likely reason for General William Tecumseh Sherman’s odd benevolence is that Confederate Lieutenant-General William Joseph Hardee’s mere ten thousand Confederate troops encamped in and around the city, had very cleverly escaped across the Savannah River to South Carolina in short advance of Sherman’s overwhelming army of over sixty thousand. With no one to fight other than women, children, old men, and wounded or dying Confederate soldiers in the hospitals, he likely decided that the unnecessary destruction of a helpless Savannah would not bode well in history. Then again, he could have been awed by Savannah’s elegance.

This brings me back to the reason I chose Savannah for the setting of Corrigans’ Pool. Years ago, I was in a library thumbing through a book about historical Southern towns. I don’t recall the name of the book, but I was struck by the beauty of Savannah and its handsome town squares. I began to read about the history of that fair city and knew right away that Corrigans’ Pool’s characters, already prowling around in my head at that time, would take up residence there. On page eighty-three in Corrigans’ Pool, I wrote the following line about 19th century Savannah: "Compared with other Georgia cities, Savannah was the uppity rich relative—elegantly attired, richly endowed, and keenly aware of her unrivaled excellence."

In Corrigans’ Pool, the Civil War battles being fought in battlefields across the nation are revealed only through the eyes of the novel’s Savannah characters, mostly through the eyes of Beatrice Corrigan, the wise and dictatorial grandmother of the central character, Ella Corrigan.

In my research, I kept coming across mention of how Hardee’s Confederates evacuated across a series of makeshift pontoon bridges that spanned the Savannah River to South Carolina, thereby escaping certain death or capture by Sherman’s overwhelming hordes. Most statements I ran across about the makeshift bridges were short and explained very little of the process, but I couldn’t help but think that this must have been a dangerous and exciting undertaking for the townspeople and the Confederates alike, wanting, as they did, to avoid Sherman’s encroaching army. Who built these bridges? How long did it take? Did they use slave labor or were only citizens and soldiers involved? While searching though old newspaper records in libraries, I wrote the evacuation scene into Corrigans’ Pool as chaotic as I imagined it would be, and continued to look for more information.

In surfing the net one day, I ran across a book titled Civil War Savannah written by Derek Smith. I immediately ordered a copy in hopes it would give me more info about the evacuation or at least substantiate my feeling that the life or death escape across the river to South Carolina fit well as a climactic scene in my book. At that point I was contemplating whether to leave the scene or take it out. Derek Smith’s superb book provided just the inspiration and information that helped me make up my mind to leave the scene intact. I wrote to Derek and told him how glad I was that he had written Civil War Savannah and how his excellent work had helped me with my novel. With his permission, I sent a few chapters, which he promptly read—even took the time to make a correction for me—then returned the pages, wishing me the best of luck. That is the wonderful thing about authors like Derek Smith who have had success; the bigger they are the more helpful they are to other writers.

I am also asked what was hardest about writing Corrigans’ Pool. I suppose, at times, the long hours of research and double checking facts were the most difficult and tedious. Secondly, there was the emotion involved in writing scenes in which a character or characters committed especially cruel acts. After such scenes, I often stopped writing for a few hours.
Fortunately, no matter how frustrating research and creative writing can be at times, the satisfaction of trying over and over again to find the right bit of history or finally turning the perfect phrase, is exhilarating—worth every hour of stress and swollen feet from sitting too long in one position while perusing library books or sitting at the computer too long. I wouldn’t be happy with any other way of life.

Dot Ryan, author of the historical novel, Corrigans’ Pool, lives in Corpus Christi, Texas with her husband, Sam, and in close vicinity to their sons and daughters and grandchildren. She is busy writing her second, third, and fourth works of historical fiction, one of which is the upcoming sequel to Corrigans’ Pool. To learn more about Dot and where to buy Corrigans’ Pool, and also to read the unedited Part One of the upcoming sequel, please visit her website http://www.dotryanbooks.com/

 
 
Dot Ryan's virtual book tour continues during the month of January.  To follow her tour, please visit http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ every weekday through January 29th.

A Civil General by David Stinebeck & Scannell Gill--Book Review

A Civil General by David Stinebeck and Scannell Gill brings General George Henry Thomas to life for lovers of Civil War history.

Colonel William Swain is the narrator of this moving story of Thomas's wartime contributions as he served on the side of the Union, a decision that cost him dearly and found him disowned by his family in Virginia. From the Battle of Chickamauga to the Battle of Nashville, "Slow Trot Thomas" leads his men to decisive victories over Confederate troops, not often receiving the recognition he deserves. Forgoing self-promotion, Thomas is loved by his men, the Army of the Cumberland, and as his body travels by ferry and train from San Francisco to Troy, New York for burial, the love of the people leads the way with bowed heads, flowered arches along the train tracks, and swinging lanterns...for "George Henry Thomas had been their light in the dark."

Fans of military history and wartime strategy will certainly enjoy A Civil General. The research Stinebeck and Gill performed for this novel is obvious in the depiction of various battles. Anyone vaguely familiar with Civil War history will recognize many of the names filling these pages: Grant, Lee, Sherman, Sheridan, Rosencrans, Hallach, and Hooker, to name a few. The authors have put forth a great deal of effort to showcase the many contributions that Thomas made to the Union victory.

The challenge I had with this novel is that it is missing some basic elements of fiction. The narrator in essence tells the entire story to the reader, even at times addressing the reader, so that she is distanced from the happenings in the book and unable to be drawn in and experience them for herself. The tenses move back and forth between past and present, sometimes even in the same paragraph, so that it is difficult to stay focused on the fact that Swain is telling this story years later.

This reader felt it came much closer to narrative non-fiction than an actual novel, but the fictional characters and encounters definitely place it in the field of fiction. There is a speech given by Thomas to his men on Page 114 that was so moving I felt a lump form in my throat. This is how I wanted to experience the entire book, but the narrator kept me at bay and I was only able to fully exist within its pages for brief moments.

Even with this challenge, as a lover of Civil War history, I enjoyed this book to its powerful end. The illustrations added a great deal of depth to this piece of work and the cover art is stunning.

There is much to be gained by reading A Civil General by David Stinebeck and Scannell Gill.


Title: A Civil General
Authors: David Stinebeck and Scannell Gill
Publisher: Sunstone Press
ISBN: 978-0-86534-663-5
U.S. Price: $20.95