The Bloody Ground (The Starbuck Chronicles #4)

The Bloody Ground is the fourth volume in Bernard Cornwells' enthusiastically received Civil War series, 'The Starbuck Chronicles.' It is set against the background of one of the war's greatest battles, known as Antietam in Union history, named after the blood-soaked creek that wound its way through the Maryland cornfields where the fighting occurred, and Sharpsburg to Confederates, after the nearest small town. The novel begins with a rain-soaked fight at Chantilly, Virginia, on September 1, as Stonewall Jackson tried, with only limited success, to exploit the previous day's victory at Manassas. At its conclusion, Starbuck is sent to Richmond, where he takes command of a punishment battalion, a motley collection of cowards, thieves, con men, deserters, and murderers, and makes enemies of most of the battalion's officers. Setting off to join Lee's army now advancing into Maryland, they reach Harper's Ferry in time to take part in Jackson's capture of the Union garrison and then go on to the real horror of Antietam/Sharpsburg, famous for the 'fighting madness' of its combatants, its Stone Bridge, Dunker Church, Sunken Lane, and its horrendous casualties.

Ficção / História