The Adventure: SANDRA MERVILLE HART, The Story Behind the Story, part 1

This is the “story behind the story” of how my Civil War romance set during the Battle of Gettysburg, A Rebel in My House, was born. 
Something drew me yet again to Gettysburg. I knew a story awaited me. My husband and I walked the battlefields. Ideas stirred when I found Tennessee troops with the brigade who began the fighting on the first day. Nothing solidified so I kept digging.
I discovered fascinating history at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at the Gettysburg Seminary Ridge Museum. Surely my story touched this place. After spending several hours wandering the museum and surroundings … nothing. I trudged on.
I explored Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center, Gettysburg Museum of History, Gettysburg Railroad Station, General Lee’s Headquarters Museum, and The David Wills House where President Lincoln stayed. I learned intriguing facts at the Jennie Wade House, Shriver House Museum, and “The Women of Gettysburg Tour,” an evening walking tour.

Ideas strengthened. My husband and I walked the town’s streets around the “Diamond”—the town square where women and children suffered a nightmare from which they didn’t awaken for many months. Then we spent another afternoon and evening at the battlefield.
Three Tennessee regiments fought the beginning battle on July 1st. They didn’t fight again until they joined in Pickett’s Charge on the battle’s final day.  
The sun sank low on the horizon as I stood alone on Cemetery Ridge reflecting over the expansive field crossed by Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863. Though the land is peaceful once more, it still tells a story. My imagination soared while the sun disappeared.
I had to tell what the townspeople endured. What if a Gettysburg seamstress fell in love with a Confederate soldier? What if they both made promises to loved ones? Some promises are impossible to keep …
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