Why did the Union lose at Bull Run?
When I studied history in high school and college, the emphasis was on what happened more than why it happened. In my historical romance novels, I try to look at history from the characters’ perspectives and show the impact on them.
Bull Run, the first major battle of the Civil War, was expected to be an easy win for the North but turned into a disaster when soldiers ran off the battlefield and kept running until they reached Washington, D.C.
What happened? In my historical romance novel, “Impending Love and Death” the hero, Logan Pierce, searches for answers for the failure. The heroine, Jem Beecher Collins, is seeking news about her missing husband. Their paths collide when she nearly runs him over with her buggy.
Both interview soldiers who were at the battle and are licking their wounds from an unexpected defeat before returning home. Superiors blamed the three-month enlistment and lack of training on the failure, and President Abraham Lincoln asks for three-year enlistments.
But the Confederate soldiers also had only three months to train. What was the real reason for the loss? Logan and Jem uncover several explanations: There was confusion because each regiment had its own uniform with some Union soldiers wearing gray and some Southern soldiers wearing blue. Other reasons include men who bought their commissions and knew nothing about commanding men in a battle; soldiers who began fighting at dawn were still on the battlefield in the evening; and ammunition wagons were removed from the battlefield leaving soldiers with empty guns.
I don’t expect readers to agree with everything the characters discover, but I hope it creates a dialogue that can be shared with other readers and those interested in Civil War battles. The Union would go on to using trenches and remaining behind barriers instead of marching through cornfields but not before many men died in open fields.
“Impending Love and Death takes place in 1861 with Jem going by train from Ohio to Washington City and then searching the prison in Richmond for answers. Logan must confront his family shame and risk his life to find happiness. The historic romance novel is available at http://goo.gl/B7lKMs and other distributors in print and ebook format.
Politician Logan Pierce visits Darrow Falls, Ohio, to enlist support for the Union cause. There, he meets the beautiful and strong-willed Jem Collins and insists she remain at home for news of her husband, Ben, after the Battle of Bull Run, but she ignores his advice. Jem knows something is wrong when Ben doesn’t send word he has survived the first major battle of the Civil War.
Jem travels to Washington City with Logan to search for news of Ben and uses her nursing skills to care for the wounded. When Logan kisses her, she resolves to remain faithful to her vows of marriage, but can she? Hearing news Ben may be a prisoner, she leaves the federal capital for Richmond but doesn’t return. Can Logan wait, fearing for her fate, or does he risk capture and hanging as a spy by following into enemy territory?
#romance #CivilWar #historical #BullRun
