What happened at Gettysburg?
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.
As a child, our family visited the battlefield of Gettysburg. I didn’t understand most of what happened but remembered the wide field between the Confederate and Union lines where Pickett and others made their charge.
Story ideas can begin with questions, and I always wondered what happened after the battle. What did the soldiers do after the battle?
What would have happened if the Union had attacked the Confederate lines July 4? And who would have won if the Union confronted the Confederate forces at the Potomac River instead of waiting one more day and allowing them to escape? Outcomes in history can pivot on a single decision.
Questions lead to answers, and I provide what I found in “Impending Love and Capture” when Jess goes to Gettysburg with supplies July 2, 1863 and is captured by Confederate Major Morgan Mackinnon. His sister is shot, and he needs Jess to take care of her as he joins the long wagon train of wounded heading to the Virginia border.
I followed Morgan through the rest of the war, and his regiment surrenders at Appomattox where they receive a pardon. I am amazed at how minor details impact a story. Because Morgan received a pardon, he could return to Washington City and Jess, which provided the happy ending a romance requires.
The story deals with family on both sides and has several subplots. In this series, I take characters from earlier books and introduce them in a later story. Sid was wounded at Antietam and helps run the hotel where Morgan is disguised as a Union sergeant in order to recover from his severe wounds. It increases the tension because Sid would not hesitate to have Morgan arrested as a spy.
“Impending Love and Capture” is a historical romance novel available at http://goo.gl/B7lKMs and other distributors in print and ebook format.
When Jessica Beecher stops to help a wounded soldier on the Gettysburg battlefield, Confederate Major Morgan Mackinnon enlists her skills to nurse his sister. Unable to escape, she waits for Union forces to attack the retreating Confederate Army. But the delay forces Jess to look beyond the gray uniform to the man who has captured her heart.
Morgan can’t let Jess leave when she overhears Lee’s army is retreating during the night. She’s a dangerous woman and not because of the knife she pressed against his throat or the revolver hidden beneath her skirt. The battlefield angel has a face no man can forget, especially when facing death.
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