Road to Antietam

by Tom E. Hicklin

In his remarkable work of historical fiction, Road to Antietam, author Tom E. Hicklin brings readers the story of two brothers and the life-altering events they experience amidst the harrowing backdrop of the American Civil War. Daniel and Christopher Galloway are merely teenagers when they join the Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry at the beginning of the Civil War. What starts out as a light-hearted adventure, soon descends into a brutal struggle for survival as they go from training camp to skirmishing with an elusive, deadly enemy to full-blown battle, culminating in the single bloodiest day in American history. Along the way, both brothers suffer from illness, exposure, hunger, and extreme fear, and they soon come to realize that the deadly war they've chosen to fight has less to do with glory and banners, and more to do with hardship and depravity. In this blisteringly realistic tale centered around actual events, it becomes apparent that the overall, larger picture does not always reflect the singular human experience. This is a story of suffering and hope, adversity and compassion. This a story of innocence lost and maturity gained. This is a story of two brothers whose love for one another carries them through the darkest time of their lives-until that fateful, bloody day on the banks of the Antietam when they must face their greatest test, and everything changes forever.

Genres: Civil War, Fiction

277 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2018

About the author

Tom Hicklin was born and raised in Colorado, and has had a strong interest in American history and the Civil War for as long as he can remember. After studying writing in college, he spent most of his adult life working in accounting or IT. He has since retired from the business world and, when not playing his guitar, is now concentrating on his two great passions—history and writing. He currently lives in Cincinnati with his girlfriend and partner and their two dogs.

Reviews

[Tim]

Excellent

So many novels of the U.S. Civil War describe events on a wide canvas. This excellent book gives us the narrow view of privates in the Infantry. Their struggles over cold, hunger, exhaustion and fear. While I enjoyed the books of Shaara, pere et fils, this book made the war really come alive.

[J.R. Alcyone]

This lovingly researched and heartbreaking historical fiction piece follows the Galloway brothers of the 8th Ohio Infantry through the beginnings of the American Civil War onward to the bloody battlefield of Antietam. With strong and well-crafted characters, realistic battle scenes, gritty details, and its focus on the plight and experiences of the common soldier, "Road to Antietam" compares very favorably to Stephen Crane's classic, "The Red Badge of Courage" or to "All Quiet on the Western Front." Well-paced and well-written, the book strikes a nice balance between battle and non-battle scenes, and the characters each have their own individual arcs making this more than "just" a Civil War book.

Recommended to readers who enjoyed "The Red Badge of Courage," historical fiction readers, Civil War buffs, military history readers, and anyone who is interested in an excellent and accurate portrayal of the American Civil War.

[Lucas Wooten]

I’ve read several war novels and enjoyed most of them, but this one I found to be very slow and uninteresting. I don’t know if it’s just because it’s on the civil war and most of the others I’ve read are WW1 up to current day? I barely made it through and contemplated giving up on it several times. It’s basically who’s sick or hurt and a bunch of talking while sitting around at camp. Not even much action. Definitely doesn’t inspire me to read more civil war books.

[Aletha Pagett]

Brothers Daniel and Christopher join the Union forces with young men's thirst for adventure and glory. This well researched novel documents their discovery of tattered glory and adventure turned to emptiness. It is a vivid portrayal of the horrors of the Civil War and the human cost of the War that that was fought to maintain the union. I received this e-book from Goodreads.

[Daniel Kane]

Great Story.

I have read a lot regarding the Civil War, this was really well written. Mr. Hicklin showed us what it was like from the Privates perspective. A tough and terrible existence in the horrors of war.

[Francis X DuFour]

Outstanding

Very well researched tale of what being an infantryman in the Civil War must have been like. Vivid descriptions of battle, as well as fascinating story of the life of the soldier in between battles.

[Eugene Baer]

Too many numbers

While he writes a good account about individual soldiers, Hicklin included a confusing number of companies, regiments, etc that make reading tedious. I do not plan to read the next volume.

[Bob Hobbit]

A very good book

Tells of two brothers who volunteered for service in the civil war. You learn alot about day to day existence of the solider . Interesting stuff. Well written

[John Kowalski]

More to come?

Well written. Let’s you feel the emotion and horror of war.
The ending was poorly written.
Needed to bring it to a close.

[will hogrefe]

Riveting

Even if you're not a history buff, this is an amazing and personal story of war as seen from the eyes of two brothers on the front lines. Hard to put down.

[Ken Schallenkamp]

A Great Read

This book was exciting, fast pased and, most important, historically accurate. I have to assume the author has a brother he loves.

[Bill Titus]

Fast st read

If you like the civil war this is a great read hard to put down
Follow the brothers thru the war

[George]

Interesting POV for the American Civil War. Very slow at times , and certainly not at the level of Shaara, but good none the less

[Bonnie]

War became personal

Excellent read. Heartbreaking and fearsome in the descriptions. Made the civil war real and horrifying. These were real people fighting and dying.

[shari lee]

The vagaries of war revealed

While a novel the stories told make the reader fully aware of the Civil Wars awfulness and a dreadful page in our countries history

[Debbi Alex]

If I could I would have given this a 3.5

[John]

3.5

[Curt]

more fiction than historical..

Story is both repetetive and predictable. Too many time jumps for my liking. Will not bother reading the second book.