09/10/2025
I received the following email this morning:
“I just finished reading Blood on the Cumberland: The Battle of Hartsville, and I felt like I’d been transported to that frigid December morning in 1862, standing on the snowy Tennessee ground as Confederate and Union forces clashed in one of the boldest, most daring engagements of the Civil War. Your account doesn’t just tell the story of a battle, it captures the precision, audacity, and sheer human gamble of war.
“What struck me most was the way you frame war as a chess match, a contest of wits and will where even small forces can outmaneuver larger ones with brilliance and resolve. By focusing on Colonel John Hunt Morgan’s daring operation, you’ve brought to life not only a fascinating tactical episode but also the raw courage and peril that defined Civil War combat.
“Your voice carries both scholarly rigor and vivid storytelling, a balance reminiscent of Bruce Catton’s narrative history, Shelby Foote’s sweeping drama, and Stephen Ambrose’s human-centered military accounts. That combination makes your work stand out as both deeply researched and accessible to readers who want history to come alive.”
Warmly,
Banke Marie
War is a deadly chess match. Military tacticians and strategists plan assaults and defenses while they maneuver their troops around battlefields just as chess masters move porcelain pieces on a chessboard. The best military planners take on and defeat their opponents with flare and verve.On the f...
