Midlist Writer: Texas

Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Texas. Show all posts

Saturday, 27 February 2016

Book Review: The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch

The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch

The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch by Jeffrey W. Hunt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On May 12-13, 1865, a month after the surrender at Appomattox and when the Confederacy had all but disappeared east of the Mississippi, there was a final battle in Texas. Oddly enough, it was a Confederate victory, and the Battle of Palmetto Ranch has become part of the Civil War legend.
There are many incorrect beliefs about this battle, such as that the black Union troops broke and the rebels didn't know General Lee had surrendered. In fact, the 62nd USCT was the only Union unit that didn't break, and Texas newspapers had published details about Lee's surrender more than two weeks before the battle. The author even uncovered a letter from a rebel soldier posted at Palmetto Ranch, dated a few days before the fight, talking about Lee's surrender.
This is typical of the deep and detailed research that went into this book. Hunt studies the principal people involved, how the politics south of the border affected the war along the Rio Grande, and gives us insights into the trials and sufferings of the regular soldier. It also includes clear, detailed maps, something that so many military history books lack.
If you want an interesting, quick read on a famous but still somewhat obscure episode of the Civil War, this book is for you.

View all my reviews

Friday, 31 January 2014

Wild West Photo Friday: The Chuck Wagon

Home on the range? When you're on a cattle drive and your bed is a blanket and your pillow is your saddle, then the closest thing to home is the chuck wagon. Even working on the rangeland of one of the big ranches you might be miles from home come lunchtime. This photo was taken by Erwin Smith on the J.A. Ranch, Texas, around 1907. It's titled "A J.A. cook inspecting his stew."

Below is a closeup of the wagon itself. Looks like they got themselves some tasty vittles!

Photo Courtesy Library of Congress.

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The Case of the Purloined Pyramid

The Last Hotel Room

He came to Tangier to die, but life isn’t done with him yet. Tom Miller has lost his job, his wife, and his dreams. Broke and alone, he ends up in a flophouse in Morocco, ready to end it all. But soon he finds himself tangled in a web of danger and duty as he’s pulled into scamming tourists for a crooked cop while trying to help a Syrian refugee boy survive life on the streets. Can a lifelong loser do something good for a change? A portion of my royalties will go to a charity for Syrian refugees.

Warpath into Sonora

Arizona 1846: Nantan, a young Apache warrior, is building a name for himself by leading raids against Mexican ranches to impress his war chief, and the chief’s lovely daughter. But there is one thing he and all other Apaches fear—a ruthless band of Mexican scalp hunters who slaughter entire villages. Nantan and his friends have sworn to fight back, but they are inexperienced, and led by a war chief driven mad with a thirst for revenge. Can they track their tribe’s worst enemy into unknown territory and defeat them?

Radio Hope

In a world shattered by war, pollution and disease. . . A gunslinging mother longs to find a safe refuge for her son. A frustrated revolutionary delivers water to villagers living on a toxic waste dump. The assistant mayor of humanity's last city hopes he will never have to take command. One thing gives them the promise of a better future--Radio Hope, a mysterious station that broadcasts vital information about surviving in a blighted world. But when a mad prophet and his army of fanatics march out of the wildlands on a crusade to purify the land with blood and fire, all three will find their lives intertwining, and changing forever.

Refugees from the Righteous Horde (Toxic World Book 2)

When you only have one shot, you better aim true. In a ravaged world, civilization’s last outpost is reeling after fighting off the fanatical warriors of the Righteous Horde. Sheriff Annette Cruz becomes New City’s long arm of vengeance as she sets off across the wildlands to take out the cult’s leader. All she has is a sniper’s rifle with one bullet and a former cultist with his own agenda. Meanwhile, one of the cult’s escaped slaves makes a discovery that could tear New City apart. . . Refugees from the Righteous Horde continues the Toxic World series started in Radio Hope, an ongoing narrative of humanity’s struggle to rebuild the world it ruined.

The Scavenger

In a world shattered by war, pollution, and disease, a lone scavenger discovers a priceless relic from the Old Times. The problem is, it's stuck in the middle of the worst wasteland he knows--a contaminated city inhabited by insane chem addicts and vengeful villagers. Only his wits, his gun, and an unlikely ally can get him out alive. Set in the Toxic World series introduced in the novel Radio Hope, this 10,000-word story explores more of the dangers and personalities that make up a post-apocalyptic world that's all too possible.

Trench Raiders

September 1914: The British Expeditionary Force has the Germans on the run, or so they think. After a month of bitter fighting, the British are battered, exhausted, and down to half their strength, yet they’ve helped save Paris and are pushing toward Berlin. Then the retreating Germans decide to make a stand. Holding a steep slope beside the River Aisne, the entrenched Germans mow down the advancing British with machine gun fire. Soon the British dig in too, and it looks like the war might grind down into deadly stalemate. Searching through No-Man’s Land in the darkness, Private Timothy Crawford of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry finds a chink in the German armor. But can this lowly private, who spends as much time in the battalion guardhouse as he does on the parade ground, convince his commanding officer to risk everything for a chance to break through?