Hillcountry Warriors
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
In the antebellum American South, a family who were among the first to enter east central Mississippi in the 1830s are forced into the Civil War despite their opposition to slavery. Many hardships in the unspoiled wilderness, their unusual friendship with the native Choctaws, and extreme trials following the crushing events of defeat in the war are woven into this story that takes the reader back into an era when a society that supported slavery as an institution was considered both moral and necessary. JOHNNY NEIL SMITH has always been interested in history and as an educator in Mississippi and Georgia, has taught Mississippi, Georgia, American and World History. He is now retired as headmaster of Piedmont Academy in Monticello, Georgia. Over the years, he has spent numerous hours reading about the War Between the States and visiting battlefields where his great-grandfathers fought. The main character, John Wilson, was named after his grandfather and many of the accounts of battle and prison life relate to his great grandfather, Joseph Williams, who lost an arm in the battle for Atlanta and was sent to a Federal prison in Illinois. Smith has tried to recapture the emotion that existed during this time in history as was told to him by people who lived during that era. In one sense, this is their story.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Drawing heavily from his own family history, first-time author Smith portrays the Old South in transition during the mid-19th century, examining social changes through the lens of two feuding white families. After the two Wilson brothers, Lott and Jake, journey from Georgia to Mississippi, they establish an unusually warm relationship with the native Choctaw Indians. The Wilsons have no such friendship with the Ollivers, however, thanks to a serious conflict between Frank Olliver and Lott Wilson's son John. Frank and John are best friends until they both fall in love with a comely neighbor, Rebecca, who returns John's ardor. Frank persuades John to leave Mississippi and join him in fighting for the Confederacy. After his father pays a substitute to take his son's place in the army, however, Frank quickly courts and marries Rebecca, who mistakenly believes that John has been killed at Gettysburg. When John returns, the story leads inexorably to a predictably heartrending romantic resolution. Smith, a longtime teacher of American history, creates some stirring Civil War scenes and details the conflicts between former masters and slaves. Incidents involving the Choctaw are equally compelling, especially when the tribe is forced to flee to the Oklahoma Territory. While the writing is excessively earnest, Smith's command of the era's politics and history and his feel for Southern family relationships make this tale an above-par work of period fiction.
