The Unionist: A Novel of the Civil War

In 1862, a young man from Milledgeville, Georgia who was loyal to the Union, and against the institution of slavery, left his uncle's cotton plantation, and traveled to Huntsville, Alabama. There he joined the First Alabama Union Cavalry Regiment. He was later appointed the commander of his company, and in 1864, was selected to command the escort cavalry of General William T. Sherman during the March to the Sea. This novel is based on the service history of David R. Snelling, and it describes his life and times in the volunteer Union service. Snelling becomes an eyewitness to history, as he accompanies General Sherman from Atlanta to Durham Station. Snelling's career as a Union officer takes him to Stones River, Abel Streight's Raid, Dallas, Monroe's Cross Roads, and Nashville as he fights to preserve the Union. The epilogue chronicles David's widow's claim for a pension after his death in 1903. Claim examiners from the Bureau of Pensions comb the South to ascertain the facts about the life and history of a Union loyal Southern man.