Society of Civil War Historians features my novels

The Society of Civil War Historians has featured my Civil War novels on their website.  The name of the article is HISTORY INTO FICTION:  WRITING CIVIL WAR NOVELS.  Click here to read the article.

Hiram's Honor and Hiram's Hope at Marion Library, Marion, Ks

On March 17, 2015 I presented a reading and map of events in Hiram's Honor and Hiram's Hope to a group of about 20 at Marion Library in Marion, Kansas. Questions centered on the life of the common Civil War soldier,Andersonville, Civil War ancestors, and writing-storytelling styles.  Signed and personalized copies of books were provided for donations to the library.

Hiram's Honor and Hiram's Hope at Little Pleasures in Hillsboro, Ks

Little Pleasures, 119 N Main St, Hillsboro, KS, has Hiram's Honor and Hiram's Hope available for purchase.

Hiram's Hope in Ohio and Michigan

We just returned from an enjoyable trip to Historic Zoar Village in Zoar, Ohio and the Hardin County Museum in Kenton, Ohio where we had book signing events. From there we went to Coldwater, Michigan to drop some books off at Taylor's Bookstore. 

TWO REVIEWS OF HIRAM'S HOPE

Two reviews of Hiram's Hope, the sequel to Hiram's Honor have been received. To see the reviews, click here.

The Andersonville Survivors Trek to Vicksburg To Be Paroled

 

 

I am writing the later chapters of Hiram's Hope and have needed an historical account detailing the experiences of Andersonville survivors leaving the prison in late March 1865 on their way to Vicksburg for parole and freedom. I found some first hand accounts (such as the very good account by Chester Berry and a diary by Smith) and a useful book entitled TRANSPORT TO DISASTER by James W. Elliott (published in 1962). Written by a descendent of an Andersonville survivor, the book provides a very readable account of the ordeals of prisoners from Cahaba and Andersonville as they make their way by rail and steamboat across Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, eventually winding up in Vicksburg only to board the ill-fated Sultana that exploded north of Memphis killing most of those aboard.  These are challenging chapters to write as I try to imagine the sights, sounds, thoughts, and conversations that occurred. 

I Met Abraham Lincoln in Florida

While in Florida I met Abraham Lincoln impersonator Chet Damron.  We talked about Lincoln's personality and the effect he had on soldiers.  My ancestor Private Hiram Terman saw President Lincoln in person on April 9, 1863 at a review of the army near Stafford Virginia just before the battle of Chancellorsville.  Many soldiers expressed how the review and seeing Abe Lincoln gave them new hope and confidence.  I put this in Hiram's Honor.  I felt a little of what my ancestor might have experienced as I talked to "old Abe" in person so to speak. For free chapters to explore in Hiram's Honor, see

http://tinyurl.com/7pg7tfr     Gettysburg

http://tinyurl.com/6n495ql   Andersonville Prison

http://tinyurl.com/6urlc8m   Belle Island Prison

Pathway to Hell by Dennis W. Brandt

Surgeons examining Andersonville prison survivor--the physical damage was only part of the story

I have just finished reading Pathway to Hell: A Tragedy of the American Civil War by Dennis W. Brandt.  It is the story of one Civil War soldier, Angelo Crapsey, who might have suffered from what we today call PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), what then was termed nostalgia, soldier's heart, or a variety of other terms, if it was identified at all.  Private Crapsey, who committed suicide after the war, left a series of letters that along with other historical documents and records, were psychologically analyzed by author Brandt, looking for evidence that this soldier exhibited PTSD. I read this book in hopes of getting insights into what my ancestor may have faced as a result of his war and prison ordeals.  Few books have dealt with this topic for Civil War soldiers and I found the information very helpful in understanding what Private Terman and his family might have faced after the Civil War, the basis for my sequel.

The Untried Life: the 29th OVI in the Civil War by James T. Fritsh

Battle of Cedar Mountain where both the 29th and 82nd Ohio were engaged.

I have just finished reading The Untried Life: the 29th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War by James T. Fritch.  I hoped to find some stories from the 29th OVI that would shed more light on the what happened to soldiers in Private Terman's regiment, the 82nd Ohio.  Both regiments came from northern Ohio and fought in some of the same battles, such as Cedar Mountain, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg.  What I found was an exceptionally well-written, researched, and documented book with many details coming out of the Giddings Regiment (also called the Abolitionist Regiment named after Congressman J. R Giddings of Ohio).  One that comes to mind was of a sane inmate of an "Insane Asylum" in the south that the boys of the 29th uncovered toward the end of the war.  This sane and intelligent man had been put there by his father to prevent him from enlisting with the Union.  Every page has many such accounts along with the names of the soldiers who lived the stories.  It is a long book of 501 pages and each page is printed in small type but I found myself thoroughly enjoying the journey.

Civil War Monument Quincy Michigan

Many towns have Civil War monuments honoring the regiments that came from that town.  This monument is in the cemetery at Quincy, Michigan.  I came across it while visiting relatives, my brother-in-law showed it to  me. Viewing this statue and the writings on its side caused me to relive the poignant events I described in Hiram's Honor.  Relive the battle of Gettysburg here.

PBS show Death and the American Civil War

PBS presentation American Experience "Death and the American Civil War".  Some estimates say over 750,000 persons may have died in the conflict.  In writing Hiram's Honor, scenes like this appeared often in my imagination.  See the film at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/death/player/

Hiram's Honor at Warren County Historical Society

Hiram's Honor is available at the Warren County Historical Society gift shop/bookstore in Lebanon, Ohio.

THIS HALLOWED GROUND Bruce Catton

Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania.  I just finished reading THIS HALLOWED GROUND by Bruce Catton.  This celebrated book is the complete story of the Civil War as seen from the Union side. Catton is expert at bringing in the human aspects of historical fact and the personalities involved in the Civil War.  I found his writing an inspiration to writing my chapters in Hiram's Hope in a way that captures the war up close and personal. 

Civil War Prisoners of War

The prisoners of war returning from Andersonville and other prisons not only suffered the numbing terror of horrendous battles but had to endure the grinding misery of starvation in the prison camps.  The sequel to Hiram's Honor, tentatively titled Hiram's Hope, examines how my ancestor Private Hiram Terman, coped after his return.  Based on his pension files, it is a novel about how again, as in battle, the help of his comrades lifts him from lonely isolation to a life of hope.

“As for myself, I never felt so utterly depressed, cursed, and God-forsaken in all my life before. All my former experiences in battles, on marches, and at my capture were not a drop in the bucket as compared with this.” —Walter E. Smith, Pvt., Co. K, 14th Illinois Infantry commenting on his time at Andersonville

Freeman by Leonard Pitts, Jr.

I have just finished reading Leonard Pitts, Jr. novel Freeman about an educated ex-slave and Union soldier who ventures into the South after the close of the Civil War to look for his wife who he left behind 15 years earlier when he escaped slavery.  The novel gives a close up look at what it was like for a black man traveling in the turmoil of the war-torn and unsettled southern states.  Also portrayed is an attempt by a northern woman to establish a school for freed slaves in a small southern town.  I found the novel well-written and revealing of the cultural divides that existed at that time.   It gave me a feel for the period my great uncle lived in after his return from his  hard service with the 82nd Ohio in the Civil War. 

Stephen Crane and the Battle of Chancellorsville

The site of Stonewall Jackson's flank attack at Chancellorsville.  My ancestor and the 82d Ohio were in the back center of this view and he narrowly escaped the onslaught.  Chancellorsville was most likely the battle in Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage (see this website).  Crane's novel inspired my use of the first person and the perspective of the common soldier in Hiram's Honor. 

The Reminiscences Of Carl Shurz

I just finished reading the memoirs of General Carl Shurz, the commanding general of the 11th Corps, 82nd Ohio, and Private Terman at Gettysburg.  His account of the events of July 1, 1863 from the view of the commander on a hill match the events that happened to my ancestor who was fighting on the ground north of Gettysburg.   Click here to relive Private Terman's ordeal at Gettysburg.  Also, I learned much about events immediately following the Civil War that will help in writing my sequel to Hiram's Honor.  Click here  to read this memoir.

Historical Novel Society Review of Hiram's Honor

I was pleased to get this review by the Historical Novel Society.  "The book is well-written and the character building is excellent. Max Teman offers the reader a realistic and detailed account of the battles and what camp life was like for the soldiers. I felt as if I were there witnessing first-hand what they were going through. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover the author is a descendant of Hiram, which made the story all the more interesting to read. I highly recommend this book to readers who are interested in this period of time in U.S. history."  For complete review see http://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/hirams-honor/.

Second Manassas by Scott Patchan

Where the 82nd Ohio under General Robert Milroy slowed down the attack by Confederate General James Longstreet on August 30, 1862 allowing the Federal Army to escape at the Battle of Second Manassas (Second Bull Run).  I just finished reading the fine account of Longstreet's attack detailed in Scott C. Patchan's Second Manassass: Longstreet's Attack and the Struggle for Chinn Ridge.  I was pleased to confirm the position of my ancestor's 82nd Ohio regiment in this approximate area on the Sudley Road across from the Visitor's Center.  The landmark Stone House can be seen in the background.

Book Club Wichita, Kansas

I attended the Chautauqua Book Club in Wichita, Kansas who had chosen Hiram's Honor as their Book Club selection for the month.  The discussion quickly focused on the characters in Hiram's Honor  (Hiram, Seth, and Isaiah) and why did I give them the personality traits that I did in this true but dramatized story.  Much of this came from the Civil War letters and the issues that were mentioned and the men as they described themselves.  Other traits came from my perspective as a descendent of the main character in the story.  We also discussed the concept of "honor" and what it meant as Hiram and his friends endured marches, battles, camp life, and most importantly the horrors of prisons like Andersonville.  Honor here became a matter of keeping one's humanity amidst the storm of survival.