Death on the River: Andersonville 1865

By John Wilson

Book Overview

"This riveting look at the Civil War's horrifying Andersonville prison through the eyes of an 18-year-old inmate has the power to shock and to compel...a tension-filled story packed with appalling events that really happened...This engrossing novel leaves an enduring impression." (Kirkus Reviews)

After the older brother he worshipped is killed in battle, Jake Clay joins the Union Army in the spring of 1864, determined to do his bit and honor his brother's death. His dreams of glory vanish, however, when he is wounded and taken prisoner in his first battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia, and confined to the Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, where 30,000 soldiers face violence, disease and starvation. Frightened and disillusioned, Jake takes up with Billy Sharp, an unscrupulous opportunist who shows him how to survive, no matter what the cost. By the war's end Jake's sleep is haunted by the ghosts of those who have died so he could live. When the camp is liberated, Jake and Billy head north on the Mississippi riverboat Sultana, overcrowded far beyond its capacity. Unknown to Jake, the fateful journey up river will come closer to killing him than Andersonville did, but it will also provide him with his one chance at redemption.

"...this is a thoughtful, provocative work." (Booklist 2009-10-15)

" Wilson] has captured the struggles of young soldiers faced with making impossible choices in order to survive in war...Wilson's gripping descriptions of bloody battles, abominable prison conditions, and man's inhumanity to man will capture the imagination of readers." (Resource Links)

"Wilson paints an engrossing picture of the brutal life of these soldiers" (Quill & Quire)

"This book does a great job of depicting the horrors of war...The accuracy of the story is amazing, the characters are well-developed, and the plot is engaging. Readers who like historical fiction, war stories, and survival books will all enjoy reading Death on the River." (TeensReadToo.com)

"A well-written book that will provide the reader with an understanding and] insight into the perils of war...Recommended." (Tri State YA Book Review Committee)

"Illustrates very well that under circumstances like these, there are no easy, "good" choices, and it avoids casting "good" and "bad" around North/South lines...The depiction of the harsh life of a prison camp is accurate and worth a read." (CCYAB Book Notes)

The Caught in Conflict Collection is an imprint of fast-paced, historically accurate, morally-complex quick reads for Adults and Teens. In each of the titles the main character(s) (a Roman Legionary; a civilian in the Indian Mutiny; volunteers on both sides of the American Civil War; a Scottish soldier in WWI; a holidaymaker in Spain when the civil war breaks out there; and German and Russian soldiers in WWII), become enmeshed in conflicts immensely more complex than they anticipated and are faced with moral dilemmas that they never even imagined. The historical background to each of the dramas is extensively researched and the moral dilemmas are common to all human conflict.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0C6WSWP7C
• ISBN13: 9798223701224
• Release Date: May 2023
• Publisher: John Wilson
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

"It reminds me that I am alive."

Young Jake Clay managed to get himself into the American Civil War just long enough to have his brains scrambled by a blow to the head at the battle of Cold Harbor. But, as it turned out, he was one of the lucky ones because he fell so close to the Confederate lines that he was almost immediately snatched up and taken prisoner. Others, less fortunate, died miserable deaths in the field when General Grant refused a truce during which the dead and wounded from both armies could be cleared from the battlefield. It is the first taste of battle for Jake Clay and, as big a shock as battle is, he is about to get an even bigger one when he arrives at the Confederate prison in Andersonville, Georgia. Naïve young man that he is, Jake soon finds himself giving William Collins all the cash he has in exchange for promised protection that will help ensure his survival despite the horrible living conditions of the prison camp. Collins, a former big city street thug, is the self-appointed leader of what he calls Mosby's Raiders, criminals who kill and steal from their fellow prisoners at will. Jake Clay entered Andersonville Prison an innocent boy with high expectations of himself but, by the time he left the camp, he had condoned behavior that shamed him. He might be barely alive, but to stay out of the Andersonville cemetery he had done things, or allowed them to be done on his behalf, that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Little did Jake know that his journey home at the end of the war would offer him a final chance at redemption - an opportunity that would almost kill him in the process. "Death on the River," aimed at the Teen Market, offers a realistic look at Civil War fighting and the horrors of Andersonville Prison without over-focusing on the gory details. Jake Clay is a Union Army volunteer primarily because his older brother has already been lost in battle and Jake wants to honor his brother's memory. Jake, though, like most soldiers of the period, has little idea what he is getting himself into as his first battle approaches and, like so many others, his first fight will be his last. This historical coming-of-age novel is so filled with adventure that it might very well lead its young readers to search for more books on the American Civil War, much as I did at that age after I read "Red Badge of Courage" for the first time. Several decades later, I still find myself drawn to Civil War fiction, new histories of the war, and biographies of those who played a role in it. Here's hoping that books like "Death on the River" help spawn a new generation of amateur historians who will move on to Civil War fiction classics such as MacKinlay Kantor's "Andersonville," winner of the 1956 Pulitzer Prize, or Michael Shaara's "The Killer Angels," another Pulitzer winner (1975).