POINT LOOKOUT A Civil War Story

By Fredd Snell

The Civil War forever changed the South and impacted combatants and civilians alike. Every aspect of Southern cultural and economic life -- especially the "peculiar institution" of slavery -- was uprooted. The War also forever changed the lives of every soldier and civilian who endured four years of horrendous total war combat and the atrocities that were committed on both sides. Non-professional, amateur soldiers overcame personal, moral dilemmas and learned the lessons of combat, becoming killers in the process. One of these transformed participants is Private George Corbett, who struggles with inner demons for permitting his underage son, Harley, to enlist in the 8th Virginia Cavalry when the Civil War started. He sees Harley wounded and taken prisoner by the Yankees at the Battle of Dry Creek (later known as the Battle of White Sulphur Springs). Harley is imprisoned at the Union prisoner of war camp at Point Lookout, Maryland - the Andersonville of the North - where he suffers greatly from starvation and terrible, unsanitary conditions. Many thousands of Confederate prisoners died at Point Lookout from a variety of causes. During the Valley Campaign of July 1864, when General Jubal Early was attacking Washington D.C., General Robert E. Lee ordered Early to dispatch a large cavalry force to support Confederate seaborne commandos in a secret combined service mission to attack Point Lookout Prisoner of War camp and free the 20,000 prisoners being held there. Private George Corbett, and the 8th Virginia Cavalry, are participants in this cavalry raid which becomes a personal secret mission to free his own son. The daring raid faces great obstacles. Corbett is personally devastated when the raid is eventually aborted. As the war progresses, the intensity of violence increases, involving greater numbers of combatants and greater numbers of casualties. Total War scorched earth tactics become the norm. From the burning of Atlanta to the atrocity of burning the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, the scorched earth warfare brings the horrors of war to the civilian population and armed combatants in ways never seen before. Total War tactics take a personal toll on George Corbett. War inexorably transforms him from the introverted school master that he was at the war's beginning into a disillusioned veteran who questions every aspect of the war -- and especially the slavery issue that caused the war. Another Corbett family relation, a cruel uncle known as "Devil Steve," takes pride in punishing the slaves of other slave owners when they are not able or willing to do so themselves. Big Jake, a slave that he severely mistreats before the War begins, eventually runs away from his master and is picked up as contraband by Union forces. Big Jake enlists in the Union Army, when black regiments were initially being formed, and is among the first black troops assigned as guards to Point Lookout - where former slaves were now guarding former masters. "Devil Steve" had also been wounded, taken prisoner, and was incarcerated, along with his nephew Harley, at Point Lookout at that same time. The dramatic confrontation between "Devil Steve" and Big Jake is a story of revenge and retribution.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1973267233
• ISBN13: 9781973267232
• Release Date: November 2017
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 455 Pages
• Weight: 1.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.1" x 6.0"