Civil War Sergeant
by
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The enemy shelling was having its effect upon all of us. Some were beginning to panic; some sat or lay on the ground, holding their heads and ears in an attempt to shut out the din of constant explosions; a few had collapsed in trembling fear. Not many were hit, but the constant bombardment was having a disabling effect on us. We even began to hope that they would attack soon since an attack would mean the end of the shelling once they approached our lines. A few wounded walked or were carried to areas behind our lines, leaving their rifles with the ones who remained. I now had three loaded rifles and two muskets beside me, each with a fixed bayonet. I was ready for the enemy as I could be. In front of our stone fence of fortifications, behind which blue clad Union troops hid, I could see our skirmishers waiting. They would be the first to receive the enemy and would scramble back if there was a serious attack. Beyond them were the pleasant Pennsylvania fields, bisected by the Emmitsburg Road. The fences were mostly broken down. A little before three in the afternoon, after almost two hours of constant shelling, the rebel cannonade suddenly ceased. There was an audible sigh of relief from all of us. My head still hurt as if it were in a vice; my ears rang and I felt as if suspended on the point of a bayonet. As the smoke rose off the plain in front of us, we could see rebel troops coming out of the woods and lining up in front of the trees on Seminary Ridge. It had become so quiet that we could hear the faint jingle of their equipment. We watched fascinated as their skirmishers rose in unison and moved toward us into the open fields. Their main body formed their ranks and started their advance toward us in parade fashion, their battle flags draping forward in the still afternoon. "My god! Look at them!" exclaimed someone. "There's thousands of them!" "Here they come!" "Come on, you bastards!" yelled Jim Wright. "We'll get you for Fredericksburg this time!" The other men caught his fever and started chanting, "Remember Fredericksburg!" The smoke now cleared completely; we could see their rifles and bayonets flashing in the sunlight, an awesome sight as two long columns started approaching us, now nearly a mile away across the open field. We began to hear the murmur of their voices and the tinkle of their equipment, like a low wave, as they came nearer. The dust and chaff of the fields rose around them. On they came, pausing only briefly as a fence or other obstacle got in their way. We watched the two lines merge into one as they neared the Emmitsburg Road, over a thousand yards in front of us. Most of the line that was south of the Codori Farm veered slightly to their left and joined the group coming directly at us in a vast phalanx. We were their target! The whole attack was aimed directly at us!
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About the Book
Try to imagine that you are a young Union infantry soldier and that you are marching toward your hometown of Gettysburg to fight what is to become the greatest battle of the Civil War. Owen Young is doing just that. He has already tasted Union failures at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and now he must help to defend his own home against the forces of the seemingly indomitable Robert E. Lee. Sergeant Owen Young is among the first infantry soldiers to face Lee’s army and to later repulse the famous Picket’s Charge on the third day of the battle. His fighting is far from over as he participates in nearly all the battles fought by the Army of the Potomac until Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomatox. Owen’s best friend Jim Wright has a sister with whom Owen falls in love. Virginia Wright is very unlike the clinging vine types who are so often portrayed. Like Owen’s Abolitionist mother, she is strong as well as beautiful. But there is mystery and romance in the story that are introduced in the Prologue and not solved until the very end of the novel. Civil War Sergeant is a fast-moving epic story of the GIs, the grunts, who did the fighting in the American Civil War.
About the Author
Many of you may already have met William Keim when 1st Books Library last summer published his novel And Youth Was Gone, a highly autobiographical study of his own life in the military during World War II.
Again, in Civil War Sergeant, William Keim takes one back to another war viewed this time from the mind of a sergeant who fought in that war. The author, a retired teacher and school superintendent, grew up in the small town of Meadville, Pennsylvania, where as a child, he often watched parades in which a few Civil War veterans participated. His memories of several childhood conversations with these old fighters led him to study that war with great care and to the writing of this novel.
Like millions of veterans of World War II, where William Keim was a medic, he came home and was educated at Allegheny College, Penn State, Delaware and several other colleges through the famous GI Bill. He started his long educational career in 1949 and is happy to say that he still hears often from his former students, many of whom are now senior citizens, themselves.
For William Keim, teaching was both a love and really full-time occupation. Outside of some professional writings about education, he had little time to write fiction – something he has always wanted to do. Retirement after ten years as an innovative school superintendent has offered that opportunity to write. He feels fortunate that he has been given the time to pursue a second career. He and his wife, who has Alzheimer’s, now reside in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He currently is writing a third novel and taking care of his beloved wife who he feels deserves most of the credit for being able to pursue his careers.