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A Desperate Cattle Drive Out of Texas During The Great American Civil War
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The night following the second day of the Civil War battle of Pittsburg Landing two enemies, a Confederate Lieutenant and a Union Corporal must agree to an uneasy pact for their mutual survival. In the book "Burnin' Daylight!" the pair finally reach the Hill Country of Texas. There they are confronted with the dark economic circumstances The War has brought, the realization in 1863 of the Confederacy's eventual defeat, and the need to find enough Yankee gold to preserve this lifestyle and a lifetime of work. Their only weapon for survival: the wild, maverick cattle in the breaks and canyons of west Texas. Thus begins the desperate task of rounding up wild cattle and driving the herd to the Union forts in New Mexico Territory to sell for gold. Along the trail this undermanned crew will fight a gang of would-be assassins, a waterless desert crossing, raiding Apache Indians that outnumber them 10 to 1 and floods along the Pecos River. The crew, Mexican horse-thieves, a one-eyed Irishman, a freed former slave, a Texas ranch owner, the former Confederate Lieutenant and the Union Corporal will attempt to do something with 1700 head of wild cattle that had never been attempted before. Get caught-up in their high adventure as the rich, but little known history of this Great War in the west unfolds around them.
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About the Book
In 1863, Confederate Texas begins to encounter the near hopeless economic circumstances that The War has brought and that will only worsen with the eventual surrender of the Confederacy. Their only weapon for survival: wild maverick cattle. The Yankee gold needed to preserve and protect a lifestyle and a lifetime of work can only be found by rounding up wild cattle out of the breaks and canyons of west Texas and driving them to the Union forts in New Mexico Territory. This undermanned crew will fight a gang of would-be assassins, a waterless desert crossing, raiding Apache Indians that outnumber them 10 to 1 and floods along the Pecos River. Follow this war-time crew of Mexican horse thieves, a one-eyed Irishman. a freed former slave, a desperate Texas ranch owner, a former Confederate Lieutenant and a Union Corporal as they attempt to do something with 1700 head of wild cattle in the middle of the 1863 American Civil War that had never been done before. Get caught-up in their high adventure as the rich, but little known history of this great war in the west unfolds around them.
About the Author
Mr. Wallis is a decorated veteran of the Korean War and a retired senior business executive. A native of Iowa he now makes his home in Niceville, FL. This is his second adventure novel set during the early days of the American Civil War in the west, and is the sequel to "Burnin' Daylight!", which Barnes & Noble described as a "breakout book". Mr. Wallis has spent many years of research on this phase of The War, has walked every battlefield and location use in each of his books. and has borrowed heavily on the Civil War locations and experiences of his Great-grandfather, John Wallis, a Private in the Iowa 19th Volunteer Regiment of General Grant's Army of The Frontier.