Best Little Stories

The Civil WAR You Never Knew... Behind the bloody battles, strategic marches, and decorated generals lie more than 100 intensely personal, true stories you haven't heard before. In Best Little Stories from the Civil War, soldiers describe their first experiences in battle, women observe the advances and retreats of armies, spies recount their methods, and leaders reveal the reasoning behind many of their public actions. Fascinating characters come to life, including: Former U.S. Senator Robert Toombs of Georgia, who warned the Confederate cabinet not to fall for Lincoln's trap by firing on reinforcements, thereby allowing Lincoln to claim the South had fired the first shots of the war at Fort Sumter. Brig. Gen. Stephen A. Hurlbut, who disbanded the 13th Independent Battery, Ohio Light Artillery, scattered its men, gave its guns to other units, and ordered its officers home, accusing all of cowardly performance in battle. Thomas N. Conrad, a Confederate spy operating in Washington, who warned Richmond of both the looming Federal Peninsula campaign in the spring of 1863 and the attack at Fredericksburg later that year. Private Franklin Thomson of Michigan, born as Sarah Emma Edmonds, who fought in uniform for the Union during the war and later was the only female member of the postwar Union Grand Army of the Republic.

Beyond the deadly skirmishes, determined generals, and carefully penned words of a powerful declaration lie countless forgotten stories that tell the tale of our nation's birth. Read intimate accounts of the fight for independence as colonial families recall their tense encounters with brutal British soldiers, women participate in military initiatives and become powerful social advocates, and leaders reveal the intricacies of their motivations and personal lives. Join the ranks of America's first Patriots as they unite to declare their independence: Old Man Wyman of Woburn, nothing more than a mysterious and deadly figure atop a white horse, mounted a solitary pursuit against the British as they retreated from Concord back to Boston, effectively striking fear deep into the hearts of the redcoats as he diminished their numbers one-by-one. Inventor David Bushnell, desperate to aid the outnumbered American naval forces, both befuddled and alarmed British forces when he devised a working prototype for the world's first underwater torpedo and-most impressively – a submersible boat dubbed the 'Turtle,' America's first submarine. South Carolina sisters-in-law Grace and Rachel Martin, carrying rifles and dressed in their husbands' clothing, intercepted important dispatches bound for a nearby British fort when they ambushed the courier and two armed escorts by brandishing their weapons and speaking with deep voices.