David's diary--Sunday, November 20, 1864: "...give a man all the comforts in the world and deprive him of his liberty & what is he?--a poor miserable being..."
Ohio Valley 1861 to 1865:
Americans killing Americans. Washington politicians and generals believe that the Civil War will end in one hundred days.
David Longacher enlists. Once he arrives at camp, he is already longing for home. Only the mail keeps him in touch with his beloved family and dear friends. His odyssey will be long and perilous. He carries with him a diary, which will become his shield and sword.
After training, he and his company march off to the Wilderness in Virginia, the same battleground his cousin, Charles Allen, is fighting in but on the Confederacy's side.
David is wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness. His company, on the orders of General Grant, marches on to Monocacy Junction to ward off the Rebs who are attempting to capture the White House.
David is wounded a second time. General Early's Confederate Army retreats from Monocacy Junction drawing the Union Army further south. Part of General Grant's Army of the Potomac surrenders. David and his comrades are captured. At Danville Prison, David discovers that more soldiers die from smallpox and dysentery than in battle. He helplessly witnesses men reach their highest levels of depredation.
The prisoners survive on fouled rations. The prison lacks heat. The crowded conditions force them to step over one another. Without latrine privileges, the floor where they sleep is covered with their own bodily waste. David's diary entries become his will to live.
Part One of this novel is "The Story." Part Two is "The Diary." Many books on the Civil War are from the writings of Generals, politicians, and historians. "Cry Uncle, Sumbody" is from the writings of a common foot soldier.
