I really enjoyed this one, Patrick. Private Holliday’s disappearing face was one of those moments that made the story really cinematic. You mentioned this is part of a larger work, I’ll going to have to read more!
Wow! I’m glad you liked it! The Wine-Dark Tennessee is intended to be a retelling of part of the civil war in the style of the Iliad— as if the Civil War were the Iliad of America. It’s a wip. I’ll keep working on it. Thank you again!❤️
A beautifully written historical fiction. Thank you for bringing this page of history to life for me. The contrast between the wonders of Tennessee in bloom with the horrors of war is quite poignant.
Thank you so much for reading. I’m glad you enjoyed it and I’m grateful for all the work you put into making this vernal horror project come together— it was immense.
Certainly! It's definitely my pleasure when I get to read wonderful new-to-me writers. I was just saying that I wish you had written my history textbook. I'm sure I learned more from this single story than any of my classroom lectures.
😂 it’s funny, I hated history class when I was in high school. It was so dry and boring. Most of the kids slept through most of that most days. Then started reading the parts of history that I was interested in in my own time and visiting places like Shiloh Battlefield it came to life.
The story is actually the second chapter in a work in progress that is a sort of a mashup between the Civil War and the Iliad.
I am not quite sure how much of the spring fever: horror in bloom (It tells of an event that took place in spring? and war is horror, of course...) is in this, but nevertheless, it is a really well written and poignant piece of work and a pleasure to read. American civil war history/names etc mean zero to me, as a Brit, other than the north beat the south and it was mostly about slavery? - I didnt need to know any history to enjoy the writing but sadly I cant appreciate the nuances and nods to history and legends of the civil war. I think this is certainly one of the more thoughtful editions to spring fever. great work - always good to come across a new writer here!
Btw, if you are at all interested in Shiloh but need a stronger, more horrific horror, check out Phillip Fracasi’s Novella— Shiloh. It is so grimly gruesomely horrific that it kept me upset and thinking about it for weeks.
That is probably a pretty good parallel. It was said by some of the commentators and historians that after the first day of Shiloh one could cross the battlefield without ever touching the ground on the backs of dead men and horses.
Thank you! I knew it was a stretch for the stated theme but it sounds like you picked up on my justification pretty exactly— horrors of war in a pastoral wonderland.
There are union soldiers journals at Shiloh now that record their absolute gobsmacked amazement at the overwhelming beauty it Tennessee in bloom in the spring (these soldiers having just come from more industrial, urban cities in the north).
I tried in this piece to capture the depression and anxiety and unreal detachment that these union soldiers must have faced during the horrors of Shiloh in the middle of a paradise.
Anyway, thank you again for reading and for your thoughtful response. I really appreciate the engagement in the commentary, especially from a reader outside of the American Civil War.
you did a grand job, there was an aching futile sadness to it, and the peach blossoms were a lovely delicate counterpoint to the carnage. You catch the tiredness and war weariness and pride of the old soldiers really well.
Thank you! Another little historical flourish— the letter in the beginning from his wife. Ellen was a real letter that she sent him that he received the day or so before Shiloh commenced.
This is the way that the first day of Shiloh really ended, so they say.
I’ve never been able to tell if I thought Grant was a true believer, or was just wishing, or if he thought that’s what he had to say to his subordinates.
There’s something unsettling about how beautiful this is.
You let the reader settle into the softness of the world… the blossoms, the mist, the quiet… just long enough that when the violence hits, it doesn’t feel shocking…
It feels inevitable.
That tension between tenderness and brutality runs the whole piece, and it makes the final moments hit even harder.
I really enjoyed this one, Patrick. Private Holliday’s disappearing face was one of those moments that made the story really cinematic. You mentioned this is part of a larger work, I’ll going to have to read more!
Wow! I’m glad you liked it! The Wine-Dark Tennessee is intended to be a retelling of part of the civil war in the style of the Iliad— as if the Civil War were the Iliad of America. It’s a wip. I’ll keep working on it. Thank you again!❤️
A beautifully written historical fiction. Thank you for bringing this page of history to life for me. The contrast between the wonders of Tennessee in bloom with the horrors of war is quite poignant.
Thank you so much for reading. I’m glad you enjoyed it and I’m grateful for all the work you put into making this vernal horror project come together— it was immense.
Certainly! It's definitely my pleasure when I get to read wonderful new-to-me writers. I was just saying that I wish you had written my history textbook. I'm sure I learned more from this single story than any of my classroom lectures.
😂 it’s funny, I hated history class when I was in high school. It was so dry and boring. Most of the kids slept through most of that most days. Then started reading the parts of history that I was interested in in my own time and visiting places like Shiloh Battlefield it came to life.
The story is actually the second chapter in a work in progress that is a sort of a mashup between the Civil War and the Iliad.
I am not quite sure how much of the spring fever: horror in bloom (It tells of an event that took place in spring? and war is horror, of course...) is in this, but nevertheless, it is a really well written and poignant piece of work and a pleasure to read. American civil war history/names etc mean zero to me, as a Brit, other than the north beat the south and it was mostly about slavery? - I didnt need to know any history to enjoy the writing but sadly I cant appreciate the nuances and nods to history and legends of the civil war. I think this is certainly one of the more thoughtful editions to spring fever. great work - always good to come across a new writer here!
Btw, if you are at all interested in Shiloh but need a stronger, more horrific horror, check out Phillip Fracasi’s Novella— Shiloh. It is so grimly gruesomely horrific that it kept me upset and thinking about it for weeks.
im guessing shiloh is a bit like our agincourt in terms of the bloodbathery...
That is probably a pretty good parallel. It was said by some of the commentators and historians that after the first day of Shiloh one could cross the battlefield without ever touching the ground on the backs of dead men and horses.
Thank you! I knew it was a stretch for the stated theme but it sounds like you picked up on my justification pretty exactly— horrors of war in a pastoral wonderland.
There are union soldiers journals at Shiloh now that record their absolute gobsmacked amazement at the overwhelming beauty it Tennessee in bloom in the spring (these soldiers having just come from more industrial, urban cities in the north).
I tried in this piece to capture the depression and anxiety and unreal detachment that these union soldiers must have faced during the horrors of Shiloh in the middle of a paradise.
Anyway, thank you again for reading and for your thoughtful response. I really appreciate the engagement in the commentary, especially from a reader outside of the American Civil War.
you did a grand job, there was an aching futile sadness to it, and the peach blossoms were a lovely delicate counterpoint to the carnage. You catch the tiredness and war weariness and pride of the old soldiers really well.
Thank you! Another little historical flourish— the letter in the beginning from his wife. Ellen was a real letter that she sent him that he received the day or so before Shiloh commenced.
i love that sort of thing - an historian as much as you are a great writer!
This is the way that the first day of Shiloh really ended, so they say.
I’ve never been able to tell if I thought Grant was a true believer, or was just wishing, or if he thought that’s what he had to say to his subordinates.
There’s something unsettling about how beautiful this is.
You let the reader settle into the softness of the world… the blossoms, the mist, the quiet… just long enough that when the violence hits, it doesn’t feel shocking…
It feels inevitable.
That tension between tenderness and brutality runs the whole piece, and it makes the final moments hit even harder.
Thank you! I’m so glad you felt what I was dishing out!!
You absolutely did.
That slow shift from beauty into something harsher really sticks… the kind where you don’t realize it’s happening until you’re already in it.
Really strong work.