Crossing the Deadline: Stephen's Journey Through the Civil War - Hardcover

Shoulders, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1585369519 ISBN 13: 9781585369515

Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press, 2016

Synopsis

When Stephen's father passes away in 1861, he and his mother and brother are left at the mercy of a cruel uncle. As the Civil War intensifies to the south, Stephen's brother enlists to fight for the Union and help support the family. The war drags on and Stephen, an accomplished bugler in the town band, is witness to the sad consequences of slavery. The opportunity to enlist as Colonel Eli Lilly's personal bugler arises and Stephen jumps at the chance. After surviving the Battle of Sulphur Trestle in Alabama, Stephen is sent to a Confederate prison camp to await the end of the war. The trials of prison camp are severe but at war's end Stephen is set to be sent home to Indiana aboard the steamboat Sultana. However, disaster strikes and the ship catches fire and capsizes in America's largest maritime disaster. Through luck and fortitude Stephen survives, but his Civil War journey is one that will engage readers of all ages. Based on historical facts and characters, Stephan's story truly captures the essence of the era.

About this title

About the Author:

Educator and literacy advocate Dr. Michael Shoulders has written several books for Sleeping Bear Press including the companion title, N is for Natural State: An Arkansas Alphabet and the recently released Say Daddy! When not traveling to schools and conferences, Mike lives in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Review:

Readers will feel like they are marching alongside Stephen, a young bugler for the Union army during the Civil War. The exhilaration of supporting the Union, the horrors of the battlefield, the squalor of the Confederate prison camp and relief at being sent "home" at the end of the war are palpable. Through all the trials that Stephen suffers, he observes humanity and compassion shown by fellow soldiers and even Confederate people he encounters during his trek. A superb historical novel based on documented facts (names, events, and songs of the era) that are detailed in the addendum of the book. Suitable for middle and high school readers. --Lois McNicol, Tri State Book Review

Desperate to help support his mother and escape his cruel uncle, Stephen, 13, secretly enlists in the Civil War in 1863, following in the footsteps of his brother, Robert, killed fighting for the Union. Although Stephen is too young to be a soldier, he is not too young to use his skills as a bugler. After suffering defeat in a skirmish, Stephen and other soldiers are sent to a prison near Selma, Alabama. Stephen s first-person account vividly describes the horrific conditions they endured, but the trials he faces are only beginning: he is eventually sent home aboard the doomed steamship Sultana. This is fiction, but Stephen is based on a real person, and many details and events are based on diary and journal accounts. Readers unfamiliar with the Sultana disaster may be shocked to know more people died here than in the sinking of the Titanic. The realistic situations and feelings, viewed through the eyes of a young bugler, will appeal to readers who like war stories.
Sharon Rawlins --Booklist

This young adult novel follows the adventures of Stephen M. Gaston, a bugler in Co. K, 9th Indiana Cavalry, who enlists when the unit is organized in December 1863. His unit is sent to Tennessee and then to reinforce the garrison at the two blockhouses at Sulphur Branch Trestle, Alabama, in September 1864. Captured by the redoubtable Nathan Bedford Forrest, Stephen and the other enlisted men are sent to the prisoner of war camp at Cahaba, Alabama. The camp had many of the problems of other Confederate POW camps: too small, shortages of food and other basic necessities, and poor facilities. In addition, it was poorly sited at the convergence of the Alabama and Cahaba Rivers. When the rivers rose the camp flooded, but the prisoners were not allowed to be relocated to higher ground despite the Confederate guards pleas to the camp commander. Author Michael Shoulders writes, Prisoners sat in cold floodwaters for a week. Exchanged in March 1865, Stephen and some 2,400 ex-POWs and others were sent north from Vicksburg on the steamboat Sultana. Shortly after getting underway, a boiler burst, causing the vessel to catch fire and sink.Those not killed in the initial explosion were forced into the Mississippi s cold waters. Little known except to historians, the Sultana s sinking was the worst U.S. maritime disaster, with an estimated 1,700 casualties (the Titanic lost 1,500). Stephen was injured but survived to be discharged and return to his only family, his invalid mother. Stephen was a real person. It would have been interesting if Shoulders had explained how he came to choose him as his primary character. The author s history is generally good. Many of the scenes he depicts in the fight at Sulphur Branch Trestle, the Cahaba POW camp and the Sultana sinking are documented. However, Nathan Bedford Forrest would never have allowed a Yankee major to talk to him the way one does in the book during the surrender at Sulphur Branch Trestle. This book would make an excellent gift for a young adult with a possible interest in the Civil War or a simple need to read more. It is interesting and moves along well enough to capture young readers interest. --Civil War News

About this edition

• Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1585369519
• ISBN 13: 9781585369515
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384