Meade's Reprise

June 27, 1863: Two years into the Civil War, Robert E. Lee's army strides north through Virginia to threaten Washington. Desperate, President Lincoln names a new commander to lead his army, giving Maj. Gen. George Meade a simple order: Defend Washington from the strike that can doom the Republic.

July 1: The bloody battle joined, two armies fight for three days, then Pickett's famous charge fails as the Union line holds. Meade wins the War's key battle, beating Lee who withdraws to fight another day. But what if Meade counterattacks? The Rebel army would perish and the Civil War ends early...

Thus "Meade's Reprise" retells Gettysburg's historic battle and alters it - with twists like a spy ring of slaves, and new heroic characters in blue, in gray, in mufti, in negligees. More than a novel of the Civil War, it is an epic of the coming peace: The longed-for armistice comes sooner; the statesman Abraham Lincoln governs, rebuilding the South and repairing the Union. Meade, a hero and military governor, is beset by enemies like the conniving politician/soldier Dan Sickles. Colonel Fitzpatrick helps former slaves work their new lands while doing battle with himself to win his soul's passion, "The Angel of Gettysburg," beautiful Maeve, once a camp follower who was drafted into service as an army nurse.

April 14, 1865: Two years later, the President invites the nation's most popular hero to an evening out; thus, General Meade and Mrs. Meade join the Lincolns at Ford's Theatre... The rest, as they say, is history. Or is it?

John Duke Merriam took degrees in Ottoman history at Stanford, Byzantine history at Berkeley, and economics at Harvard. He has served as an Air Force intelligence officer, as a member of the Foreign Service, and as a chief legislative aide. Recruited to the World Bank, he organized its political liaison staff, then led its office of information and public affairs, before entering the private sector as an entrepreneur. He now devotes his time to writing, travel and his wife, the world crafts expert Caroline Ramsay.