Category: Book (fiction)  |  Rating :

eReview: The Black Flower: A Novel of the Civil War

by Howard Bahr Binding: Trade / Pub Date: 04/1997 / Publisher: Nautical & Aviation Pub Co of Amer / ISBN: 187785350X

Review by Molly Nash

This is a gripping story of a Rebel unit at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee in November of 1864. The proud Army of Tennessee, led by maimed John Bell Hood, has met the Union forces in a brilliant and courageous but sacrificial assault. The Rebel army goes where ordered but suffers indescribably from Union artillery, entrenched defenders, and the weather.

It is the story of a small unit of Rebel soldiers and their bonds of comradeship. It is the story also of one soldier, Bushrod Carter, and of a young woman, Anna Hereford. It is not a love story; unless one understands how shared danger, the attrition of battle and disease, and the, to us, primitive medical care weaves a fabric of love, devotion, and mettle most incredible.

The setting is the historic Carnton Plantation in Franklin, TN. Bahr has maintained historical accuracy in the telling of this story, although his central characters are fictional. There is a haunting quality in this work that reminds one of Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage. Read this book, then reread it. You won't be disappointed; you will find timelessness and come away with an almost reverent appreciation of the men who become solders.

---Molly Nash