Corporal Bucky Culp began the Fredericksburg Campaign in the worst sort of misery. Lovesick over the girl he met at Sharpsburg, he felt alienated from his comrades and out of sync with his role as scout and skirmisher. Only after a near fatal brush with a Rebel cavalry patrol did he realize the danger of mixing love and war.

Still reeling from the terrible Battle of Antietam, the Bucktails hardly dreamed they would face even greater trials at Fredericksburg. Dispirited and physically spent from their grueling endeavors in 1862, they ended the year with an even more brutal winter campaign under the harsh leadership of “Old Snappin’ Turtle,” General George G. Meade. The lack of proper food and warm clothing, dissension among the ranks, and the jealousy of other Union soldiers added greatly to their distress. In a true testament to their battling spirit, the Bucktails fought their way to the top of the Rebel-held heights at Fredericksburg, only to be slaughtered and driven back when reinforcements failed to support them.

This fourth novel of the Pennsylvania Bucktail series focuses on the courage and tenacity of the volunteer soldiers who suffered from every conceivable deprivation and yet persevered. Bucky Culp overcomes his emotional anguish, Jimmy Jewett survives severe spiritual doubts, and Boone Crossmire endures the loss of his best friend to live up to their reputation as “the battling Bucktails.”

“The thing I really like about the Bucktail novel series is that the authors give a real sense of the day-to-day life of the Civil War, without lecturing. It'll be an eye opener for many kids to realize that it wasn't all fighting but lots of sitting around, eating lousy food, and pointless marches.”

Gary Miller, PBS Educational Content Developer

“As an educator, I see the Bucktail novel series as an excellent teaching tool for middle school social studies. Not only is it readable (very important) and accurate, it also gives the student plenty of everyday details on how the people who fought the war lived...a highly useable and recommended resource.”

G.W. Thomas, Canadian Educator, Author, and Editor