The Starbuck Chronicles are a series of historical fiction novels by British author Bernard Cornwell set during the American Civil War. They follow the exploits of Boston-born Confederate officer Nathaniel Starbuck.
Four novels have been written, and the series is still unfinished due to Cornwell's commitment to other projects. However, he has stated on many occasions that he wishes to return to the character's story, though recently he said he doubted that he would. [1] The series presently includes the following novels:
Rebel begins in Richmond, Virginia after the fall of Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina when Starbuck is trying to visit his friend Adam Faulconer. Starbuck is saved from an attack by Richmond's residents who think that he is a Yankee spy by Faulconer's rich father Washington Faulconer. Faulconer wishes to raise a regiment to fight the Yankees, and he appoints Starbuck as one of his aides, with the rank of second lieutenant. Starbuck is there by circumstance, not for politics, and he is given the task of recruiting a tough Mexican–American War veteran named Thomas Truslow, who lives in the fictional Faulconer County. He succeeds by dedicating the grave of Truslow's wife and officiating in the marriage of his wayward daughter Sally Truslow. Many other events occur between this and the start of the hostilities, when the Faulconer Legion marches off to the First Battle of Bull Run. It is here that Starbuck alienates himself from Faulconer. Copperhead follows Starbuck during the period of the Union invasion of the Confederacy by the Army of the Potomac under General McClellan. Battle Flag is set during the Second Battle of Bull Run. The Bloody Ground follows Starbuck as the Confederate army under Robert E. Lee invades the North, culminating in the Battle of Antietam.
The Faulconer Legion is a fictional regiment of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Confederate Army, the central unit of the Starbuck Chronicles. Shortly after the beginning of the war, Washington Faulconer is determined to set up a regiment free of state government control because he was unimpressed by Robert E. Lee and his lack of support. He returns from Richmond to find recruitment in full swing for the Legion; at least 10 companies have been recruited, along with a squadron of cavalry and two crews of artillery. Faulconer is the regiment's first colonel; his senior officers are Major Pelham, a veteran of the War of 1812, having fought at Bladensburg, and Major "Pecker" Bird, Faulconer's brother-in-law and a schoolmaster by profession. Major Danson is the Legion's initial surgeon and the local doctor. Faulconer leads an attack on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad which fails. It is an unfortunate start to the war for Faulconer, and he shows a distinct lack of military judgment—although he thinks of himself as a competent soldier and tactician.
On the Fourth of July, the fully equipped Legion marches to Seven Springs to be sworn into the Confederate army. However Major Pelham suffers a heart attack and dies before the Legion leaves, a great blow to the men as Pelham was a popular leader. The Legion then marches to Roskill railhead. They bundle onto a train to Manassas and are assigned to Colonel Nathan Evans' brigade. But Faulconer does not trust Evans' military judgement and seeks out General P.G.T. Beauregard, to be moved closer to where he believes the action will be (on the Confederate right). Nathaniel Starbuck, whom Faulconer has dismissed and sent back to the Union lines, discovers advancing Union troops under David Hunter and Samuel P. Heintzelman. He informs Evans of their positions, and the Legion, under the command of Major Bird, marches to repel the Federal attack. The regiment fights the advancing Union troops well, but Faulconer and his aide Ethan Ridley return and Faulconer is disgusted by the insubordination of Bird and Starbuck. In the renewed Union attack, Captain Adam Faulconer is wounded and the Legion collapses. Faulconer tries to rally them but is himself wounded. In the panic Truslow and Bird save the colours. After the battle, Faulconer claims that Starbuck killed Ethan Ridley, but this is put down to delirium; his claims are true however. An embittered and wounded Faulconer is promoted to brigadier general and Major Bird takes command of the Legion.
With Faulconer away in Richmond supposedly recovering from his wound, Bird makes Starbuck the captain in command of K Company, with Truslow as his sergeant. The Legion takes part in defeating the Union crossing at the Battle of Ball's Bluff, with Starbuck's company turning the northern flank. Adam, now a major on General Joseph E. Johnston's staff, is disgusted by the slaughter so begins feeding information on the Confederate defences to Starbuck's older brother James, a major in the Union army. Faulconer forms his own brigade and has the Legion attached to it, dismissing Starbuck. Having discovered Adam's betrayal, Starbuck crosses the lines posing as an ally of Adam to convince General George B. McClellan that the southern defences are stronger than they are. He then rejoins the southern army at the Battle of Seven Pines and takes part in Colonel Micah Jenkins breaking the first line of the northern position, although Adam has already sabotaged the attack by failing to pass on battle orders to General Benjamin Huger. He uses his knowledge of Adam's actions to force Faulconer to restore him to his company and Faulconer also reluctantly promotes Bird to lieutenant colonel. During the Battle of Gaines Mill, Adam deserts to the Union troops in full view of everyone. The Legion drive the northern forces from the ridge but suffer heavy casualties, reforming with eight companies of surviving troops.
General Faulconer appoints an alcoholic veteran and ex-slave merchant, Colonel Swynyard, as his second in command. At the Battle of Cedar Mountain, Colonel Bird is seriously wounded and command of the Legion devolves upon Major Hinton. The perfidious Swynyard is wounded by a passing cannonball and left on the field to die by Starbuck and Truslow. However, Swynyard's injury is not serious; it brings about a religious conversion in him, so he frees his slaves and gives up alcohol. He apologises to Starbuck for his behaviour toward him and promises to make things right. Meanwhile, Adam Falconer has joined a unit of Northern Cavalry, Galloway's horse, made up entirely of Southeners who know the terrain. Major Galloway has received funding from Starbuck's father the Reverend Dr Elial Starbuck, who in return asks the Major to get him a Confederate Battleflag. Adam leads a raid on his father's estate to obtain horses for his new command. To keep their promise to Dr Starbuck, Adam then attacks the Faulconer Brigade's encampment and manages to capture the Faulconer Legion battle flag and also steal the General's sabre, given to his grandfather by Lafayette. At the same time, the majority of the Legion's officers are celebrating Major Hinton's 50th birthday in a nearby tavern and are attacked there by a detachment of Galloway's horse led by the nefarious Captain William Blythe. In the ensuing chaos, the tavern is set on fire and almost all the officers killed. Faulconer is dismissed from command of the Brigade by General Jackson. Colonel Swynyard is appointed Brigade commander while Starbuck is promoted to Major and given command of the Legion. Truslow is made a captain in charge of Starbuck's old company. At the Second Battle of Manassas, Major Medlicott, who Faulconer attempted to make Legion commander ahead of Starbuck and who has command of the right hand wing, repeatedly refuses to fight until Starbuck kills him for refusing an order to advance. Galloway is killed when the horse are caught up in the flanking movement by Lee's reinforcements. In the aftermath, Starbuck burns Galloway's farm in retaliation for the burning of the tavern and recovers the battle flag from his father.
Starbuck leads the Legion at the Battle of Chantilly, driving the last of John Pope's men out of Confederate territory, but Faulconer has obtained a position with the War Department and arranges to have Lieutenant Colonel Maitland placed in charge of the Legion while Starbuck is given command of a punishment battalion, the Yellowlegs. Starbuck manages to expose his superior, Colonel Holborow, as keeping the battalion away from the lines so he can sell their supplies on the black market and has the Yellowlegs transferred to Swynyard's brigade for the Maryland Campaign. The Legion stumble across Blythe, who fled the field at Manassass, and claims to be a Confederate officer, Captain Billy Tumlin, who was taken prisoner: He is made Starbuck's second-in-command. Meanwhile, Adam has been assigned as a courier by intelligence officer Colonel Thorne and collects a copy of Lee's battle plan which was left for him by Major Delaney. Adam is ambushed and killed by Southern horsemen but hides the order, which is later found by Northern troops. Starbuck leads the Yellowlegs to clear the ridge at the Battle of Harpers Ferry but the nervous Maitland keeps the Legion back. At the Battle of Sharpsburg, Swynward's brigade is decimated by Hooker's repeated attacks but manages to stand their ground, with Maitland drinking heavily to make it through the battle. Blythe flees back to Northern lines after manipulating Captain Dennison and Sergeant Case into trying to kill Starbuck; the attempt fails and Starbuck turns a cannon on them in retaliation. As the Confederates prepare to withdraw, Maitland is sent back to a staff position in Richmond, Starbuck is given command of the surviving members of both the Legion and the Yellowlegs, and Swynyard is promoted to brigadier general.
The colours of the Faulconer Legion are composed of the Confederate Battle Flag and the Faulconer coat of arms with the motto "Forever Ardent". They are six feet by six as opposed to the four feet advocated by the War Department.
In the second book of the Starbuck series, Copperhead, Starbuck encounters Patrick Lassan, Chasseur Colonel of the French Imperial Guard, and French Military Observer attached to the Union Army. The son of an English father and a French mother, he uses his mother's last name – Lassan – because his parents never married. It is ultimately revealed that Lassan is the son of Richard Sharpe. His sword, described as an oversized steel-hilted straight sword, is likely the same Pattern 1796 heavy cavalry sword carried by his father throughout the earlier Peninsular War. He indicates to James Starbuck that he lost an eye to a “Russian shell” which, based on timing, was likely during the Crimean War.
The Battle of the Wilderness was fought on May 5–7, 1864, during the American Civil War. It was the first battle of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The fighting occurred in a wooded area near Locust Grove, Virginia, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Fredericksburg. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, nearly 29,000 in total, a harbinger of a war of attrition by Grant against Lee's army and, eventually, the Confederate capital, Richmond, Virginia. The battle was tactically inconclusive, as Grant disengaged and continued his offensive.
The Battle of Five Forks was fought on April 1, 1865, southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, around the road junction of Five Forks, Dinwiddie County, at the end of the Siege of Petersburg, near the conclusion of the American Civil War.
The Battle of Richmond, Kentucky, fought August 29–30, 1862, was one of the most complete Confederate victories in the war by Major General Edmund Kirby Smith against Union major general William "Bull" Nelson's forces, which were defending the town. It was the first major battle in the Kentucky Campaign. The battle took place on and around what is now the grounds of the Blue Grass Army Depot, outside Richmond, Kentucky.
The Battle of Cedar Creek, or Battle of Belle Grove, was fought on October 19, 1864, during the American Civil War. The fighting took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Northern Virginia, near Cedar Creek, Middletown, and the Valley Pike. During the morning, Lieutenant General Jubal Early appeared to have a victory for his Confederate army, as he captured over 1,000 prisoners and over 20 artillery pieces while forcing 7 enemy infantry divisions to fall back. The Union army, led by Major General Philip Sheridan, rallied in late afternoon and drove away Early's men. In addition to recapturing all of their own artillery seized in the morning, Sheridan's forces captured most of Early's artillery and wagons.
The Third Battle of Winchester, also known as the Battle of Opequon or Battle of Opequon Creek, was an American Civil War battle fought near Winchester, Virginia, on September 19, 1864. Union Army Major General Philip Sheridan defeated Confederate Army Lieutenant General Jubal Early in one of the largest, bloodiest, and most important battles in the Shenandoah Valley. Among the 5,000 Union casualties were one general killed and three wounded. The casualty rate for the Confederates was high: about 4,000 of 15,500. Two Confederate generals were killed and four were wounded. Participants in the battle included two future presidents of the United States, two future governors of Virginia, a former vice president of the United States, and a colonel whose grandson, George S. Patton became a famous general in World War II.
The Third Battle of Petersburg, also known as the Breakthrough at Petersburg or the Fall of Petersburg, was fought on April 2, 1865, south and southwest Virginia in the area of Petersburg, Virginia, at the end of the 292-day Richmond–Petersburg Campaign and in the beginning stage of the Appomattox Campaign near the conclusion of the American Civil War. The Union Army under the overall command of General-in-Chief Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, launched an assault on General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia's Petersburg, Virginia, trenches and fortifications after the Union victory at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865. As a result of that battle the Confederate right flank and rear were exposed. The remaining supply lines were cut and the Confederate defenders were reduced by over 10,000 men killed, wounded, taken prisoner or in flight.
The Appomattox campaign was a series of American Civil War battles fought March 29 – April 9, 1865, in Virginia that concluded with the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia to forces of the Union Army under the overall command of Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, marking the effective end of the war.
The Battle of Cove Mountain occurred in Wythe County, Virginia, on May 10, 1864, during the American Civil War. A Union cavalry division commanded by Brigadier General William W. Averell was prevented from attacking a lead mine located near Wytheville. Confederate forces commanded by Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan, with a detachment of a brigade of cavalry from the command of Brigadier General William E. "Grumble" Jones, stopped Averell at Cove Gap, adjacent to Crockett's Cove and Cove Mountain.
Thomas Casimer Devin was a United States Army officer and general. He commanded Union cavalry during the American Civil War and during the Indian Wars.
John Randolph Chambliss Jr. was a career military officer from Virginia who served in the Confederate States Army. He reached the rank of brigadier general of cavalry before being killed in action in August 1864 during the Second Battle of Deep Bottom. Born to a lawyer, Colonel and Mrs John Chambliss of Hicksford, Va, John, jr. graduated from West Point (1853) with several future generals; of particular note, his friend, David McM Gregg a future Union General as their paths would have an ominous crossing in August 1864.
Sharpe's Waterloo is a historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. Originally published in 1990 under the title Waterloo, it is the eleventh novel of the Sharpe series and the twentieth novel in chronological order. Cornwell stated that he intended to end the series here, but later changed his mind.
James Dearing was a Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War who served in the artillery and cavalry. Dearing entered West Point in 1858 and resigned on April 22, 1861, when Virginia seceded from the Union. Dearing was mortally wounded at the Battle of High Bridge during the Appomattox Campaign of 1865, making him one of the last officers to die in the war. Despite serving as a commander of a cavalry brigade and using the grade of brigadier general after he was nominated to that grade by Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Dearing did not officially achieve the grade of brigadier general because the Confederate Senate did not approve his nomination. His actual permanent grade was colonel.
The 1st West Virginia Cavalry Regiment served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Although it started slowly, it became one of the most active and effective of the West Virginia Civil War regiments—and had 14 Medal of Honor recipients, the most for any West Virginia regiment during the war. It was originally called the 1st Virginia Cavalry, not to be confused with the Confederate 1st Virginia Cavalry. Some reports added "Union," "Loyal" or "West" when identifying this regiment. After the Unionist state of West Virginia was officially admitted to the Union in 1863, the regiment became the 1st West Virginia Cavalry Regiment. The National Park Service identifies it as the 1st Regiment, West Virginia Cavalry.
The 2nd West Virginia Cavalry Regiment served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was organized in Parkersburg, Virginia during September 1861. Most of the original members of this regiment were from southeastern Ohio, and planners thought that this regiment would become the 4th Ohio Cavalry. Their application was rejected by the governor of Ohio, so the unit became the 2nd Regiment of Loyal Virginia Volunteer Cavalry. The "Loyal Virginia" part of the name was replaced with "West Virginia" after the state of West Virginia was officially admitted to the Union in 1863. Today, the National Park Service lists them as 2nd Regiment, West Virginia Cavalry under a heading of Union West Virginia Volunteers.
Hampton's Legion was an American Civil War military unit of the Confederate States of America, organized and partially financed by wealthy South Carolina planter Wade Hampton III. Initially composed of infantry, cavalry, and artillery battalions, elements of Hampton's Legion participated in virtually every major campaign in the Eastern Theater, from the first to the last battle.
William Thompson Martin was an American lawyer and politician who became a Confederate States Army major general during the American Civil War. He later served in the Mississippi state senate, and was a delegate to four Democratic National Conventions. Martin was the president of the Natchez, Jackson, and Columbus Railroad, of which he oversaw the construction in 1884.
The Jeff. Davis Legion was a cavalry regiment of the Confederate States Army. Made up of companies from Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia; it fought primarily in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. In 1865, it was reassigned to the Army of Tennessee, surrendering at Greensboro, N.C.
The 32nd Texas Cavalry Regiment, sometimes incorrectly named Andrews's 15th Texas Cavalry Regiment, was a unit of volunteer cavalry mustered into the Confederate States Army in May 1862 and which fought during the American Civil War. The regiment was formed around companies from Richard Phillip Crump's 1st Texas Cavalry Battalion which fought in Indian Territory and at Pea Ridge. Many of the soldiers died of disease in the unhealthy camps near Corinth, Mississippi. The cavalrymen were dismounted in July 1862 and served as infantry for the rest of the war. The regiment fought at Richmond, Ky., Stones River, and Chickamauga in 1862–1863, in the Meridian and Atlanta campaigns and at Nashville in 1864, and at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley in 1865. The regiment's 58 surviving members surrendered to Federal forces on 9 May 1865.
The 27th Texas Cavalry Regiment, at times also known as Whitfield's Legion or 1st Texas Legion or 4th Texas Cavalry Battalion, was a unit of mounted volunteers that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. First organized as the 4th Texas Cavalry Battalion or Whitfield's Legion, the unit served dismounted at Pea Ridge and First Corinth. Additional companies from Texas were added and the unit was upgraded to the 27th Texas Cavalry Regiment or 1st Texas Legion later in 1862. Still dismounted, the unit fought at Iuka and Second Corinth. The regiment was remounted and fought at Holly Springs in 1862, Thompson's Station in 1863, and at Yazoo City, Atlanta, Franklin, and Third Murfreesboro in 1864. The regiment surrendered to Federal forces in May 1865 and its remaining soldiers were paroled.
The 28th Texas Cavalry Regiment was a unit of mounted volunteers recruited in east Texas that fought in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. In May 1862, the regiment entered Confederate service and served the entire war west of the Mississippi River in the region known as the Trans-Mississippi Department. The unit was soon dismounted before being assigned to the 2nd Brigade of the all-Texas infantry division known as Walker's Greyhounds. In 1863, the regiment played a secondary role at Milliken's Bend. The regiment fought in three major battles during April 1864, at Mansfield, Pleasant Hill, and Jenkins' Ferry. The Trans-Mississippi Department surrendered on 26 May 1865, but the survivors dispersed to their homes before that date.