Caledonia Lost

“During the siege of Petersburg at the end of the American Civil War, a Confederate soldier, manning the trenches, reflects on life, love, and the War, while awaiting the climactic battle of the Breakthrough.”

Caledonia Lost: The Fall of the Confederacy tells the epic tale of a young Confederate soldier, James Augustus McEachern, hunkered down in the trenches of the besieged City of Petersburg in the hours before the climactic battle of the Breakthrough, in which the Union Army overruns the Confederate Army, leading to the surrender at Appomattox. James retells, in mental ‘letters’ to his wife, his experiences in the War. His story starts with joining the militia during the heady days after Lincoln’s election and South Carolina’s secession. Next, he recalls the firing upon Ft. Sumter. Joining Wade Hampton’s Legion, he is brigaded with John Bell Hood’s legendary Texans. Seriously wounded at Seven Pines, he still participates in Lee’s first victory at Gaines’ Mill. His exploits include fighting in many of the greatest battles of the Civil War in both the eastern and western theatres of the War, such as Antietam, Second Manassas, and the siege of Chattanooga, and as well as on lesser known fields of honor, such as Wauhatchie and Riddell’s Shop. Uniquely, he serves as infantry and as mounted infantry. His ‘letters’ to his wife reveals the depth of their relationship and the sacrifices each has made for the other. Through the War, he comes to know some of the most famous Generals of the Confederacy, including A. P. Hill, James Longstreet, and Braxton Bragg. Has this prepared him for the greatest charge of the Civil War-the Breakthrough-and its consequences, including watching Richmond burn to the ground?

Caledonia Lost: The Fall of the Confederacy is the result of years of research. This journey has taken the author to the National Archives to find the actual military records of James Augustus McEachern, as well as surveying the battlefields of the Siege of Petersburg and Breakthrough at Pamplin Park, and all the other battles recounted in the novel. Finally, Caledonia Lost: The Fall of the Confederacy employs actual letters written by James to his wife, Victoria, during the War.