The Guns of September

September 1862.After John Popes devastating defeat at Second Bull Run, George McClellan reconstitutes the Army of the Potomac and marches in pursuit of Robert E. Lees invading Army of Northern Virginia. The Confederates have pushed north of the Potomac River into the border state of Maryland in search of one more decisive victory that might bring about Southern independence. Fortune smiles on Little Mac when a lost copy of Lees orders falls into his hands, revealing the Rebel generals plan to divide his army and capture the Union garrison at Harpers Ferry. McClellan pushes his army and catches Lee by surprise at South Mountain, where he inflicts a decisive defeat that turns Lees plan on its head and his army back against the Potomac for a final stand at Sharpsburg on September 17\. The resulting battle could decide the fate of the nation.Alexander Rossino brilliantly weaves together these momentous hours in The Guns of September: A Novel of McClellans Army in Maryland, 1862\. Readers live the high-stakes drama through the gritty minutiae experienced by a host of historical charactersincluding a diligent General McClellan, the hard-fighting Joseph Hooker, a frustrated Ambrose Burnside, and the aggressive George Armstrong Custer. Rossino also displays a keen understanding of daily travails undergone by the common foot soldier, including experienced veterans from Ohio and greenhorns from central Pennsylvania.The Guns of September is a sweeping account, superbly written with a you-are-there sense that will linger with you long after you finish the book. It is a masterful conclusion to his earlier volume Six Days in September: A Novel of Lees Army in Maryland, 1862, which is written from the Confederate perspective.