FACES TRIAL
MURDER
HISTORICAL NOVEL BY
Besieged!
Chattanooga, 1863
In July, Union armies won the battles of Gettysburg in the east and Vicksburg in the west, but in September, at Chickamauga, the Confederates scored a smashing victory and chased a shattered Union Army into Chattanooga, where it was besieged. The tide of victory was receding. The Union Army and the people of Chattanooga were starving. The guns of the Confederates pointed down into the city from the heights of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge.
Abraham Lincoln sent his favorite general, Ulysses S. Grant to Tennessee, because the President said, “He fights!” And fight Grant did!
While Grant and his army fought, young Ram Taraday and his friend Priscilla Watts faced trials of their own – learning whom to trust, discovering whom to believe, and finding how to stand up for their beliefs. During the three days of battle in war-torn Chattanooga, 120,000 soldiers fought for very different beliefs; and in a courtroom Ram and Priscilla fought for their lives after being accused of murder!
Rooted in the burning history of the American Civil War, "General Grant & Me" is exciting young adult adventure the will captivate its readers. The author is Brian Quinn.
★★★★★
“"General Grant & Me" is an amazing achievement. How the author was able to carve a world out of a real historical time and then create such real characters is beyond my ken. The book is so engaging and captivating … I wanted to dwell in the story and not leave Chattanooga. Quinn's ability to do the necessary homework to bring the Civil War to life was remarkable, and he populated the story with characters that I could really care about … Loved it!”
Dr. Jon Spiegel
★★★★★
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Behind The Story
The 1863 Battle of Chattanooga was a pivotal Union victory in the Civil War, with long-range strategic results. It was there in eastern Tennessee that the Union troops, under the direction of Major General Ulysses S. Grant, broke the Confederate siege of the city and secured control of a crucial railroad hub.
By storming Missionary Ridge, the Union forces successfully turned the tide after their defeat at Chickamauga, boosting Union morale. The battle also resulted in the promotion of Grant to Lieutenant General, a rank previously held only by George Washington and Winfield Scott.
Finally, the United States forces had a leader who had the vision to see how the war could be won, and the determination to end the rebellion. Grant’s victory paved the way for his trusted friend and most gifted subordinate General William Tecumseh Sherman to strike for Atlanta from Chattanooga.
After capturing Atlanta, Sherman launched his March to the Sea, devastating the South's war infrastructure and hastening the end of the rebellion.
The Battle of Chattanooga thus strategically set the stage for these critical Union advances, underscoring its significance in the broader conflict.
A map of Chattanooga, at the time of its siege in 1863. The map indicates the relative positions of the railroads, the nearby elevations of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, as well as the Confederate forces surrounding the city (represented by small cannon icons).
Click map to enlarge.
Brian Quinn
Brian Quinn has been a writer for most of his life.
His first story, Blockade Runner, was about the United States Navy in the Civil War. It was published in the Morris School Enrichment Storybook. He was ten years old.
Slightly later in life, Brian obtained a PhD in Writing from St. John’s University in New York, and he has been a technical writer, an editor, and a college professor of writing.
He has written a textbook, Working Writing: a conversational textbook on Technical Writing (2014), and a book of essays, Looking Glass (2022). He was the editor of the online The New Stone Church Library Short Story Project (2015).
Brian is currently at work on a novel about the Freedom Rides of 1961.