The third volume in the Civil War Battle Series of novels spanning the war, Antietam brings the war to within view of the Brannon family farm in Culpeper County, Virginia. When the Federals intercept the Rebels near Antietam Creek, two of the Brannon brothers are brought together in the bloodiest trial of the war thus far. The bloody fields of Antietam provide the dramatic setting for the third installment of Reasoner's eight-volume Civil War Battle series featuring the Brannon clan of Culpepper County, Virginia. As the hostilities move ever closer and finally threaten the security of the family farm in northern Virginia, each of the six Brannon siblings is faced with an inevitable crisis of either the heart or the conscience. Even widowed Abigail Brannon, the stalwart matriarch of the feisty tribe, finds herself being irresistibly drawn into the throes of a budding romance as her family struggles for survival. When the Confederate and Federal armies meet at Antietam Creek, brothers Will and Mac Brannon reunite, bearing witness to one of the bloodiest day of the war. Fraught with passion, tension, and tenderness, this enthralling family saga will appeal to fans of epic well-researched historical fiction. Margaret Flanagan Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved "Reasoner's extensive fighting details makes visualizing easy in the reader's mind." -- Canon Courier, August 1, 2000 In early 1862 the war comes within view of the Brannon family farm in Culpeper County, Virginia. The din of drilling soldiers sweeps over the county seat, and another son of Abigail and John Brannon answers the call to arms. A gifted horseman, Mac "jines" Jeb Stuart's calvary and soon finds himself on one of the greatest adventures of the war. The anticipated spring offensive pitches the Union and Confederate armies against each other on the Virginia Peninsula, and it appears that Richmond and the fledgling Confederacy are doomed. As the Southerners fall back before the slowly advancing Northern army, Mac is reunited with his older brother, Will, when Stonewall Jackson's triumphant troops arrive from the Shenandoah Valley to blunt the Federal onslaught. Following the fighting at Seven Pines, the brothers witness firsthand the reversal of Confederate fortunes when Robert E. Lee is made commander of the Southern army. While Lee's army strikes a stunning blow to the N! orthern army on the peninsula, love blossoms on the Brannon homestead. The romance deepens between the hotheaded Titus and the sophisticated Polly Ebersole. A new parson comes to Culpeper, and Abigail finds herself flush with feelings she believed she would never have again. And Cordelia's beau, Nathan, is pressured to join the army and fight for a cause he cannot support. But before the fall harvest begins, Lee leads his legions across the Potomac River and into maryland. When the Federals intercept the Rebels near Antietam Creek, the two brothers are brought together in the bloodiest trial of the war thus far. The air is thick with shot and shell as wave after wave of Northern soldiers are hurled upon the the Southern lines grouped near the town of Sharpsburg and a river of death. ANTIETAM is the third book in a projected series of eight, spanning the Civil War and describing its effect on one southern family. The Brannon brothers answer the call to arms at different times, ! and the family finds itself struggling with dilemmas it had never considered. Will glanced at the cornfield to his right and saw the hail of bullets cutting through the growth, knocking ears of corn from their stalks and making the plants sway as if a wind were blowing over them. It was a wind of death, thought Will, and that was all he had time to think before the Federals were upon them. He emptied his pistol at almost point-blank range as the leading edge of the Union attack reached the trees. Around him, the men of his company could hold back no longer. With Rebel yells sounding from their throats, they leaped forward, firing their rifles, thrusting with bayonets, slashing with rifle butts. The two sides came together with an audible crash. Grunts of exertion mingled with shrieks of pain. men who tripped and fell were trampled ruthlessly underfoot by friend and foe alike. Will pulled his saber from its scabbard. His training in its use had been rudimentary at best, but he knew how to hack back and forth with the blade. As he fought, his sen! ses alternated between a heightened awareness and a dull numbness. There were moments that were crystal clear, etched in his memory for the rest of his life: the open, shouting mouth of a Union soldier lunging at him, the bitter stench of powder smoke in his nose, the burning pain of a bullet that grazed his left shoulder and tore his uniform but left only a red mark on his flesh. At other times he seemed surrounded by a fog that pressed in on him so that the figures around him were blurry and the sounds of battle only a distant din