Tag: historical fiction

You probably know the name of the man who shot Lincoln. You may even know the gunman was a famous actor in his day, a southern sympathizer, and an ardent partisan. But, do you know the truly outlandish story behind the man who shot and killed the 16th President’s assassin?

Thick plumes of smoke billowed high into the air, escaping the heavy fog settled on the ground, fueled by a combustible mixture of kerosene, dry-rotted wood, and huge stocks of tobacco leaves, previously hung high above the floor from old frayed hemp rope. 

The structure engulfed by the raging fire … Continue reading...

The assassination of the 16th United States President was a first for the country in more than one regard, and one of those accused of being in on the plot would become the subject of controversy – not only contemporarily – but far into the future…

“Sic semper tyrannis!” was not just the ranting of a deranged, racist, secessionist – it rekindled a rallying cry for those seeking justice in the brutal and cowardly assassination of one of the most beloved figures in history. In fact, the Latin phrase was even then, and remains, the state motto of Virginia – … Continue reading...

Modern-day information and entertainment would not be the same without the contribution of one unlikely inventor, who changed society so profoundly but was unjustly denied the fame and fortune he rightly earned after many years of hard work and sacrifice…

Sharp pains interrupted his tortured, shallow breathing as sweat beaded and dripped from his forehead. His skin pale, clammy, cold, and riddled with goosebumps as a chill persisted throughout his entire body. His eyes sunken, bloodshot, crying out for help in the inevitable, unwinnable struggle with death. 

This was the end. The final conscious moments of a brilliant mind, now … Continue reading...

The Battle of New Orleans is considered one of the most important American victories in the War of 1812, and one man helped to turn the fight against the British from a lost cause to a triumph that would seal the end of the Second War of Independence…

Hungry, sleep deprived, exhausted, and inadequately dressed for harsh winter conditions, one thousand Kentucky militia, poorly provisioned, with very little ammunition – most with as little as ten rounds, and sparse military training or experience – marched nearly 400 miles from their home state, up through the horrid black Ohio swamplands into … Continue reading...

Around 1000 AD, a group of explorers sailed over 2,200 nautical miles from Grœnland to North America in search of exotic treasure. But, what they found instead caused the intrepid Norsemen to hastily abandon their only settlement and quickly retreat back to Scandinavia – nearly 500 years before Columbus ever set foot on the New World…

Pelting rain relentlessly soaked every tunic and cloak. Leather shoes sloshed about the exposed wooden deck of the Viking longship, its planks so swollen, water began to pool higher and higher, slowing all rowing to a long, drawn-out, slippery grind. The sails tightly folded … Continue reading...

In the summer of 1916, the first world war raged in Europe and although the United States stayed officially neutral, a powerful blast equaling a 5.5 magnitude earthquake erupted in New York Harbor in the dead of night, shaking nearly every civilian in a 90-mile radius awake, some of whom were violently thrown from their beds, while the Brooklyn Bridge shuddered wildly from the enormous shockwave…

Thick, calcine smoke consumed the post-midnight air, further obfuscating any light not already engulfed by the pitch darkness, be it street lamps or the moon. Under a veil of widespread confusion and chaos, spreading … Continue reading...

In the first year of the American Revolutionary War during the colonies’ campaign for independence, one former slave fights so valiantly that more than a dozen continental officers recommend he be officially recognized for his bravery and loyalty to their cause…

A biting chill permeated the moist morning air, unceasingly cutting through thick clothing, wet from the damp of the dew, worn by the nearly thousand patriots who shivered uncontrollably, gripped with interminable fear, as they watched from their concealed positions the Royal Army march confidently along the mud-riddled, winding road.

Very few of them had any military experience at … Continue reading...

A year after introducing its parcel service in 1913, the US Post Office struggled to define what could and could not be sent, as people tested the boundaries by mailing coffins, construction bricks, puppies, freshly-laid eggs, snakes and other reptiles, small farm animals, and even their own children, from one location to another…

Abigail watched with curious excitement as her mother carefully packed all of her clothes into a little suitcase, topping it off with her favorite doll, sweet Annabelle, before closing and latching the bag shut.

“I’m so excited to go stay with Grandpa for a little while, but … Continue reading...

In 1945, during World War II, British and Indian Allies pushed Imperial Axis Japanese troops back at a crucial battle in Burma, forcing them to die resisting or to retreat into a forested swamp, where the enemy would find themselves surrounded by a fierce, primordial foe who took hundreds of their lives in the most horrific ways…

Hunkered down in strategic positions, one-thousand nervous Japanese soldiers prepared to repel an Allied assault by British and Indian forces, who sought to recapture Ramree Island, taken by the imperial Asian nation just three years ago in 1942. Thousands more Jieitai and Kaigun … Continue reading...

A little-remembered, early twentieth-century female pilot strives for the privilege of being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean but was ultimately edged out by a much more famous name that’s made its way into practically every classroom history book, despite her competition’s better aerial maneuvering skills and experience…

Clear blue skies. Crisp air. A gentle, pleasant breeze. Perfect conditions for any experienced aviator. It was a gorgeous autumn day in New York City, the colorful leaves already changing in late October of 1928, the 21st day to be exact. Hundreds of people had eagerly gathered, and not … Continue reading...

A late-nineteenth-century physician, formally trained as an obstetrician who dabbled in many other areas of science, puts his experience and keen sense of detection to work, solving one of the biggest mystery killer’s origins of his time, eventually convincing his skeptical colleagues of the deadly disease’s true source…

Baby Lewis was just five months old when she became ill with diarrhea on August 29th, 1854. The little girl named Frances was barely out of her mother’s womb and less than halfway through infancy when her condition acutely worsened. She died on September 2nd, five days later.

Just six days after, … Continue reading...

A high-profile and very popular figure, dubbed by the press as a contemporary wizard, conducts gruesome experiments to discredit his chief rival – a troubled genius who ultimately wins a heated public battle for a nation’s and civilization’s rise to modernity…

Her name was Topsy. Exotic by almost every measure, the unique twenty-eight-year-old circus performer hailed from Asia and mesmerized countless crowds for nearly half a decade. Now, deemed unsavable by her trainer, a mean, drunken individual who routinely beat her, despite her unwavering obedience and desire to please, a death condemnation awaited after killing a man named James Fielding … Continue reading...

After eight bloody years of unconventional warfare, a controversial and transformative figure must fight one of the most important battles of his military career and this confrontation will pit him, not against his sworn enemy, but against his very own ranks…

Seventeen long, tense, and bloody days had passed since the two belligerent forces first met one another on a nearly frozen, previously soaked battlefield. Only hours later, almost 1,500 casualties lay dead in the stained snow, shattered ice, and oozing muck at Saratoga. The stench in the air choked the breath out of every surviving combatant. Putrid remains littered … Continue reading...

In 1772, American colonists struggle to build a new life, fighting desperately against nature and tyranny, as King George III continues to issue destructive orders from thousands of miles away, one man leads a small opposition group in a historical confrontation that helps pave the way toward an independent nation…

Beads of sweat covered a wrinkled, warm-to-the-touch brow, as hands shook and shivered, crossed over his chest, wheezing for breath. Cracked, coarse palms, abused from years upon years of hard manual labor, gave little comfort, as a chill ran rampantly through his entire body. Gasping for air had become uncomfortable … Continue reading...

Roger Johns is deeply committed to his cause, waging a war pitting laborers against manufacturers and merchants but the grass-roots movement will not adequately stop the revolution of industry and innovation will prove too great a force to overcome as the world moves forthright into modernity, leaving its antiquated past behind…

Spring flowers stood tall and bloomed bright under the sunlight in a meadow near Huddersfield, sadly stained and spattered red with blood, oozing from five poor protestors, gunned down by soldiers under direct orders from King George III to capture or kill, whatever necessary. His Royal Majesty and the … Continue reading...

A late 19th-century physician seeks a cure for tuberculosis at a time when the disease is killing nearly 14 percent of the population in the United States and Europe. He must rely on the rudimentary tools and knowledge of his time to fight back against a growing pandemic that continues to indiscriminately infect and claim victim after victim…

Sitting alone, staring almost blankly at his journal, perplexed by loosely threaded thoughts and a creeping sense of despair, Doctor Iain O’Rourke nurses his third stiff drink, chomping on the end of a drawn-down cigar, agonizing over the loss of yet another … Continue reading...

American soldier Buford “Doc” Fry is stranded deep in Nazi Germany in early May of 1945. As the only remaining survivor of his platoon, he must sneak to safety from Hamburg to just beyond the border of Denmark where he can find the Danish Resistance, slightly over 101 miles away. During his escape, he happens upon a very unlikely ally, a young German, Rolf Shultz. As a team, they encounter many obstacles and dangers along their journey to Padborg…

Buford struggled to breathe, even more so to maintain some semblance of composure. Alone, covered in grime and dried blood, he … Continue reading...