Three Brothers Swept into the Firestorm of Civil War - Blog Tour and Book Excerpt for "The Roll of the Dice"

BOOK EXCERPT

The memory of the heated arguments of the last two hours between Johan and the President still hung in the room. Johan had volunteered for Andre to be his personal secretary, but because he could not be on active duty, Andre had no choice but to accept. By being with Johan almost every waking minute of the day, he had a front-row seat to Johan’s new “ideas” and Uncle Jefferson’s anger at many of them.

Andre sat uncomfortably at Johan’s desk while his friend paced the room. Andre felt he would be on at least easy duty with his left arm in a sling. Well, when your cousin’s godfather is the goddamn president, that does change things, he thought to himself. With his good hand feeling his collar, Andre could not believe he had been promoted to First Lieutenant. The highest rank he had ever achieved was Master Sergeant, and Andre’s big mouth had assured him that any promotion he received was always temporary. But hell, something momentous had to be happening if his past indiscretions were overlooked and he was made a junior officer, no questions asked.

“Are you ready, Andre?” asked Johan in an exasperated voice.

“Sorry,” Andre rubbed his eyes with his good hand. “Must have drifted off.” He picked up the ink pen and dipped it in the ink well. “Where do you want me to start?”

Johan stopped pacing momentarily to look out a window into the darkness of the night. “Where do you think?” He gave Andre a seditious smile. “Let's rewrite the section about enlisting negros into the army.”

“Alright”, thought Andre. “It's your hide on the line.”

Johan began again, oblivious to Andre or the servant Thomas entering the room to replace their empty water pitcher. “This report recommends that a bill be presented to Congress authorizing the enlistment of Confederate Negros. As an incentive, Negro soldiers will be given emancipation upon honorable completion of their enlistment as well as the emancipation of their families.”

Letting out a breath, Andre finished writing, “This will be interesting tomorrow.”