My Sword for a Scalpel

Book excerpt: Before Alabama became a state, it was already being occupied. Many Indians lived here and most were sent west to Oklahoma by Andrew Jackson amidst the "Trail of Tears." Many Caucasian people settled Alabama after coming here with Andrew Jackson to fight the Creeks and Choctaws. After that campaign reached conclusion, many soldiers just stayed. East Jefferson County became the home of some, plus others came in wagon trains as squatters to Springville, Chalkville, and Trussville. After one generation, these communities plus dozens of others were populated by adventure seeking people from the Northern areas. Benton Berryhill was one such immigrant. He was killed as a tree being cut fell on him, leaving a grown married son who fostered Franklin, Jeb, and Jenny. By the time these children were older teens, the Civil war had begun and soon would engulf all of the Southern states and involved thousands of Rebel and Yankee soldiers. It is understandable that feelings ran so high, and boys by the score were soon off at war. Jeb Berryhill was high strung and a Confederate through and through. He was one of the first Jefferson County boys to enlist. Later, Franklin, who hated slavery, the war and the feelings of his neighbors, felt obligated to also join. He started as a private in the Confederacy and fought in scores of conflicts and major battles. He was also indoctrinated as surgeons helper and later became a full fledged doctor as well as a fighting soldier. Franklin survived the war, but Jeb did not. Their father traveled to Champions Hill is Mississippi to retrieve Jeb's body. Franklin had risen to the rank of Captain Surgeon. After the bloody, death filled, tragic war was finished, Franklin, convinced he wanted to become a civilian doctor, finished his education attained his goal, and then helped to establish Birmingham, the largest city in the state. This Novel describes most of the major battles of the awful war. It follows the Berryhill family from their arrival in Jefferson County up until Franklin's old age. Read about the bloody battles of Gettysburg, Shiloh, Chickamauga, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga. Plus many others. Learn of Robert E. Lee. Braxton Bragg, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Fighting Joe Wheeler, Jeb Stuart, Stoonewall Jackson, and James Longstreet. Plus, Ulysses Grant, Old Brains Halleck, William T. Sherman, Abraham Lincoln and his Emancipation Proclamation, William Rosecrans, Daniel McCook, John Schofield, and George Armstrong Custer. By reading "My Sword for a Scalpel" the Civil War enthusiast can renew previous learning. Novice readers can hear about what happened at various important places. The Novel is generally entertaining plus informative. Hundreds of places and men were actual participants while a few others were added for emphasis and explanation.