Sue Mundy: A Novel of the Civil War (Kentucky Voices)

October 11, 1864. The Civil War rages on in Kentucky, where Union and Confederate loyalties have turned neighbors into enemies and once-proud soldiers into drifters, thieves, and outlaws. Stephen Gano Burbridge, radical Republican and military commander of the district of Kentucky, has declared his own war on this new class of marauding guerrillas, and his weekly executions at Louisville's public commons draw both crowds and widespread criticism. In this time of fear and division, a Kentucky journalist created a legend: Sue Mundy, female guerrilla, a "she-devil" and "tigress" who was leading her band of outlaws across the state in an orgy of greed and bloodshed. Though the "Sue Mundy" of the papers was created as an affront to embarrass Union authorities, the man behind the woman -- twenty-year-old Marcellus Jerome Clarke -- was later brought to account for "her" crimes. Historians have pieced together clues about this orphan from southern Kentucky whose idealism and later disillusionment led him to his fate, but Richard Taylor's work of imagination makes this history flesh -- an exciting story of the Civil War told from the perspective of one of its most enigmatic figures. Sue Mundy opens in 1861, when fifteen-year-old Jerome Clark, called "Jarom," leaves everyone he loves -- his aunt, his adopted family, his sweetheart -- to follow his older cousin into the Confederate infantry. There, confronted by the hardships of what he slowly understands is a losing fight, Jarom's romanticized notions of adventure and heroism are crushed under the burdens of hunger, sleepless nights, and mindless atrocities. Captured by Union forces and imprisoned in Camp Morton, Jarom makes a daring escape, crossing the Ohio River under cover of darkness and finding refuge and refreshed patriotic zeal first in Adam R. Johnson's Tenth Kentucky Calvary, then among General John Hunt Morgan's infamous brigade. Morgan's shocking death in 1864 proves a bad omen for the Confederate cause, as members of his group of raiders scatter -- some to rejoin organized forces, others, like Jarom, to opt for another, less civilized sort of warfare. Displaced and desperate for revenge, Jarom and his band of Confederate deserters wreak havoc in Kentucky: a rampage of senseless murder and thievery in an uncertain quest to inflict punishment on Union sympathizers. Long-locked and clean-shaven, Jarom is mistakenly labeled female by the media -- but Sue Mundy is about more than the transformation of a man into a woman, and then a legend. Ironically, Sue Mundy becomes the persona by which Jarom's darkest self is revealed, and perhaps redeemed. A teenage boy fighting in the American Civil War becomes a Kentucky legend in this historical novel by the author of Girty and Elkhorn . October 11, 1864. The Civil War rages on in Kentucky, where Union and Confederate loyalties have turned neighbors into enemies and once-proud soldiers into drifters, thieves, and outlaws. Stephen Gano Burbridge, radical Republican and military commander of the district of Kentucky, has declared his own war on this new class of marauding guerrillas, and his weekly executions at Louisville's public commons draw both crowds and widespread criticism. In this time of fear and division, a Kentucky journalist created a legend: Sue Mundy, female guerrilla, a "she-devil" and "tigress" who was leading her band of outlaws across the state in an orgy of greed and bloodshed. Though the "Sue Mundy" of the papers was created as an affront to embarrass Union authorities, the man behind the woman#8212;twenty-year-old Marcellus Jerome Clarke#8212;was later brought to account for "her" crimes. Historians have pieced together clues about this orphan from southern Kentucky whose idealism and later disillusionment led him to his fate, but Richard Taylor's work of imagination makes this history flesh#8212;an exciting story of the Civil War told from the perspective of one of its most enigmatic figures. Sue Mundy opens in 1861, when fifteen-year-old Jerome Clark, called "Jarom," leaves everyone he loves#8212;his aunt, his adopted family, his sweetheart#8212;to follow his older cousin into the Confederate infantry. There, confronted by the hardships of what he slowly understands is a losing fight, Jarom's romanticized notions of adventure and heroism are crushed under the burdens of hunger, sleepless nights, and mindless atrocities. Captured by Union forces and imprisoned in Camp Morton, Jarom makes a daring escape, crossing the Ohio River under cover of darkness and finding refuge and refreshed patriotic zeal first in Adam R. Johnson's Tenth Kentucky Calvary, then among General John Hunt Morgan's infamous brigade. Morgan's shocking death in 1864 proves a bad omen for the Confederate cause, as members of his group of raiders scatter#8212;some to rejoin organized forces, others, like Jarom, to opt for another, less civilized sort of warfare. Displaced and desperate for revenge, Jarom and his band of Confederate deserters wreak havoc in Kentucky: a rampage of senseless murder and thievery in an uncertain quest to inflict punishment on Union sympathizers. Long-locked and clean-shaven, Jarom is mistakenly labeled female by the media#8212;but Sue Mundy is about more than the transformation of a man into a woman, and then a legend. Ironically, Sue Mundy becomes the persona by which Jarom's darkest self is revealed, and perhaps redeemed. Praise for Sue Mundy "Fans of the Civil War and historical military fiction will appreciate the author's depiction of war in a border state." #8212; Publishers Weekly "Taylor's gift here is to bring history alive. His writing has always been informed by a deep love and affinity for history?his poetry and his fiction?particularly as it relates to the present." #8212; Louisville Courier-Journal

October 11, 1864. The Civil War rages on in Kentucky, where Union and Confederate loyalties have turned neighbors into enemies and once-proud soldiers into drifters, thieves, and outlaws. Stephen Gano Burbridge, radical Republican and military commander of the district of Kentucky, has declared his own war on this new class of marauding guerrillas, and his weekly executions at Louisville's public commons draw both crowds and widespread criticism. In this time of fear and division, a Kentucky journalist created a legend: Sue Mundy, female guerrilla, a "she-devil" and "tigress" who was leading her band of outlaws across the state in an orgy of greed and bloodshed. Though the "Sue Mundy" of the papers was created as an affront to embarrass Union authorities, the man behind the woman—twenty-year-old Marcellus Jerome Clarke—was later brought to account for "her" crimes. Historians have pieced together clues about this orphan from southern Kentucky whose idealism and later disillusionment led him to his fate, but Richard Taylor's work of imagination makes this history flesh—an exciting story of the Civil War told from the perspective of one of its most enigmatic figures. Sue Mundy opens in 1861, when fifteen-year-old Jerome Clark, called "Jarom," leaves everyone he loves—his aunt, his adopted family, his sweetheart—to follow his older cousin into the Confederate infantry. There, confronted by the hardships of what he slowly understands is a losing fight, Jarom's romanticized notions of adventure and heroism are crushed under the burdens of hunger, sleepless nights, and mindless atrocities. Captured by Union forces and imprisoned in Camp Morton, Jarom makes a daring escape, crossing the Ohio River under cover of darkness and finding refuge and refreshed patriotic zeal first in Adam R. Johnson's Tenth Kentucky Calvary, then among General John Hunt Morgan's infamous brigade. Morgan's shocking death in 1864 proves a bad omen for the Confederate cause, as members of his group of raiders scatter—some to rejoin organized forces, others, like Jarom, to opt for another, less civilized sort of warfare. Displaced and desperate for revenge, Jarom and his band of Confederate deserters wreak havoc in Kentucky: a rampage of senseless murder and thievery in an uncertain quest to inflict punishment on Union sympathizers. Long-locked and clean-shaven, Jarom is mistakenly labeled female by the media—but Sue Mundy is about more than the transformation of a man into a woman, and then a legend. Ironically, Sue Mundy becomes the persona by which Jarom's darkest self is revealed, and perhaps redeemed.

SUE MUNDY......Page 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 8 SUE MUNDY: A PORTRAIT......Page 14 PART ONE......Page 16 LOGAN COUNTY, 1855......Page 18 HOME LIFE......Page 28 MOLLIE THOMAS, SUMMER 1861......Page 32 PATTERSON......Page 37 DONELSON......Page 43 CAMP MORTON......Page 64 ESCAPE......Page 66 NEW BURGH......Page 69 ALVINA LOCKE......Page 80 PORTER......Page 92 BACK TO OLD KENTUCKY......Page 97 FURLOUGH......Page 110 DOLDRUMS......Page 117 THE GREAT RAID......Page 118 RECROSSING THE RIVER......Page 124 CYNTHIANA......Page 128 GREENEVILLE......Page 140 PART TWO......Page 154 A DAY OF INDEPENDENCE......Page 158 SAM BERRY......Page 165 HARRODSBURG......Page 179 A NAME IN THE PAPER......Page 184 A LEAKING ROOF......Page 195 PILGRIMAGE......Page 200 NANTURA......Page 204 MAXWELL......Page 208 CALDWELL......Page 213 REDEMPTION......Page 224 MAGRUDER......Page 233 SIMPSONVILLE......Page 236 MCCLOSKEY'S......Page 255 QUANTRILL......Page 260 HORSE COUNTRY......Page 268 A TIGHT SPOT......Page 279 MARION......Page 283 EXODUS......Page 287 THE BARN......Page 298 A SOUND OF COCKS CROWING......Page 307 PRISONER......Page 313 THE TRIAL......Page 318 CHURCHED......Page 330 RECESSIONAL......Page 340 EPILOGUE......Page 354 On March 15, 1865, three weeks before the end of the Civil War, twenty-year-old M. Jerome Clarke was hanged as a Confederate guerrilla in Louisville, Kentucky, as a crowd of thousands looked on. In the official charges against him, Clarke's description included the alias "Sue Mundy." By the time of his execution, Sue Mundy had earned a reputation as the region's most dangerous and enigmatic female outlaw. Sue Mundy is the story of Jerome Clarke, a quiet orphan boy who follows a near relative into the ranks of the Confederate infantry. Following his capture by Union forces and his subsequent es "Sue Mundy" is the story of Jerome Clarke, a quiet orphan boy who joins the Confederate infantry. Following his capture by Union forces and his subsequent escape, Jerome joins John Hunt Morgan's notorious Raiders. After Morgan's death, Jerome becomes a Confederate "irregular," one of the many guerrillas in Kentucky who ignored the rules of military engagement. Eventually, Jerome is unwillingly transfigured by the chaos of war and the efforts of an ambitious journalist into Sue Mundy, she-scourge of Kentucky Unionists and dangerous female outlaw Blends Fictional Elements With Historical Fact In A Historical Novel About Jerome Clark, A Quiet Orphan Boy Who Follows A Relative Into The Ranks Of The Confederate Infantry, Only To Be Hanged As A Confederate Guerrilla In The Final Days Of The War--novelist. Richard Taylor.