In school, we learn about the movement of thesoldiers and the progression of the battle, as though the townitself and the people living there did not exist. I don’t everrecall learning how the townspeople coped with this tragedy. I knowI never learned what happened to the African-American community.When I read Tillie’s memoir, At Gettysburg: Or What a Girl Saw andHeard of the Battle, I just knew I had to tell the entirestory.
George Sandoe was the first civilian/soldierto die at Gettysburg. He was a married man in real life, but Iwanted to honor him and I needed a way to do that. So in my story,George became Maggie’s unmarried beau. He was on his way toCarlisle when killed by Confederate skirmishers, who surprised himand his two companions, who managed to escape.
Maggie died in 1867. I couldn’t find anythingthat told me her cause of death, but a tuberculosis epidemic sweptthrough the area, around that time, so it seemed natural that sheshould succumb to that disease.
Tillie did nurse soldiers at the Weikert farmand at Camp Letterman. She did not record in her memoir if she evernursed the Confederate soldiers, but from what I learned of herthrough my research, I decided she was the kind of person who wouldhave. She saw so much horror for a young woman of fifteen and Iconsider myself honored to have gotten to know her as well as Idid. Out of necessity much of her life that she didn’t record inher memoir I invented. I tried to stay true to the Tillie Piercethat I came to know through years of study and I hope my readersfeel I accomplished that goal. Tillie died in 1914 at the age of66, just days after her birthday.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Angela Moody lives in Vermont with herhusband, Jim. Their son, Stephen and his wife, Amanda live nearby.Daughter Alison lives in New Jersey.
Angela has been writing from an earlyage, always in the historic fiction genre where she feels sheshines.
One of her passions is crochet. Fromthe time she learned the craft, she was “hooked”. She lovesreading, writing, and spending time with her family. One of theitems on her bucket list is to visit every civil war battlefieldsite at the time of year each battle took place.
No Safe Havenis her first novel and she is currently hard atwork on her second, due out in early 2019. Angela is a member ofScribes244 and Scribes 232 critique groups.
Look for me at:
www.Angelamoody.weebly.com
www.facebook.com/angelamoody2
www.twitter.com@moodygrnmtnwrtr
