Category Archives: Antebellum

Book Review – And Union No More A Novel by Stan Haynes

Posted by:

A Novel of Historical Fact and Fiction About Bleeding Kansas

And Union No More

And Union No More

Bleeding Kansas and its struggle to become either a free or a slave state in the Union is the theme of And Union No More. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery supporters battle it out in a territorial civil war. The story is told by the experiences of fictional and factual historical characters and with fictional and factual history.

Title: And Union No More A Novel.
Author: Stan Haynes
Author Stan Haynes lives in Maryland and is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and the University of Virginia School of Law. His legal career as an attorney was at a Baltimore law firm. Haynes has always had a passion for American history. His website is: www.stanhaynes.com.

Background Laws Leading to Bleeding Kansas

The Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 are the background laws that led up to Bleeding Kansas. Stan Haynes’ novel And Union No More tells the story of Bleeding Kansas using both historical facts and fiction, along with historical and fictional characters to weave an interesting and intriguing story. Would the Kansas Territory become a free or a slave state when it entered the Union?

Missouri Compromise of 1820

The Missouri Compromise of 1820 meant that Missouri would enter the Union as a slave state while Maine would enter as a free state. This would maintain the balance of power in representation between free and slave states. Also in the Missouri Compromise, a virtual dividing line was established across a latitude of parallel 36°30′ north where slavery was permanently banned, excepting Missouri. This seemed to quell free vs. slave state tensions, but others saw more conflict coming.

Political Map of the United States 1856

Political Map of the United States 1856

The now aged Thomas Jefferson considered the Missouri Compromise as, “like a fire bell in the night, awakened me and filled me with terror.” John Adams, older than Jefferson, thought it the “title page to a great tragic volume.” Both of these great statesmen believed the Missouri Compromise would lead to future conflict over the “Peculiar Institution” of slavery. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 helped set the stage for what later became Bleeding Kansas.

Compromise of 1850

The Compromise of 1850 brought five separate bills that even more muddled the future of Kansas’ status as a free or slave state. The five separate bills of the Compromise of 1850 included:

1.) Allowing slavery in Washington, D.C., but outlawed the slave trade there.
2.) California came into the Union as a free state.
3.) Utah and New Mexico became territories that could decide by popular sovereignty if they would have slavery.
4.) New boundaries for the state of Texas were made following the Mexican-American War. Claims to parts of New Mexico were removed, but Texas was awarded $10 million in compensation.
5.) The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 required citizens to assist in apprehending runaway slaves and denied enslaved people a right to trial by jury.

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

This act was especially controversial as it required that escaped slaves in free states be returned to slavery. The people of the free states were compelled to obey this law or suffer severe consequences of fines or jail. Because of the Fugitive Slave Act tensions increased between the North and the South, as did the chance of a Civil War.

Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854

The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 added a very large area of territory which was now open for settlement in the United States. This territory came from the Louisiana Purchase made fifty years before with France.

Illinois Senator Stephen Douglas created a bill that divided this area into two territories, Kansas and Nebraska. Douglas came up with the idea of Popular Sovereignty which meant that the people of these two new territories would decide whether or not to allow slavery when they became states. This overturned the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and set the stage for Bleeding Kansas. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions fought violently in order to gain the Popular Sovereignty majority advantage for their respective cause. Pro-slavery Border Ruffians from Missouri and anti-slavery Kansas Territory Jayhawkers violently fought each other in a territorial civil war. Bleeding Kansas foreshadowed the Civil War.

Author Stan Haynes

Author Stan Haynes

Author Stan Haynes

In Stan Haynes’ And Union No More the main character is anti-slavery Montgomery “Monty” Tolliver who sets out from his hometown of Dayton, Ohio for the Kansas Territory. Monty is an idealistic young man who is an abolitionist and he wants the Kansas Territory to become a free state. Monty goes to Kansas to start a new life and business and he will bring his family from Ohio to Kansas when all is ready. On his journey Monty soon encounters others, both anti-slavery and pro-slavery supporters. Monty Tolliver experiences and participates in the violence and bloodshed struggle of Bleeding Kansas in the years before the Civil War.

Characters:

Note: On his And Union No More copyright page Stan Haynes makes this statement:
“This is a work of historical fiction. Where historical figures appear in the story, they are portrayed fictitiously, with details and events that are products of the author’s imagination, and should not be considered as real.”

Montgomery “Monty” Tolliver – The main character in Union No More is anti-slavery and abolitionist Monty Tolliver. Monty is a former Ohio congressman from Dayton. He goes to the Kansas Territory to start a new life and to help make it become a free state when it enters the Union. Tolliver meets two young men who are central to the story. He encounters various fictional assorted scoundrels, good people, and actual historical people. Tolliver is a captain in the free-state militia.

Robert Geddis – A restless anti-slavery young man from Rhode Island who becomes a close friend of Monty Tolliver and joins with him in the fight to make Kansas a free state. Geddis is a member of the free-state militia and a newspaper writer.

Billy Rutledge – Pro-slavery twenty-one year old Billy Rutledge is from Mississippi and he feels his life is not going anywhere. The Kansas-Nebraska Act spurs him to the Kansas Territory to fight against abolitionist and free-state Yankees. Helping to make Kansas a slave state gives his life meaning. Billy had a brother named Ben who died.

Henry Clay

Henry Clay

Henry Clay – Clay represented Kentucky in both the Senate and the House. He was anti-slavery and helped to found the Whig Party and the Republican Party. He is known as the “Great Compromiser.” Monty is influenced by Clay.

 

 

 

Ned Watkins – Watkins is pro-slavery and the leader of the secret Blue Lodge.

Raven – Raven is a code name. An older black woman and former slave who was set free after being bought by a benevolent young man. She now works the Underground Railroad as a conductor and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 brings threat and danger to her. Raven helps Monty and Monty had helped Raven.

James Lane

James Lane

James Lane – A militia leader in the Kansas Territory whose dedication to the Kansas Territory becoming a free state is wavering and questionable.

 

 

 

John Brown The Tragic Prelude

John Brown The Tragic Prelude

John Brown – The violent abolitionist from Hudson, Ohio.

 

 

 

 

Presidential Candidate Abraham Lincoln 1860

Presidential Candidate Abraham Lincoln 1860

Abraham Lincoln – Before he became the 16th president of the United States.

 

 

 

 

Some Story Events Of And Union No More:

  • Montgomery “Monty” Tolliver is a former Ohio Congressman who worked with Henry Clay. He returns to his hometown of Dayton and rekindles his lost relationship with his life-long love.
  • Monty goes to Bleeding Kansas on a journey to start a new life for himself and his family. Monty is idealistic and wants to help make Kansas a free state when it comes into the Union.
  • Monty meets two young men who become his friends on his journey. Billy Rutledge is from Mississippi and is pro-slavery, Robert Geddis is from Rode Island and is anti-slavery.
  • Billy Rutledge joins the secret pro-slavery Blue Lodge and takes an oath. The Blue Lodge is violent and burns cabins of anti-slavery settlers. Billy must participate in the violence, but is opposed to it.
  • Monty and Robert witness the attack and violence on anti-slavery supporting Lawrence, Kansas. They are members of the free-state militia and Monty is a militia captain.
  • Monty and Robert investigate the murders of pro-slavery supporters by anti-slavery supporters at Pottawatomie Creek.
  • While he was an Ohio congressman in 1844, Monty is involved in a plot with another (whose identity is later revealed as a surprise) to assassinate pro-slavery President John Tyler.
  • The Underground Railroad and story characters who are part of it, are prominent in the novel. There is Raven, and a mysterious “coyote.” Both have strong connections to Monty. There are surprises for the reader.
  • A future president, Abraham Lincoln gives a defining speech at Peoria, Illinois in October 1854. Lincoln speaks of his view on Popular Sovereignty and the Kansas- Nebraska Act.
  • Border Ruffians from Missouri interfere with voting by causing fraud in the Kansas Territory in order to make it a slave state. There is conflict between the Free-State Party and the Law-And-Order-Party as they compete against one another for their causes.
  • There is a double murder of anti-slavery men and pro-slavery Billy Rutledge is arrested for the murders. Is he innocent and has been set up, or is he guilty? Will Billy hang for the murders? Do anti-slavery Monty and Robert unexpectedly come to help the pro-slavery Rutledge? A mysterious message comes to Monty and a secret meeting occurs with a significant historical individual who plays a compelling role in this drama.. The plot of And Union No More explodes with intrigue.
  • The Wakusa War begins after a free-stater is killed over a land dispute by a pro-slavery neighbor.
  • Writer and newspaperman Robert Geddis interviews radical abolitionist John Brown. As Haynes tells his story, Brown becomes more and more central.
  • There is the Battle of Black Jack. Is it the actual first battle of the Civil War?
  • Robert Geddis receives a “CONFIDENTIAL” letter from a key individual that reveals information of what happened behind the scenes. This letter wraps things up in And Union No More.
  • Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln gives a speech at Leavenworth, Kansas in December 1859. Monty Tolliver meets Lincoln.

Conclusion

Get And Union No More at Amazon

Get And Union No More at Amazon

I greatly recommend this novel to you. It is based on history and imagination and is well worth your attention and time. You will learn about events prior to the Civil War as Stan Haynes writes an engaging story using a combination of fact and fiction about Bleeding Kansas and its tribulation of becoming a free state. You will be informed and entertained by this novel. I give And Union No More a five star rating and a huge thumbs-up.

Product details:

Title: And Union No More A Novel
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BY39X93D
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 11, 2023
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3771 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 255 pages
Best Sellers Rank: #117,504 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
#121 in Political Fiction (Kindle Store)
#295 in Political Fiction (Books)
#4,513 in Historical Fiction (Kindle Store)
Customer Reviews:
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 37 ratings

Get Other Books By Stan Haynes at Amazon:

Belle Boyd, the “La Belle Rebelle” – A Confederate Spy

Posted by:

Isabella Maria Boyd

Belle Boyd

Belle Boyd

Isabella Maria Boyd ran a hotel for her father in Front Royal, Virginia. Front Royal is located at the northern end of the Civil War-strategic Shenandoah Valley. Belle Boyd was a Confederate spy. Most often she was called Belle, but she had other names too. She was called; the “Siren of the Shenandoah,” the “La Belle Rebelle,” the “Rebel Joan of Arc,” the “Amazon of Secessia,” and the “Cleopatra of the Secession.” She shrewdly used her feminine charm and appeal to gather information from unwitting Union officers and troops staying at her father’s hotel.

Belle was described as, “without being beautiful, she is very attractive…quite tall…a superb figure…and dressed with much taste.” She was not unattractive, but she wasn’t a raving or natural beauty. Union officers and soldiers were vulnerable to Belle’s playful toying with them. Their loose lips would tell Confederate Belle information she should not know.

She was born on May 4, 1844, to a wealthy family in Martinsburg, Virginia. Martinsburg would later become part of West Virginia. When Yankee troops came to Martinsburg in early July 1861, a Billy Yank who’d had too much booze allegedly insulted Belle’s mother. Belle shot and killed him. After the Civil War, Belle wrote of this incident in her memoirs. She wrote the Yankee had, “addressed my mother and myself in language as offensive as it is possible to conceive. I could stand it no longer…we ladies were obliged to go armed in order to protect ourselves as best we might from insult and outrage.” It should be noted that in her memoirs Belle sometimes had a tendency to exaggerate. The commanding officer of the dead Billy Yank made an investigation into the matter and decided that Belle had, “‘done perfectly right.” Belle was not punished for killing the Yankee.

A Spy For Stonewall Jackson

Seventeen-year-old Belle soon became a Confederate spy. Having lived in western Virginia and in Front Royal, Belle had a good knowledge of the area and its geography. This was valuable knowledge to the Confederates. As a spy, Belle was a courier for Union troops and had access to Union camps. She always had her eyes and ears open for information that would help the Confederates.

Belle claimed in her memoirs that while visiting relatives at their home in Front Royal she spied through a closet’s peephole on a Yankee Council of War meeting. She learned that Union Major General Nathaniel Banks’ troops would be advancing east to Front Royal.

Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson

Belle rode fifteen miles in the night to the Shenandoah Valley to convey that information to General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson who was on his 1862 Valley Campaign.

A few weeks later, Belle once again provided Stonewall Jackson with timely information. This time it was about Union troop positions before Stonewall made his attack on Front Royal. On this occasion, “La Belle Rebelle” risked her life crossing over the battlefield through Union lines. She wrote of the experience, “the Federal pickets…immediately fired upon me…my escape was most providential…rifle-balls flew thick and fast about me…so near my feet as to throw dust in my eyes…numerous bullets whistled by my ears, several actually pierced different parts of my clothing.” Belle Boyd was a brave young woman.

Stonewall Jackson won at Front Royal and in a personal letter to Belle, he commended her for her spying help and courage. Stonewall made Belle Boyd an honorary captain in an aide-de-camp position, and she was awarded the Southern Cross of Honor.

Jail, England, Capture, Canada, Marriage, Memoir

Although Belle was arrested several times she avoided jail until July 29, 1862. On the order of United States Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, Belle was jailed at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington after a lover blew the whistle on her. Belle’s jail time was short when a prisoner exchange got her out of jail within a month. She was arrested and sent to jail for a second time in July 1863. This time she spent a longer time in jail and was not released until the following December. Belle was banished to the South. At the time she was suffering from typhoid fever.

To recover her health and to continue her spying service to the Confederacy, Belle sailed for Europe on May 8, 1864. On this voyage, she carried letters from Confederate President Jefferson Davis that she was to deliver to foreign dignitaries. A Union warship intercepted the blockade runner Belle was aboard and she was captured. Her shrewdness and beguiling feminine ways pay off again for her as she charms the blockade runner’s crew and officers. Apparently one officer, in particular, fell under Belle’s spell and fortuitously for her, she is left in Canada. Again, the “La Belle Rebelle” is not punished. Belle then successfully continues her journey to England.

In England, Belle marries Samuel Hardinge, Jr. on May 25, 1864. Isn’t it an interesting coincidence that Samuel just happened to be the Union naval officer who seized the blockade runner Belle was a passenger on? Imagine that! The reader is free to hazard a guess, to imagine, and to read between the lines about Samuel Hardinge, Jr. and the charming Belle. Consider too, how Belle was set free in Canada after her capture.

Samuel returns to the United States and is imprisoned under suspicion of treason. After all, he had captured Belle Boyd, a known Confederate spy heading for England who was caught carrying letters from Jefferson Davis, but he sets her free safely in Canada. Then, he marries her. Nevertheless, in the United States Samuel Hardinge, Jr. is set free from prison, then he soon dies.

Back in England, “La Belle Rebelle” is expecting a child and Samuel is the father. Perhaps Belle and Samuel’s story is clearer now. She gives birth to a daughter. With help from an established English journalist, she writes a book, a two-volume memoir titled Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison. In her memoir, Belle tells of her Civil War spying exploits and adventures.

Actress and More Marriages

Belle becomes an actress in 1866 and then returns to the United States in 1867 where she continues her acting career. In March 1869, Belle marries John Swainston Hammond, an Englishman who fought for the Union in the Civil War. Belle and John have two sons and two daughters. Their union did not last, they divorce in November 1884. Belle is not single for very long. The following January Belle marries actor Nathaniel Rue High, a young Ohioan. It seems that Belle got around. Belle now begins a new career touring the country speaking and lecturing about her Civil War adventures as a Confederate spy.

Death

Belle Boyd's Grave

Belle Boyd’s Grave

Isabella Maria Boyd dies of a heart attack in Wisconsin on June 11, 1900. She rests in peace at Kilbourn (now Spring Grove) Cemetery in Wisconsin. The Confederate spy, the “Siren of the Shenandoah,” the “La Belle Rebelle,” the “Rebel Joan of Arc,” the “Amazon of Secessia,” or the “Cleopatra of the Secession,” is buried in Yankee soil.

 

Learn Civil War History Podcast: Belle Boyd, the “La Belle Rebelle” – A Confederate Spy

Isabella Maria Boyd ran her father’s hotel in Front Royal, Virginia. Front Royal is at the northern end of the Civil War-strategic Shenandoah Valley. Belle Boyd was a Confederate spy. Most often she was called Belle, but she had other names too. She was called; the “Siren of the Shenandoah,” the “La Belle Rebelle,” the “Rebel Joan of Arc,” the “Amazon of Secessia,” and the “Cleopatra of the Secession.” Belle was described as, “without being beautiful, she is very attractive…quite tall…a superb figure…and dressed with much taste.” She was not unattractive, but she wasn’t a raving beauty. She shrewdly used her feminine charm and appeal to gather information from unwitting Union officers and troops staying at her father’s hotel. Union officers and soldiers were vulnerable to Belle’s playful toying with them. Their loose lips would tell the Confederate spy Belle information she ought not know. Having lived in western Virginia and in Front Royal, seventeen-year-old Belle had a good knowledge of the area and its geography. This was valuable knowledge to the Confederates and Belle became a Confederate spy. Belle was a courier for Union troops and had access to Union camps. As a spy, she always had her eyes and ears open for information that would help the Confederates.