NEW RELEASE!
"A Union Soldier in Savannah and the Carolinas" – A Love and Valor Chapter
In order to appeal more directly to regional audiences, editor Charles Larimer is splitting Love and Valor into five chapter-books. Working backwards, we present the last chapter first – A Union Soldier in Savannah and the Carolinas – A Love and Valor Chapter.
The full book, first published in the year 2000, received wide-spread recognition, including regional notice in Savannah:
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In 2000, the officials at the famous Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah included Jacob Ritner’s description of Bonaventure Cemetery when they submitted their formal application to have Bonaventure Cemetery included in the National Register of Historic Places administered by the National Park Service.
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The reprint edition (published 2001) of Savannah – A Historical Portrait by Margaret Wayt DeBolt also includes Jacob Ritner’s description of Bonaventure Cemetery.
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The current web page “Forest City of the South - Tree Quotes - Voices For the Trees of Savannah, GA” includes a quote from Jacob Ritner.
With this Savannah and the Carolinas edition, Larimer also includes his personal stories of meeting Margaret Wayt DeBolt and how she helped him meet the modern day Savannah resident Haywood Nichols, the great grandson of the Ice Merchant of Savannah, Alfred Haywood, who hosted Captain Jacob Ritner for Christmas dinner in 1864 at the end of Sherman’s March to the Sea while the Union Army occupied Savannah. Margaret Wayt DeBolt’s book, Savannah Spectres and Other Strange Tales, is the basis for the many ghost tours currently conducted in Savannah.
NOW AVAILABLE HERE:
NEW RELEASE!
"Love and Valor - Intimate Civil War Letters Between Captain Jacob and Emeline Ritner" REVISED EDITION
WHY THE UPDATED VERSION? Over the last 20 years, Larimer found many new stories and pictures of people mentioned in the letters, including two other photo albums, one of which contained pictures of Jacob and Emeline’s children.
In addition, he continued to find fascinating stories about the people Jacob and Emeline knew, or met, that they mentioned in their letters.
With this update, Sigourney Press also created an eBook version available on Kindle, Nook, and other eBook sites.
NOW AVAILABLE HERE:
LOVE AND VALOR is a tremendously moving and literate story of the Civil War based on letters, regimental histories, newspaper stories, and additional writing. Jacob Ritner answered Lincoln's first call for 75,000 men in April 1861. After serving a three month term with the 1st Iowa Infantry, Jacob acted as a recruiting officer for the Union Army, and then re-enlisted in the 25th Iowa Infantry. He participated in most of the major campaigns of the Western Theater.
He was in the first brigade that entered Columbia, South Carolina, that led to the removal of the Confederate flag and the raising of the US flag over the state capitol building.
Emeline remained in Iowa, raising four small children and managing the family farm. Her letters provide a description and stories of a small town in Iowa during the Civil war, of the women who stayed behind and dealt with the tragedies of losing husbands, brothers and fathers to the war.