The Cotillion Brigade: A Novel of the Civil War and the Most Famous Female Militia in American History Paperback – March 13, 2021

This book is a fascinating mixture of the lives of real people and their experiences before and during the Civil War, mingled with conversations and happenings that the author included to make the novel's plot both entertaining and realistic. I particularly like the way in which he wove together the stories of Hugh LaGrange and Nancy Morgan in alternating chapters, bringing the two people together at the end. I know nothing about military strategy, but even these facts were presented in such a way as to make for interesting reading. He covered a part of American history that is not often, if ever, discussed.

Interesting history of war and family during the Civil War. Characters were very believable...seemed well researched.A good book to settle in with on a rainy day.

I have been a fan of Craney's historical fiction, since reading his 2015 Fire and the Light. His research is always impeccably accurate, and my historical knowledge has been deepened about the particular period covered in each of his books. For me, the most enjoyable way to learn interesting and quirky historical facts, as well as getting reacquainted with major events and characters, is to read well-written historical fiction. The Cotillion Brigade does not disappoint.The opening dialogue of the Confederate women is so chatty, feminine, and cattily gentile, had I not known otherwise, I would have assumed the author was a woman. Gone With The Wind is a fair comparison for the authenticity of the Southern Belles' conversations. But when the story shifts to Wisconsin, and the second protagonist is a farm boy, his roughness feels just as real.The book's conceit of two heroes, Nancy, a loyal Confederate woman, who organizes the first all-female brigade for the Confederacy, and Hugh, farm-boy turned abolitionist turned aggressive Union officer, is a clever device to humanize both sides in the Civil War. It works well to keep the reader interested in both stories as the narrator shifts from one to the other, chapter by chapter, as the war approaches and then progresses on its bloody way.Some "progressives" might question the propriety of featuring a Confederate woman in a book published in 2021. I did. But no matter one's personal politics, we should not forget that actual human beings, who were interesting and decent in other ways, were slaveholders. That sin does not bar revealing their humanity, as long as we don't shirk from also portraying the ugly reality of slavery. Craney does not shirk. And, spoiler alert, the Union wins the war.

I like historical fiction, and this book did not disappoint. This is my first time reading a civil war historical fiction, and I learned quite a bit. I enjoyed the authors recap at the end of the “characters”, with a post history of their lives and images.Would recommend!

I am not sure if this book is rates as a "young adult" novel, but it should be. The writing is on a level that 10 to 14 year olds would be able to comprehend. For me, it was literary bubble gum and cotton candy, delicious, but basically empty calories. Other reviewers have lauded the author's appropriate historical dialog and details. I was jarred by several anachronisms. Blue Mascara would not have been on anyone eye lashes in Georgia during the civil war, as mascara was only invented in Paris in 1872. And I am pretty sure blue mascara did not exist until the early 1960's; I remember the thrill of discovering it. Reference to someone tearing a page out of a physician's "prescription pad" in the 1860s also jolted me.The dialog of the northern recruits was OK, but I wonder if the author ever heard a Black person from the "South" speak. The speech of the "Southern Belles" is stilted and inane. I learned from this book that the Nancy Hart militias existed. But nothing new about the Civil war besides that. I learned more in an afternoon at Gettysburg walking around and reading the information on the monuments and the Park Service information plaques posted throughout the battlefield. I would recommend this book as "Civil War Light" for a middle school/ junior high reader.

Liked the 2 character—2 points of view. Learned a lot.

Based on the true story of the women of LaGrange, Georgia during the Civil War, The Cotillion Brigade , by Glen Grace, unfolds the bravery and sisterhood of women left to defend their town and loved ones in it. Called the "Nancy Harts Militia" after a women from the Revolutionary War who defended her home against the British, the forty women, under the leadership of Captain Nancy Colquitt Hill Morgan, learned to shoot, drilled, and then faced a Yankee calvary with grace, dignity, and courage.It is also the story of Colonel Hugh LaGrange who was the Yankee officer to meet the fierceness and graciousness of the Nancy Hart Militia. The author has done his homework. You will follow the wins and losses of both the North and the South. You will share in the joys and heartbreaks of these Southern women. If you love historical fiction, this is a must read.

it was for my wife