Rebels at the Gates is about the United States Civil War in the 1860s. Of course, entire forests have been filled with pages of books on the American Civil War, and rightfully so. It was clearly one of the defining events in American history. However, my angle is new and unexplored.

The book looks at the war between 1861 and 1865. By 1863, its midpoint, the entirety of the Confederate South was in a starvation atmosphere. They had run out of food, clothing, and medicine and were running short on ammunition. Many Confederate soldiers were relying on stealing clothing, shoes, and whatever they could from dead Union soldiers. The armies were scavenging for sustenance, having to hunt and forage while they marched. They even took to raiding their own southern neighbors’ farms to survive. The writing was on the wall—it wasn’t if but when—the Confederacy would be doomed.

At the end of the war, Abraham Lincoln finally finds the right general. He had gone through numerous generals before finding Ulysses Grant. Grant was like a big bulldog with a bone. He wouldn’t let go. Grant designs what he calls his Overland Campaign, moving multiple armies at the same time into the American South. Grant wisely realized that the North had the advantage of what I call the three “M’s”: more men, more money, and more manufacturing. They could lose two men to every one man from the South and still be ahead. Grant sent multiple armies into the South, which meant the Confederacy couldn’t possibly divide its limited resources to address this.

Grant surrounds Richmond and Petersburg. Richmond is the southern capital. Petersburg is the vitally important transportation hub—rail, water, and roads—leading into Richmond. It becomes like a World War I siege with trenches, and the Confederacy is trapped inside. Robert E. Lee, the top general of the Confederacy, and Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, know this is over. Lee hatches a desperate, wild plan to sneak about 15,000 soldiers out under cover of darkness and race all the way north to hit Washington, D.C.—to burn it, loot it, siege it, or kill or capture Abraham Lincoln.

The plan doesn’t have much chance of succeeding—except that Grant needs every available man and cannon, so he pulls them off the forts around Washington, never expecting Lee could do this. Washington is largely undefended. Grant wanted to end the war and save lives, so he pulls these veterans. Lee’s army races almost undetected to the gates of Washington, and they nearly pull it off. It would have changed American history dramatically and therefore world history. It came down to just a twist and a turn. Thank goodness they didn’t.

This intriguing, amazing story rarely appears in textbooks. There haven’t been major movies made about it. Lin-Manuel Miranda hasn’t made a hip-hop rap musical about it yet. To me, it was irresistible. I couldn’t wait to write this story.

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