Wau-nan-gee; Or, the Massacre at Chicago: A Romance of the American Revolution

The narrative reconstructs a near-historical episode on the frontier during the American Revolution, weaving a single invented heroine into accounts of a violent attack at Chicago and its aftermath. It alternates scenes of domestic feeling and romantic attachment—centering on a bereaved woman newly married—and vivid depictions of frontier life, raids, and military presence near Fort Dearborn and Hardscrabble. Emphasis falls on grief, uneasy domestic happiness, cultural conflict, and the suspense of impending danger as characters confront betrayal, massacre, and the collapse of peaceful routines. The prose blends reportage-like detail with melodramatic romance and moral reflection.