Kincaid's Battery

The narrative follows a volunteer artillery battery and the network of officers, cousins, and local women who give it life, tracing pre-war pageantry through field manoeuvres to battlefield service. Personal rivalries and alliances among figures such as Anna, Flora, Hilary, Kincaid, Greenleaf, and Irby complicate courtship and social ambition even as military duties tighten. The battery moves from parade-ground demonstrations to pitched engagements and naval operations, encountering loss, wounds, and evacuation at scenes named Manassas, Shiloh, and Mobile. Alongside action, the story traces fundraising, domestic strain, private grief, and acts of courage, considering loyalty, honor, and the human cost of communal commitment during sustained conflict.