1862-1864
Authored by Charles PhillipsJurian Baecker's journey leads him from breaking and trading horses in central Texas to heavy involvement, as a member of an elite unit in the Union Army, in the fighting at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. Over time, Jurian's youthful recklessness becomes the deep maturity found among some of those who daily see and face death. As he makes his personal journey, Jurian, known by some as Jake Baker, finds two extraordinary women, but he can keep the love of neither. He experiences both the brutality to which men can sink and the heights of compassion they can reach, even on a torn and bloody field of battle. He also assumes the terrible weight borne by those whose decisions may mean life or death to the men who fight beside them.
About the author:
Charles D. Phillips is a native Texan and a public health professional living and teaching in College Station, Texas. His short fiction has appeared in Flashshot, flashquake, HeavyGlow, Long Story Short, the Angler, Static Movement, Smokebox, Toasted Cheese, and the Vestal Review. His Old West historical fiction has appeared in The Copperfield Review, Short Barrel Fiction, The Western Online, and Rope and Wire. His stories in Rope and Wire can be found in its Featured Authors' section. His essays on social and political issues appeared in Bent Magazine, Clockwise Cat, Events Weekly, Smokebox, and Touchstone Magazine. KEOS 89.1FM Community Radio for the Brazos Valley has aired a number of his commentaries on current events. His short fiction has been nominated for StorySouth's Million Writer Award, the Pushcart Prize, and for inclusion in the Best of the Web. His one-act play, 50 Minutes, was chosen as a finalist in Fifty 7 Production's off-Broadway One-Act Play Festival, 2011.
