Where Valor Proudly Sleeps

About the Book

On rural Doylestown in southwest Pennsylvania, a most heart-rending story of romance that struggles to endure the furies of wartime plays out in Leslie Wayne Salsbury’s Where Valor Proudly Sleeps. Written in a staid rhythm and prose apt for that time in the nation’s history, the novel sets out with a strikingly authentic recreation of life in pre-Civil War Pennsylvania. Salsbury shows a richness of detail born out of diligent, even brilliant, research and a highly creative imagination. His characters speak out and tell us of a time and place where the most tumultuous and important battles of the Civil War were fought. On a fateful night, the two young lovers, Benjamin Wayneright and Alexandra Cadwalder, meet at a ball in the town armory. Introduced by Ben’s teacher, Mrs. McIntyre, the two immediately find out how they are meant for each other. A most romantic night ensues and starts a strong, passionate relationship that will prove equal to the coming chaos of war. It is a story of heroic love: how two young lovers find their love blooming in the crucible of war and how they became a pair of strong hearts that influenced others in their town to defend the Union cause. Before the war came, Benjamin would lose his father and Alexandra was on the verge of losing hers to “bleeding cancers.” Throughout forced separations, they remain true to each other. They survive the war but experienced firsthand the cost of preserving liberty and fighting for justice. They grow old in and around Doylestown, Bucks County. When Benjamin dies at a ripe old age, he is given a hero’s burial by the town. Alexandra soon follows to reunite with her beloved.

About the Author

Leslie W. Salsbury was born and raised in Philadelphia Pa. After finishing high school he moved to Bucks County where he lived and worked until 2000. He now lives in Lambertville Hunterdon County NJ with his wife of thirty five years. He is the father of six daughters, two foster sons, and seven grandchildren. Salsbury is an Eagle Scout and a descendant -member of The Sons of the American Revolution, The General Society of the War of 1812, The Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and The Sons of the American Legion 1917 and 1945. His love of history is brought alive in his hobbies as a volunteer at The Holcombe-Jimison Farmstead Museum in NJ. And on the S.S. John W. Brown, one of two, surviving Liberty Ships from World War Two where he has logged over fifteen hundred miles at sea. Les served an apprenticeship as a Steamfitter in Philadelphia and a journeyman for thirty-two years before his retirement. Salsbury’s ancestors came to America in the 1600s from England and after years of investigating his linage was inspired to become a living historian of The American Civil War. Leslie serves as the Principle Musician in The United States Volunteers where he works with fifers and drummers to recreate the field music of the Civil War. Another one of his loves is making trips to Africa where he works at a mission in Kenya.