Death To The Union!

About the Book

This work of historical fiction tells the story of an old Ranger and his German immigrant neighbors who stand against secession from the Union in 1861 Texas, and pay the price. Lowrance Rutledge campaigns with Governor Sam Houston in a referendum against secession, then retreats to the borderlands canyon country to wait out the war. He busies himself fighting Comanche Indians and searching for a sunken Spanish treasure ship. But when he learns that the Confederate Home Guard has slaughtered his hill country neighbors who were fleeing Texas to avoid conscription into the Confederate army, he resolves to get revenge.

About the Author

BILL HOLCHAK has lived in his native Texas all his life except for a hitch in the Navy during the Korean War. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, he edited small-town newspapers, then with his family moved to San Antonio where he worked in advertising and public relations and in County government for 36 years before retiring in 1991. He is the author of three published novels, but this is his first book of poetry. His poem, “I WILL FIND YOU THERE”, won first place in the Denver-based National Writers Association’s 1993 Poetry Contest. He is shown holding a photograph of his beloved wife of 53 years, Joyce Hollyfield Holchak, who died of cancer in 2003. The first third of this book consists of poetry Bill wrote for her.