The Reluctant Rebels

About the Book

In 1861,The Whitlow Brothers of Texas felt they were living near perfect lives.  They enjoyed the outdoor work on the family ranch, they were well paid for their efforts, and they knew beautiful girls who enjoyed their company.  The future held such wonderful promise, until the politicians destroyed the American dream.  War amongst ourselves has to be evidence of ultimate failure.  Uncompromising politicians were forcing the citizens of America to fight each other in a war.  As far as the Whitlow boys were concerned, they should have locked all the politicians in a barn and told them – “No one comes out until you reach an agreement to do something other than wage war.”  U.S. citizenship and Texas citizenship are both held very precious.  Why would anyone in his right mind be willing to give up either?   The boys thought their father had the best idea.  He had said, “If the politicians want a war, we ought to make them fight it amongst themselves instead of getting all of the American people involved.”  That, of course, didn’t happen.  When personal involvement in the Civil War could no longer be avoided, the Whitlow Brothers made the difficult decision to join their friends and neighbors in defending the South, which the North had invaded.  If the slavery issue had been the only consideration, they would have gladly fought on the Union side.  Slavery was not an issue for most Southerners.  Only about ten percent of all Southerners held slaves.  The problem was, the ten percent who did were, for the most part, the wealthy people who had the most influence with the Southern politicians.  It appears that the problem of special interest groups was a plague even then.  Determining how they could best serve the South was not a major problem.  The Cavalry was the logical choice, since they had been on horseback most of their lives.  The Texas Eighth Cavalry, also known as Terry’s Texas Rangers, was the unit they chose.  History reveals the

Terry’s Texas Rangers were marvelous horsemen, and fierce fighters.  Many considered them the best cavalry unit on either side in the Civil War.  Their level of accomplishment in battle led them to become the most feared, and most hated, adversary of many in the Union Army.  Such success did not come without casualties.  The Regiment began with over eleven hundred members; at the end of the Civil War less than three hundred had survived.  The Whitlows faced the gamut of emotions as they waged this senseless war, and came to realize that being the best at what you do does not guarantee a final victory.  Fiction can not do justice to the actual experiences of the Terry Texas Rangers, but the chronology of events, and the battle activities of the actual unit must have been very similar to those recorded on the pages of this book.

About the Author

Jerry McDonald quit high school, and left Illinois to enlist in the Air Force when he was seventeen years old, and does not regret that decision. After many years of night and weekend classes, he earned a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration. He retired from the Air Force, as a Master Sergeant, at age thirty-seven. He then became an Inspector for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). In July 1993, he retired from ATF, as Area Supervisor for Compliance Operations, in Dallas, Texas. He resides in Arkansas, with his wife of thirty-nine years, Paula.