Battle Flag/The Bloody Ground: Bernard Cornwell

Volumes III and IV of The Starbuck Chronicles. Battle Flag: Captain Nathaniel Starbuck has survived the early battles of the Civil War but his Northern breeding still makes him an object of suspicion to many of his Southern comrades and his enmity with his regiment's founder - General Washington Falconer - makes his position even harder. When Falconer attempts to discipline his opponents, he sets in train events that will culminate in a savage battle - and Starbuck, his friends and his enemies will find themselves once more staring death in the face. The Bloody Ground: It is late summer, 1862 - and the Confederacy is at last invading the United States of America. Nathaniel Starbuck is given command of a punishment battalion, a despised unit of shirkers and cowards. His enemies expect the appointment will be his downfall. To prove them wrong, Starbuck must lead the rabble of rogues against the Northern garrison at Harper's Ferry and then across the frontier to the bank of the Antietam Creek. There he will fight what will prove to be the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.