The Bloody Ground

The Bloody Ground
Bernard Cornwell

A superbly exciting novel which vividly captures the horror of the battlefield, The Bloody Ground is the fourth volume in the Starbuck Chronicles.It is late summer 1862 and the Confederacy is invading the United States of America.Nate Starbuck, a northern preacher’s son fighting for the rebel South, is given command of a punishment battalion – a despised unit of shirkers and cowards. His enemies expect it to be his downfall, as Starbuck must lead this ramshackle unit into a battle that will prove to be the bloodiest of the Civil War.

Bernard Cornwell

THE BLOODY GROUND

THE NATHANIEL STARBUCK CHRONICLES

BOOK FOUR

Copyright

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The right of Bernard Cornwell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

THE BLOODY GROUND. Copyright © 2006 by Bernard Cornwell. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition © JULY 2009 ISBN: 9780007339501

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Version: 2017-05-08

Praise for Bernard Cornwell’s

THE NATHANIEL STARBUCK CHRONICLES

“The most entertaining military historical novels…. Always based on fact, always interesting…always entertaining.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“[A] wonderful series…believable, three-dimensional characters…a rollicking treat for Cornwell’s many fans.”

—Publishers Weekly

“Highly successful.”

—The Times (London)

“Fast-paced and exciting…. Cornwell—and Starbuck—don’t disappoint.”

—Birmingham News

“A top-class read by a master of historical drama. Nate Starbuck is on the march, and on his way to fame.”

—Irish Press

For Zachary Arnold, may he

never know the horrors of war

CONTENTS

Cover Page (#ub30694ad-7ade-5ecb-863a-099a8440f3d7)

Title Page (#u50907b57-cb6b-58e5-b653-edc07267d61a)

COPYRIGHT

PRAISE

Dedication (#u31715438-cfb8-531d-af5f-1ef08d2a08f0)

MAP

PART ONE

I TRAINED. IT HAD RAINED ALL DAY. AT FIRST IT HAD BEEN

LUCIFER WAS NOT HAPPY. “RICHMOND,” HE TOLD STARBUCK

YOU DON’T SOUND LIKE A SOUTHERNER, POTTER,” CAPTAIN

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL SWYNYARD STOOD AT THE RIVER’S

ADAM FAULCONER HAD RARELY FELT SO USELESS

STARBUCK NEVER DID LEARN THE COLONEL’S NAME. HE

IT WAS PROBABLY THE WORST DAY OF DELANEY’S LIFE. AT

ADAM FAULCONER HAD ONCE OPPOSED THE WAR.

THE NORTHERN ARMY GROPED CAUTIOUSLY INTO THE

PART TWO

THE CREEK WELLED FROM A MOSSY SPRING IN A LOW

IT’S REAL COFFEE,” LUCIFER SAID, SHAKING STARBUCK AWAKE

BILLY BLYTHE RECKONED HE HAD MISCALCULATED. HE HAD

GENERAL JOHN HOOD’S DIVISION BURST OUT OF THE