When he can not prevent his death (or murder?) at Ball’s Bluff, Raines must use all of his guile and intelligence to free himself from suspicion as the killer. The devious Pinkerton coerces Raines to try and protect Senator Baker. Raines, a Virginian whose allegiance lies with the United States and not with the rebellion, is a Washington gambler and horse trader who was enlisted in the Union secret service by Allan Pinkerton. Michael Kilian, a student of the Civil War and the author of the well-received Murder at Manassas, uses Ball’s Bluff as the setting for his second Harrison Raines novel. This defeat spurred the creation of the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War by Congress and this politically active group would grow to play an increasingly powerful role in Federal decision-making. Civil War historians and enthusiasts know it chiefly as the battle in which Abraham Lincoln’s good friend, Senator Edward Baker, was killed in action leading a doomed Union force. A Killing at Ball’s Bluff: A Harrison Raines Civil War Mysteryīall’s Bluff was a relatively insignificant affair when compared with the carnage at Shiloh, Antietam, and Gettysburg.
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