DAWN BREAKS WITH SILENT ECHOES

by EMMETT SHELTON, SR.
1st edition, 275 pages
ISBN 978-0-89641-279-8 (hardback) $24.95 
ISBN 978-0-89641-248-4 (paperback) $19.95

 

SYNOPSIS

Dawn Breaks with Silent Echoes, Book One covers a period of time during and immediately after the Civil War.

The principal characters are two young men, one black and one white. They were both born in the 1840's on a plantation in Texas located just north of the Brazos River at the mouth of the Navasota River. The white boy is Henry Glenn, and the black boy is known as Slick.

Henry's father and mother are Crawford and Fern Glenn who migrated from Virginia to Texas in the early 1840's. They brought with them all of their worldly goods including slaves. Among them were Slick's parents, Lige and Tishe. Along the way, they acquired fine-blooded horses, cattle and dogs. The Glenns lived a normal life as affluent planters until the outbreak f the Civil War in the early 1860's.

As a teenager, Henry joined General Hood's Brigade of the Confederacy. Slick, being Henry's life-long friend, went to war with him as a campfollower.
The story begins with their first battle. After henry's injury, they are in and out of hospitals. When the war is over, they return to their home on the Brazos, Brining with them the news that the Confederacy lost the war and that the slaves are now free. The challenge of freedom along with responsibility becomes eminent.

During the war, the Glenn's thoroughbred horses had wandered off by reason of fire, flood and a measure of neglect.

Crawford suggests that Henry and Slick gather these horses and drive them to San Antonio in hopes of finding a market there.

Henry and Slick, along with a crew of blacks from the Glenn Plantation, set out to round up the strayed horses. In attempting to locate their whereabouts, Henry seeks the advice of Judge Oltorf, the bellwether of Calvert. They become good Friends, and Henry solicits the Judge's opinion not only about horses but also about romance.

Henry appoints Slick as the foreman, and they make plans for the horse drive. They are surprised to learn that several other landowners want to take part in their venture. So together with their former slaves, they all set out for San Antonio.