War is always a tragedy. There may be a winner of sorts but always a loser. The cost in injuries, death, destruction can never be fully recovered even if glossed over by a military or political elite that proclaims otherwise.

Even further down on the scale of mankind's self-destructive baseness is Civil War. One Nation with Two Sides locked in a ferocious fight is inevitably more painful and more despoiling. Civilians are the bait in the trap. Two sets of values may be proclaimed and many offer loyalty to one or the other but society also has those who just want the space and time to live, to enjoy their family and friends. Each to his own.

In the American Civil War that began in 1861 the War was seemingly fought to end Slavery. A War for Good. The result a win for the good guys but a society that still bears fractures from this seminal period.

The stories in this volume show the true scars that are endured as a riven Nations authors try to explain and reconcile.

01 - Short Stories About the American Civil War - An Introduction

02 - An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce

03 - The Brothers by Louisa May Alcott

04 - The Namesake by Willa Cather

05 - The Affair At Coulter's Creek by Ambrose Bierce

06 - The Locket by Kate Chopin

07 - The Veteran by Stephen Crane

08 - Chickamauga by Ambrose Bierce

09 - My Red Cap by Louisa May Alcott

10 - Parker Adderson, Philosopher by Ambrose Bierce

11 - The Coup de Grace by Ambrose Bierce

12 - Christmas Eve in War Times by Edward Payson Roe

13 - The Eyes of the Panther by Ambrose Bierce

14 - A Man With Two Lives by Ambrose Bierce

15 - A Horseman in the Sky by Ambrose Bierce