150 Years After the Charge: Novelist Charles McNair Shares Thoughts on the Civil War, Literature and Southern Culture on the Anniversary of Pickett's Charge

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the climax of the Battle of Gettysburg. General Robert E. Lee ordered more than 12,000 men to challenge the center of the Union line. The unsuccessful attack, led by George Pickett, became known as "Pickett's Charge." Author Charles McNair named his soon-to-be-released novel after the costly Confederate defeat at Gettysburg.

McNair recently talked about the fictional PICKETT'S CHARGE (which will be published on September 20, 2013 by Livingston Press) and the Civil War's influence on literature and the cultural landscape.

When asked what inspired him to write the novel PICKETT'S CHARGE, McNair replied, "When I grew up in the South, the climactic battle of the Civil War - Gettysburg - and the climactic event in that battle - Pickett's Charge - held high ground in the collective memory of many southern families, especially those with ancestors who served ... and were lost ... in the Civil War. For many Americans, Gettysburg holds a place in history like Waterloo, for Europeans, or the Battle of Hastings for the English."

McNair continued, "If you want to truly understand the South of the last 150 years, you have to understand Gettysburg. I wrote PICKETT'S CHARGE to guide readers on a journey through Southern consciousness, to probe the personality and problems of the region most deeply affected by war and its aftermath."

McNair said the Battle of Gettysburg shaped the subsequent history of the South. His novel, PICKETT'S CHARGE, explores that history through the unique protagonist of Threadgill Pickett a personal history that mirrors the South's. "Everything the South became for the next 150 years goes back to a failed Napoleonic-style Confederate attack at 3 p.m. on July 3, 1863. The actual Pickett's Charge - the massed assault - really isn't referenced until the last pages of my novel ... but every word in the book can be written today because of what actually happened at Gettysburg."

McNair said it is important for the United States to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg because fifty-one thousand human beings were killed, maimed or lost in the three days of battle. "Modern warfare began that day, with the failed massed charge by Lee's forces on ranks of precision weaponry. The armies on that battlefield fought for causes and cohorts. Those lives and this conflict go for nothing without commemoration - remembrance by another word. Americans still fight Gettysburg today, in our legislatures, personal interactions, town squares, sports events ... sometimes even our bedrooms."

When asked why the Civil War and its many battles are still fertile ground for fiction writers, McNair replied, "One of the fundamentals of fiction writing is conflict. War is the ultimate conflict. War and how war affects those who fight and those left behind, will always compel writers. In this country, even with our changing demographics and evolving notions, millions of families still carry stories of the Civil War - white families, black families, rich families, poor families. Those stories will continue to surface and be told."

About the Author

Charles McNair, a native of the Yellowhammer State of Alabama, released his first novel, LAND O'GOSHEN, to critical acclaim. LAND O'GOSHEN was a nominee for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1994. Since 2005, he has served as Books Editor for Paste magazine and shared his reviews on Atlanta radio station WMLB 1690 AM. He is currently at work on his third novel, THE EPICUREANS. Visit Charles online at charlesmcnairauthor.com. He tweets @McNairWrites.

About PICKETT'S CHARGE

At 114 years old, Threadgill Pickett believes he is the only living Civil War veteran. He bides his time at a retirement home in Mobile, Alabama, where he nurses a great vengeance over something terrible that befell him as a boy on a journey to join the Confederate army.

On a day in turbulent 1964, Threadgill's long-dead brother, Ben, visits him with the news that one Union soldier remains alive, in faraway Bangor, Maine. Threadgill Pickett doffs an old hat with a yellowhammer feather in its band and heads north to fight the last battle of the Civil War. Through one improbable adventure after another, he finds himself forced to reexamine notions of valor and vengeance he has held so fiercely, so long.

PICKETT'S CHARGE will be published on September 20, 2013 by Livingston Press.

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