On Jordan’s Stormy Banks: A Man’s Journey Home

Bob Lankford. Mustang, Okla.: Tate Publishing, 2010. 392 pp. (Paperback).

In this work of historical fiction, we learn the story of Wiley Jackson Moses, a Confederate soldier who never met a man he couldn’t lick — in his native Alabama or in the midst of the Civil War’s worst bloodshed. But, on the eve of the Battle of Gettysburg, he is faced down by Rose, a little slave girl who would soon free him to experience the greatest love: that of God, and His Son. During his salvation struggle, Moses finds encouragement in the form of Silas Swann, a scared, young soldier who loses his life during the battle. From then until the end of his long life, Moses thinks every day of Rose, Silas, his Savior and the transformation they brought to his dark existence. The novel devotes a chapter to each day of the battle, and then jumps ahead in time to the 50-year reunion of Gettysburg veterans. The author uses as the book’s foundation real-life action seen by soldiers of the Fifth Alabama. Civil War buffs will appreciate the numerous authentic details, but readers must note that this includes some rough language one might expect to hear in a battlefield setting. The author is the great-grandson of three Confederate veterans.