A Daughter of Maryland

About this issue

By G. Waldo Browne, published by Street & Smith (copyright 1895). A Civil War novel depicting Pickett's Last Charge at Gettysburg. The narrative opens in autumn 1863 in western Maryland, where Captain Esten Berners, a blind Confederate soldier of Pickett's Old Guard, stands sentinel at a mountain pass. Dressed in tattered gray, wounded and sightless, he challenges approaching troops before departing toward open country. The opening passages establish the war-ravaged landscape—broken fences, ruined estates, abandoned colonial mansions, and desolate settlements—while introducing the protagonist's mysterious vigil and his cryptic password, "To the brave belong the honors." The author's preface emphasizes historical fidelity regarding Pickett's charge and the battle's participants, dedicating the work to Gettysburg's veterans while positioning the narrative as a reconciliation tale featuring both Union and Confederate soldiers of honor.