Under Fire: A Tale of the Shenandoah Valley

About this issue

This Flag Series installment, "Under Fire" by T. P. James (copyrighted 1896), centers on romantic conflict set against the outbreak of the American Civil War. Royal Chetwood, a sympathetic Northern gentleman visiting Charleston, presses his suit with Bertha McVane, the wealthy, only daughter of a former U.S. Senator. Their budding romance faces opposition from the jealous Captain Trafton, a state militia officer also courting Miss McVane for her fortune and status. The narrative opens at the McVane ball on Bertha's nineteenth birthday. While the guests dance, the political crisis intensifies: General Beauregard prepares to bombard Fort Sumter, where Major Anderson maintains the Federal garrison. Senator McVane, addressing male guests at one o'clock in the morning, declares that Confederate independence is achieved and warns that cannon fire will commence within one hour unless Anderson surrenders. Chetwood struggles with divided loyalties, opposing slavery while tactfully remaining a guest. The story explores the collision between romantic passion and sectional conflict as war ignites.