Book Signing: Cheryl Oliver Castor - Granddaddy Joe

"I was thinking back to that day when I was at Seminary Ridge. I can still remember it clearly to this day. The bullets were flying all around me. Cannonballs were swooping past. I saw my cousin, George, killed right before my eyes. I ran with all my might, constantly firing. I followed Armistead over the wall. ..... Yet, I seemed numb, and then I fell to the ground. I felt a pain in my leg and looked down. There was blood gushing out of my leg! Oh, dear God, please don't let me bleed to death! Then, they were upon me, my head was spinning, the bright sun caused a glare and I could not see faces..."

Granddaddy Joe chronicles the life of Joseph Purvis, who fought in the American Civil War as a teenager. From Joseph's personal perspective, we get a detailed account of his early experiences in the mountains of what would later become West Virginia, the battles he fought in and life in a Union prison, all while illuminating a frequently misunderstood time in the South.

Meet the author!