On 25 August, 1814, a large British army vanquished the American militia at Bladensburg and marched towards Washington City, six miles to the south. Abandoned by her guards, Dolley Madison risked capture to safeguard a few irreplaceable valuables left behind in the Presidential Mansion. She wanted to stay and fight, to defend her home and capital against the barbaric hordes of Great Britain, but she lacked the skill to do so. Reluctantly she fled, and watched in helpless rage as her city was burned.
But what if she had the skills and training to fight back?
The Forgotten Adventures of Dolley Madison allows this extraordinary woman to learn the martial arts of her day, and then unleashes her on the enemies of America during the War of 1812, wrapping her fictional exploits around historical people, events, and technology of 1814.
As I continue to thrash out the text of the book–it’s gonna take months to finish!–I’ll continue to transfer my notes to this website. After all, the reader of historical fiction often has trouble determining the boundary between “history” and “fiction”. In researching this book I’ve found a number of very cool things that really existed in 1814. If only to keep this novel from being labeled “Steampunk“, I’ll document them on this website, mark them with a ‘Historical‘ tag, and include links and references. The field craft skills and techniques I’m presenting in the book are accurate, and I’ve had the occasion to use most of them during my 20+ years in the US Army. The website will expand on those, providing the details that the book may have glossed over. I’ll also provide links to the historical references, since many were written in the early 1800’s and provide a unique glimpse into a war few know about.
Best Regards,