The Dixie Devil

by Doug Peterson Book 5 in the North-South Series series.

First published 2021

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4.4(533)

Union occupation overturns the precarious world of New Orleans’s free Black community. André Cailloux joins the Louisiana Native Guard while his wife Félicie confronts the risks placed on their family, and the city’s Catholic institutions become entangled with arguments over abolition, loyalty and Black military service.

Cailloux’s command leads to the assault on Port Hudson, where his death turns him into a symbol of courage and sacrifice. The novel links his public career to Félicie and the abolitionist priest Claude Paschal Maistre, using documented regimental history and the celebrated funeral while imaginatively reconstructing intimate relationships, conflict and faith.