The Manumission of Ezra McIntosh Book

The Manumission of Ezra McIntosh is a historical novel depicting the evolution of the relationship of a Missouri slave (who would have his freedom) and his indulgent master (who would hold him to his services).

The runaway of a prominent Missouri family, Ezra McIntosh is recaptured and acquired by his master's son, a Lieutenant in the United States Cavalry. Out of compassion, the Lieutenant elevates him to the status of a personal servant and returns with him to his duty post in Texas.

Ezra proves to be a loyal and dependable servant but, at the outset of the Civil War, the Lieutenant resigns his commission rather than take up arms against the South. They return to Missouri where, with the Lieutenant's consent, Ezra meets and marries a family servant.

As the war escalates, civil atrocities mount in Missouri and the Lieutenant joins the Confederate Army. He desires that Ezra accompany him into the field but, since Ezra is now a married father, offers him the option to remain at home as a field hand.

Reluctantly, but out of gratitude for the Lieutenant's past kindnesses, Ezra joins him and the two are sent to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Ezra's service at Vicksburg is faultless but, upon its surrender, the Federal authorities decree that all slaves within the City are emancipated. Relying on the Federal decrees, Ezra asserts his freedom but is reminded that he is still a slave in Missouri and elsewhere throughout the South.

Author Bio:

James Herd is a native of the State of Missouri, the Author received a Bachelor's Degree in Government from the University of St. Louis in 1954.

Immediately following his graduation, he was inducted into the United States Army, serving a tour of duty with the 510th Tank Battalion in Mannheim, Germany. Then, released overseas, he briefly attended the University of Innsbruck, Austria before returning to the States to study law.

In 1959, he received a law degree from St. Louis University and was immediately admitted to the Missouri Bar and the Federal Bar for the Eastern District of Missouri. For the next 50 years, he served as a trial lawyer in both civil and criminal cases until his retirement from practice. Throughout his lifetime, he has remained fascinated by the historical, political, and moral issues spawned by the American Civil Way and, in particular, by Missouri's bitter role in that history.

An outdoorsman, he is now retired to his family's farm in Northeast Missouri which he shares with a cat, two horses, a mule and a renegade dog named "Boots". When not entertaining family or friends and not engaged in farm related activities, he avidly studies the mounds of information stockpiled in his ever expanding Civil War Library. The Manumission of Ezra McIntosh is a product of his fascination and study.

keywords: Civil War, Slavery, Freedom, Confederacy, History, War, Conflict, America, American History, Black History