Carol J. Cutrona

By Lantern's Light Carol J. Cutrona

A courageous band of women brave death and defy political powers to launch the first MASH unit of American soil, 1861, driven by cantankerous mules, to render battlefield relief. By their deeds, they write their page in history.

The story, based on fact but highly dramatized, is told through the eyes of Havannah, a fiery but shallow debutante who trades French heels for trail boots and joins the first team of women to work the battlefields during the Civil War. While blood flows and minie balls burst, Havannah squares off with head field hospital nurse who vows to dismiss her from the corps. The heroine's love affair with a crust army surgeon adds fuel to the fire.

Meanwhile, sisters at home battle political foes, including Lincoln, who pledge to squash their efforts to establish the innovative battlefield relief support plan.

On the trail, women strap soup pots to wagon sides, forge mountain passes, dodge bullets, set up field hospitals alongside battlefields and scour the land, seeking life among the dead. Their weapons were not muskets, but hot soup and whispered prayers, bolstered by fierce determination, tempered with compassion.