Three Tooth Confederate

A missing tooth, a battered rifle, and a war that steals boys before they ever become men.When seventeen-year-old Horace Lanham leaves North Carolina for a simple season of haying in the mountains of Western Virginia, he never imagines he’ll be swept into the first brutal clashes of the Civil War. Yet in a single moment, the world he knows slips away—replaced by cannon smoke, chaos, and a nickname born from an accident that changes his life forever.The Three-Tooth Confederate follows Horace, his loyal friends James Bullock and Ethan Warren, and the families who shaped them, as they are thrust into battles they are far too young to fight. From the desperate struggle at Philippi to the devastating defeat at Fort Donelson, the boys face cold, hunger, fear, and the gut-wrenching reality of watching comrades fall. But the story reaches far beyond the trenches. Back home, the women who raised, comforted, and steadied them—Rebecca, Mrs. Regester, Warren’s mother, and others—hold their world together through faith, work, and quiet courage.Told with raw honesty and a historian’s eye for detail, The Three-Tooth Confederate is a kind of literary fiction that captures the Southern home front, the harshness of early war campaigns, and the unbreakable bonds of friendship. It is a coming-of-age journey carved out of hardship, loyalty, and the hope of returning to the people who matter most.Perfect for fans of immersive literary historical fiction, The Three-Tooth Confederate delivers a gripping, human story about ordinary young men caught in extraordinary times—and the spirit that helps them endure.