In this recently discovered packet of 19th Century correspondence between brother and sister Albert and Elsie Devereaux of Clarksville, Tennessee, Nashville musician and writer Tommy Womack presents the solid proof that the Lavender Boys - an all gay Confederate regiment - really did exist, did fight and did indeed put on one hell of a Christmas show. Albert, a 20-year-old Confederate soldier, is a homesick closeted homosexual living in an era most unkind to any gay male no matter what room he's in. Albert survives the horrors of Shiloh and proves himself to his fellow soldiers. He rises to the rank of Captain, his secret safe, while consistently being the right gay man in the right gay place at the right gay time. Albert' sister Elsie, seven years older, lives back home with their hostile stepfamily, the Jansches. Always prone to hearing voices, Elsie's grip on reality unravels over the course of their letters, with grisly, murderous consequences. The letters end with Albert's death at the battle of Gettysburg, leaving historians to ponder the true motives behind Pickett's suicidal charge, and whether Robert E. Lee knowingly sacrificed the lives of thousands of men just to eradicate existence - and any evidence - of the one regiment in his army that knew how to properly accessorize.
In this recently discovered packet of 19th Century correspondence between brother and sister Albert and Elsie Devereaux of Clarksville, Tennessee, Nashville musician and writer Tommy Womack presents the solid proof that the Lavender Boys - an all gay Confederate regiment - really did exist, did fight and did indeed put on one hell of a Christmas show. Albert, a 20-year-old Confederate soldier, is a homesick closeted homosexual living in an era most unkind to any gay male no matter what room he's in. Albert survives the horrors of Shiloh and proves himself to his fellow soldiers. He rises to the rank of Captain, his secret safe, while consistently being the right gay man in the right gay place at the right gay time. Albert' sister Elsie, seven years older, lives back home with their hostile stepfamily, the Jansches. Always prone to hearing voices, Elsie's grip on reality unravels over the course of their letters, with grisly, murderous consequences. The letters end with Albert's death at the battle of Gettysburg, leaving historians to ponder the true motives behind Pickett's suicidal charge, and whether Robert E. Lee knowingly sacrificed the lives of thousands of men just to eradicate existence - and any evidence - of the one regiment in his army that knew how to properly accessorize.
