Intelligence Report--Tod Comes Home

​Tod Comes Home
By Nancy Gentry
Ages 8-11
3 1/2 Stars

 A few weeks ago, I told you about the ironic tale of young Tod Carter who had experienced quite a lot of army life--battle, capture, prisoner of war camp, and a daring escape from a train--only to be mortally wounded a few hundred feet from his family’s home near the center of the Union line at the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864.

Nancy Gentry has written a young adult historical novel about the last few days of Tod’s life--beginning her tale on November 29, 1864--and his family’s anticipation of his homecoming.  This book is engaging and well written but its main premise, that the family was preparing for an expected homecoming, doesn’t seem to be born out by the facts.  Brad Kinnison is a tour guide with the Battle of Franklin Trust, a not for profit preservation organization that now owns and operates several landmarks that played important roles in the Battle of Franklin including Tod’s family home, Carter House.  According to Kinnison, the Carter family had no way to know where Tod was at the beginning of the battle.  It wasn’t a secret that it was the Army of Tennessee, including Tod's regiment, approaching Franklin,  but during his army experience, there had been times when Tod had been detailed for duties away from his unit.  One of those times, Tod had escorted prisoners to Virginia.  Though the Carter family may have hoped to see Tod, and worried over the possibility of him being engaged in the battle as they huddled in the basement, nothing was confirmed for them until a Confederate soldier found them as they emerged from the basement.  He told them that Tod had been wounded and was nearby. 

I understand why Gentry took this liberty.  The Carter Family’s anticipation of the homecoming was fraught with a sense of impending doom.  If there had been a soundtrack for this book, much of the first half would have been underscored by the ominous sounds of low brass and timpani rolls.  The final culmination is both sad and inevitable. 

The story uses a few fictional and composite characters to fill out life on the home front.  Sarah Beth, Tod’s love interest (in the most PG way), brings a unique perspective to the narrative.  She illustrates the often overlooked story of the women left behind after the men go off to war.  She is the voice of lost hope for an entire generation of a society where many young men didn’t come back and those who did were damaged by the ravages of war. 

Gentry uses Sam as a way to insert the slave’s viewpoint into the story.  I don’t mind the character’s inclusion, however, whether intentionally or unintentionally, she chooses to ignore factual history in favor of a popular myth that continues to be perpetuated in today’s media (I’m looking at you, Underground).

In Gentry’s narrative, Tod’s father, Fountain Branch Carter, “had quietly given all his slaves a written pass to freedom.”

Unfortunately for slaves, manumission (granting a slave his or her freedom) was not as simple as giving them a piece of paper as Gentry describes here. According to the 1826 Statute of Laws of Tennessee, the process was much more involved and wouldn’t have been quiet in any regard.  Chapter 22 of the Statute outlines that if a slave owner chooses to grant his slaves freedom, he must petition the court.  The petitioner (the slave owner) must explain his motives for freeing his slaves and if two thirds of the justices of the county court deem it in the best interest of the state, the petition will be filed with the court.  The petitioner was then required to enter into a bond with sufficient financial security to ensure the county would be able to seek recompense from the former slave owner if the newly freed slave caused damages.

Given the prevalence of this myth in popular media, I am inclined to believe that she simply didn’t consider that the accepted method of freeing slaves she describes was not factual.

While I would have enjoyed a look at the road Tod traveled to make it back to Spring Hill before the book commenced, the book still has enough action to entertain.  The pivotal part of the story was told with grace and the dialog is natural and the situations and motivations are, by and large, believable.  This is a good book to introduce not only the Battle of Franklin to a young reader, but also to explore timeless themes of honor, duty, family, hope and disappointment.  Families can discuss the different reactions between James Cooper (a real person) and Tod Carter upon finding out battle was eminent.  They can also discuss Fountain Branch Carter’s options of staying or leaving and what they  themselves may have done.  Families can explore reasons that freed slaves would stay with their former masters instead of heading North. 

​This is a very readable historical fiction work for young adults, but will get dinged 1 1/2 stars for the lack of historical accuracy and the continued perpetuation of myth.