New Civil War Detective A Complex Character

Brother Ced Buckley, the main character in the new murder mystery Burning Rage, has been compared to G.K. Chesterton’s famous Catholic sleuth, Father Brown. While Brown solved capers in the early 20th Century, Buckley fights crime in the closing days of the Civil War. In Burning Rage, when Union cavalryman Tupper Long finds the horribly mutilated corpses of a Kentucky regiment, he knows who killed them and why. But Long doesn’t know the whole story. To see justice done, General Sherman turns to Buckley, a peg-legged former Confederate soldier who has dedicated his life to the Rule of St. Benedict—and to crime detection.


Van Dyke's Portrait of a Benedictine Monk.

 Brother Cedric Patrick Buckley is a complicated new literary character with a complex pedigree. We first met him in my previous novel, Soldiers Just Like You, on the battlefield during the Charleston campaign of 1863. That summer, Charleston is besieged by a powerful Union force on land and by sea.

Buckley is a private in the Confederate army, defending his city against invasion. When a Union attack approaches Charleston along the Stono River, he is badly wounded, his leg shattered. The campaign is famous for being the first time the black troops of the 54^th Massachusetts are sent into battle.

Later on, the 54^th finds immortality when it takes part in the assault on Battery Wagner. Their exploits there were chronicled in the movie Glory. But prior to that battle, the 54^th makes a stand at a place called Grimball’s Landing on James Island, and this is where they find the Confederate boy soldier, unable to move and threatened by an ensuing wildfire.

The black men find it in their hearts to rescue Buckley; a selfless, spontaneous act that touches off a series of serendipitous events. Dozens of black men of the 54^th are captured in the subsequent Battle of Battery Wagner and South Carolina decides to make an example of them by charging them with being slaves in rebellion, a capital offense. Buckley becomes a surprise witness at the 54^th’s trial, attesting to their status as bona fide Union soldiers, soldiers no different from other men in blue and the equal of those who fought for the South.

When defense attorney Nelson Mitchell asks Buckley if he was afraid when he saw Negroes with guns, he characterized his rescue this way:

Detail of the 54th Massachusetts Monument.

“Well, sir, I didn’t notice they were Negroes…No, I didn’t take note of their black skin…It didn’t matter if they were Negroes anyway. They were helping me—saving me—saving my life. I didn’t know they were Negroes until you told me they were and that they were on trial here in Charleston.”

When Mitchell, a historical figure who really defended the 54^th in 1863, tells the court that Buckley believed his rescuers were sent by God, the young soldier reveals his motivation for taking a religious vocation:

“I want to be a priest now, because I lived. Maybe I will be the first one-legged priest in South Carolina.”

Mitchell judges that Buckley already exhibits the dedication and intellect that make him the monk-detective who will perform so ably in Burning Rage. The attorney glibly responds with an old Irish-ism that means he will be well-suited for the profession. “You won’t come to the priesthood on one leg, my man,” Mitchell replies ironically, considering Buckley’s handicap. From this episode in Soldiers Just Like You, we  glimpse Buckley’s wisdom and open mindedness; we see the young monk’s innate ability to see men as individuals, not concerned whether they are black or white.

But readers of Burning Rage will see that Brother Buckley is not only wise and even-minded, he is dedicated to his faith and devoted to his vows. He is sincere, but not so pious as to be off-putting. He can be playful at times, and sarcastic if it suits him. He shows justifiable anger over the conduct of the war, unimpressed as he is by the politicians and the generals.

He is usually soft-spoken, but he is not a pushover. He is talented but not an egotist. He is well-read for one so young, but not didactic. He has concluded that slavery is evil, but understands its evolution in America. He has experienced the epiphany that the war’s aims have changed from a second revolution for sectional independence to a fight to secure liberty for all.


Kurz & Allison's print of the storming of Battery Wagner.

Like G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown, Brother Buckley’s manner and looks belie this complex man and shrewd detective. The former Confederate still wears gray, the gray robes of the Benedictine Order of the time. Because there is a dearth of proper prosthetic devices, he lumbers about with a wooden peg crafted from his grandfather’s blackthorn walking stick. He seems sickly and vulnerable, but he is battle-tested.

When General Sherman asks him peevishly why he tends to amend each address to him with “my friend,” he answers matter-of-factly. “You’ll excuse my presumption, sir. It’s merely a peculiar affectation of mine, a way of speaking. You see, General, I have been a soldier. I have seen war. I have been shot in battle. I want everyone I meet to be my friend.” In that statement, we see the essence of Brother Buckley. He realizes that he has been given a gift, a second life, a second chance; an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past and sow friendship in a reunited country.

Confederate soldier, Benedictine brother, Civil War detective. Explore the complex humanity of Brother Ced Buckley. Peer into the quaint world of the Civil War South. Read Burning Rage and Soldiers Just Like You. Both are available at Amazon.com.