The War Between the States changed everything for Southerners–mostly for the worse. James McBain of Savannah, owner of the prosperous Heritage plantation that made Savannah Grey bricks, was already despondent by the time his son Joseph departed for the battlefields of Virginia in May 1861. His daughter Amy had recently moved to New York with her husband, as had Joseph’s wife with the couple’s baby girl, leaving James and his wife Sarah to care for Danny, Joseph’s six-year-old son. And the entire family still grieved over the murder of Joseph’s life-long companion and free man of color, Andrew. While the Confederates scored several major victories in the early stages of the conflict, lifting rebel spirits, Savannah fared poorly. In early November 1861 the Union navy captured nearby Hilton Head Island. This gave the Yankees control of the South Atlantic, sealed off Savannah from the European markets so desirous of the South’s cotton, and caused many Georgians along the coast to flee inland. Matters also worsened for the McBains. Joseph became a prisoner of war. James’s most loyal slaves tried to escape to the U.S. Navy. Andrew’s killers returned to Savannah and tormented the family. When it appeared that the McBains might be ruined, they were saved by their own enslaved workers and a mysterious female stranger. Unwittingly, the girl held the McBains together as the South’s fortunes plummeted. She accompanied Sarah McBain to northern Georgia to care for the sick and wounded soldiers. And she found herself in the path of General Sherman’s army as it marched through Georgia, devastating almost everything in its path. Could she and the McBains survive the Yankees and the outlaws determined to destroy them? Penny Savannah brings together the drama and tragedy of the war-torn South, as the McBains, the freed slaves, and the girl cling to the hope that better days lie ahead.
