Shades of Right Inspiration

My inspiration for Shades of Right was based on a true, actual event that happened during the Civil War with the Minnesota 9th Regiment.

I was watching a documentary and the man being interviewed mentioned an incident where 38 Minnesota 9th Regiment men were court-martialed for aiding a slave and his family in Missouri. They did not even know the man who approached them for help in panicked desperation. The incident was a small foot note in history and it intrigued me, being a native Minnesotan.

First, my interest was piqued because though I had grown up in Minnesota I had not given a lot of thought to Minnesota's role during the Civil War. The Civil War had happened down south and had never seemed relevant to the northern state of Minnesota.

Second, my curiosity was engaged because I could not help but wonder at the bravery of a slave in the 1800s approaching a complete stranger wearing a blue uniform. A blue uniform was no guarantee that he would not be punished or even killed for asking for help to rescue his family from being shipped out of Missouri to be sold.

I went looking for information on this incident and as deep as I dug I only found the most minimal information. Yes, members of the Minnesota 9th Regiment were court-martialed for stopping a train carrying a slave family out of the state to be sold. In the documentary that originally piqued my curiosity the man said 38 men were court-martialed but I found varying reports, some said 38 men and some said 42 men. My original plan was to title the book The 38 but with the varying accounts stating the actual number I decided to choose another title.

I could not stop thinking about this incident and I knew that the story had to be brought to life. How brave of that slave to risk so much by asking a complete stranger for help. What had his life been to give him the courage to risk so much? Imagining soldiers from Minnesota stepping in and helping a slave was not as much a stretch of the imagination for me. Growing up in Minnesota, I have known many men who would do what's right over what is allowed. They knew the risk but they stepped up anyway. They were court-martialed for their offense of helping a slave and his family.

Shades of Right follows the lives of two men on different paths that lead them to face each other on that fateful day. They are both men of strong character who faced obstacles that tested morals, both doing what was right as they saw it.