Review of Call To Glory,
The Life & Times of a Texas Ranger,
Infantry Magazine:
Few writers of
historical fiction have the resources and expertise to
draw upon their own genealogy as source materials, but
Michael and Marilyn Gilhuly have done so admirable in this
account of the three Wiley brothers’ lives and adventures
in the years shortly before and after the Civil War. The
three lived and f ought in Texas during those tumultuous
decades beginning in 1862 and lasting until the Texas
Rangers became the guardians of peace and stability on
what was to be a dangerous frontier until the late 1800’s.
The book opens in
March 1862, with an account of the battle for possession
of the strategically critical Glorieta Pass east of Santa
Fe, New Mexico Territory. In this action, the 2nd,
4th, & 7th Texas Mounted Rifles were
facing an assault by Federal troops under the command of
Colonel (later General) Edward R. S. Canby.
Michael Gilhuly,
West Point, ’68, is a veteran of the Vietnam War, and his
accounts of the unfolding battle are seen through the eyes
and laid down in the words of a soldier who has endured
combat.
The characters are credible, unembellished
Americans dealing with circumstances they neither sought
nor avoided, but instead faced and dealt with in the best
traditions of the Republic of Texas and the American
character. Readers of this superb book will understand the
evolution of the toughness that characterized those on the
frontier, at a time when danger was far more imminent and
death more violent than at almost any time in our nation’s
The
Sequel
Ride To Glory ...
The saga continues. This second historical novel in a
series about the Leroy Wiley family chronicles the
hardships of having fought on the losing side in the
 Civil
War. Leroy has come home to try to pull the pieces of his
extended family together while spending long periods of
time away from home riding with the Texas Rangers against
Comanche Indians and rustlers. All this must be done under
the watchful eye of a Northern occupying army filled with
old foes.
Based on a real-life ancestor of Mrs. Gilhuly, this series
smacks of realism. The interpersonal conflict between a
long-suffering and sacrificing wife and the
adrenalin-junkie husband who decides to go on a cattle
drive up the Chisholm Trail to the railhead in Abilene,
Kansas, becomes the emotional centerpiece of the story.
The reader is provided a clear window into the historical
issues of the time.
Click
here to order or more information
About the Authors
Michael
Gilhuly
is a Vietnam Veteran and a West Point Graduate. He holds
degrees from Emory Law & Medical Schools.
Marilyn,
his wife of 33 years, is the past Chairman of the State
of Georgia Civil War Commission, currently the President
of the Atlanta Civil War Round Table and a direct descendant
of Leroy Wiley, one of the brothers in Call
to Glory. Marilyn is also on the Board
of Directors of the
Southern Heritage
Political Action Committee.
If you have
any questions or comments, feel free to send us an email!
MichaelGilhuly@aol.com
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