Twenty years ago, shortly after moving from Ohio to northern Virginia, I became aware through our children of one of the least known events in Civil War history. In September 1864, a Virginian by the name of John Yates Beall led a bold expedition across Lake Erie in an effort to free nearly 3000 Confederate officers in a Union POW camp in Ohio, while simultaneously taking over the USS Michigan, the only US warship allowed on the Great Lakes during the Civil War. I was captivated as I learned more about the man and his exploits, and I decided to write a book that featured Beall and the Lake more...
