Every leader needs a trusted confidant. For Nathan Bedford Forrest, one the Civil War's greatest military minds, that man was David Campbell Kelley. Kelley began adulthood in the clergy, serving for two years as a missionary in China, and returning home just a year before the Civil War. He then raised a company of cavalry from his family's large congregation, which became a part of Forrest's original regiment. Kelley quickly became Forrest's second-in-command, assisting in some of his most daring engagements, offering support in key decisions, and serving as his unofficial chaplain. Following the war, Kelley returned to preaching, helped establish Vanderbilt University, and launched a campaign for governor of Tennessee. Now, for the first time, author Michael R. Bradley brings Kelley's dynamic life to the fore.

Experience the Civil War's most eerie occurrences, spooky events, unsolved mysteries, and myths and legends related and debunked. From the legend of the Yankee "human shield" behind Nathan Bedford Forrest's saddle to the unexplained sinking of the Hunley, Civil War Myths and Legends makes history fun and pulls back the curtain on some of the most fascinating and compelling stories of the war that almost tore America apart.

Is it possible that the woman who raised Abraham Lincoln was actually his half-sister, and that the man he knew as his grandfather had conducted a scandalous affair with a servant girl? Was Nancy Dude really a murderous witch, or the victim of relentless calamities that would stretch anyone beyond the bounds of sanity? Should Horace Kephart be considered a hero for his work to protect the area of the Great Smokies, where a moutain was named in his honor, or a drunken scoundrel who uprooted families from the homes and farms they'd had for generations? From Sam Houston's childhood among the Cherokee to the mysterious "road to nowhere", Great Smokies Myths and Legends makes history fun and pulls back the curtain on some of this national park's most fascinating and compelling stories.

It Happened in the Great Smokies includes 31 fascinating stories about events and 10 biographies of people that shaped this famous national park in the states of North Carolina and Tennessee. From an eighteenth-century Cherokee feast to a deadly wildfire that nearly destroyed a town, this book looks at intriguing people and episodes from the history of America's most visited national park.

It's no surprise that fatalities occur every year in Great Smoky Mountains National Park due to the sheer number of visitors--more than ten million annually! In these cautionary tales, Bradley recounts deaths and other unfortunate incidents that have resulted from accidents and human folly, including bear attacks, swift water disasters, and mysterious disappearances. Armchair travelers and park visitors alike will be fascinated by the dangers lurking in America's most visited national park and will be better informed about what to do and what not to do the next time they enter its gates.