When Stonewall Jackson was killed by friendly fire at the height of his greatest victory in 1863, the course of the Civil War and American history was changed. "Cross Over The River," a carefully researched novel, paints a passionate and realistic portrait of the Civil War's most enigmatic and daring general. In private a quiet, loving man, Jackson was a stern Old Testament warrior who took breathtaking chances against terrible odds. He feinted and hid his army, struck like lightning at the Union flank or rear, hammered larger armies, bedeviled Lincoln and lifted Southern morale. His men thought he was crazy, complained boisterously about him, and followed him loyally into the hottest fire of the war. "As historical fiction, Bruce Benidt's "Cross Over the River" stands beside Jeffrey Shaara's "Gods and Generals." Indeed, if they saw Ted Turner's adaptation of "Gods and Generals, " many readers of "Cross Over the River" will come away thinking that it would make for a more entertaining movie. A must read for those interested in a slightly fictionalized account of the Civil War career of "Stonewall" Jackson."--Professor Lawrence Lee Hewitt (Ret.), Southeastern Louisiana University, author of "Port Hudson, Confederate Bastion on the Mississippi."