Ford the Pacholet is a historically accurate tale about events surrounding Lem Farnandis, a troubled teenager from Grindall Shoals, South Carolina, during the American Revolution. His family was constantly nagging him about his chores. His community was divided politically, sometimes violently, into Whigs (Patriot sympathizers) and Tories (Loyalists to the King). His father, Henry, a successful local merchant, tried to remain neutral. Still, King George III’s taxes on molasses, sugar, iron, tea, paper money, and much more were eroding Henry’s profits. From what Lem had seen, the whole world revolved around power and control. At the age of thirteen, he had neither. Lem’s plight worsened when a Loyalist spy calling himself “Tyger” ambushed Lem and locked him in the local tavern’s cellar. His fellow prisoners were two Continental Army scouts and a native Catawba Indian girl about his age. From them, Lem discovered that Whig families were being rounded up. Apparently, the girl’s family had been captured while traveling the Lower Cherokee Trader’s Path to visit mountain relatives. The four devised an escape plan. If it succeeded, Lem could help prevent hundreds of Patriot deaths and hopefully save his family and the Catawbas from the clutches of British Commander “Bloody Ban” Tarleton. "FORD THE PACHOLET is a meticulously researched and beautifully illustrated history of the stirring events leading up to the pivotal Battle of Cowpens, told through the eyes of a local boy simply trying to survive and protect those he holds dear. Richly evocative of the time when the patriots of South Carolina—the site of more Revolutionary War battles and skirmishes than any of the other thirteen colonies—stood up to Bloody Banastre Tarleton and set our nation on the road to liberty. Not to be missed!" ~K.G. McAbee, award-winning author of CABBAGES AND KINGS, GILBERT AND THE CLOCKWORK PIRATES, and co-author with J.A. Johnson of THE NEREUS PROJECT trilogy.
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