Cocoa and Company: A Civil War Classic

By Antonion Borges

A pivotal event for the United States of America was its Civil War in the 19th century, but understanding its complexities is daunting to both adults and children. Cocoa and Company offers a simple version of events in a story even beginning readers can understand. It is told in a way that will captivate older elementary school readers, as well as parents who read the book aloud for younger children.

Pairing whimsy with historical fact, as well as fun with a social conscience, Borges has dared to take on the entire timeframe of a bloody, costly war. Here is a story parents and teachers will embrace as a teaching tool, especially because it is an engaging tale. Children will enjoy the antics and bravery of a boxer dog, a Chihuahua, a Labrador retriever and a border collie. These lovable characters are certain to live in the minds of readers for a very long time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Oct 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9781398480698

Antonion Borges

Antonion Borges’ far-ranging curiosity and inventiveness belie his formal training. Having graduated from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Department of Harvard Medical School as well as the Sawyer School in Radio and Television Broadcasting, he works in the field of ophthalmology and pathology. His research into the history of the American Civil war is paired in this work with his ability to present an imaginative history that will engage young readers. This and his previous books that look far into the future testify to the truth that he is a modern version of the Renaissance Man.

Book preview

About the Author

Antonion Borges’ far-ranging curiosity and inventiveness belie his formal training. Having graduated from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Department of Harvard Medical School as well as the Sawyer School in Radio and Television Broadcasting, he works in the field of ophthalmology and pathology. His research into the history of the American Civil war is paired in this work with his ability to present an imaginative history that will engage young readers. This and his previous books that look far into the future testify to the truth that he is a modern version of the Renaissance Man.

Dedication

Dedicated to President Abraham Lincoln.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

—2 Timothy 4:7-8

Copyright Information ©

Antonion Borges 2023

The right of Antonion Borges to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398480681 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398480698 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

I gratefully acknowledge my editor, Drollene P. Brown, who joined me early in my writing career. Her contributions to this historical fiction go beyond her editing expertise.

About the Book

The Civil War was a pivotal event for the United States but understanding its complexities is daunting to both adults and children. Cocoa and Company offers a simple version of events in a story even beginning readers can understand. It is told in a way that will captivate older elementary school readers, as well as parents who read the book aloud for younger children.

In Richmond, Virginia, brothers Thomas and Jonathan Franklyn argue about radical abolitionist John Brown and what he had been trying to achieve the previous year at Harpers Ferry, Virginia. The argument and the sentiments behind it cause a rift between the brothers, and when the Civil War begins, Thomas joins the Confederate Army and Jonathan, with younger brother Benjamin, heads north to support the Union. Ironically, the first fighting Jonathan and Ben see is at Harpers Ferry.

While military movements remain true to history for a particular corner of the war, much of the focus is on the dogs the Franklyn brothers bring with them—a boxer named Pad and a chihuahua named Company. Left behind with the brothers’ mother and sister are the dogs’ mates, Lily and Cocoa. Like many young humans who march off to war, Pad and Company have no idea what the coming years will bring, but they were sure they must do their duty.

Jonathan, who has some medical training, acquires an assignment working in the medical tent. He will struggle against the conventional wisdom of the day that prescribes sawing off a seriously wounded limb as the best way to save a man’s life. Late in the war, when one of the dogs is shot, Jonathan is able to prove that healing from the inside out is possible.

Benjamin, in his early teens, becomes a boy scout in a unit like those that were a forerunner to the Boy Scouts of America. Benjamin’s unit is paired with a canine unit that includes dogs from disparate countries of origin, just as the human units are made of men of different ancestry.

Pad and Company make friends with other dogs, especially with Cokie, a brown Labrador retriever, and Sammy, a red border collie. They have come with their master, Blaine, from western Virginia. Issues of the day are part of the action, including realistic accounts of 19th century medical practices, President Lincoln’s decision to end slavery in the South, the limbo in which many Negroes found themselves, and the hardships suffered by families left at home.

Early in the war, when Jonathan and Ben leave western Virginia to follow McClelland northward, Blaine stays behind with troops in the Kanawha Valley. Various campaigns ensue. Meeting again near the end of the war, Ben and Blaine happen to be in Richmond to join the bucket brigade saving the town from the fires caused by the last major battle of the war.

Shortly thereafter, coming from the Richmond docks, President Lincoln strides down the street, intent on meeting with Jefferson Davis. When the two young union soldiers meet the President, Blaine eagerly reveals that he is from the new state of West Virginia. Ben, as a Richmond native, happily volunteers to take Lincoln straight to Davis’ home.

A few days later, Ben and Blaine peer through the window of the house next door to the courthouse in Appomattox, as generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee sign the treaty that ends the war.

Pairing whimsy with historical fact and fun with social conscience, the author has dared to take on the entire time frame of a bloody, costly war. Here is a story parents and teachers will embrace as a learning tool, especially because it is an engaging tale. Children will enjoy the antics and bravery of a boxer, a Chihuahua, a Labrador retriever and a border collie. These lovable characters are certain to live in the minds of readers for a very long time.

1

February in Virginia can be cold and dreary, and so it was in 1861 in Richmond. A pale yellow light shown faintly from downstairs’ windows of the old manse of Franklyn Sweetwater Plantation, a peaceful scene that was torn by harsh words blasting like stones into the courtyard.

A momentary calm fell when Elizabeth Franklyn interrupted her two older sons. Why bring up John Brown now? He was hanged more than a year ago.

I’m just saying I’m glad the dirty abolitionist got what he deserved, Thomas drawled, laughing. What was he tryin’ to accomplish by freein’ those slaves … causin’ a hardship for slave owners?

I’ll tell you what he was accomplishin’, brother: the dignity of human life. Every human should have the right to live as a human bein’, not a beast of burden, Jonathon replied.

Under the table, two boxer dogs listened closely to the conversation. Both dogs were brindle-colored—brown and black hairs blended together, but the female, Lilly, had a white chest. The male, Pad, was brindle all over.

What does he mean by beast of burden, Pad? Lilly asked, as she watched Pad calmly chew a bone Jonathan had slipped to him.

He means any being lower than a dog, something without brains … like Jody over there, that silly, fat, lazy cat, Pad replied keeping the bone between his front paws. Jody has no huntin’ skills. All she does is sleep and eat, while we dogs help hunt and protect the animals in the farmyard. Even Cocoa over there, as small as she is, chased a raccoon from the hen house the other day. That takes bravery and courage, Lilly. Satisfied with his intelligence, Pad resumed chewing the bone.

Lilly crawled from beneath the table to where Cocoa, a little brown Chihuahua, lay on a pillow in the corner near the fireplace. Cocoa sat up and tilted her head, looking at Lilly in surprise. Lilly never left her place under the table until everyone was finished with dinner and had left the table.

Lilly saw the question on Cocoa’s face, and she lay down with a sigh. I had to leave the table, she said. I can’t take all that arguin’.

Cocoa put her head back down on the pillow. She too sighed.

Lilly realized the little Chihuahua had something on her mind, too. Why do you look so sad and blue, Cocoa? she asked.

Oh, it’s nothing. I just wish … oh, it’s nothing, Cocoa replied.

Please tell me, Cocoa, what’s botherin’ you?

I wish I had a companion to live my life with, she said. You and Pad have each other. I have no one.

I see, said Lilly, her large brown eyes full of compassion. I can truly understand that. Every lady needs to be loved and held. I’m sure one day you will receive a knight in shining armor as a gift, as I did.

Lilly reached out a front paw and patted one of Cocoa’s paws. You see, Lilly continued, I was once in the situation you’re in now. One day the Franklyns brought Pad home, and he has been my friend and lover ever since. We’ll be together for the rest of our lives. As an afterthought she said under her breath, "I sure never liked Pad’s brother,