Written in 1863 and set in 1861, Cudjo's Cave is a novel of The American Civil War written during the war by anti-slavery author John Townsend Towbridge. At the outbreak of the war, those who oppose secession and slavery in a small Tennessee community find themselves being victimized by those who favor it. An odd quartet of allies, two white and two black, find themselves hiding in a mountain cave as circumstances gradually give them a chance to rally some like-minded neighbors and strike a blow against the Confederacy.
Some of the setting and characters are inspired by a real-life Tennesse Underground Railroad outpost that Quaker William Hackney operated out of a cave. The real-life Tennessee cavern and popular tourist destination Gap Cave was temporarily renamed Cudjo’s Cave to capitalize on the novel. The book is now in the Public Domain.
Tropes in the novel:
- Badass Bookworm:
- Penn is a Quaker schoolteacher who defiantly faces and calls out a lynch mob that comes after him even when his beliefs keep him from fighting back. And once he proves willing to compromise those beliefs for the safety of his allies, he is a deadly combatant.
- Pomp got an education in medicine and other subjects in Paris when his first owner took him there, beat his second owner into the ground when the man abused him, and is a crafty woodsman who uses his skills against the rebels.
- Connected All Along: The two German Mooks among the Confederate forces turn out to be Carl's two cousins, which causes Carl angst when one dies and plants the seeds for the other to have a possible Heel–Face Turn.
- Hired Help as Family: Toby was once a slave of the Villars family and, after being given his freedom, continues working for them as a paid servant and has a warm and familiar relationship with Dr. Villars and Virginia.
- Ironic Name: Dr. Villars named one of his daughters after Virginia, the same state that now leads the Confederacy that both father and daughter strongly disapprove of.
- The Runaway: Carl Minnivech is an orphan who was adopted by his uncle but runs away after two years of jealous abuse at the hands of his aunt and (to a lesser degree) cousins. He spends weeks as a beggar in the countryside before encountering schoolteacher Penn Hapgood, who helps find a home to take Carl in, gives him an education, and generally takes on a Cool Big Bro role to Carl.
- Secondary Character Title: Cudjo (an African-born escaped slave) has been living in the eponymous cave longer than any of his three companions but has less of an arc than any of them.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Virginia Villars may seem like a timid Southern Belle and even views herself as such, but she can navigate through dangerous woods without much help and wields an axe against a Confederate thug in the final act while later holding one of his bosses at gunpoint.
- Sympathetic Slave Owner: Pomp was childhood playmates with his original owner, who later tried to free him on his deathbed (his brother and heir claimed he was delusional and refused to honor those wishes), and treated him with respect and kindness m. That being said, his Hate Sink brother, is right to point out that he had plenty of opportunities to free Pomp over the years but never did so until he was about to die and had no use for a slave anyway.
- Taking You with Me:
- After being mortally wounded in battle, Cudjo drags Silas The Dragon, and a former overseer who abused him before his escape from slavery, off an embankment and into the river, drowning Silas.
- After Captain Sprowl's wife Salina shoots him in defense of her father, sister Virginia, and servant Toby, a wounded and possibly dying Sprowl orders his men to shoot her, and they do.
- A Taste of the Lash: The Confederates liberally employ whipping against anyone they want to punish or get information from, such as a slave named Pete they find walking between plantations without a pass and Dan Pepperill for treating Pete's wounds.
- Token Good Teammate: The Noble Confederate Soldier trope is very much not at play for the most part, with most of the named Confederate soldiers being sadistic fanatics, Just Following Orders thugs, or callous opportunists. Dan Pepperill is the exception, being a kindly moonshiner who was always gotten along with the local blacks, was bullied into enlisting in the Confederate military, and tries to help his friends in small ways as they oppose the secessionists.
- Would Hit a Girl: Captain Sprowl has zero compunctions with ordering the wife of a prominent Unionist whipped to make her reveal where her husband is hiding. Due to a case of mistaken identity, his men end up whipping his own mother instead.
