At a time of war, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal was caught in the crossfire between two nations.
Hugh Fitzgerald proudly calls himself a "canawler." He works on the C&O Canal transporting coal nearly 185 miles between Cumberland, Maryland, and Georgetown. For nine months a year, he and his family live on their canal boat, working hard to get them through the lean winter months.
The year 1862 was a hard year to live on the canal, though. The Civil War was in full swing and the canal, which runs along the Potomac River, marked the border between the Union and Confederacy. To this point, the Confederacy has stayed south of the canal, but now the Confederate Army intends to go on the offensive and take the war into the north.
Not only are the Fitzgeralds' lives endangered by the increased activity of warring armies and raiders on the canal, but the Fitzgeralds' secret activity as a stop along the Underground Railroad only endangers their lives all the more.
Then fate takes Hugh away from his family, leaving his wife, Alice, to hold the family together. With the help of her children; Thomas, George and Elizabeth; Tony, an orphan from Cumberland; and David Windover, a disillusioned Confederate soldier, they will face the dangers presented by the war, nature, and the railroad together.
EDITORIAL REVIEWS:
"Come 'canawling' with the Fitzgeralds and experience the joys and dangers of life on the C&O Canal. You'll almost hear the horn blowing as they approach another lock." - The Potomac Review
"A powerful, thoughtful and fascinating historical novel, 'Canawlers' documents author James Rada, Jr. as a writer of considerable and deftly expressed storytelling talent." - Midwest Book Review
"James Rada, of Cumberland, has written a historical novel for high-schoolers and adults, which relates the adventures, hardships and ultimate tragedy of a family of boaters on the C&O Canal .... The tale moves quickly and should hold the attention of readers looking for an imaginative adventure set on the canal at a critical time in history." - Along the Towpath: The C&O Canal Newsletter