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An intimate look at a young Norwich, Connecticut cavalry officer—in war, love and his attempts to strike it rich—and his fierce ambition to make his mark in the Civil War and early Reconstruction. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Farnsworth’s letters and diaries form the cornerstone for this short biography, which begins with his failures in a Chicago manufacturing venture at age twenty and in the Pikes Peak gold rush of 1858. The Civil War opened new challenges for this excellent horseman who helped organize the First Connecticut Cavalry. The book covers “Charlie’s” near-fatal shooting while searching for Confederate bushwhackers in Virginia, his protests against incompetent Union leadership, his capture and confinement in Richmond’s notorious Libby Prison, his romantic entanglements, the political connections which got him a personal pass from President Lincoln to travel to the South while the war was still raging, and his tragic struggle to make his mark in Georgia during the early years of Reconstruction. This is a story of a brave young man’s restless pursuit of success, and the disaster that followed.

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“Whirlwind & Storm introduces us to the colorful and impetuous Lieutenant Colonel Charles Farnsworth, a Connecticut cavalryman in the Union Army. Farnsworth was fiery, ambitious, and bold, sometimes a little too bold for his own good—in combat, in business ventures, and in the river crossing that ended his life tragically early. Although swift and fearless when it came to facing Confederate bullets, he was somewhat less so when it came to telling his fiancée that his heart belonged to another woman. Drawing from a rich and previously ignored trove of letters and diaries, Farnsworth’s great-grandson and namesake, a military veteran himself, has done a marvelous job of bringing alive this officer in all his flawed glory.”

– Adam Hochschild, author of To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 and other books.

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“If you want to know what the Civil War was really like, this is the book for you: an intimate, personal portrait of the war experience and the people who lived it, giving the reader a first-hand view of its realities. It is meticulously researched, authoritatively documented, and gracefully written.”

– William Bennett Turner, author of Figures of Speech: First Amendment Heroes and Villains.

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“Lieutenant Colonel “Charlie” Farnsworth of Norwich emerges here as a free-spirited and ambitious young cavalry officer, with unique and often irreverent views on the Civil War and its leaders. His wide experience in the war, including imprisonment in Richmond, is well-researched and very readably presented. I found it especially fun to follow Charlie’s love life through this most enjoyable book.”

– Vic Butsch, New London County (Connecticut) Civil War Round Table, Norwich Historical Society.

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“Charles E. Farnsworth, author of Whirlwind & Storm, delves into his family’s past and uncovers the adventurous but short life of his Civil War namesake, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Farnsworth, who fought as a Union cavalry officer during the Civil War.

With excellent research and clear writing, the author paints an impartial, intriguing, and entertaining account of his privileged ancestor, Charles Farnsworth, who served heroically in the 1St Connecticut Volunteer Cavalry battalion. Before, during and after the war, Charles ‘Charlie’ Farnsworth, exuded those common human traits that so defined him: driven, disciplined courageous, vain-glorious, opportunistic, and passionate.

Whirlwind & Storm is a biography that offers a totally honest glimpse of one man’s intense ambition to achieve, be it during wartime or during peacetime. With his story, author Charles E. Farnsworth has added an illuminating, original, and personal work to the collage of our great American heritage.”

– Robert B. Angelovich, author of the forthcoming Riding for Uncle Samuel, the history of the First Connecticut Cavalry in the Civil War.