VIDEO: Local Author Investigates Legend of Civil War Horse's Frankfort Connection

Most people wouldn't be thrilled at the possibility of a horse buried under their swimming pool. For Rachel Gilmore, it would've been a dream come true.

As long as it was one particular horse: Sam, the steed of Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman.

Gilmore became enamored with the Sam and his history while she was doing publicity in 2004 for the sculpture that honors the horse at . The more she found out about Sam and his time with Sherman--and then on the Sanger farm in Frankfort--the more she fell in love with the legends and stories surrounding the equine.

That love eventually turned into her new book Upon Which Everything Depends: Two Tales of a Horse Named Sam, which she researched for seven years, reading Sherman's journals and even traveling to the general's home in Lancaster, Ohio. The book tracks Sam's life as a warhorse on the frontlines of the Civil War to his life in Lancaster and finally to his time in Frankfort.  

Gilmore took Frankfort Patch on a video tour of some of the significant Frankfort places that are connected to Sam. Watch it in our media gallery.

Author Signing

Gilmore will be signing and selling copies of Under Which Everything Depends: Two Tales of a Horse Named Sam at three locations during the Friday, Dec. 16.

• 7-8 p.m.
•  9-10 p.m.
• 10:15-11 p.m.

Ordering the Book

Copies of Under Which Everything Depends can be ordered at the book's website.

Editor's note: Rachel Gilmore has been a Patch contributor.