The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come

John Fox (1862-1919) was an American novelist, journalist and short story writer. Though he occasionally wrote for periodicals, Fox dedicated much of his attention to fiction in his later years. Influenced by his childhood in the Kentucky’s Bluegrass Region and his life among the coal miners of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, most of his works reflected the naturalist style. Fox’s novels were historical romances or period dramas set in that region. “The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come” (1903) is arguably one of his most well known and successful works. It entered the New York Times top ten list of bestselling novels and stayed there for four years. The work depicts the chaos and confusion of an era when family and national loyalties were often in conflict. Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, Chadwick Buford, an orphan, is found by an old Major in the mountains of Kentucky. Chadwick ends up joining the Union Army against the South due in part to his new friend.