Author Steve Procko
Captured Freedom
Author Steve Procko is a filmmaker and photographer with a love for history.
He particularly loves learning about the small, everyday events in the lives of little-known people and the small towns they lived in. Researching Captured Freedom became a great scavenger hunt, pinning down the facts on a 150-yr-old photograph whose story had been lost to the ethers.
A native of Florida, Steve, along with his wife, Lauren, and their dog, Rigby, splits his time between a home in Ocala, Florida and a mountain log cabin nestled next to Stanley Creek near the town of Blue Ridge, Georgia, just a few miles down the road from the neighbor who first shared “The Photograph” with him
His first book, Rebel Correspondent told the true story of the everyday life of a lowly cavalry private struggling to survive one of the greatest events in American history. Rebel Correspondent was recognized by the Independent Press Awards
In Captured Freedom, author Steve Procko brings us the epic Civil War escape story of these soldiers – their wartime experience, capture, prison life, and ultimately their successful escape. Based on meticulous research and never-before-published original diaries, the book uncovers the men’s experiences as prisoners-of-war, providing a new perspective on their lives during and after the conflict. Now the true story of their Civil War escape can finally be told.
A book inspired by this single, remarkable photograph.
The epic Civil War escape story of Nine Union POWs scrambling 350 miles to freedom. When they finally arrive in Knoxville, Tennessee, they pose for a photograph, a moment frozen in time. A Civil War selfie.
In early 2021, a neighbor of the author shared an old photograph of 12 men.
“What do you think of this?,” he said. One man in the 156-year-old photograph was an ancestor of his.
Union Officers from all across the north
Captured Freedom tells the story of nine Union officers on-the-run with their three mountain guides. From their enlistment in regiments from Iowa in the west to New Jersey in the east. To the battles they all experienced and the circumstances of their capture. These officers had experienced most of the major events of the Civil War. With some wounded-in-action. They reported others as killed-in-action. With loved ones only learning the truth months later after their capture. All things considered, they managed to survive brutal prison conditions for long months against great odds. The Civil War had less than six months remaining when they ran through the dead-line.
Their Epic Civil War Escape Story
On-the-run, Rebel scouting parties and their dogs pursued them as they slowly made their way north. Helped along the way by enslaved people who hoped the Civil War would bring change, and Union sympathizers who all risked their lives. The escapees entered the mountains as winter 1864 came at them with a vengeance. Clothed in rags that were once uniforms of blue, they persevered.