Jack Ledger

Jack LedgerJack LedgerJack Ledger
  • Author
  • Where Legends Begin
  • The Ledger Dispatches
  • The Last Cavalier
  • The Ballad of Franco Loco
  • The Legionnaire
  • Dragon of the Camargue
  • Beneath The Red Clay
  • Meet the Writer
  • More
    • Author
    • Where Legends Begin
    • The Ledger Dispatches
    • The Last Cavalier
    • The Ballad of Franco Loco
    • The Legionnaire
    • Dragon of the Camargue
    • Beneath The Red Clay
    • Meet the Writer

Jack Ledger

Jack LedgerJack LedgerJack Ledger
  • Author
  • Where Legends Begin
  • The Ledger Dispatches
  • The Last Cavalier
  • The Ballad of Franco Loco
  • The Legionnaire
  • Dragon of the Camargue
  • Beneath The Red Clay
  • Meet the Writer
Coming soon to subscribers: [ 🔓 Unlock the First Chapter -

THE LAST CAVALIER A Legacy of Lies, Written in Blood

From the royal courts of Europe to the back alleys of New Orleans, a storm is rising. And at the center of it stands a man born of secrets, raised for war, and destined to set empires ablaze.

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Book One: The Bloodline Begins

The Last Cavalier is the first in a sweeping historical trilogy following Francois “Franco” Lacroix—a young man shaped by noble blood, forged in secrecy, and hurled into the fire of the American Civil War. One companion novel, The Legionnaire, follows his estranged father's path—until the two worlds collide.


As the Confederacy races to secure foreign support, secret agents and blockade runners crisscross Europe and the Caribbean, cutting covert deals with German arms dealers, French financiers, and English mills starving for cotton. In the heart of this geopolitical storm is Franco, a reluctant weapon raised in Marseille, educated in the languages of power, and manipulated into serving a war he doesn’t understand.

 

Franco is kidnapped in Bordeaux and smuggled aboard The Bermuda—a sleek new blockade runner making her maiden voyage out of Liverpool under Confederate orders, her hold packed with secret cargo: German rifles and cannon. His journey begins in blood, after a duel gone wrong with the son of a French noble, and spirals through interrogation cells, smoky drawing rooms, and the violent tidewaters of the Bahamas—where Southern Victorian elegance collides with imperial ambition.


Here, Franco will cross paths with agents of influence: the Confederate Navy’s puppet masters, blockade-runner architects, and kings without crowns. But even among allies, he is alone—an outsider haunted by the truth of who he is and the lies others will kill to protect.


Torn between loyalty, legacy, and revenge, Franco becomes both weapon and witness in a war that refuses to end. And what he finds beneath the silk of diplomacy and the smoke of cannon fire is a secret that could change the course of nation—or destroy him.

THE LAST CAVALIER

Character Dossier

  • Francois “Franco” Lacroix – The outsider. The last remnant of a forgotten empire. A prodigy raised in secret, fluent in tongues of war and nobility.
  • Murin Lacroix – His guardian. His mentor. His executioner. A man who sees Franco not as a nephew—but as an instrument. 
  • Queen Isabella II – A crown veiled in scandal. A mother in hiding.
  • Charles Trenholm – The banker of the South. Confederate kingmaker and silent architect of foreign intervention.
  • Stephen Mallory – The Confederate Secretary of the Navy. A visionary seeking salvation at sea.
  • James Bulloch – Confederate agent in Europe. A man who builds navies from whispers and gold.
  • Tom Taylor – British cotton merchant turned Confederate facilitator. A bridge between empires.
  • Captain Tessier – Commander of The Bermuda. Loyal, cunning, and caught between duty and doubt.
  • McCabe – The Confederate interrogator who beat Franco bloody—and became his most trusted ally.
  • Desrosiers – The noble heir whose death in a duel sparks Franco’s exile.
  • The Duke of Desrosiers – Father to the slain heir. Powerful, furious, and politically connected.

Inspired by True History

  • The Confederate Navy’s secret dealings with European powers
  • The race to build blockade runners in England and France
  • The Bahamas as the South’s staging ground for cotton, guns, and diplomacy
  • The economic stranglehold of the global cotton industry
  • German arms dealers, Confederate gold, and ghost ships on the high seas

Coming soon to subscribers: Email list members get first access." [ 🔗 Link: Beneath the Red Clay ]

 The war was only the beginning. The legend starts here.

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U.S. Copyright and WGA Registration Protected

 © Mark Ferland writing as Jack Ledger. All rights reserved.
Storylines, characters, and universe materials are protected under U.S. Copyright and WGA registration 


Copyright © 2025 Jack Ledger - All Rights Reserved.

  • Author
  • Where Legends Begin
  • The Ledger Dispatches
  • The Last Cavalier
  • The Ballad of Franco Loco
  • The Legionnaire
  • Dragon of the Camargue
  • Beneath The Red Clay
  • Meet the Writer

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