Former Navy officer spotlights the Revolution’s Southern campaign in new novel

Ray Deptula’s new book, Can’t Find My Way Home, shifts attention from Lexington and Yorktown to the brutal Southern campaign that helped decide the American Revolution. The second installment in his Those Damned Yankees series follows two unlikely survivors after the Battle of Camden.

Why it matters: - Most American Revolution storytelling centers on the war’s early flashpoints in New England and its final victory at Yorktown. - Deptula’s novel argues the Southern campaign was the decisive, and often overlooked, theater that helped determine the war’s outcome. - The book ties battlefield survival to loyalty, morality and the human cost of civil conflict.

What happened: - Former U.S. Naval Officer Ray Deptula released Can’t Find My Way Home on June 30, 2026. - The book is the second installment in Deptula’s Those Damned Yankees series. - The novel follows British deserter Jack Halliday and Custis, an enslaved man, after they are separated from the Continental Army following the Battle of Camden. - The story places the pair in South Carolina, where local violence, divided loyalties and rival militias shape their fight to survive.

The details: - Deptula based the novel on historical research and the sequence of Revolutionary War events. - Jack Halliday and Custis first serve with the Continental Army after enduring the winter of 1780-81 at Washington’s encampment in New Jersey. - Spring brings the Battle of Camden, where British forces decimate the Continental Army. - The defeat undercuts hopes of driving Britain from the southern provinces. - The book centers on the pair’s effort to stay alive and find safety while Custis’ status as property tests Jack’s conscience. - Deptula said the book focuses on the bond between Jack and Custis and on Jack’s moral duty to protect a friend. - Speaking Volumes is the publisher. - The book’s ISBN-13 is 979-8890224170. - The title is available from Amazon.

Between the lines: - The novel uses a military adventure to examine friendship, duty and the way war compresses moral choices. - By centering an enslaved character and a deserter, the story also highlights the Revolution’s contradictions in the South, where freedom and bondage existed side by side. - Deptula’s military background appears to inform the book’s focus on camaraderie, hardship and survival under pressure. - The title reflects the characters’ search for security and belonging in a region where familiar rules have broken down.

What’s next: - Deptula’s Those Damned Yankees series continues with this second book. - More information is available at Ray Deptula Author. - Deptula lives in Merritt Island, Florida, with his wife, Julia. - Deptula is a native of Wells, Maine, and a graduate of Maine Maritime Academy and the U.S. Naval War College. - Deptula served 24 years in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Aviator and Political-Military Officer, with service in Europe, the Mideast, Africa and the Caribbean.

The bottom line: - Can’t Find My Way Home reframes the American Revolution through the Southern campaign, using one fictional journey to show how the war’s outcome was shaped far from the best-known battlefields.