History Literature / TheLostRegiment

* PrecursorRace: The Horde are the descendants of what was once a spacefaring species, suggested to have destroyed their civilization through a nuclear war in the distant past and devolved to their present state. The artificial wormholes they previously used for interstellar travel are responsible for depositing humans from various parts of Earth to their homeworld of Valennia throughout history. Other worlds their species colonized survived this conflagration, with [[spoiler:Ha’ark]] hailing from a colony with a level of technology approximating our own in the present day.

* BreakTheCutie: Vincent Hawthorne gos from idealistic pacfist to jaded (albeit still heroic) killer.

%%* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:Ha'ark]] to Keeane.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: An in-universe one. Two, in fact. In the second book, after killing a tyrant, a soldier shouts the state motto of Virginia. However, unbeknownst to them, this is the same phrase shouted by John Wilkes Booth after killing UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln (this happens after they end up on Valennia). Later, several of the Mainers discuss theater back home and mention the Booth actor family, with someone pointing out that they're not a big fan of the youngest one, who always looks shifty.

%%* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire
%%* GreatEscape: The whole plot of ''Battle Hymn''.%%Is?

%%* BreakTheCutie: Vincent Hawthorne gos from idealistic pacfist to jaded (albeit still heroic) killer.

%%* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler:The dam]] in ''Rally Cry'' and [[spoiler:the rockets]] in ''Fateful Lightning'' both are abruptly used to win seemingly un-winnable battles.

%%* BreakTheCutie: Vincent Hawthorne.

%%* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler:The dam]] in ''Rally Cry'' and [[spoiler:the rockets]] in ''Fateful Lightning''.

%%* EveryCarIsAPinto: Every Land Ironclad, anyway.

* MultinationalTeam: The main cast of the 35th Maine -- while all American, the officers are two Irishmen, a German, and a Jew. Through the course of the series, they forge an alliance of Russians, Romans, Chinese, Japanese, Carthaginians, and Zulus.

%%* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld

* BadassBookworm:
** Andrew Lawrence Keane.
** Also, [[spoiler:Ha'ark, who was constantly beaten up by his commander back on his own planet for being a wimpy scholar but rose to lead the Bantag after arriving to Valennia]].

* BreakTheCutie: Vincent Hawthorne.
* CharacterDevelopment
* DeusExMachina: [[spoiler: The dam in ''Rally Cry'' and the rockets in ''Fateful Lightning''.]]

* EveryCarIsAPinto: Every Land Ironclad, anyway.
* EvilCounterpart: [[spoiler:Ha'ark]] to Keeane.

* FantasyCounterpartCulture: The Horde for the Mongols.
** And the Merki are named after the Merkits, a rival tribe of the Mongols.

* GreatEscape: The whole plot of ''Battle Hymn''

%%* HeroicSacrifice: ''Way'' too many to count.

* ItOnlyWorksOnce: In ''Union Forever'', the massive naval battle between [[spoiler:Cartha ships led by the now-ironclad ''Ogunquit'']] and the [[spoiler:Rouman ships led by newly-built ironclads]] appears to be won by the former, but they turn tail and run after seeing [[spoiler:a massive ironclad bearing down on them]]. It turns out to be [[spoiler:a small, barely-functional ironclad with a bunch of stuff nailed to the front and sides and logs pretending to be cannons]]. It's immediately pointed out that [[spoiler:Cromwell]] will not buy this a second time.
** And yet a similar trick is used several more times throughout the novels, usually working.

* KlingonPromotion: Among the Tugars, a clan Qarth may challenge his Qar Qarth to a duel to the death. However, this is rarely done, as it's believed that only one "of the blood" must lead the Horde.

* LostTechnology: The Tunnels of Light and the devices used to power Merki airships.

* MultinationalTeam: The main cast of the 35th Maine - while all American, the officers are two Irishmen, a German, and a Jew. Through the course of the series, they forge an alliance of Russians, Romans, Chinese, Japanese, Carthaginians, and Zulus.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The Senate always acts like this between wars.

* SuperweaponSurprise: The Bantag. [[spoiler:Their leader is a soldier of the same species from the future who have progressed to what would be modern tech for us. Their first action against the Union consists of submarines sinking a large part of the Union ironclad fleet.]]
** [[spoiler:And the Republic pulls it off at the of ''Fateful Lightning'' with rocket launchers.]]
** This almost happens in [[spoiler:''Terrible Swift Sword'' with steam-powered [[GatlingGood Gatling guns]], which would have been an effective defense against the Merki airships]], but Andrew shuts down the project in favor of more muskets and cannons. Furthermore, John Mina points out that it would be a huge drain on [[spoiler:ammunition]]. When one is unveiled at the end of ''Fateful Lightning'', it spectacularly fails, but is improved later.

* WeHaveReserves: A common tactic for the hordes, especially Ha'ark.

* FrickinLaserBeams: Merki history tells of a race of non-humanoid aliens who were brought to Valennia by a Tunnel of Light. These aliens had weapons "made of light" who could kill easily a hundred Merki warriors each. For a time, they enslaved the Merki, but Merki turned their masters against one another and then rose up, killing all of them despite great casualties. Choosing to maintain their lifestyle, they cast all the aliens' technology into the sea.

'''''The Lost Regiment''''' is a series of science fiction novels by William Forstchen. After the Battle of Gettysburg, the 35th Maine volunteer regiment is swept into a portal and lands on an alien world. The good news for them is that there are other humans on the planet -- Russians, Romans, Carthaginians, Japanese, Chinese, and others -- who entered the same way the 35th Maine did. The bad news is that they share the planet with the Hordes -- a race of 9-foot tall aliens based on the Mongol hordes who demand a tithe of humans every twenty years or thereabouts [[ImAHumanitarian to eat]]. The series follows the men of the 35th, as they try to use their superior technology to unite the humans against the Horde while forging a democratic republic like the one they left behind.

* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire

* HeroicSacrifice: ''Way'' too many to count.

* LensmanArmsRace

* ManlyTears

* {{Pirate}}: Type 1 are mentioned in ''Rally Cry'', and their descendants show up in ''Union Forever''. The originals were two ships of British and French {{Privateer}}s raiding Spanish galleons, when they were taken by a Tunnel of Light. Their first encounter with the Tugars has resulted in the loss of one of the ships but many dead Tugars as well. Their descendants have survived by raiding coastal settlements in the Inland Sea, usually Cartha, taking supplies and women. They have even managed to increase their fleet by making several copies of the original ships.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Played with in regards to the various subtribes of the Horde. Played straight with the Tugars (much to their detriment). Somewhat averted with the Merki - Cromwell, a human traitor, helps them get their hands on Union technology, but the Merki do not adjust very well (as it turns out, {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s hate taking non-combat roles). Subverted with the Bantag, who [[spoiler:are armed with modern weaponry due to being led by a future descendant of the species]].

* PsychicStatic: To counter [[spoiler:Ha'ark]]'s PsychicPowers, [[spoiler:Hans Schuder]] has trained himself to think of nothing important when near him.
** Hawthorne once uses this to his advantage by directing such rage at [[spoiler:Ha'ark]], that the latter focuses all his attention on him and his forces, which are just a diversion.