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Author Notes
First Iowa Volunteer Mounted Infantry
When preparing the back-story for the characters in the Shiloh Trilogy, I needed to identify a particular fictional Union regiment as the home for Jamie Harper, Joshua Featherstone, Gus Magnusson, Johnny Cooke, and the others. I wanted to identify a unit which could...
Sharps Rifle with Telescopic Sight
While planning to write a series of historical novels set in the American Civil War (ACW) I needed to decide what would be the firearm of choice for the main character, James (Jamie) Harper. Although he serves in an infantry unit, I wanted Harper and his battalion to...
The Tale of Katie Malloy
When I write, I use the close third person point-of-view (POV) to tell the stories in The Shiloh Trilogy. I actually have three POV characters. First, is Jamie Harper, an officer in the Union army and nominally the lead protagonist in all three books – he is the title...
General Gideon J Pillow Part 2
Although Gideon Pillow had opposed secession, Governor Isham Harris appointed him the senior major general in the Tennessee Militia as of May 9, 1861. In July, Jefferson Davis appointed him as brigadier general in the Confederate States Army. He commanded the troops...
Commander Series No. 3: General Gideon J Pillow Part 1
We continue the discussion of Confederate generals at Fort Donelson to escape the surrender with the second-in-command, Gideon J. Pillow, who had himself and his chief-of-staff rowed across the Cumberland River after being placed in command by the fleeing John B....
The Seven Percent Solution
This month, I’d like to take another story from Statesmen of the Confederate Cause by Burton J. Hendrick to tell the tale of the $15,000,000 in Confederate bonds. Having failed to gain English and French recognition in the first year of the American Civil War, the...
Commander Series No. 2: General John B Floyd
One element of the Battle of Fort Donelson which should surprise modern readers is the fact that the most senior Confederate officer present, John B. Floyd, elected to escape rather than share the fate of the soldiers under his command. Brigadier General John B. Floyd...
The Blue, The Grey, and The Red
This time, I offer comments about a great reference book which I recently completed: Blue, Gray, and Red: Two Nurses’ Views of the Civil War. I received this book as a gift from my good friend, John P., whom also gave me the book Statesmen of the Lost Cause, a...
Commander Series No.1: Lloyd Tilghman
Early LifeLloyd Tilghman was born in “Rich Neck Manor”, Claiborne, Maryland, great-grandson of a Maryland representative to the Continental Congress and grand-nephew of a man who had served on George Washington’s staff during the American Revolution. He attended the...
Establishing the Weather for The Shiloh Trilogy
As I wrote Harper’s Donelson, I wanted to get an accurate description of the weather during the months of January to March, 1862 in the vicinity of western Kentucky and western-central Tennessee. Of course, I had descriptions available from writers of the histories of...