This past weekend, I got to do something I haven’t had to do in a VERY long time, which was to spend some time in Gettysburg with no agenda and no real commitments other than to enjoy myself.

The trip had its genesis in a speech to the Allison Antrim Museum in Greencastle last Thursday night. I gave a lecture on Ulric Dahlgren, and had a large crowd. Although I didn’t know it, the mother of one of my law school classmates (whom I have not seen since graduation day) was in the crowd, and I got a nice note from him last night. It was nice re-establishing contact after all these years. I also sold $600 worth of books, …

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And for the winner of this month’s Dumb-Ass Reenactor of the Month Award, I give you this brilliant Montana school superintendent. From the March 8 edition of the Billings Gazette:

Superintendent accidentally discharges muzzleloader in class

ROB ROGERS Of The Gazette Staff | Posted: Monday, March 8, 2010 10:19 pm | (60) Comments

Dwain Haggard’s high school history lesson on Friday backfired.

Haggard, who used to be a Civil War reenactor, was showing the five students in Reed Point High’s American history class his replica antique black powder muzzleloader when the gun fired and lodged a ball in the front wall of the classroom.

“I can’t explain how it was loaded,” Haggard said.

Haggard has been district superintendent since

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I’ve given an interview on my new book on the Battle of Brandy Station that has been posted on the CWPT website that can be found here. The CWPT is offering the book for sale as part of its regular fund raising efforts. I really appreciate the support given my work by the CWPT, and it’s likewise my pleasure to do what I can to assist with the Trust’s ongoing efforts. Jim Lighthizer, president of the Trust, wrote an excellent foreword to the book that explains why we work so hard to save these battlefields, and I commend it to you. Thanks also to Rob Shenk of the Trust for wanting to have my insights included on the Trust’s …

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I had something pointed out to me that needs to be clarified out here. It’s critical that credit be given when and where it’s due, and that’s the purpose of this e-mail.

As I mentioned the other day, the release of my Brandy Station book is imminent. The book features maps that were done by master cartographer Steve Stanley. The maps are owned by the CWPT, as Steve did them for the CWPT as a work for hire. The CWPT gave me permission to use the maps, provided that they are credited to Steve and to the CWPT. We readily agreed to do so, and that’s how the credit will appear in the book.

What I didn’t realize, …

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For those of you who are interested in my forthcoming book on the Battle of Brandy Station, the publisher informed me today that things are on schedule, that the books are scheduled to ship from the printer on March 17, and that they will be in The History Press’ warehouse on the 19th. For those of you who have been waiting, your patience will be rewarded in just a couple more weeks. Thanks for your patience and support.

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Yesterday, I was one of the presenters at the 11th annual Civil War conference at Longwood University. My friend Patrick Schroeder, who is the National Park Service historian at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, puts on this event each year with Prof. David J. Coles of Longwood, who chairs the university’s history department.

The topic was cavalry operations, which is why I was invited. I accepted the invitation because it was Patrick’s event, and I helped him to identify speakers. Old friends Jeff Wert, Clark B. “Bud” Hall, and Scott Patchan were all to present at the conference, and it just seemed like too good a time to pass up. When I announced I was going to …

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Some time ago, a friend named Jim Lamason came up with what seemed to be an honorable idea. Jim wanted to honor the men who gave the last full measure of their devotion at Gettysburg by forming a new organization to be called the Gettysburg Historical Association. I helped Jim with formulating the concept for this thing and agreed to serve on the board of directors. So did J. D. Petruzzi. Jim recognized that he is not the right person to serve as the president of such an organization, but agreed to do so when the others insisted he do so.

An organizational meeting was held at the end of January, and a set of bylaws was agreed upon. …

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Time for another profile of a completely forgotten cavalryman.

Richard S. C. Lord was born in 1832 on his father’s farm near Bellefontaine, Ohio. He was appointed to the United States Military Academy from Ohio in 1852, and graduated 40th out of 47 in the class of 1856. The class of 1856 also included future Civil War cavalry generals Fitzhugh Lee, Lunsford L. Lomax, George D. Bayard and James Forsyth. He and some of his classmates purchased the Patagonia silver mine in Arizona, but sold his interest in 1859 when his company departed Arizona for Ft. Fillmore.

He was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant on July 1, 1856 and joined the infantry. He served garrison duty at the Newport Barracks …

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My friend Teej Smith sent along a really intriguing little tidbit about the discovery of Civil War-era human remains found on Bald Head Island, south of Wilmington, NC. Susan and I have spent several delightful vacations at Teej’s lovely home on Bald Head, so this tidbit is of great interest to me.

ARTIFACTS FOUND WITH REMAINS COULD REVEAL AGE OF BONES

State archeologists uncovered a third set of human remains on the Bald Head Island golf course Friday, February 12th. After construction workers unearthed a human skull a week earlier while renovating the golf course, authorities cordoned off the area to determine whether they were dealing with a crime scene or significant historical artifacts. It didn’t take long for officials

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I’ve also agreed to participate in an upcoming Civil War conference to be conducted at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.

The event is March 26-27, and I will be doing a completely different presentation at Liberty from the one I’m giving next weekend at Longwood University. There’s also a period church service on Sunday morning March 28 for those interested in such things, although Susan and I won’t be attending that for obvious reasons. Here’s the program for the Liberty event:

Liberty University Civil War Seminar 2010
“Jine the Cavalry”

The 14th Annual Liberty Civil War Seminar Schedule of Events: March 26 – 28, 2010

Friday Night
Location: The Pate Chapel at the Thomas Road Baptist Church, Lynchburg, VA
6:30

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