Dan Hoisington, my publisher for the Dahlgren bio informed me today that the book continues to be delayed, and apparently will be for another week. The bindery screwed up and apparently they had to be re-done. The book is now significantly late, thanks to the bindery screw up. Dan says he believes it will finally ship next week. Let’s hope so. I’m getting tired of waiting for it…..

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For those of you who read Gettysburg Magazine, the new issue is out. Issue 41–hard to believe it’s been more than 20 years since I bought issue 1 in Gettysburg–contains the usual interesting stuff. The first article is one of mine. It’s title “A Charge of Conspicuous Gallantry: The Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry at the Battle of Brandy Station”. The title is pretty self-explanatory, and represents one of the few instances where the magazine has run a piece dedicated to the Battle of Brandy Station as the opening engagement of the Gettysburg Campaign rather than the main battle in Pennsylania. Thanks to publisher Andy Turner for doing a fine job with the article.

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As some of you may remember from prior years, there is no place I want to be any less than I want to be than Gettysburg on the anniversary of the battle. The town is too small for the massive influx of touristas, it’s impossible to find a place to stay, it’s even harder to find a place to eat, and hardest of all is finding a place to park. The town simply cannot handle being overwhelmed by the folks who come for the combination of the anniversary of the battle and the annual reenactment. I’ve been there on the anniversary three or four times, and each time it happens, I swear it’s going to be the last time.

J. …

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Brett Schulte at TOCWOC came up with a brilliant idea, which was to get a number of Civil War bloggers to list their ten favorite/most influential Gettysburg books on the anniversary of the battle. Brett was kind enough to ask me to participate, so here’s my list. I have not included any of my work on this list, as it would be immodest to do so.

1. Edwin B. Coddington, The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command. This book is the bible for any serious student of the campaign. The treatment of the retreat is a little weak, only because Prof. Coddington died before it could be completed, and someone else had to finish the work.

2. Harry W. …

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I hereby nominate this new blog for the 2009 Most Irritating Civil War Blogger Award. This guy insists on wasting other people’s bandwidth to announce his every blog post, and then he does so by referring to himself in the third person. Here’s a prime example of what I’m talking about here. Now, I’m all for shameless self-promotion, and I’ve certainly done more than my fair share of it. However, I have never once referred to myself in the third person in doing so.

The blog’s content is okay but pretty pedestrian. Although there’s nothing outstanding there, but he nevertheless feels compelled to tell the world whenever he posts, as if it’s announcing the publication of a new book. I …

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From today’s AP wire:

Wal-Mart step closer to store near Va. battlefield

By STEVE SZKOTAK Associated Press Writer
June 25, 2009

ORANGE, Va. – Wal-Mart has won the backing of Orange County planners for a Supercenter near the Wilderness Battlefield in Virginia.

The 5-4 vote Thursday sends the proposal to the Board of Supervisors. That board is believed to be leaning toward approval of the 138,000-square- foot store within a cannon shot of the Civil War battlefield.

Supervisors will conduct a public hearing before taking a vote on the proposal. It has been criticized by some of the nation’s top historians.

They have said the store is an affront to 29,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who were killed or injured

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Thanks to loyal reader Charlie Knight for passing along the news that the imbecile re-enactor who fired a live round at another re-enactor and wounded him has finally done the right thing and pled guilty.

From today’s issue of the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot:

Civil War re-enactor pleads guilty, must take gun course

By Linda McNatt
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 25, 2009
ISLE OF WIGHT

A 30-year-old Civil War re-enactor pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of reckless handling of a firearm in regard to a shooting in September while filming a battle scene.

Joshua Silva of Norfolk must complete a gun safety course and pay $1,200 in restitution before his scheduled return to court Sept. 16. If he

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Mike Noirot has an excellent and interesting interview of Jim Lighthizer, the president of the CWPT, on his blog today, and I commend it to you.

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Someone asked,

Why didn’t Lee use his other cavalry units to scout out the land to find the location of the Union army? I mean… Stuart disappeared, so why not send your own cavalry to scout ahead. This makes no sense to me.

I couldn’t resist. Here’s my response:

There were seven brigades of cavalry assigned to the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by:

Brig. Gen. Fitzhugh Lee (Robert E. Lee’s nephew)
Brig. Gen. William H. F. “Rooney” Lee (Robert E. Lee’s second son)
Brig. Gen. Wade Hampton
Brig. Gen. Beverly H. Robertson
Brig. Gen. William E. “Grumble” Jones
Brig. Gen. Albert G. Jenkins
Brig. Gen. John D. Imboden

Imboden’s command had just been converted from partisan rangers that spring,

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146 years ago today, the Union cavalry, supported by Col. Strong Vincent’s infantry brigade of the Army of the Potomac’s Fifth Corps, defeated Jeb Stuart’s cavalry at the Battle of Upperville. Upperville is significant for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it represents the first time that the Union cavalry defeated Stuart’s men on the field of battle and held the battlefield at the end of the day. As they had at Brandy Station 12 days earlier, John Buford’s Federal division and William E. “Grumble” Jones’ Confederate brigade bore the brunt of the day’s fighting. Late in the day, a combined assault by Buford and David Gregg, supported by Vincent’s infantry, shattered Stuart’s lines at Upperville and sent his …

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