A few minutes ago, I got off the phone with Dan Hoisington, the head honcho at Edinborough Press. At the suggestion of two friends, Bill Christen and fellow blogger Jim Schmidt, I submitted the Dahlgren bio manuscript to Dan. After making some revisions suggested by Steve Sears, I resubmitted a couple of pieces of the book, and Dan just informed me that he has accepted it for publication.

That’s great news. My research indicates that Dan, who has a master’s degree in history, is extremely selective about what he takes. He only puts out about four books per year, but all are quality works by good authors, and I’m flattered to have my work considered as such, particularly …

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Just a note to point out that this is the 600th post on this blog since it began in September 2005. I never figured I’d still be here so many months and so many posts later, but here I am, still standing.

Thanks to all who indulge my rantings. Without you, there would be no point in doing this.

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There are two new blogs that I want to add to the blogroll.

16-year-old Sarah Adler of Hanover, PA maintains an insightful Civil War blog called Ten Roads in recognition of the network of ten roads that comes together in Gettysburg. Sarah volunteers at the Lincoln train station in Gettysburg, and I enjoy her insights. I’ve added a link to her blog.

I have also added a link to Rene Tyree’s blog, called Wig Wags. Rene is a graduate student in military history at American Military University, where I used to teach. The stated objective of the blog is to organize course material, but it seems to go much deeper than that. I find Rene’s insights and observations interesting, …

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Many thanks to old friend Harry Smeltzer for bringing this to my attention. From Saturday’s issue of the Hanover Evening Sun newspaper, addressing the burial site of Col. Isaac E. Avery, which I wrote about here late last month:

Man discovers grave experts knew was there
By MATT CASEY
Evening Sun Reporter
Article Launched: 12/08/2007 04:05:28 AM EST

While folklore often describes Confederate Col. Isaac Erwin Avery as writing his dying letter in…
Confederate Col. Isaac Erwin Avery etched one of the most dramatic stories of the Civil War – in his own blood.

Avery, according to the Dec. 14, 1909 issue of the Gettysburg Compiler, served admirably until Union soldiers shot both Avery and his horse as he led …

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I spent about four hours scanning illustrations for the retreat book today. When it was all said and done, there were about 75 images. I have a couple I’m waiting to get from JD, meaning that the final tally will be close to 80, which does not count the photos of the modern appearance of the sites along the driving tour routes. I don’t know if Ted will permit us to use all of them–there are 80 for the main text, close to 50 for the driving tours, and 16 maps–but I would rather give him too many and have him cull some out than not enough and have a deficient book.

I tried something new today. The computer that …

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At 46, it shouldn’t come as a great surprise that a child of the 70’s such as myself is a big fan of classic rock. Consequently, my favorite local radio station is an excellent classic rock station called QFM. I’ve been a regular listener of QFM for close to the 20 years that I’ve been in Columbus.

QFM has a long-running morning show that I try to catch at least a part of every day. One of the hosts of the morning show is named Mark Wagner, although EVERYONE calls him Daddy Wags. The other morning, I was listening to the show, and they were talking to a comic from Franklin, Tennessee. Somehow, the topic of the Battle …

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Reader Billy left this in a comment to my last post: Regarding the movie GETTYSBURG, I hope you will sometime post a critique of it. As an amateur battle historian I thought it was pretty accurate although I agree that the acting was not the best in some cases. But overall I like the movie and usually watch it every July 3. I am not ashamed to admit that I cried watching it the first time. Some of my Confederate family members made the trip with Pickett that day (or should I say they preceded Pickett that day) and two of them lay now in unmarked graves some where on that field without even a stone to mark their passing. …

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Charles H. Veil was an orderly assigned to the service of Maj. Gen. John F. Reynolds. Years after the war, he left this account of the last hours of Reynolds’ life:

At that point, on June 29, 1863, General Hooker was relieved and General George G. Meade placed in command. General Meade was an old army officer and a particular friend of General Reynolds. He at once placed him in command of the left wing of the army, consisting of the First, Third, and Eleventh Corps. On the 29th we marched out toward Emmitsburg, and on the 30th to Marsh Creek with the First Corps, the Eleventh a short distance in the rear, and the Third Corps within supporting distance …

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Having grown up in the Philadelphia area in the 1970’s, it was unavoidable that I would end up a lifelong, major fan of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. I have always found his blue-collar anthems and political rants incredibly compelling, I love the complex characters he creates, and I have found him to be the greatest voice of my generation.

I first saw The Boss (yes, I know he hates that name) in concert in 1978 in support of his fourth album, Darkness on the Edge of Town. He played a 4+ hour marathon concert at The Spectrum. His shows were known for their energy, their duration, and for being a celebration of all that is the overblown …

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As J. D. has noted, we’ve gotten some very good news on the publishing front the last two days. Yesterday, Ted Savas told us that less than 50 copies remain of the second printing of Plenty of Blame to Go Around and that he has ordered a third printing. This is the first time that one of my books has gone to a third printing, so this is virgin territory for me.

Today, we got the good news that the publication date for One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 has been pushed up from June to May of 2008. Ted also told us that the price …

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