It’s no secret that I’ve long been fascinated by the Gettysburg Campaign. It’s my first love in the Civil War, but I have a love/hate relationship with it. Sometimes, I grow frustrated with the fixation on it, including my own, and sometimes, I just can’t get enough. It’s like any relationship, I suppose.

A subset of that first love has always been a love of the more obscure aspects of the campaign. I’ve always been absolutely fascinated by the most obscure events of the campaign, and I tend to gravitate toward them and away from things grand events like Pickett’s Charge. From my perspective, often times, the more obscure the event, the better.

Until Kent Brown’s excellent Retreat from Gettysburg: …

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We just got home to Columbus. Susan spent 11 days with my parents, and I was there for nearly 8. I am mentally and physically exhausted.

My father is in the rehab unit. For eleven days post-stroke, he’s doing remarkably well. He’s completely out of danger. For the first several days after the stroke, he was pretty much completely paralyzed on the right side. He’s gotten back movement in both his right arm and right leg. He can raise his arm, and he can point his index finger. He can bend his knee, flex his foot, and wiggle his toes. He still has a great deal of trouble finding words and communicating, but his speech is more clear than it …

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I fly back to Philadelphia tomorrow morning. There are some business things that I need to handle for my father–I have his power of attorney–that have to be done during normal business hours, so I’m out of here tomorrow at 9:15, which means that the dogs have to be boarded again. With my friend Chris’ help, we will take them to the boarding place in the morning, and then he will drop me at the airport. Susan and I will then drive back on Sunday.

My father continues to improve. At this point, he’s out of danger. Even the neurologist, who’s used to seeing this sort of thing all the time, has been terribly impressed by his progress. He sat …

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I am back home in Columbus. I had pressing client business, and without having had the luxury of being able to plan to be away, there were things I couldn’t reschedule too well. So, we made the decision that I would fly back today, spend three days in the office taking care of what needs to be done, and then fly back to Philadelphia on Thursday, so that I can take care of some business matters for my dad. Susan and I will then drive home a week from today. She’s going to stay with my mother all week just to make sure that somebody’s keeping an eye on her and helping her out as much as possible.

My father …

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Unfortunately, I will be away from the blog for a few days. My father, who is five weeks from turning 87, had a serious stroke this morning. We’re going to head to my parents’ house tomorrow to do what we can to help. I will report back when I can. In the meantime, please keep my father in your prayers.

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Phil Trostle of Gettysburg, my favorite certified public beancounter, posed a really fascinating question to me earlier today. Frankly, it’s a comparison that I’d never thought to make, but it makes for an intriguing juxtaposition that’s worthy of further thought and study.

Phil asked whether he was “accurate in drawing some similarities between Stoneman at Chancellorsville and Stuart at Gettysburg.” I’d never even thought to make this comparison. I’d always focused on the ill-advised decisions of Hooker and Grant to send their cavalry away on raids toward Richmond, but not a comparison to Stuart in the Gettysburg Campaign.

Here’s what I wrote in response to Phil’s question:

Phil,

Interesting. Frankly, I’d never considered the parallel. There are clearly some similiarities, …

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I just finished A. J. Langguth’s Union 1812: The Americans Who Fought the Second War of Independence. This is the sequel to Langguth’s excellent 1991 Patriots: The Men Who Started the American Revolution, and is written in the same style. Instead of being a solid historical narrative, it instead focuses on individuals and their contributions to the subject. In this instance, it addresses the American politicians and soldiers who brought about and fought the War of 1812. While this is an interesting and novel approach, it means that there are large gaps in the coverage of the conflict, and the narrative jumps around quite a bit. As just one example, there is no coverage of some of the …

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Those of you who regularly read this blog know that I visited the Antietam and Harpers Ferry battlefields a week ago today. I posted about the visit, and put up a bunch of photos, including one of my very favorite battlefield monument, the one to Sgt. William McKinley, for bravely serving coffee to the troops under fire and without orders. I called it–and quite rightfully–silly, but pointed out that it reflects McKinley’s enormous popularity at the time of his assassination.

One of McKinley’s living relatives wrote in and apparently took umbrage with my calling the monument silly. Sorry about that, Theresa. I certainly didn’t mean to offend, but given the incredible bravery demonstrated by so many soldiers under fire …

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Today is the 144th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. That means that the Town of Gettysburg is jam packed with tourists. It means that there are far too many people, too many cars, and too many motorcycles in town for the anniversary commemoration of the battle. Personally, I can’t imagine being there during this chaos. I’ve been there on the anniversary of the battle twice, and that was more than enough for me. I can’t imagine anyone WANTING to be there now–you can’t find a parking space, a table in a restaurant, or a quiet place to reflect on the meaning of the day. Consequently, I swore I would never be there on the anniversary …

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Please be sure to check out Ranger Mannie Gentile’s hilarious post about our Antietam visit last Sunday. It’s good for a belly laugh.

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