Potomac Books published my book The Union Cavalry Comes of Age: Hartwood Church to Brandy Station, 1863 in 2003. This is one of my favorite of my projects just because it deals with stuff that is seldom addressed. I also had a great deal of fun documenting cavalry operations in the Chancellorsville Campaign in putting it together.

A year ago, Potomac Books decided to remainder the rest of the hardcover inventory of the book and to let the hardcover version go out of print. I didn’t agree with the decision, but nobody asked for my opinion, and more importantly, nobody gave a damn about my opinion. However, at that time, I was assured that the softcover version was still selling well and that it would not be permitted to go out of print. So far, that part has been true. It is still in print. Which is too bad. I will explain the reasons why I wish it wasn’t.

Lately, I’ve been noticing that Amazon.com resellers are selling the softcover edition of the book at the sorts of prices one would expect of a book that’s been remaindered. You can buy a brand new copy for about $5 on the Amazon.com marketplace. At the same time, the book is still for sale at retail prices on Amazon.com and at a slight reduction on the Potomac Books site.

When I called the marketing director today, he informed me that they had sold most of the remaining inventory in an “inventory reduction” sale. Allegedly, they had too much inventory, and they needed to reduce the inventory and generate cash flow. However, there are still about 100 copies in the publisher’s inventory, meaning that it’s still in print and still available.

This is the worst of all possible worlds. First, and foremost, I don’t get paid a dime of royalties on “inventory reduction” sales or on remaindering. Second, it means that as long as the book remains in print, I can’t get my publishing rights back to try to take the book to the University of Nebraska Press. In short, I’m trapped. I told Sam that if he was willing to sell the book to me for what they sold it for in the “inventory reduction” sale, I would buy all of the remaining inventory, provided that they revert my publishing rights to me as part of the deal. He said he would think about it and get back to me with an offer. Something tells me that I’m going to continue to be trapped in this miserable situation for the foreseeable future.

I’ve got a publisher that doesn’t give a damn about me or my book, but which also refuses to allow it to go out of print so I can get my publishing rights back. Tomorrow, per my rights under the contract, I will compose a letter requesting that the rights to both the hardcover and softcover editions of the book be reverted to me the moment it goes out of print. My only hope here is that Sam will make a deal with me to buy the remaining inventory very soon so that I can get my rights back.

There are aspects of the publishing business that suck massively.

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I’m home. Again. For three days again. And then it’s on the road again….

Here’s a report on the weekend.

I left here on Thursday morning. I left early, intending to spend a couple of hours at Cedar Creek on the way. Just as I hit Winchester, it started to rain, so my stop at Cedar Creek was just to see whether I could buy a pin (they don’t sell them). I remain absolutely horrified and repulsed by the decisions made by the Cedar Creek Foundation. Maybe it’s a good thing it was raining.

I got to Culpeper at about 4:00 (it’s a 7.5 hour drive of nearly 450 miles to Culpeper) and tracked down Mike Block, who is a trustee of the Brandy Station Foundation. Mike was my good right arm this weekend, and I couldn’t have done it without his help. We had to finish up getting permissions from landowners to go on private property. Once we finished that, I had dinner with Ken Ramsey, who was filling in for Bob Maher as the official representative of the Civil War Education Association. Never mind that Ken lives here in Columbus and that we could have dinner together any time. We had to go to Culpeper to do so. 🙂 I then did an overview and met the tour participants.

Friday, we hit the road. We began the day atop Pony Mountain, which was an important signal station for both sides during the entire war. It has a spectacular view. From there, it was out to Kelly’s Ford, followed by a hike out to the Pelham marker at Wheatley’s Ford. Once we did that, we covered the Battle of Brandy Station. We must have hiked the crowd five miles, much of it through fields. I told the participants to wear long pants due to ticks, but one particularly adventurous woman did all of this hiking in capri pants and a pair of sandals. I was impressed. We took folks on a number of parcels of private property, and they got to see things at Brandy Station that only a tiny percentage of visitors ever see, including a picnic lunch at the Graffiti House and being the first tour group to spend time on the latest land acquisitions at Fleetwood Hill. One of the highlights of the day was a visit to Auburn, the John Minor Botts house. I’d never been on the grounds before, and it’s a cool spot that probably saw more cavalry fighting than any other house in North America.

My friend Karl Fauser joined us Friday, and Karl did a fabulous job of documenting the day. His photo essay can be found here.

I would be terribly remiss if I didn’t mention the absence of Bud Hall. Bud was supposed to be with us, but a family situation prevented him from being there. This tour was at least as much his as it was mine. What I know about that battlefield, I learned from him. My tour is based on his. The contacts that got us onto private property were his contacts, developed over a quarter of a century. He was definitely missed. I can only hope that we did him justice there.

When we got back, Ken and I had dinner again, and while at a local place getting ice cream, I ran into old friend Melissa Delcour, who lives just outside Culpeper. Melissa was also supposed to be with us for the weekend, but she’d also had something come up that prevented it. It was great to see her, and we made plans to have dinner together last night. I was asleep by 10:15 after a LONG day in the sun.

Saturday, it was off to Trevilian Station. I had something happen on Saturday that has never happened before, and which, to be honest, weirded me out. We had a father and son along with us for the entire tour, as they have an ancestor who fought with the 5th Virginia Cavalry in all three of the major engagements that we addressed. The son is 17, and a nice young man. His mother was along, too, as the family was going somewhere after the weekend of touring. The mother is such an overwhelming helicopter parent that she insisted on following the bus 35 miles to the Trevilians battlefield, just to make sure that the area met with her approval. My first stop on this tour is at a place called Ellis Ford, which is the next ford on the North Anna River to the west of the one that Sheridan used, as the ford he used, Carpenter’s Ford, is under Lake Anna, and Ellis Ford is good for illustrating the crossing. The Ellisville Road gets little traffic, and I have had numerous busloads out there, often standing in and along the road. The mother evidently didn’t like the fact that we were in the road, and after she finally left, she evidently lectured her husband on the dangers of being in the road last night. Fortunately, she only stuck around for one stop on the tour, or I would have insisted that she leave, because it was distracting to the group. Also, she consistently tailgated the bus, which was unsafe and which Tommy the Wonder Driver found very disconcerting. I’m not sure whether to be amused by this ridiculous, outrageous conduct or horrified by it. All I could think of was, “that poor kid.”

The tour was great. I’ve long been extremely comfortable with leading that tour, as I’ve done so many times. We hit all of the spots on my standard tour, which includes about a dozen stops. Ed Crebbs, a former president of the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation came by at lunchtime to talk about the preservation effort at Trevilian and do a little fundraising, and was very successful in his efforts. I added a new stop today, at the Exchange Hotel Civil War Museum in Gordonsville, which was the first time I’ve gotten there early enough in the day to stop and take the group in to see the museum (the Exchange Hotel was a hospital for most of the Confederate wounded from Trevilian Station). It was very warm and humid, and it’s also exhausting having to be “on” all day, so it was a tiring day. We got back early, and I grabbed a shower and had a delightful dinner with Melissa Delcour at a delightful restaurant in downtown Culpeper called The Hazel River Inn. I was again asleep by 10:15 or so last night.

One of the highlights of the day yesterday was having my friend Scott Patchan along. Scott and I spent a lot of time discussing lots of interesting things over the course of the day yesterday, including his very intriguing theory about Sheridan’s lack of active participation while serving as the commander of the Army of the Potomac’s Cavalry Corps. I was really glad to have Scott along, and I really enjoyed chatting with him. It’s been a while since I’ve last seen him, and I enjoyed it.

This morning, we covered the September 13, 1863 Battle of Culpeper Court House. We had two stops, at Greenhill, where much of the fighting occurred, and at the train depot in Culpeper, where the battle ended. Our final stop of the day was the Culpeper National Cemetery. There are battle dead from Brandy Station and Trevilian Station there, and it just seemed like the ideal place to end the tour. We were back at the hotel by 10:00, and I hit the road almost immediately.

Some of the tour participants mentioned going to visit the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park, so I decided to do the same, for a very quick visit to add a pin to my hat. I drove over to New Market, bought the pin and some maps of several different battles and then headed north. I got off I-81 at Tom’s Brook and took the Valley Pike (Route 11) north all the way up to Kernstown. Towns like Strasburg are just gorgeous, and I really enjoyed going past all of the many battlefields that line the Valley Pike between Tom’s Brook and Winchester (Kernstown, Fisher’s Hill, Cedar Creek, Tom’s Brook, among others). And then home.

I’m home until Thursday, when I hit the road again, this time for Mark Snell’s retreat from Gettysburg seminar at Shepherd University next weekend. It’s going to be another week of cramming five days’ worth of work into three before I finally get to rest.

I’m going to bed early again tonight, only in my own bed this time.

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A reader forwarded this appalling article to me today:

Drastic Expansion of Mining Operations Threatens Belle Grove Plantation and Cedar Creek Civil War Battlefield
Blasting, Quarry Truck Traffic, Noise and Multi-Story High Waste Piles Will Alter Historic and Rural Gem of the Shenandoah Valley

Washington, DC – June 18, 2008 – The National Trust for Historic Preservation today reaffirmed its strong opposition to radically expanded mining operations proposed in and around Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park. Cedar Creek and Belle Grove are situated in a rural landscape whose centuries of historical and cultural significance include 18th century Shenandoah Valley settlements, 18th-19th century plantation lands and Civil War battle grounds. The Belgian mining conglomerate Carmeuse Lime & Stone has recently won county approval to move ahead with mining activities, including blasting and increased quarry truck traffic, which could destroy the character of the visitor experience at Belle Grove Plantation, a National Trust Historic Site and National Historic Landmark, and the Cedar Creek Civil War battlefield.

“The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has owned Belle Grove Plantation for 44 years, is dismayed that intrusive mining activities could destroy the character of sites of tremendous national and regional significance,” said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. ”Preservation of these irreplaceable cultural landscapes and buildings, rich in our nation’s history, is one of the highest priorities of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and we will do everything we can to protect them from irreparable harm.”

Recently, the Frederick County Board of Supervisors, by a vote of 4-3, approved Carmeuse’s destructive proposal despite opposition from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Belle Grove Inc., (which manages the plantation site), and a broad coalition of partners and local residents, alarmed that the quarry operations will destroy the tourism industry and their way of life. Experts agree expansion of the quarry will harm Belle Grove, which dates to the late 18th century, and the Cedar Creek battlefield, the region’s most significant Civil War site. Already, multi-story high mounds of mining waste are intruding on the site’s world-class vistas. Each year tens of thousands of visitors come to the area because of its history. Proposed blasting would damage historic structures, bulldozers would destroy acres of core battlefield land adjacent to the National Historical Park, and dust clouds, noise, and increased quarry truck traffic would diminish the visitor’s experience.

The threat is so severe, the Civil War Preservation Trust in 2007 and again in 2008 listed the Cedar Creek battlefield as one of America’s most-endangered Civil War battlefields. The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove, Inc., longtime stewards of the 18th-19th century plantation and the Cedar Creek Civil War battlefield, fully intend to pursue avenues that will mitigate, reduce and avoid harm to Belle Grove, and the cultural and historic resources within and adjacent to the National Historical Park, but hope that congressional action can halt the mining expansion altogether.

As one signal of their opposition, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove, Inc. are suspending any involvement with the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation and prohibiting their use of Belle Grove for their annual Civil War re-enactment. Although the two non-profits recognize the value of Civil War commemorative activities, including re-enactments, as dynamic educational and tourism programming, they are suspending their relationship with the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation because of the Foundation’s sudden reversal on the mining issue. On April 17, the president and executive director of the Foundation assured the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove of their opposition to quarry owner Carmeuse’s mining proposals. Yet on April 23, without notifying the National Trust for Historic Preservation or Belle Grove, the foundation publicly testified before the Frederick County Board of Supervisors they “took no exception” to the quarry expansion, essentially approving the proposal. On the same day, the Foundation struck a deal to accept a gift of 8 acres of land from the quarry owner. The Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation’s conduct has undermined generations of work to protect the historic plantation and battlefield and has strained the public – private partnership that was established by Congress in 2002 to plan the future management of the National Historical Park.

“We certainly respect the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation’s past contributions to the stewardship of the battlefield. But we cannot silently and passively overlook the Foundation’s recent actions, which were taken unilaterally and without the prior knowledge of its partners in the overall preservation effort,” said Anne Buettner, president of Belle Grove, Inc.’s Board of Directors. “As a result, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove, Inc. cannot host the Foundation’s October 2008 re-enactment on Belle Grove lands, when they have taken actions that tend to undermine the efforts of their partners and that jeopardize the region’s treasured historic sites and Civil War heritage. Belle Grove and the National Trust will, as always, commemorate the anniversary of the 1864 Battle of Belle Grove or Cedar Creek with a weekend of special events, speakers and interpretive programs in the historic Manor House and on its lawns and surrounding fields, hosted separately from any other events.”

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a non-profit membership organization bringing people together to protect, enhance and enjoy the places that matter to them… By saving the places where great moments from history – and the important moments of everyday life – took place, the National Trust for Historic Preservation helps revitalize neighborhoods and communities, spark economic development and promote environmental sustainability. With headquarters in Washington, DC, 9 regional and field offices, 29 historic sites, and partner organizations in all 50 states, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to a national network of people, organizations and local communities committed to saving places, connecting us to our history and collectively shaping the future of America’s stories. For more information, visit www.PreservationNation.org.

I am horrified, to say the least. This decision by the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation reflects shockingly poor judgment on its part and calls into question its fitness to serve as the steward for this battlefield.

I stopped at Belle Grove today. It was a very short visit, only about half an hour. However, it remains one of the most spectacularly beautiful, pristine places on any Civil War battlefield. The thought that any of it might be disturbed by this rock quarrying operation with the blessing of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation is sickening.

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Tomorrow morning, I head off to Culpeper, Virginia for the weekend’s tour of central Virginia cavalry actions. It’s going to be a full two and a half days, and I don’t know if I will have time to post here until I get home Sunday night. I will try, but please don’t be surprised if you don’t hear from me again until I return home.

Thanks for your patience and understanding.

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In preparing for my tour this weekend, I spoke to Gerry Harlow, the founder of the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation last night, as I have invited a representative of the TSBF to speak to my tour group about the preservation effort on Saturday.

During the course of the conversation, Gerry told me some terrific news that I want to share here.

Charles Goodall Trevilian was the wealthiest man in all of Louisa County, Virginia. The stop on the Virginia Central Railroad was named for him, as the depot was located on Trevilian’s land. His house sits about 75 yards from the location of the war-time depot. The yard of the house saw heavy fighting on the afternoon of June 11, 1864, and it served as George Armstrong Custer’s headquarters that night.

One of Trevilian’s daughters married a fellow named Charles Danne, Jr., and they lived in the house after Trevilian died. For many years, the house was known to the local citizenry as the Danne house, not the Trevilian house. It’s only been in the last decade or so that its real identity was pinned down.

The house has seen hard times. It’s not in good shape, and it was about to go to sheriff’s sale last week as the consequence of a default on the mortgage. Apparently, the present owner has been tearing up floorboards to burn them for heat. It’s a horrifying thought of people living that way, but that’s apparently precisely how it has played out.

Gerry was able to make a deal with the present owners and their lender to prevent it from going to sheriff’s sale, and it’s now in contract to purchase. Our good friends at the Civil War Preservation Trust entered into the purchase contract, and it will close shortly. The present owners get to stay there for a while as a condition of the sale, but the house will be saved and it will be stabilized.

Once that happens, it will make for an absolutely perfect visitor’s center for the battlefield/headquarters for the TSBF. It’s an important and very worthwhile preservation victory, just one of many we’ve managed to score at Trevilian Station. Kudos to Gerry for his great work.

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This story checks out on Snopes.com, so it is a true story. Hat tip to Sam Hood for bringing it to my attention.

Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England. His B-17 was called ‘Ye Old Pub’ and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.

After flying over an enemy airfield, a pilot named Franz Stigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near the

B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he ‘had never seen a plane in such a bad state’. The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.

Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.

Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to and slightly over the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe.

When Franz landed he told the c/o that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.

More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.

They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 5 people who are alive now — all because Franz never fired his guns that day.

Research shows that Charlie Brown lived in Seattle and Franz Stigler had moved to Vancouver, BC after the war. When they finally met, they discovered they had lived less than 200 miles apart for the past 50 years!!

Snopes was able to verify the truth of the story. Sadly, Franz Stigler died in March 2008.

Here’s what Snopes added to the story:

It had taken 46 years, but in 1989 Brown found the mysterious man in the ME-109. Careful questioning of Stigler about details of the incident removed any doubt.

Stigler, now 80, had emigrated to Canada and was living near Vancouver. After an exchange of letters, Brown flew there for a reunion. The two men have visited each other frequently since that time and have appeared jointly before Canadian and American military audiences. The most recent appearance was at the annual Air Force Ball in Miami in September [1995], where the former foes were honored.

In his first letter to Brown, Stigler had written: “All these years, I wondered what happened to the B-17, did she make it or not?”

She made it, just barely. But why did the German not destroy his virtually defenseless enemy?

“I didn’t have the heart to finish off those brave men,” Stigler later said. “I flew beside them for a long time. They were trying desperately to get home and I was going to let them do it. I could not have shot at them. It would have been the same as shooting at a man in a parachute.”

What a really remarkable story, and what a show of respect from one warrior to another. It’s a story that desperately needed to be told.

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I’m home again after a terrific but hectic and exhausting weekend at my 25th reunion at my alma mater, Dickinson College. I will spare you the gory details. Suffice it to say that it was truly wonderful catching up with old friends, fraternity brothers, and classmates whom I have not seen in 25 years. There were 20 in my pledge class. Two transferred and one flunked out, meaning 17 of us graduated. Seven of us made it back this weekend, and we had a great time getting caught up on the years that have flown by.

And Susan’s really a good sport for coming along to suffer through stories that mean nothing to her, and meeting all of these people that I’ve known for years, but which have no real significance to her. She’s a great sport, and I love her for it. I only dragged her along because if she hadn’t come, I would not have had a single weekend with her in the month of June. Kudos to Susan for going above and beyond the call of duty.

I also had a very successful book signing at the college bookstore Saturday morning. Many of the purchases were by my classmates, and they pretty much bought up every copy of both One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863 and Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart’s Controversial Ride to Gettysburg that they had purchased for the event. I even had a couple of Carlisle residents with no connection to the college come by to pick up signed copies of the books, which was very cool indeed.

I had a blast, but I’m worn out. I then had to mow the lawn when I got home, which didn’t help things much. I have three days in the office tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then it’s off to Virginia to lead battlefield tours.

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Tomorrow, I head to my 25th reunion at my alma mater, Dickinson College. It’s another 6.5 hours of driving to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, but I think it will be worth it. It hardly seems possible that I could have graduated from there 25 years ago and that I could possibly be 47 years old, but alas, both are true. I haven’t seen most of my classmates in 25 years, and I’m greatly looking forward to seeing some of my old friends and drinking companions after all these years. The college invited me to come back to conduct a signing on Saturday morning, and they made it an offer I couldn’t refuse by picking up the tab for the entire trip, including hotel. That made it a real no-brainer.

I will be back Sunday night. I seriously doubt that I will have an opportunity to post anything here before then, so have a great weekend and I will see you when I return.

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Time for some housekeeping, which I haven’t done in quite a while.

Steven Mynes has a new blog on battlefield stomping. Thanks to Brett Schulte for bringing it to my attention. I’ve added a link. Welcone to the blogospher, Steven.

I’ve also finally gotten around to adding John Hoptak’s 48th Pennsylvania at Antietam blog to the list, which I’ve been terribly remiss in doing.

I’ve restored John Maass’ excellent blog to the blogroll now that John is back blogging again. A belated welcome back, John. You were missed.

Since it’s now been 10 weeks since the last post, I’ve deleted the link to Chris Army’s blog. If he resumes posting, I will be happy to add a new link.

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I would also be remiss if I didn’t at least acknowledge today as the 144th anniversary of the Battle of Trevilian Station, the largest all-cavalry battle of the war (remember that 3,000 Union infantry participated at Brandy Station). Trevilian Station had a great deal of strategic significance to the outcome of the war; it’s no stretch of the imagination to say that had Sheridan defeated Hampton at Trevilian Station, the war likely would have ended as many as six months earlier than it did, and there would have been no 1864 Valley Campaign.

Sheridan’s orders were to march along the north bank of the North Anna River, cross somewhere near Carpenter’s Ford, and then march along the route of the Virginia Central Railroad to Gordonsville. Upon arriving at Gordonsville, he was to destroy the critical junction of the Orange & Alexandria and Virginia Central Railroads and then continue west on the Virginia Central to Charlottesville, where he was to destroy the railroad junction there. Sheridan was then to meet up with the army of David Hunter and escort Hunter’s command to Petersburg, where Grant would then move on the city from three directions: The Army of the James from the north and east, the Army of the Potomac from the center, and Hunter’s army with the cavalry from the west. Robert E. Lee would either have to come out and fight on ground of Grant’s choosing, or withstand a siege, which as Lee recognized, made the surrender of his army a foregone conclusion.

Fortunately for the Confederacy, Wade Hampton conducted a magnificent battle and stymied Sheridan at Trevilian Station. Sheridan did not achieve a single one of his strategic objectives other than to draw off the Confederate cavalry to prevent it from observing the Army of the Potomac’s crossing of the James River on June 13, 1864.

I’ve been deeply involved in the preservation and interpretation of the battlefield at Trevilian Station for nearly a decade now. The folks from the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation have done a magnificent job of saving the battlefield and preserving it for future generations. I was asked to write the text of the interpretive markers placed on the battlefield by the Virginia Civil War Trails folks, and of all of the historical work that I have done, I am, unquestionably, most proud of those ten markers. When my time comes and I’m long dead and buried, those markers will still be there, educating people about what happened there. They are, without doubt, the contribution to Civil War history of which I am most proud.

Here’s to the soldiers of the North and South who fought, suffered, and died at an obscure stop on the Virginia Central Railroad in Louisa County, Virginia on June 11 and 12, 1864.

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