Army Magazine is the official publication of the Association of the United States Army. It is a well-respected publication directed toward the military professional. Our book was reviewed in the current issue, and the review is quite flattering indeed. The reviewer is a retired colonel with a Ph.D. who was a history instructor at West Point named Cole C. Kingseed.

Here is the review:

BLAME EXAMINED: STUART’S ROLE AT GETTYSBURG
Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart’s Controversial Ride to Gettysburg. Eric J. Wittenberg and J. David Petruzzi. Savas Beatie. 428 pages; maps; photographs; appendices; index; $32.95.
Reviewed by Col. Cole C. Kingseed, U.S. Army retired

In the final analysis, Wittenberg and Petruzzi have written the most comprehensive account of Stuart’s controversial ride. Readers may question the authors’ conclusions, but no study of Lee’s second invasion of the North will be complete without assessing their findings. Plenty of Blame to Go Around is investigative history at its best.

Coming from the likes of Colonel Kingseed, this is quite a compliment, and I couldn’t be more pleased with this review.

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Last Monday, I posted about my dilemma about what to do with my first book, Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions. I asked you for your opinions on three options:

1. Seek a new publisher for it as originally written.

2. Do a complete rewrite that adds some of the new material that has surfaced in the years since the book was published, add a walking/driving tour, and tighten up the prose.

3. Bag the whole thing altogether, let it go out of print, and save the rework for the three-volume history of the cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign that J. D. and I are planning.

A total of 17 of you responded here, and J. D. chimed in by e-mail. 16 of you voted here. Here’s the break out:

1. Let the work stand and find a new publisher for it as is: 4 votes

2. Do a completely new edition: 7 votes

3. Let it go out of print and save the good stuff for the 3-volume set: 5 votes

J. D. voted for a new edition that includes Hunterstown, so that would be a total of 8 votes out of 17 for the completely new edition.

I’m pretty much leaning that way, too.

Here’s the next question for consideration: The book addresses three mostly forgotten actions that took place on the third day of the battle: Merritt’s fight on South Cavalry Field, Farnsworth’s charge and death, and the Battle of Fairfield. The original concept was to limit the work to strictly July 3 cavalry actions WITHOUT addressing the fight on East Cavalry Field. The Battle of Hunterstown very much fits with the theme of forgotten cavalry actions, but it occurred on July 2. If I add it, it will definitely change the structure of the book by expanding it to actions that happened on a day other than July 3.

Here’s a corollary question: If the decision is to expand beyond just July 3, do I also include the engagement at McConnellsburg between troopers of the 1st New York (Lincoln) Cavalry and Imboden’s brigade that occurred on June 29, 1863? This action has never had a detailed tactical treatment written. Does including this little-known action stray too far outside the pale of what I’m try to do with the rest of the book?

Again, please feel free to weigh in. Your input on these questions and your comments are invaluable and I really appreciate them.

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Here’s another in my periodic series of forgotten cavalrymen. I wish I had thought to name this series “Fiddler’s Green”, as Don Caughey calls this sort of profile on his blog. Ah, well.

Robert Horatio George Minty was born in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland, on December 4, 1831. His father was born in Ireland and his mother was born in Scotland. His father was in the British Army. In 1848, Minty entered the British Army as an Ensign and served five years in the West Indies, Honduras and the west coast of Africa. On November 11, 1857, he married Grace Ann Abbott of London, Ontario, Canada at St Paul’s Cathedral in Port Sarnica, Ontario, Canada, where his first child, Nan R. G. Minty, was born on September 29, 1858. After Nan’s birth, the family moved to Michigan.

Minty was commissioned a Major in the Second Michigan Cavalry in 1861, Lieutenant Colonel of the Third Michigan Cavalry a few days afterward, and was made Colonel of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry in July, 1862. He commanded the brigade of which the Fourth Michigan formed a part a greater portion of the time during its service in the field. Minty, an Irish-born soldier of fortune, was one of a kind, having learned to use the saber when fighting for the queen in Africa. Consequently, his brigade became known as the “Saber Brigade,” perhaps as a result of two successful mounted charges, both led by Minty, against Joseph Wheeler’s dismounted cavalry, which was trying to hold entrenchments at Shelbyville in June 1863. Minty received a brevet to brigadier general of volunteers in March 1863 in recognition of his brilliant service throughout the war.

Minty conducted one of the most effective covering force actions of the Civil War at first Pea Vine Ridge and then fell back to Reed’s Bridge, across Chickamauga Creek. Minty made a determined stand on Pea Vine that morning, including a section of the Chicago Board of Trade battery, and then covered his retreat across Reed’s Bridge with mounted charges from a battalion of the 7th Pennsylvania Cavalry, which was known as the Saber Regiment. Minty’s stand is especially impressive because his brigade fought all day, with 900 men, opposing the four infantry brigades of Bushrod Johnson, numbering roughly 5000 Confederates. His men pulled up the planks to Reed’s Bridge, but the 23rd Tennessee re-planked the bridge (under fire) with siding from Reed’s Barn.

This was a textbook delaying action every bit as effective and every bit as important as that fought by John Buford at Gettysburg on July 1, 1863. Unlike Buford, who could disengage after a couple of hours and let the I Corps take over, Minty’s troopers were engaged from perhaps 10:30 am until at least 4 pm. However, and also unlike Buford’s stand, it got little attention and even less praise, perhaps because Chickamauga was a debacle for the Union while Gettysburg was a signal Union victory. The tactics were identical, and the results nearly so.

After the war he settled in Jackson, Michigan and raised a total of 10 children. Minty was General Superintendent of the Grand River Valley Railroad. In Alameda County, California, on February 6, 1870, he divorced Grace Ann Abbott and subsequently married Laura Abbott in Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky on May 14, 1871.

Robert H. G. Minty died in Yavapai County, Arizona on August 24, 1906 and was buried with full military honors in Ogden, Utah on September 3, 1906.

He was one of the very best Union cavalry brigade commanders but has been largely overlooked because of his service in the Western Theater. Had he fought in the Eastern Theater and accomplished the things he accomplished in the West, he would be in the pantheon of great cavalrymen of the Civil War. He deserves to be included in those exalted ranks.

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My first book was published in 1998. It’s titled Gettysburg’s Forgotten Cavalry Actions, and was published by Thomas Publications of Gettysburg. The book covers Farnsworth’s Charge, Merritt’s fight on South Cavalry Field, and the Battle of Fairfield, all actions that took place on day three of the Battle of Gettysburg. Old friend Rick Sauers talked me into doing it as a book. I had written an article on Merritt’s fight that was published in Gettysburg Magazine and one on Fairfield that was published in America’s Civil War, and my original intent was to complete the trilogy with an article on Farnsworth’s Charge.

Rick talked me into compiling it all together and publishing it as a book. It’s short–only about 150 pages, including index, etc.–and just a little bit disjointed because of how it came together. There’s one chapter of nothing but verbatim quotes pertaining to Elon Farnsworth’s death that’s quite interesting, but breaks up the flow of the book a bit. It probably should have been an appendix and not a primary chapter. It features John Heiser’s fine maps and a good assortment of photos. It’s definitely not my best work; my writing has improved dramatically over the years (practice makes perfect). However, it was very well received, and it won me the Bachelder-Coddington Literary Award as 1998’s best new work interpreting the Battle of Gettysburg.

In retrospect, I should have included the Battle of Hunterstown when I wrote this book, as it is also one of Gettysburg’s forgotten cavalry actions. Fortunately, J. D. and I have made that particular omission right in Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart’s Controversial Ride to Gettysburg. Thus, I would probably leave it out of any re-write of the original book, even though including it would definitely be in keeping with the theme of the work.

Over the years, it’s been a steady but unspectacular seller. It has sold about 4000 copies over these eight years, and it’s just about out of print. There are less than 200 copies left in inventory at Thomas, and I hear that Thomas is having significant financial problems. My last royalty payment is significantly late, and so are the payments of some other Thomas authors. Frankly, I’ve always been a bit disappointed in the marketing effort of Thomas. Thomas is not affiliated with a major distributor, so the availability of Thomas titles is limited, and you won’t find them in the big chain bookstores unless someone places a special order. This means that circulation is much more limited than it would be with a publisher who works through a distributor.

Several months ago, I sent a letter to Dean Thomas asking whether he intends to reprint the book, and he says no, he doesn’t intend to do so. That means it’s going to go out of print very shortly, although Dean is willing to revert my publication rights to me now. This creates a dilemma for me.

Do I seek a new publisher for it as originally written? Or do I do a complete rewrite of it that adds some of the new material that has surfaced in the years since the book was published, add a walking/driving tour, and tighten up the prose? Or do I bag the whole thing altogether, let it go out of print, and save the rework for the three-volume history of the cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign that J. D. and I are planning?

I’ve had one conversation with Ted Savas about doing a new edition, and Ted expressed some interest in a pretty complete re-work of it. Ted understandably has concerns about demand for an eight year old book, even if it is completely overhauled from top to bottom. I am going to put together some ideas for him about what I would change in it this week, and we will see what he says.

In the meantime, I thought I would poll you–my regular readers–and see what you think about the idea. What say you? Which of the three options should I pursue?

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I received the following press release from old friend Thomas D. “Hokey Tom” Perry about his newest book on the life of Jeb Stuart today:

For Immediate Release: Ararat, Virginia, February 6, 2007

Afterword “Walk This Hallowed Ground”
Appendix: The Laurel Hill Land Transactions
Records of the Slaves and Free Blacks
Bibliography
Index

I’m familiar with the thoroughness of Tom’s research and know that he’s done his usual efficient job in covering all of the possible sources. I look forward to getting a copy of this one, and congratulate Hokey Tom on his accomplishment. Not bad for a Virginia Tech guy. 🙂

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Here’s a link to the story on yesterday’s event that ran in the Carroll County Times newspaper today.

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Tomorrow is my 46th birthday. I can recall times that don’t seem all that long ago when the very concept of turning 46 was inconceivable; that was old age, for heaven’s sake. Evidently–hopefully–that’s not the case. Some days, I feel old as the hills but only slightly younger than dirt, but other days, I feel 18 again. It all depends.

What’s particularly interesting is that tomorrow is also my good friend and co-author, J. D. Petruzzi’s birthday. J. D. is four years younger than I am, but I find it really remarkable that we share the same birthday.

Perhaps our writing partnership was pre-ordained. 🙂

Happy birthday, J. D. You may be younger, but I still have more hair. 🙂

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I left yesterday afternoon at 1:30 and arrived in Gettysburg at 7:15. I met J.D. for dinner, and then we went and had a couple of beers at the Reliance Mine Saloon. I had a very interesting conversation with Bill Frassanito about lots of things, and we were all out of there by 11:00.

We were up at 6:00 AM today, got ready, loaded up the car and headed off to The Avenue restaurant for breakfast. We headed out for Westminster (which is almost an hour drive) for the conference. Our navigator was too busy obsessing over bicycles and didn’t tell me to turn in time and we went about 7 miles out of our way. We finally got to the site of the conference, and J. D. and I led off. We spent about half an hour being interviewed by a reporter who knew absolutely NOTHING about the Gettysburg Campaign, and then signed books for a couple of hours. We did have a chance to visit with old friend Dean Shultz and then headed back up to Gettysburg.

The weather was atrocious, and not conducive at all to battlefield stomping, so we limited ourselves to a lap around the battlefield, mainly to check out the latest round of tree cuttings. Seeing a large portion of Culp’s Hill cleared of trees is really remarkable, and really changes the appearance of the battlefield in a major way. I dropped JD and our host off and headed out for another lovely six hour drive, and got home at 8:30 or so.

I’m exhausted. It was a major banzai run. I was gone for 32 hours, and spent 12 of those 32 hours driving. I’m just glad it’s over.

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Chris Lewis, the editor of Civil War Times Illustrated, liked my idea of an article on the connections between Ulric Dahlgren and David Herold, so I’m going to explore expanding it into a 4,000 word feature article. We’ll see how it goes, and we’ll see if there’s enough to make it worthwhile, but I’m going to give it a shot. I’ve got two other articles in various stages that need to be completed first, but then I’m going to focus hard on pulling the thing together. For now, the working title is “A Tale of Two Assassins”.

I will keep everyone posted as to progress.

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Today marks one month since I had the cortisone shot, and I’ve had major improvement. It’s 85% better. I continue to wear a band to keep pressure on the tendons, but it feels a great deal better. I’m able to do most of my normal activities either pain free or with very minimal pain, so it’s back to normal and back to my normal blogging schedule.

Thank you very much to everyone who wrote to express their concern and best wishes for improvement. It means a lot to me, and it also helped a lot.

If history holds true, it will flare back up again in a few months, as that’s been the pattern for 25 years. For now, though, it’s feeling pretty good. Posting frequency will probably increase (providing I have something worth saying, that is) now that I don’t have to watch every keystroke. Thanks for your patience and support.

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