I have additional service information on a private (Addison Epperly from Confederate Pension Records) that extends beyond the NFI in your book. Do you update this series with added information? Would you want the additional information and its source? If so, I will be most happy to send it along.

Mason Epperly
403 South Main Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
hmepperly@att.net
678 938 4128

First, “Hi,” to my old friend Eric W. from a fellow Buckeye. Long time. First time at your website-blog, etc. Lots to read; wish I had hours to do so.:-)

Happened to be browsing, of course, and saw reference Harold E. Howard’s series and, also, to my book on the Battle of Cedar Creek ( Sean & Drew ), originally published by HEH in 1992.,.

First, HEH’s two series on Virginia regimentals and , also, Battles and Leaders of Virginia, was / is a unique and hugely vital endeavor.

I know some have criticized the quality of some of the works, but there were a number of mitigating factors involved in many of the efforts.

in brief, HEH left it up to each individual author as to “how much” to research / write re: the text, etc. Harold allowed me to publish my complete M.A. thesis text [ from which the first edition came ] with no editing down—something not all publishers offer their authors.

Many of the regimental authors’ chief goal was to simply get complete [as possible] rosters into print for the Virginia units in question [ a much-needed and, also, titanic effort]. The accompanying “historical narrative text was pretty much up to each author’s ability, desire, and leading toward detailed research and unit history to be described in the text.

In some cases authors opted to present a detailed account of the unit’s “life” through the “eyes” of its soldiers; this being as important as the roster in these cases. In other authors’ approaches, just getting the roster “right” and complete as possible was the main aim, the historical narrative being only a secondary factor.

As far as I know, though, Mr Howard left this decision
( narrative / roster detail ) up to each author with the least amount of editorial intrusion possible.

In all, I think the series ( and the vision for such ) was and is still a hugely inportant comtribution to the Civil War historiography for the Army of Northern Virginia. Many of the regimental histories are “the” only source available on that unit for general reading consumption or historical research.

Granted, the Battles and Leaders series has seen fewer real, substantive efforts, but some have proven to be quite exceptional. That Bob Krick, Gary Gallagher, Jeff Wert and others have placed their seal of approval on my Cedar Creek book is flattering to say the least, but Frank O’Reilly’s book on Prospect Hill-Fredericksburg, John Hennessey’s, First Manassas monograph, and Greg Eanes’, Wilson-Kautz Raid effort ( among others ) are first-rate campaign studies in their own right.

Simply put, there are a lot of fine books in HEH’s two series that deserve a much-wider audience.

I do not know why HEH has allowed many of the titles to go out-of-print, but I do realize how difficult it has been for Mr. Howard to manage and perpetuate this huge endeavor; no easy task I assure you. HEH has done its best, I believe, and has not only given many an autgor his / her “start” in writing in this field, but has more importantly achieved its initial main goal of setting in stone a permanent record of Virginia soldiery during the Civil War.

I, for one, am very grateful to Harold for giving my book its first printing.

On a side note for Drew and Sean ( and others interested in the 1864 Valley Campaign ), my book on Cedar Creek has been completely revised and expanded for re-release in the near future. It covers so much more than the original, which was, out of necessity, more focused from the Southern side of the battle.

As Drew pointed out ( I believe?), unless one is looking for the “collecting” value of the original HEH edition, there will be no comparison between that edition and the content of this revised/ expanded one
( much new davalry ops, mss. sources, detail etc. ). One thing I’m sure of is that price won’t be nearly as prohibitive as the O.P. edition!

And if I may, I’d like to simply thank all of you out there who continue to express interest in my Cedar Creek book. After all these years, it is both a very humbling yet motivating experience indeed. Thanks to your support, there will be more coming in the future.

Thanks, Eric, for sharing the space for this posting and my very best to you personally!

Ted Mahr
Dayton, Ohio