Not Again…..

Today, J. D. got another package of newspaper articles from our Washington researcher, this time from the New York Herald. Once again, our researcher was well aware that we have been working on this Stuart’s Ride project for the better part of two years, and only just now got around to providing us with these articles at the very last possible moment. Of course, we’re even closer to the drop dead date for adding material now than we were last week when we got the articles from the Baltimore American that I posted about last week.

There was even better stuff this time around. For instance, if you read Jeb Stuart’s report of his activities during the Gettysburg Campaign, when you get to the section about the Battle of Hanover, he mentions that, at the beginning of the battle, as things begin to get intense, there was no word from Fitz Lee, who was supposed to be covering his left and rear. An article in the Herald indicates that Fitz sent a note to Stuart via courier, and that the courier was captured. The dispatch itself is quoted verbatim–it specifically indicates that Kilpatrick was moving on Stuart’s left. Had that message been delivered, it might have made a real difference in Stuart’s dispositions, that’s for certain. So far as I know, no account of the Battle of Hanover has EVER used this particular item previously. So, we’re going to be changing the interpretation of this battle by virtue of adding it into the manuscript.

There are apparently several other useful articles that deal with other aspects of Stuart’s ride that also haven’t been used previously. The problem, of course, is that our backs are up against the wall. We are quite literally out of time if we’re to get the book out by June. Plus, we drove poor Ted Savas nuts last week with the stuff from the American, and he’s not willing to re-do the entire book (I certainly can’t blame him for that–I wouldn’t, either). So, the compromise was that we got to add a paragraph and a single note to chapter four, including quoting the captured dispatch from Fitz Lee to Stuart. We’re pleased with that, although we’re also greedy and would love to plug ALL of it in.

Fortunately, we have enough time to plug additional material from these two newspapers into our manuscript on the retreat from Gettysburg. Those will also be excellent additions, so please don’t get me wrong. But, we’ve been working on that project even longer than we have on the Stuart’s Ride project, so the same lingering questions about timeliness apply there, also. It’s damned frustrating.

The issue here, of course, is the same as the one we had last week. Our researcher has known about this project for more than eighteen months, and why he waited until this last possible second to produce this material to us remains a complete and total mystery, and one we’re not particularly happy about. This problem was created completely by him, and it leaves me wondering if there is something else equally as significant still hanging out there that he was supposed to get for us but failed to obtain.