It’s Finished!

I just finished spending the vast majority of my last couple of months rewriting the retreat manuscript. We did a tremendous amount of additional research–our bibliography went from 17 pages to 38 in the process. We took what started out as a general but reasonably thorough tactical study of the fighting during the retreat and turned it into a full-blown scholarly study along the lines of Plenty of Blame to Go Around. In the process, we’ve literally used hundreds of sources. I counted, and there are 807 entries in the bibliography, all of which were legitimately consulted, and hundreds of which were actually cited. I’m really proud of it.

There are lots of things that are different from Kent Brown’s book. Brown’s book is primarily oriented toward a study of the logistics of the retreat, and really focuses on the Confederate viewpoint. While it certainly does contain some tactical detail, that’s not the book’s primary function.

Our work is extremely tactical–that’s its primary focus. We’ve written the most tactically detailed interpretations of the fighting during the retreat ever attempted. Our other primary focus is on the decisions made by the Union high command during the retreat and how they impacted the eventual outcome of events. Consequently, our book is complementary to, but at the same time, very, very different from Kent’s.

I’ve sent it to J. D. and Mike for their final passes at it, and then it’s off to Ted Savas to be put into production.

It will be out by the anniversary of the battle next year, and I can only hope that it’s as well received as Plenty of Blame to Go Around has been. I likewise hope that those of you who indulge my rantings here enjoy the book as much as I did putting it together.