Breaking the Logjam

I finally shook off my malaise and wrote something new this weekend.

About ten days ago, Mary Koik, the editor of Hallowed Ground, the magazine published by the Civil War Preservation Trust, asked me if I would write an article for the next issue that gave an overview of cavalry operations in the Gettysburg Campaign. The article was to set the stage for the Trust’s efforts to preserve the Hunterstown battlefield, which made the list of ten most threatened battlefields this year for the first time.

Other than this blog, it’s the first thing I’ve written since we finished the additions to One Continuous Fight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14, 1863. I just haven’t been motivated at all. I’ve tried to work on one other article that I’ve started, but I just haven’t been able to motivate to get it done. Hell, I haven’t even been able to make myself look at it.

I sat down yesterday and cranked out a 4700 word broad overview of cavalry operations in the Gettysburg Campaign in one afternoon. It was written pretty much straight off the top of my head. It’s certainly not intended to be the last word on the subject, but it’s a decent overview. J. D. did a quick edit of it for me, and I turned it in to Mary this afternoon. Considering that I had less than a month to get it done, I’m pretty pleased with the effort.

Once the article has been laid out for the magazine, I will make sure that the PDF file of it is made available on this website for anyone who might want to read it.

Next up is a short article on Lincoln and Meade that I’ve been asked to do. Now that I’ve finally broken the motivational logjam, I’m hoping that I can get it done quickly. Stay tuned.