Things I Would Like to See in 2006……

Here, in no particular order, are some things I would like to see happen in 2006 (some deal with the Civil War and some don’t. Warning for those of you who support the present occupant of the White House–there will be one blatantly political item that you probably won’t much appreciate; consider yourselves warned):

1. For the traitor Johnny Damon to hit .200 or lower, and for the Yankees to finish dead last. It couldn’t happen to a nicer team.

2. For the traitor Billy Wagner to have an ERA in excess of 6.00 and no saves and for the Mets to also finish dead last. Are you detecting a pattern here?

3. For us to have an entire year without the publication of a single book claiming to expose Robert E. Lee’s real plan for the Battle of Gettysburg.

4. For us to have an entire year without people feeling the need to develop bizarre and unsupportable theories about the Battle of Gettysburg in the misplaced hope of unlocking the secrets of that battle that have evaded all of the rest of us for 142+ years now.

5. For old friend Bud Hall to finally finish his long-needed and greatly anticipated book on the June 9, 1863 Battle of Brandy Station, and finally give this epic event the scholarly treatment it has needed for so long, and for Gordon Rhea to conclude the sixth and final volume of his epic study of the 1864 Overland Campaign.

6. For Donovan McNabb to return to the Eagles hale, hearty, and 100% again, ready to lead his team to the promised land.

7. For Mother Nature to spare important historical sites from the wrath of Category 5 hurricanes. We lose too much historically significant land as it is. We don’t need to lose important historical sites to hurricane and flood damage, too.

8. For our troops to return home safely from a war that was started based on a lie and for which we never had any business engaging in in the first place.

9. For publishers to listen to the wishes of consumers, and remember that a book can never have too many maps or too many illustrations.

10. That only GOOD, worthy, worthwhile Civil War books be published in 2006. I’m not holding my breath on this one.

11. That the Columbus Blue Jackets NOT suck. I’m DEFINITELY not holding my breath on this one.

12. That the construction of our new house and the resulting move be smooth and pain free. I know better than to hold my breath on this one.

13. That I get to visit lots of Civil War battlefields this year, including some places that I have never visited previously. I can think of a number of places I’ve never been but would like to tramp. A few come to mind: Wyse’s Fork in North Carolina, Mine Creek in Kansas, and Stones River in Tennessee. There are also the Custer Battlefield in Montana, Washita in Oklahoma, and Blue Water in Nebraska for some Indian wars-related sites.

14. That my regimental history of the Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry finally gets completed this year, after more than a decade of work.

15. That all of you who give their time and energy to indulging my rants have a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year filled with lots of great reading.