R.E. Thomas's Blog, page 6

The Marble Man Laughs

With a sobriquet like “the Marble Man” and a reputation to match, people tend to overlook that Robert E. Lee was a human being, and more to my point here, that he had a sense of humor. A discussion on my author’s Facebook group reminded me of a cute example of Lee’s sense of humor [...]

The Marble Man’s Sense of Humor

With a sobriquet like “the Marble Man” and a reputation to match, people tend to overlook that Robert E. Lee was a human being, and more to my point here that he had a sense of humor. A discussion on my author’s Facebook group reminded me of a cute example of Lee’s sense of humor [...]

Publishing and Copy Errors

One of the bad raps against indie and small, start-up press books is that they are all poorly edited monstrosities. Some of them are, and these are the books that give the rest a bad name. Yet whenever a consumer fixates and repeats this meme, they are repeating a myth that by and large is [...]

Union Order of Battle, Lawrenceburg Campaign

Since I posted the fictional order of battle for the Army of Tennessee (CSA) during the equally fictional Lawrenceburg Campaign (May 1864) by request, I figured I would follow up by doing the same for the Army of the Tennessee (USA). Nobody asked for it, but fair is fair. Army of the Tennessee (GSW May [...]

Was Frank Cheatham A Drunk?

History records Major General Benjamin F. Cheatham, leader of the famed Tennessee Division, as a solid example of a hard-drinking Confederate battle leader. Going beyond that assessment, many of Cheatham’s critics and even some neutral parties go so far as to dismiss Cheatham as little more than a belligerent drunkard. As Cheatham is one of [...]

Civil War, Whiskey, and Charles Weller

I’m also a whiskey writer, and from time to time I come across a point where my whiskey- and novel-writing interests intersect. Such is the case with the fate of Charles D. Weller. Parts of Kentucky and virtually all of Tennessee descended into a state of near lawlessness during the war, which isn’t surprising when [...]

Robert H. G. Minty

Bobby Minty is another fine example of an Irish immigrant who fought in the Civil War with distinction. Minty was born in December 1831 in County Mayo, and was of what I like to call “the Irish Scots-Irish,” because to an American the term usually refers to Scots-Irish Presbyterians who immigrated from Ulster. Minty’s father [...]

Review: Calamity at Chancellorsville

Passionate Civil War buffs, like anyone with a genuine love for a particular period of history, eventually reach a point where they know their events, places, and people well enough to teach a 200-level college course on them from memory. Yet having a passion means wanting more, and that is where many a self-taught student [...]

Stonewall Goes West in Daily Herald

The Daily Herald in Columbia, TN “blurbed” my book! I learned about it by accident and ten days later, but that just makes this a wonderful surprise. My first bona fidepress clip! On top of adding an “About the Author” page to this author’s blog, I now need to add a “Reviews and Clips” page [...]

Confederate Order of Battle, Battle of Lawrenceburg

One sharp-eyed reader asked me about Loring’s Division of Polk’s Corps at my fictitious Battle of Lawrenceburg, pointing out that the division appeared larger than it was for the historical Atlanta Campaign. That is a correct observation. Stonewall Goes West is an alternate history, and as part of Jackson’s overall strategy, many units see small [...]