my journey as a civil war novel writer

  I want to start with how astonished I was how much material was in this book that was completely new to me. And I have most of the biographies written about Longstreet in my possession. Most books don’t cover the post war period at all but some of the more modern ones do, but none go into the detail that this book does. So kudo’s for all the research done and the facts uncovered. The good Most of the book was devoted to the pre and post war period of Longstreet’s life. I found it an intriguing read. What surprised me most were the detailed accounts of the slaves Longstreet owned before and during the war. Especially as there had been no proof of this before as far as I know. And the fact that Longstreet was an ardent believer in slavery before the war. As well as some speeches and actions during the war. To be honest that part shocked me a little bit. But it makes his change after the war even bigger. What makes a man who felt at home in a world were slavery was normal an...

  One of the longest drives of the holiday today. And it would prove to be another very warm day as well.  We had no problems driving to Fredricksburg and parking at the visitors centre. This is a small one with really no more than a small shop attached. From here you are right at the edge of Longstreet's lines. It is such a pity that the fields in front of the earth works are full of houses. It does not give you an idea of how difficult it must have been for the Union troops to cover that ground. I do find it a little surprising as well. Like imagine if there was a whole section of houses on the fields of Pickett's charge. And honestly I don't think I would ever buy a house on ground that so many people died on. Call me superstitious but it would not sit well with me. It is still nice to walk around and to see the statue of St. Kirkland which signifies that even in battle there can be kindness. Next we drove to Chatham manor. It is worth a visit if only for the views. This...

For the Sunday we were looking for something that was at least in the right direction when Jeremy would have to drive the nearly 5 hours back to New York state. So Antietam was an obvious choice. And only 20 minutes to drive from our appartment. It's a nice drive coming through Shepardstown as well. I really love these old towns with the wooden houses that you see in this part of the country. Sharpsburg is like this as well. It always strikes me what a difference there is between Sharpsburg and Gettysburg as Sharpsburg is not touristy at all. There is hardly even a place to get lunch there. And no or nearly no souvenir shops at all. They were renovating the visitor centre at the battlefield and had built a temporary one. To our surprise you now have to pay for the battlefield. This is the first time ever I have come across it and I do wonder what would have happened if we did not as nobody checked us and some of the battlefield is on open roads. Antietam was the bloodiest one day ...

Thursday was another lovely sunny day and another day we would do a lot of miles. Going all the way to the outskirts of Washington D.C. to Manassas. One of the battlefields I have visited more than once in the past. I usually flew in to Dulles and Manassas is right on the doorstep so this was usually our last stop for half a day. First Manassas [or first Bull run] is one of the smaller battefields. One of the few that you can actually walk. We started with the ranger talk outside which consists of Henry Hill and the Henry house with some general information about the start of the war and this battle. In those early days they thought that this would be the battle to end the war from both sides spectators had come to watch the ultimate battle. That day in July 1861 would change expectations on the war forever. It is always good to walk the actual ground of a battle. The many hills mentioned in books give it away, it is not flat. But neither are this high hills. The terrain kind of meande...

  Finally I was going back to Gettysburg. It had been nearly ten years. The last time had been during the 150th anniversary. That was cool. We walked Pickett's charge at the exact same time at the same day 150 years later and we saw a lot of the reenactments. For many years if I went to Gettysburg during the anniversary. It was great fun but it had some drawbacks as well. More expensive The town would be absolutely crowded So would the battlefield The humid heat of July could get to me In that regard a May visit was much nicer. We headed out in the morning and it was about 75 minutes drive from the airbnb to Gettysburg where we arrived around ten. As Koen had never been we decided to do the visitor centre first. I may not be making friends here but I am not a big fan of the new visitor centre. True, it gives a good overview of the whole civil war and the battle and it looks really slick. There lies the rub. I don't like slick. I much prefer the old one with its shelves full of ...

Monday morning we started the journey to what would be our travel hub for the next 10 days. But with one stop in between. Very good friends of mine live in Wilmington, Delaware and that was on the way for us with only a small detour. Google maps took us through the lovely countryside around Philadelphia to make it a very nice tour to Wilmington. I have known Larry and Louise for thirty years. When my passion for the civil war really started and I became interested in general Longstreet, I joined the Longstreet society. At the time they were looking for someone in the Netherlands who could try to find out in local archives if they could link were the general's dutch ancestors had come from. Mind you this was in the time that the internet had not been around long and was not the powerful search engine it is now. I asked where I could get some more information and they put me in touch with Larry in Louise. As it happens they would be visiting the Netherlands shortly so the first time ...