Just an update post of sorts....
First, I have seen one of the first maps for the tour book/booklet. Hal Jespersen (of Civil War Maps) has done great work on the first map, which shows the positions of both armies at approximately 2:00 p.m. on October 8th. I have written the first draft of the campaign background (a very simple overview leading up to the battle), and have started just a bit on the first tour stop. As I am focusing on Cheatham's attack, the tour stops in the book will not be in the same order as the tour stops on the battlefield as I want to follow specific brigades in order of the advance across the battlefield. Actually, I pulled off the book shelf the series of tour guides that I picked up at Antietam a few years ago, and am giving some thought to perhaps just doing a series of guides, perhaps one for each Confederate brigade and the Federal forces they encountered. I will have to see what info I can find out about publishing a larger book vs. a series of booklets.
Second, I am becoming quite eager for the next Cincinnati Civil War Round Table meeting. The CCWRT does not meet during the summer months (I assume because the members are out "campaigning"), and I think that if they increased their membership base they could probably generate enough interest to have summer meetings, but growing membership is another topic. The September meeting has Dr. Gary Joiner discussing the 1864 Red River Campaign, an area in which I am certainly not very knowledgeable. The October meeting is one I am really looking forward to as Stuart Sanders will be discussing his recent Perryville Under Fire book. The timing is perfect since I am leading the fall hike at Perryville just two days later. Regardless of the speaker, spending time with other folks interested in the Civil War is really keeping my passion level high and therefore having meetings during the summer months would be, selfishly, my way of keeping the fires stoked.
Next step for the tour book is to visit the battlefield and measure distances and write directions for each tour stop., I am hoping to head down to the area on July 4th weekend as Lore Brewery Company is hosting an event that promises to be quite enjoyable, and if may have noticed in previous posts I do enjoy their beer. So not only do I get to enjoy beer, food, and fireworks, I can spend some time on the battlefield that weekend as well.
One thing I had not mentioned was some follow up info about having a study group at Perryville. It just seems as if folks there, while interested, do not have the time to pull something like that off. Short of moving to Perryville (which the other half is still against), I cannot organize such an event without having someone on the ground in the area to do the legwork. And it would also take some time investment on the part of the experts to lead the groups on the battlefield, and I do not consider myself to be an expert. While I can help with the promotion of such an event and probably guarantee a good turnout, I cannot lead detailed discussions of the various aspects of the battle, nor can I arrange food, transportation, meeting rooms, places to stay, etc., without seeing the facilities to be used and meeting folks face to face. Hence the need for on the ground personnel. This could be a great thing for the Friends group to pull off, but that group can;'t even let its members know about membership renewals or put out a newsletter (or even an email using a service like Constant Contact), so I highly doubt if they can be so motivated.
And on the final front, the Lytle Monument at Chickamauga is undergoing its renovation. You can see a few pictures on Dave Powell's Chickamauga blog. Exciting to see this work being completed!
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