My favorite part

Many times, people will ask about my favorite part of a book. Well, I like all of it. If I didn't like a part, I rewrote it! That being said, I deeply enjoyed researching the chapter on Montgomery.

It is surprising that I don't write more about Alabama. Portions of my family first moved to the state in the 1840s. I have a score of Alabama ancestors who fought for the Confederacy. My dad was born in Alabama; I graduated from the University of Alabama (I could go on). However, The Capitals of the Confederacy is the first time I have ever put pen on paper and written about the state.  Other parts of the book I have written about in the past. I've covered Richmond in other projects, most notably The Battle of Hanover Court House. Danville has had a mention or two, as had Greensboro in North Carolina in the Civil War as well as Tar Heels in the Army of Tennessee: The Fifty-eighth North Carolina Troops. And of course, I go into great depths about Charlotte and the War in Civil War Charlotte: Last Capital of the Confederacy.

Researching and writing about Montgomery was something new, something fresh. And I had a couple of great resources, including William C. Davis's A Government of Our Own, to use. It is a really great book and I've found myself becoming a fan of Davis’s work. I've been to or passed through Montgomery on numerous occasions, visiting the First White House of the Confederacy and the state history museum. There is even a picture or two around here of me with the star on the state house rotunda.

I'm looking forward to getting back to Montgomery and Alabama in general. It's been a couple of years since my boots trod the red clay of my ancestors.