A couple of folks have messaged my lately wondering
"what's next?". So, here is what I've been working on since turning
in the Branch-Lane manuscript.
Living in western North Carolina and doing a host of
interpretive programs (and fielding a host of questions) in North Carolina and
Tennessee has shown me a need for a book about the War along the North
Carolina-Tennessee border. We have a couple of books about each side, like
Inscoe and McKinney's The Heart of
Confederate Appalachia: Western North Carolina in the Civil War, and
Fisher's War at Every Door: Partisan Politics and
Guerrilla Violence in East Tennessee. However, there is not a book that
really ties these two places together. For example, everyone is familiar with
the actions in the Laurel community of Madison County, North Carolina, in
January 1863. Did you know that these actions are just one of three movements
by troops in western North Carolina-East Tennessee that month? And another -
Kirk's raid into western North Carolina in June 1864 is just one of two Union
raids launched from Greenville, Tennessee, on the same day.
George W. Kirk is the ribbon that will run through the text.
But, he is just one of many cast members on a stage of unequal bloodletting in
the 1860s in the mountain counties of North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee.
There were no winners in this war.
I've already approached the History Press about publishing this book,
and they have agreed. I'm looking forward to sharing with you more of my
findings, and frustrations, as I tackle this new project.
3 comments:
Excellent topic my friend! Look forward to seeing what is to come.
Having lived in upper east Tennessee all my 69 years, and having paternal roots in Wilkes County, I look forward to your book. Might I suggest a chapter or two on Fort Hamby ?
Glenn Land (you probably know me better as east Tennessee roots)
I would be interested in that one
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