Traveling to Georgia!!

 One week from today, I will be in the great state of Georgia once again!! I am traveling for the Kennesaw Mountain 150th. It will be my great privilege to be bringing my ranger hat to Georgia to assist the staff of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park by providing interpretive programs next weekend at the battlefield park. I don't know where I will be stationed just yet, but I do know that I will be quite busy!!



In addition to my NPS work in Georgia, I will be doing several author talks and book signings in the area. The schedule is listed below. You will have plenty of chances to catch up with me if you are in the area. I am particularly pleased to be speaking at the park on the morning of the 27th on the lives of Charles Harker and Dan McCook, two exemplary individuals who sacrificed everything at Kennesaw Mountain.



If you live in the Atlanta area, or if you will be traveling there for the Kennesaw 150th, I hope to see you either at the park or at one of my book talks in the area!!




Athens Clark-County Public Library, Athens, Georgia–June 26, 2014
1:00 Author Talk and Book Signing
Atlanta History Center–Atlanta, Georgia, June 26, 2014
8:00 Evening Lecture and Book Signing
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park: 150th Anniversary Events–Kennesaw, Georgia, June 27, 2014
Author Talk (10:00) “Facing Fearful Odds: Colonel Dan McCook and Brigadier General Charles Harker at Kennesaw Mountain” and Book Signing
Marietta Museum of History–Marietta, Georgia, June 28, 2014
Author Talk (2:00) and Book Signing

Now Available...

Very proud to say that my book, The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, is now available!!!

If you are interested in ordering a copy, you can learn more by visiting the new "Buy the Book!" page at the top of the blog. It is currently available through The History Press, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, and will soon be in bookstores!!

One Week to Go...

Only one week to go before the publication date for The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain...

You can pre-order your copy today at amazon.com or historypress.net.

One Month To Go...

Just wanted to let everyone know that the official publication date for my book on Kennesaw Mountain is April 8, 2014, meaning that as of today, there is one month to go before my first book is published!

After many months of hard work, this is very exciting, and I am looking forward to having my own book sitting on my bookshelf next to so many others which I have read for so many years.

For those who are interested, The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain is currently available for pre-order from Amazon and The History Press.

Hope you enjoy the book!

Kennesaw Mountain Book Cover!

It has been quite some time since I posted on here, and lots has been going on.

For example, last fall, I was married. This winter, I finished my book on Kennesaw Mountain, and this spring, I am starting back at Gettysburg to lead education programs for school groups, before returning to Antietam for the rest of the season.


Look for me to make a few more posts on here this year. For now, I wanted to share this picture. It is the cover of my Kennesaw Mountain book, which is being published in the first week of April!

You can order a copy now by going to Amazon, where it will be available in paperback and Kindle form.

As some of you probably now, I have started another blog, devoted solely to Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign. You can find it here: www.kennesawmountain.wordpress.com

Thanks to so many of you who have followed this blog for what is almost three years now. Your friendly comments, visits, and support have been a great encouragement to me. I hope you enjoy the book, and I hope you all enjoy some warmer weather which will hopefully be on its way soon after this bitter winter!


For now, here is the cover for my upcoming book on the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain. Enjoy!

New Year, New Blog

Happy New Year!!


Now that it is 2014, the 150th anniversary of the Atlanta Campaign and Kennesaw Mountain is here. Because my book on Kennesaw will be out in a few months, I am starting and launching a new blog on Kennesaw Mountain and the Atlanta Campaign: www.kennesawmountain.wordpress.com.

Please check out the new site, which will have a definite focus on Kennesaw Mountain, as the title states, as well as William Tecumseh Sherman, Joseph Johnston, and the others who fought in Georgia during the summer of 1864. 


Don't worry, I will still be posting regularly on here as well, and probably posting some things on both blogs. Thanks for your comments and continuing to visit this site. I really enjoy maintaining this blog, and look forward to starting a new one in this new year!

Southern Comfort Zone

The title of this post is NOT about the Atlanta airport.


My flight yesterday was scheduled for 4:26 pm. We did not leave Atlanta until after 9 pm. Twice, our plane was found mechanically faulty, and another was brought in. Three times our gate was switched. There were severe thunderstorms across the South, making travel a nightmare.

But, after leaving my Aunt and Uncle's house in Kennesaw at 2 pm yesterday, I finally got home in Ohio at right around midnight. A very long day indeed.


However, I still love Georgia (if not Delta Airlines). I am glad to be back home in Ohio, safe and sound, because I have quite a bit of work ahead of me on the book project, as well as putting the finishing touches on and hopefully publishing my Antietam research. Also, I don't mind leaving Georgia too much because, as the Brad Paisley song goes,

Cause I know the route I leave on
It will always bring me back

(Hopefully the route leading me back will not be a Delta flight with a 5 hour delay and turbulence from thuderstorms, but I agree with Brad's general sentiment)

A  big thanks to the folks at Emory University's Manuscript and Rare Book Library in the Woodruff Library Building, the staff at the Atlanta History Center, and most importantly, the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park Staff, including Park Historian Willie Johnson and Ranger Amanda Corman. I also want to thank local historian Brad Quinlin who spent several hours going over Kennesaw Mountain while walking the ground with me this past Friday.

So long Kennesaw Mountain, see you next time.

Now, I just need to hunker down in this Ohio winter to continue working on this book...

Flying Home to Ohio

Sadly, my time in Georgia has come to an end. Today, it was in the 60s and sunny. Tomorrow, I fly back to Cleveland, where assuredly, the sun will not shine again until sometime in mid-June, and there will still be snow on the ground when the Indians open their season in April.


But, my stay in Georgia was wonderful, as always. I love spending time with my Uncle Jeff and Aunt Paula, and I have had an amazing trip for researching, hiking, and getting to know the battle of Kennesaw Mountain much better than I ever did before. If one is going to write about history, no matter what kind, I am thoroughly convinced that experiencing things first hand is crucial. Walking the ground of battlefields, touring historic homes, or even just being in the same places as historical figures always helps the writing process.

For me, spending time hiking the many trails at Kennesaw Mountain is very important. Because this was my last full day in Georgia, I saved the biggest, best known trail for last.

Today, Jeff and I hiked up Big Kennesaw, all 1808 feet.

The land behind me is the ground over which Union and Confederate forces struggled during the Atlanta Campaign in the lead up to the fight at Kennesaw Mountain in June. In the distance are the fields of Pickett's Mill, Resaca, and Rocky Face Ridge.

 Pumpkinvine Creek at Pickett's Mill Battlefield, a Georgia State Park

Further north are the blood soaked grounds of Chickamauga and Chattanooga

The Brotherton Cabin at Chickamauga

And many miles further is Cleveland, where I head tomorrow. It has been a great trip, and it has reminded me why I love the South so much. I can't wait to come back. But, for now, it is publishing Antietam research, writing my Kennesaw Mountain book, hoping for a new season at Antietam, and awaiting what else God has in store for me.

Kennesaw Mountain Book Announcement

Greetings from Georgia!

If you recall, a few months ago I posted about visiting Georgia for research and battlefield hiking to prepare for a new project. Well, I am back in the beautiful state of Georgia once again. I flew in to Atlanta on Friday, and will be here for the next week to visit family, hike battlefields, and work on my new project, which has been ongoing for a few months now. I haven't been able to announce it yet, but I am now able to tell you about it because I have gotten the final go ahead from the publisher.


I have agreed to write a book for the History Press on the June 1864 Battle of Kennesaw Mountain!


This book will be a part of the History Press's Civil War Sesquicentennial Series, a series which features two outstanding books by my friend and colleague, John Hoptak (his books are on South Mountain and on Gettysburg). John is a big reason why this project is happening, as he put me in touch with the folks at the History Press. I owe him a tremendous thanks for his help. The book will be an overview of the battle, but considering that there aren't many books out there solely devoted to this fight, it will be based largely off of primary sources from soldiers who fought in 1864.

While Antietam has long been my main field of interest, I have also spent considerable time studying the Atlanta Campaign. While at John Carroll I wrote my Master's thesis on Ohio soldiers who fought during this campaign, and I have made several trips to Georgia to see the battlefields from this pivotal campaign in the American Civil War. I have also posted on here about Kennesaw Mountain before.

Of course, while in Georgia, I am staying with my Uncle Jeff and Aunt Paula, who live in Kennesaw and are opening their home and giving me a place to stay while I work on this project. Yesterday, Jeff and I spent some time hiking at Pickett's Mill State Battlefield, a very well preserved historic site with miles of trails that allow visitors to see the site of the May 27, 1864 Battle of Pickett's Mill that resulted in a Confederate victory.

My Kennesaw Mountain book likely won't be finished until this fall, and it won't hit the shelves until late this year or early in 2014, but I am very excited and looking forward to this incredible opportunity!


Stay tuned to the blog for more information and updates about the book over the upcoming months. I will post on here regularly about the project and about Kennesaw Mountain, in addition to my ongoing Antietam research which I hope will be published soon as well (more on that to come soon!)


I am very grateful for this wonderful opportunity. From time to time, when things get difficult and I don't know what my next step will be, God always tosses me another stone to jump to, to continue on across the stream and along the path He has set before me. Whatever success I may have had, I owe it all to Him. Thank the Lord for this great opportunity for which I could not be more excited.