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Guest Post
The hardest (or best) part of researching historical fiction.
The part I enjoy the most about doing the research is
discovering fascinating, obscure events where you get tiny hints and whiffs of
something interesting, and you have to go searching for clues like Nicholas
Cage in National Treasure. My favorite example is one I am currently working on
for book 6 of my Road to the Breaking series.
I needed some kind of battle for my main characters to be
involved in at a particular time in a specific area of western Virginia. And
all I could find was a one-sentence reference to a “non-battle”, that read
something like, “at the end of May, 1862, Stonewall Jackson came to within
several hundred yards of Union lines at Harpers Ferry, and then called off the
attack.”
I thought, okay … maybe I can make something out of that …
maybe my guys can help organize the defense enough to dissuade Jackson or
something … But to be honest I wasn’t very excited about it. And then, a
little while later while researching something else, I saw a reference that
said, “Brigadier General Rufus Saxton was awarded the Congressional Medal of
Honor for his actions in the defense of Harpers Ferry, late May 1862.”
Wait! What?! They don’t give out the CMOH for a “non-battle!”
I immediately knew there had to be more to this story, so I started digging. And
the more I dug the more I discovered this really was a BIG DEAL at the time, so
much so that the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was
personally sending telegrams to General Saxton at Harpers Ferry.
It turns out Stonewall Jackson had unexpectedly routed a
larger Union force leaving only a small 500-man garrison at Harpers Ferry
between his 20,000-man army, and the capital of the United States! What happens
next is truly the stuff of Hollywood. Suffice to say, if Jackson had not decided
to call off the attack when he did (after taking casualties), this would likely
have been one of the most famous and important battles of the war, rather than
an obscure event almost lost to history. Be sure to read Road to the Breaking Book
6 (Invasion) when it comes out fall of 2021, to find out what happened!
Enter the Giveaway:
REDLINED (A Novel of Boston) Book Tour Giveaway
i love bizarre and obscure research too!!!
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ReplyDeleteSounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteI like that it is about arsonists. Should be good drama. Thanks for the chance.
ReplyDeleteI think the research would be fun and interesting as well. Though takes a lot of time. Blessings Joy
ReplyDeleteMy interest is piqued! Thanks for sharing this awesome book rec!
ReplyDeleteSounds awesome thanks!
ReplyDelete