As I mentioned long ago in this thread, I read a great deal of history.
It’s not like me to take this long to read a book, but I’ve been slogging through “A History of the Laurel Brigade: Originally the Ashby Calvary or the Army of Northern Virginia and Chew’s Battery”. It’s a tad dry. But they took part in a lot of battles and skirmishes where I’ve visited the battlefield in the past. Once they encamped by a town where I used to work, and twice now near the town where I live. So, while dry, the book holds a certain immediacy for me.
I’m finally in the last chapter and it’s gotten really good. They’ve made a handful of bold raids in the past, but audacity of this is incredible. It wasn’t made by the Laurels per say, but was attended to and planed by former members.
This is right at the end of the American Civil War. About 65 Confederate raiders snuck into Cumberland, Maryland (which was being held by 6 to 8 thousand Federals) and kidnapped two Major-Generals and an Adjunct General, then made their getaway. All without a loss.
The author of my book and the one in the link both quote this earlier and extensive first-hand account of the incident:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mdall ... neills.htmNot that one would be, but if you’re at all interested it’s been digitized by Google:
http://books.google.com/books?id=m8sCAA ... =0#PPP1,M1After this, I’m going to catch up on some American Literature. It’s been too long.
Yawn ...