Brownell

Interesting day! I am feeling much better about this chapter--I think my focus was completely wrong. I read so much military history that sometimes I think everything is just some type of military history, so I got all caught up in First Bull Run. That is not what the book is about. It is about a man who died for his country, and almost as soon as he died, the country completely changed. That is my focus. I do have to recommend an excellent little place on the web--I googled something like "writing military history" and got linked to this: , which are lecture notes on writing history. They have been wonderful.

I just added the Brownell section. That's him in the photo. He's 20!!! The black material on his left arm is a mourning band. Men wore those when someone they loved died. When I look at his face, it makes me so sad--all those young men going to almost certain death, and killing along the way. Their eyes are older than the rest of their bodies. Brownell eventually got the medal of honor for killing Jackson.

I may not get everything finished by the 18th, but just about. There is really no deadline--after all, it's been 150 years . . .