Brevet Major James Powell
One of Carrington's only supporters at the Fort, Powell has the faultiest testimony out of anybody I've researched so far. Carrington's corrections of it are longer than the actual original document, which says it all really.
Basically, he lies straight through it, despite being under oath. Yes, some details may be accurate but most are either only vaguely accurate or just completely made up. For example, he says that he commanded everything back at the Fort when Ten Eyck left to relieve Fetterman (when Carrington was obviously in command) and also, that Carrington continuously asked his opinion on things. A line from Carrington's rebuttal goes something like this: 'Major Powell, omits the fact, that he did nothing of the sort'.
Sums it up really.
A lot of Officers on the Plains did this type of thing - lie to make themselves sound bigger and better - but Powell's lying is incredible, backed up when he makes up the silly excuse as to why there was such a delay between some men sent out to try and get to Fetterman and Ten Eyck going out to relieve him: 'the commanding officer (Ten Eyck) was sitting on the roof of his house, listening to the firing'. What? !
My theory on why he is lying so badly is that he was probably jealous. Because of the fact he was one of Carrington's only supporters, he would have probably been irritated at the dismissive way the others were treating the Colonel but these same guys (who were younger than him) had higher ranks and so on...Also, he was dismissed from commanding the detail that Fetterman would claim command of on the grounds of his rank, and then other detachments later on that day. The result of this, mixed with maybe shame for being discarded from his command (Fetterman even took Powell's own command out) could easily lead to lying.
That or he was trying to make himself sound closer to Carrington than he actually was and was acting rather like a suck up.
Of course, I could be absolutely wrong but that's the story I'm going with. I'm not sure he realised he was doing this - or he was reliable and cautious on the outside (Carrington said this about him after his successful companionship to the wood train on December 19th) and rather scheming and jealous on the inside.
Still, he makes for a fun character to read and write about. In the story, I'll probably have a go at displaying him as quite a lost-in-his-own-world, dreamy kind of guy who is quite jealous and obsessive on the inside. Which he probably wasn't.
However, he could have been because there's no more information on him I can find. Which makes room for fiction. ^^
Captain Tenedor Ten Eyck
The oldest guy in the story and also the holder of the most detailed testimony next to Carrington's lengthy rebuttal of Powell's, Ten Eyck makes for quite a reliable set of details. He says specific times and distances, which is lovely of him as for a while, I was very confused over that (resulting in setting up a makeshift scene of the event to try and work it all out).
The main part he has is going out to the relief of Fetterman as soon as firing is heard from over Lodge Trail Ridge and then ending up retrieving the bodies when he sees what has befallen his comrades. I think, after all they've heard from the fort, going out after Fetterman is a brave thing to do so hats off to this guy and his command.
He also does not initiate any further attack from the Indians, even though they are coaxing him to do so, which again is probably the sensible option considering the sheer size of the Indian bands surrounding the valley.
He returns about sunset with the bodies, just as the wood train this is all over returns from the pinery.
Monday, 31 May 2010
A Note On The Characters: Carrington and Grummond
Colonel Henry B Carrington
Henry Carrington not only has the best middle name I've ever heard (Beebee!), he is also the Commander of the Fort where this whole ordeal started, Fort Phil Kearny, which he also designed and built. And, yes, before it was burnt down by the Sioux in 1867, it was a beautifully designed fort.
Much unlike his young daredevil Officers, Carrington was much more of cautious man, focusing on what needed to be done at the Fort, which was, at the time, the guarding of both the Bozeman Trail and also the wood train which had the task of getting wood from the nearby pinery. He ignored the incessant insults to himself, from people such as Fetterman, and also their desires to go out and fight.
This was the sensible thing to do and was proved when Fetterman and his command were wiped out on 21st of December, victims of disobeying his orders.
However, after these events, Carrington spent the rest of his life trying to justify his actions of that winter.
Lieutenant George Grummond
The third main character who shared the dismissive opinions about Carrington and the determined and impulsive spirit in battle, Grummond is very lucky to be alive on the 21st December after almost getting killed on December 6th after disobeying his orders and excitably running forward, almost straight into the attacking Indians. This means in the story, he's displayed as quite as excitable, wild eyed one. :)
However, he suffers under Fetterman's command on December 21st, killed with the rest of them, though not with the main party of bodies found by Ten Eyck later on that day. He volunteered to lead the cavalry that day and caused me a few bouts of utter confusion by leaving after Fetterman to gather his mounts, which led to a disruption of how I'd originally planned them to meet - in fact, no I didn't even know he went out to begin with. Great amount of research to start with, as you can see :D
Anyway, now, he joins Fetterman and his command at the crossing of the creek and together they disappear over the ridge out of sight of the fort, much to Carrington's chagrin, who ordered them not to go over this ridge.
This results in everybody's death at the hands of thousands of Indians (that had been hiding over this ridge, waiting for the soldiers who had been decoyed on by a small group including Crazy Horse).
Grummond's wife, back at the fort, later went on to marry Carrington, which I think was a bit of a statement, to be honest. What of I'm not sure but considering Grummond's attitudes towards Carrington, it's kinda....ironic I suppose.
A Note On The Characters: Fetterman and Brown
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel William J Fetterman
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Fetterman (just called Captain or Colonel in a lot of the testimonies, which served for a bout of awful confusion) is the main character (or maybe victim or even culprit) of the Fetterman Massacre. I keep it calling it that but it's debated whether it was an actual 'massacre' or not because the soldiers were armed. So...let's call it a more-influence-on-one-side-than-the-other fight ^-^
Anyhoo, Mr William Fetterman was famously arrogant and claimed that ''with 80 men he could ride through the entire Sioux nation''. Tough call, buddy, but that was typical Officer on the Plains talk. He also wasn't the Colonel, Carrington's, biggest fan and at any given moment would mock or insult him, and most of the time not privately. He thought that Carrington was too weak and shared the same opinion that the famous George Custer would have a few years later upon meeting Carrington: He was just a weary man who wasn't as near as courageous as he should have be with fighting Indians and he was way too cautious.
Fetterman was the opposite. He claimed to be brave and very adept, with much experience of fighting and wanted to do everything. Impulsive and spontaneous, he had many of the Officers at the fort on his side, including Captain Brown, the Post Quartermaster, who in the story, is like his scheming best buddy, of which it is conceivable that it could be exaggerated XD. However, it was true that him and Brown went up to see Carrington the night before his ''massacre'' to ask if they could take a small detachment of men to destroy the Sioux village. Again, tough call, but I think this event totally summed up his personality.
However, as well as being egotistic, he was also wrong. He couldn't ride through the entire Sioux nation with 80 men, as was proved on 21st December 1866. Ironically, he did have 80 men that day, which was quite an odd coincidence, and he was completely wiped out, no man escaping alive. The event was almost as notorious as the Little Bighorn in American military terms.
What is also quite interesting about Fetterman though is that, being the headstrong and *determined* guy that he was, he would probably have shared the opinion with a lot of the men that one of the bravest things to do in battle was to stand your ground and fight to the death. I've heard that a heck of lot while reading books about the time of history. However, there is evidence to back up the suggestion that at the ultimate moment, towards the end of the fight, Fetterman and Brown put their pistols to each other's heads and fired. I found this quite uncharacteristic of him, though that's not to say it's not true.
It could have happened differently but that's the account I'm going with for the story.
Post Quartermaster Captain Frederick Brown
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Fetterman (just called Captain or Colonel in a lot of the testimonies, which served for a bout of awful confusion) is the main character (or maybe victim or even culprit) of the Fetterman Massacre. I keep it calling it that but it's debated whether it was an actual 'massacre' or not because the soldiers were armed. So...let's call it a more-influence-on-one-side-than-the-other fight ^-^
Anyhoo, Mr William Fetterman was famously arrogant and claimed that ''with 80 men he could ride through the entire Sioux nation''. Tough call, buddy, but that was typical Officer on the Plains talk. He also wasn't the Colonel, Carrington's, biggest fan and at any given moment would mock or insult him, and most of the time not privately. He thought that Carrington was too weak and shared the same opinion that the famous George Custer would have a few years later upon meeting Carrington: He was just a weary man who wasn't as near as courageous as he should have be with fighting Indians and he was way too cautious.
Fetterman was the opposite. He claimed to be brave and very adept, with much experience of fighting and wanted to do everything. Impulsive and spontaneous, he had many of the Officers at the fort on his side, including Captain Brown, the Post Quartermaster, who in the story, is like his scheming best buddy, of which it is conceivable that it could be exaggerated XD. However, it was true that him and Brown went up to see Carrington the night before his ''massacre'' to ask if they could take a small detachment of men to destroy the Sioux village. Again, tough call, but I think this event totally summed up his personality.
However, as well as being egotistic, he was also wrong. He couldn't ride through the entire Sioux nation with 80 men, as was proved on 21st December 1866. Ironically, he did have 80 men that day, which was quite an odd coincidence, and he was completely wiped out, no man escaping alive. The event was almost as notorious as the Little Bighorn in American military terms.
What is also quite interesting about Fetterman though is that, being the headstrong and *determined* guy that he was, he would probably have shared the opinion with a lot of the men that one of the bravest things to do in battle was to stand your ground and fight to the death. I've heard that a heck of lot while reading books about the time of history. However, there is evidence to back up the suggestion that at the ultimate moment, towards the end of the fight, Fetterman and Brown put their pistols to each other's heads and fired. I found this quite uncharacteristic of him, though that's not to say it's not true.
It could have happened differently but that's the account I'm going with for the story.
Post Quartermaster Captain Frederick Brown
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The afore mentioned ''scheming best buddy'' of Fetterman (and in fact he was his close friend which was a lucky guess ^^) was also the Post Quartermaster. He shared the same opinion about Carrington and Indians that Fetterman did and quite often expressed a desire to ''bring back Red Cloud's scalp myself''. *You get used to these wild claims after a while of looking at this period of history* !!!!
Like Fetterman also, both were probably rather irritated at the wood train (which was a series of wagons designed to collect supplies from the nearby pinery) and which seemed to be the only thing the soldiers were doing - just protecting it, that is. Being headstrong and impulsive Officers, they would probably have wanted to do much more than this. So it's very much almost a rebellion when they ignore the wood train on the 21st December to follow the Indians.
By the looks of this photo here, he seems quite a bit older than the other younger in-their-20s Officers which suggests experience but he is not like the similar aged (I guess) Carrington. Where Carrington is cautious, Brown is a little reckless and impulsive. This last trait is backed up by the fact that, even though he wasn't assigned to Fetterman's command, he rode out (on Carrington's son's horse, Calico) to join him, even though that resulted in his death. If you take that from friendship's point of view though, that's kinda......Well, I'd say sweet but that'd be a bit patronising. XD
Break Through !
After weeks of fruitlessly looking through testimonies, I finally think a type of break through has been reached. A few days ago I guess, I started writing down about 7 people's accounts of the events following up to and preceding December 21st, 1866, when the Fetterman massacre took place, and finally I'm coming across comparisons.
Some people were detailed and some a bit vague but overall, I think a Lieutenant named Wands and a Captain named Ten Eyck are our best bet to figuring it all out. They seem to have testimonies running parallel with each other, details perfectly matching up in some cases, and are very precise, which is always encouraged.
Other guys, namely a Captain named Powell, are the faultiest pieces of evidence I've come across so far, by a country mile. For example, he says that a relief party went out to relieve Fetterman at 9 o clock in the morning - even with disagreements on the time Fetterman exited the fort, that was way before everybody says he went out. So...
Powell *pushing to the front of the crowd gathered on the parade ground, eyes wide with excitement and pride*: Sir, Sir! I propose we send out a relief party immediately to ride to the aid of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Fetterman! It is essential that we begin this with no time lost!
Fetterman *bemused*: I'm right here, Captain. A relief party for the aid of what?!
Hmm.
Very reliable, Mr Powell.
I know that a lot of Officers in the West at the time liked to make themselves bigger than they actually were but Powell is just incredible. He says he does things that he was nowhere near and, I'm not kidding, he says he was in control of the whole thing when that was glaringly obvious that that was the Colonel, Carrington's, job.
I think that he probably did this out of jealousy. He was one of the only Officers at the fort who liked Carrington and he probably wasn't very partial to how the others were treating the Colonel. Also, he was the one who got taken away from going out to relieve the wood train when Fetterman was placed in command. Interestingly, he doesn't mention this in his testimony, which I'm led to think is because of shame, possibly, and the fact that he is one of the older Officers there and younger Officers have higher ranks than him, and are being invited (OK, volunteering in this case) to do these jobs.
I don't know if he knew he was doing this because I get the impression that he was quite dreamy and lost in his own little perfect world where he was in charge of everything, so in that way, I feel quite sorry for him, but the fact that Carrington has made what seems like a billion corrections to his testimony speaks clearer than day that other people found out what he had said. I'm surprised he wasn't demoted because after all, his testimony was under oath.
Apart from that though (but I have to admit, I love reading Powell's testimony because of the sheer far fetchedness *if that's a word* of it all), I think I'm closer to sorting stuff out, which is a relief in itself.
It's a shame though that there isn't anything from Fetterman, Grummond and Brown - the main characters in this event - because I'd love to hear from them in some way of form.
Some people were detailed and some a bit vague but overall, I think a Lieutenant named Wands and a Captain named Ten Eyck are our best bet to figuring it all out. They seem to have testimonies running parallel with each other, details perfectly matching up in some cases, and are very precise, which is always encouraged.
Other guys, namely a Captain named Powell, are the faultiest pieces of evidence I've come across so far, by a country mile. For example, he says that a relief party went out to relieve Fetterman at 9 o clock in the morning - even with disagreements on the time Fetterman exited the fort, that was way before everybody says he went out. So...
Powell *pushing to the front of the crowd gathered on the parade ground, eyes wide with excitement and pride*: Sir, Sir! I propose we send out a relief party immediately to ride to the aid of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Fetterman! It is essential that we begin this with no time lost!
Fetterman *bemused*: I'm right here, Captain. A relief party for the aid of what?!
Hmm.
Very reliable, Mr Powell.
I know that a lot of Officers in the West at the time liked to make themselves bigger than they actually were but Powell is just incredible. He says he does things that he was nowhere near and, I'm not kidding, he says he was in control of the whole thing when that was glaringly obvious that that was the Colonel, Carrington's, job.
I think that he probably did this out of jealousy. He was one of the only Officers at the fort who liked Carrington and he probably wasn't very partial to how the others were treating the Colonel. Also, he was the one who got taken away from going out to relieve the wood train when Fetterman was placed in command. Interestingly, he doesn't mention this in his testimony, which I'm led to think is because of shame, possibly, and the fact that he is one of the older Officers there and younger Officers have higher ranks than him, and are being invited (OK, volunteering in this case) to do these jobs.
I don't know if he knew he was doing this because I get the impression that he was quite dreamy and lost in his own little perfect world where he was in charge of everything, so in that way, I feel quite sorry for him, but the fact that Carrington has made what seems like a billion corrections to his testimony speaks clearer than day that other people found out what he had said. I'm surprised he wasn't demoted because after all, his testimony was under oath.
Apart from that though (but I have to admit, I love reading Powell's testimony because of the sheer far fetchedness *if that's a word* of it all), I think I'm closer to sorting stuff out, which is a relief in itself.
It's a shame though that there isn't anything from Fetterman, Grummond and Brown - the main characters in this event - because I'd love to hear from them in some way of form.
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Caution To The Winter Wind
'Caution To The Winter Wind'.
Though very liable to change, this is the current name for the story about Mr Fetterman and his massacre in 1866. It starts on December 19th and crawls up to after the event on December 21st, in the hope that's it's pretty accurate but not too much just like a historical factual novel. Which is going to probably prove tough after the extensive research.
It's split into three (or four) parts, depending on how carried away I get, and so far, parts of each have been written with a short, un-edited Prologue. All writing is, currently, suspended though in favour to research a bit more before I end up running in pelmel and re-writing everything. Which is what usually happens.
Still haven't learnt though. :D
About the research so far though. After writing notes from a few history books about the overview of the American West and finding out the hard way I need to find more specialised things about the subject, I started to write down questions to answer. These were much about the quota I thought I would have though, relating mainly to times, distances and events, which each testimony, letter and report I've read seems to dispute.
Some, luckily, have so far been answered but with each answered, another unanswered one pops up. Testimonies printed off for annotations are: Major Powell's (who was the man who Mr Fetterman took the place of to relieve the corralled and attacked wood train) and Ten Eyck's (the man who went out to relieve Fetterman's force, too late it appeared afterwards).
Powell's, so far, seems to be awful faulty, with a huge amount of corrections from his senior, the commander of the post, Carrington. He seems to think a big thing of himself, saying that he took the command of a lot of details that he actually didn't, and there are so many corrections that I am doubtful that he's actually telling the truth. Though, I'm not sure who's telling the truth at that Fort. Which is a problem, obviously.
I haven't read through Ten Eyck's yet but, from a quick look over, he seems pretty reliable, because of the fact most of it is from a diary which he would have no reason to lie to.
From the other testimonies I'm going to look through though, I suppose I'm going to have to compare them and write down the comparisons to sift through and find what seems to be vaguely truthful and not. How long that will take I'm not sure.
Also, a diary as some of the main characters (namely Carrington, Fetterman and maybe Powell) could help with personalities, as that will, again, be a problem as we don't really know what they were truly like. Should be fun though trying to give them some type of voice and life.
I may post the Prologue at some point but as with the rest of the story, that's far off.
One thing for sure though, I can't wait to start.
Katie x
Though very liable to change, this is the current name for the story about Mr Fetterman and his massacre in 1866. It starts on December 19th and crawls up to after the event on December 21st, in the hope that's it's pretty accurate but not too much just like a historical factual novel. Which is going to probably prove tough after the extensive research.
It's split into three (or four) parts, depending on how carried away I get, and so far, parts of each have been written with a short, un-edited Prologue. All writing is, currently, suspended though in favour to research a bit more before I end up running in pelmel and re-writing everything. Which is what usually happens.
Still haven't learnt though. :D
About the research so far though. After writing notes from a few history books about the overview of the American West and finding out the hard way I need to find more specialised things about the subject, I started to write down questions to answer. These were much about the quota I thought I would have though, relating mainly to times, distances and events, which each testimony, letter and report I've read seems to dispute.
Some, luckily, have so far been answered but with each answered, another unanswered one pops up. Testimonies printed off for annotations are: Major Powell's (who was the man who Mr Fetterman took the place of to relieve the corralled and attacked wood train) and Ten Eyck's (the man who went out to relieve Fetterman's force, too late it appeared afterwards).
Powell's, so far, seems to be awful faulty, with a huge amount of corrections from his senior, the commander of the post, Carrington. He seems to think a big thing of himself, saying that he took the command of a lot of details that he actually didn't, and there are so many corrections that I am doubtful that he's actually telling the truth. Though, I'm not sure who's telling the truth at that Fort. Which is a problem, obviously.
I haven't read through Ten Eyck's yet but, from a quick look over, he seems pretty reliable, because of the fact most of it is from a diary which he would have no reason to lie to.
From the other testimonies I'm going to look through though, I suppose I'm going to have to compare them and write down the comparisons to sift through and find what seems to be vaguely truthful and not. How long that will take I'm not sure.
Also, a diary as some of the main characters (namely Carrington, Fetterman and maybe Powell) could help with personalities, as that will, again, be a problem as we don't really know what they were truly like. Should be fun though trying to give them some type of voice and life.
I may post the Prologue at some point but as with the rest of the story, that's far off.
One thing for sure though, I can't wait to start.
Katie x
Sifting Through and Hoping to Find Something
I don't know how on earth such an idea could quite get this confusing and in depth. Well, actually I do. I guess I should have known too. Starting on the plan - or the mission, it seems to be shaping out to be - to write a series of short stories based on the history of 19th century America, 1860s-1890 was, okay, never going to be a simple thing.
Okay, I knew that. But, being interested - no, obsessed - with the subject I thought it would be a good idea. It is - and I admit, I actually love doing the rather extensive research behind the ''short'' stories (''short'' being said loosely because I never like saying whether a story's going to be short, long, medium, or whatever) - but there sure is a lot of it.
I've written stories before - I love it, even though sometimes (okay, more than ''sometimes'') it drives me to the brink of insanity, and back - but never a real attempt at a historical story. I've read a load of novels and fiction on the topic and I've seen the lists of bibliography and research almost numbering the pages of the actual bulk of the book but that always seemed very, very far out of reach with the amount.
I guess I was wrong.
Though I can't, as of yet, say that I've reached that mammoth amount of research, even for just the first story I've delved into with what feels like my eyes closed, the information is coming in in torrents.
And I've been handed the long job of sifting through it all to find the similarities and differences from the testimonies, the letters, the novels, the reports, the newspapers... Fantastic.
I say that sarcastically but...no. Like I said, it's kind of relaxing almost. If it was on anything other than the history of the American West, I would be tearing my hair out in clumps but this is different.
Though I can't actually wait to start writing once it's all gathered together. Hopefully in one place.
So. The story. Well, the first one I've decided to have a go at is about the massacre at Fort Phil Kearney of Captain Fetterman and his 80 men, 21st December 1866. He was a rather arrogant, daredevil young Officer of the time and along with the Post Quartermaster and the Fort and another similar-minded Officer of Cavalry, Grummond, they were becoming increasingly irritated with the commander of the Fort, a Colonel Henry Carrington. In amongst themselves, they said he was weak and cowardly, having retreated from Indians beforehand, and also accusing him of having no experience of fighting these same Indians.
The Indians (namely the Oglala Sioux around the Fort, located on the Powder River), at that time being led by Young-Man-Afraid of His Horses, knew the Fort's weakness. They continously attacked the wood train leading to the pinery and did their best to cut off the supplies. When it got to winter, their 'campaign' if it could be called that was decided upon and resulted in what is now known as the Fetterman Massacre, via clever decoys tricks and ambushes.
From just the information of a few books by Dee Brown and Stephen Ambrose and a few websites, I started, only to find I didn't know half as much as I thought. Recently, a stalemate has come about and for now, all writing of the story is suspended until I get the research firmly and definitely sorted and accounted for.
How on earth that's going to happen I don't know though.
Well, okay, I've got some sort of idea.
How on earth it got this confusing though, again, I don't know. Probably because I have this obsession with getting everything down to details, to the point where it's annoyingly so.
Many questions still need to be answered, mostly over the tiny little details, but some not quite. Lots of information is disputed by the Officers, the surgeons, the Commanders and so on and via testimonies, reports and letters, like I said, I have to find the contradictions and comparisons.
This blog, though I have to say it probably will be sabotaged by other random ideas and thoughts, is, in theory, meant to keep all this in track, as suggested by my dad, who very luckily helps with a lot of information on the weapons and tactics.
I hope you enjoy your stay here.
Have fun.
Katie x
Okay, I knew that. But, being interested - no, obsessed - with the subject I thought it would be a good idea. It is - and I admit, I actually love doing the rather extensive research behind the ''short'' stories (''short'' being said loosely because I never like saying whether a story's going to be short, long, medium, or whatever) - but there sure is a lot of it.
I've written stories before - I love it, even though sometimes (okay, more than ''sometimes'') it drives me to the brink of insanity, and back - but never a real attempt at a historical story. I've read a load of novels and fiction on the topic and I've seen the lists of bibliography and research almost numbering the pages of the actual bulk of the book but that always seemed very, very far out of reach with the amount.
I guess I was wrong.
Though I can't, as of yet, say that I've reached that mammoth amount of research, even for just the first story I've delved into with what feels like my eyes closed, the information is coming in in torrents.
And I've been handed the long job of sifting through it all to find the similarities and differences from the testimonies, the letters, the novels, the reports, the newspapers... Fantastic.
I say that sarcastically but...no. Like I said, it's kind of relaxing almost. If it was on anything other than the history of the American West, I would be tearing my hair out in clumps but this is different.
Though I can't actually wait to start writing once it's all gathered together. Hopefully in one place.
So. The story. Well, the first one I've decided to have a go at is about the massacre at Fort Phil Kearney of Captain Fetterman and his 80 men, 21st December 1866. He was a rather arrogant, daredevil young Officer of the time and along with the Post Quartermaster and the Fort and another similar-minded Officer of Cavalry, Grummond, they were becoming increasingly irritated with the commander of the Fort, a Colonel Henry Carrington. In amongst themselves, they said he was weak and cowardly, having retreated from Indians beforehand, and also accusing him of having no experience of fighting these same Indians.
The Indians (namely the Oglala Sioux around the Fort, located on the Powder River), at that time being led by Young-Man-Afraid of His Horses, knew the Fort's weakness. They continously attacked the wood train leading to the pinery and did their best to cut off the supplies. When it got to winter, their 'campaign' if it could be called that was decided upon and resulted in what is now known as the Fetterman Massacre, via clever decoys tricks and ambushes.
From just the information of a few books by Dee Brown and Stephen Ambrose and a few websites, I started, only to find I didn't know half as much as I thought. Recently, a stalemate has come about and for now, all writing of the story is suspended until I get the research firmly and definitely sorted and accounted for.
How on earth that's going to happen I don't know though.
Well, okay, I've got some sort of idea.
How on earth it got this confusing though, again, I don't know. Probably because I have this obsession with getting everything down to details, to the point where it's annoyingly so.
Many questions still need to be answered, mostly over the tiny little details, but some not quite. Lots of information is disputed by the Officers, the surgeons, the Commanders and so on and via testimonies, reports and letters, like I said, I have to find the contradictions and comparisons.
This blog, though I have to say it probably will be sabotaged by other random ideas and thoughts, is, in theory, meant to keep all this in track, as suggested by my dad, who very luckily helps with a lot of information on the weapons and tactics.
I hope you enjoy your stay here.
Have fun.
Katie x
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