Letters to the Editor

Originally published March 2016 · p. 3

– Letters – Book Business Has Changed TO THE EDITOR: I am responding to Theodore P. Savas’s November issue commentary, “The Golden Age of the Book Is Now.” I recently finished one book, Forts and Posts in Kansas During the Civil War, and am working on three other books (only one relating to the Civil War). I agree much has changed in the publishing world. I wrote a book in 1990, Dark Friday:  The Story of Quantrill’s Lawrence Raid, that went through the traditional publishing process.  While it was difficult to get it published, I found a publisher. With my recent book, I was completely rebuffed by university presses that once welcomed manuscripts on regional topics and who had expressed interest in any future books I would have.  For several reasons it took years to complete another book. I talked to a writer friend about this complete lack of interest by one university press.  He had a number of books published in the past by this press.  He said a few years ago they basically told him they were not interested in his writing anymore, although his books netted this press much profit.

Rebuttal To Letter On Cause Of War TO THE EDITOR: In his January issue letter attacking comments made by Ms. Carolyn Roxon in the prior issue of Civil War News, H.V. Traywick engages in the same tired neo-Confederate rants we have seen previously, to wit, the war had nothing to do with slavery but was an act of aggression on the part of the Lincoln administration against a peaceful, unoffending South. Left unsaid is the fact that this same slave holding South had dominated the federal government since its inception in 1787 via presidents who were either Southern slaveholders or proSouthern Northerners who defended Southern interests, and that this same slave holding South participated in the presidential election of 1860 in the full expectation that the entire country would respect the result if its favored candidate, the slave holding John Breckinridge, were elected. Instead, the South’s response to the legal election of Lincoln was armed insurrection in defense of the perpetuation and expansion of slavery, as the various Secession Ordinances as well as the Confederate Constitution made quite clear. Federal property was seized, a U.S. merchant ship, the Star of the West, was fired upon and hundreds of U.S. army soldiers stationed in various Southern forts were taken into custody by rebel authorities while James Buchanan was still in the White House. As for Mr. Traywick’s attempt to draw a parallel between the 13 colonies’ revolt against King George III and the slave states’ revolt against the Lincoln administration, I would remind him that the colonies had not dominated the British government for decades the way the South had dominated the federal government, and in fact the colonists lacked any representation whatsoever in the British Parliament. Dennis Middlebrooks Brooklyn, N.Y.

I talked to another author friend about this.  They both told me they had used CreateSpace and told me to do the same.  So this is how I had Forts and Posts in Kansas published. This is an easy to use online selfpublishing platform that works with the author well.  There are other such platforms out there. I am not certain what traditional publishers are looking for these days and it seems most authors I have met agree forgoing them for online selfpublishing platforms is better. Now moving to the subject of finding wonderful research sources online.  When I wrote Dark Friday all the research had to be done out on the historical sites, through interviews and in various research repositories. When I wrote Forts and Posts I did these things, as well.  However, I found original documents and books written by those around during the Civil War in a large variety of websites.  I even found doctoral dissertations that were of much help. So Theodore P. Savas is very correct in saying the world of publishing has changed in great part to digital and that the Internet has made it easier to research and publish original historical works. Bill Pollard Avon Park, Fla.

‘Grant Under Fire’ Review Is Under Fire TO THE EDITOR: The Director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, Dr. John Marszalek, should’ve provided an objective, professional review of Grant Under Fire: An Exposé of Generalship & Character in the American Civil War (November 2015 web exclusive) or else recused himself. He did neither. Without evidence, Marszalek implied that this critique of U.S. Grant cannot be true of “the individual whose talents and integrity won the Civil War.” Sarcastically, Marszalek merely repeated the book’s findings of Grant’s negligence, corruption, indolence, favoritism and incapacity. My book amply demonstrates each of these traits with cited, primary sources. Gordon Rhea, Glenn Robertson, John Horn, Robert Girardi, Larry Hewitt, Frank Varney, and Wiley Sword commended Grant Under Fire, particularly for its thorough research. Yet, Marszalek ignores its wealth of new information, findings, and unmatched accounts of Grant’s occupying Paducah under orders, corruptly conniving in Cairo, neglecting preparations at Shiloh, ordering Lew Wallace unwisely, excessively drinking, accidentally assaulting Missionary Ridge, exiting the Wilderness non-triumphantly, and abandoning the Cold Harbor wounded. On matters large and small, Grant Under Fire corrects the record. Marszalek misidentified the author, who’s neither a judge nor Florida resident. Among Marszalek’s other errors and exaggerations, politics was “a good part of the answer” — not “most of all” — why Grant ended up commanding the army; Grant was an unreliable historian, not a “congenital liar”; only a few friends were venal; and the book doesn’t call Sheridan a terrible general or “knock down” every significant Union commander.

The ‘Gun Show Loophole’ Explained TO THE EDITOR: As a Civil War show promoter and gun show promoter for 25 years, I am expected to be intimately familiar with local, state and federal laws concerning sales, trades and acquisitions of all types of firearms. In general, pre-1899 firearms are the easiest to buy, sell or trade as they are considered antiques under the Gun Control Act of 1968. As antiques, they can be bought and sold by dealers and individuals without background checks and carried or shipped across state lines in most instances, the exceptions being anti-gun states such as New York, California, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Post-1898 firearms are a different matter and are strictly regulated by the federal government. In fact, it has often been stated that firearms are the most heavily regulated consumer product sold in the United States, even more so than pharmaceutical narcotics. All new firearms sold in this country follow the same path: manufacturers or importers such as Colt sell firearms to a handful of large distributors. They in turn sell to licensed gun stores or gun dealers who then retail them to the general public. Each entity in this chain is licensed by the federal government and is routinely inspected and audited to insure they are adhering to a myriad of rules and regulations concerning production, consumer safety, serial numbers, storage, shipping and disposition of the firearms under their control. The gun dealer, as the final gateway to the public, bears the most responsibility as he who must conduct a National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) background check before completing a sale. The background check applies to all firearms, new and used, in the dealer’s inventory. The background check begins with a customer completing a six-page Form 4473, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) form for purchasing a firearm. Any incomplete or untruthful answers can result in a felony prosecution. After the form is completed, the dealer will log into his NICS account and request approval for the sale. NICS will check for any criminal history that would preclude the sale from taking place and will give the dealer a message to proceed, delay or deny the sale. This brief overview of the retail firearms business brings me to the so-called “Gun Show Loophole.” As you probably already know, Civil War shows and gun and knife shows are events where dealers and individuals come together to buy, sell, trade and just browse. The