Work continues on my latest project Hometown Heroes in the Civil War. There is much more research and reading involved than in my previous books. I have labelled my efforts R&R – Reading & Research.

The Berkshire citizens I call “heroes” in my latest book have all passed away, most over one hundred years ago, and knowledgeable descendants are difficult to find. With this in mind, my efforts and my information gathering efforts are focused on research and reading, often aided by members of local historical societies and museums.

As I consider different persons to include in the book, who are often recommended by families or local sources, I conduct an initial search for basic information through newspapers or Google.com. I get an immediate indication of the kind of information available and whether I can discover enough about that person to share an interesting story.

As facts reveal the possibility of an intriguing story, my research advances from ancestry.com, Fold-3, and newspapers.com to old editions of town newspapers and letters. My research includes acquiring and reading Army and Navy unit histories, battle summary books, and many different texts on broad Civil War era topics.

While all these efforts usually occur before I commit many words on paper, they are time consuming and, at times, feel a bit slow for me because I am always anxious to get to the writing!

The patience and research have already led to great discoveries and fascinating stories. After completing eight chapters, I have collected and written the following vignettes about Hometown Heroes in the Civil War.

There is:

• The Union captain who assumed another’s responsibilities and was killed while defending his retreating unit, although records indicate he was murdered.
• The Private who captured a Confederate general and is being considered for the Medal of Honor more than 150 years after his heroic actions.
• The corporal killed in action protecting the Colors.
• Two freedmen who fought with the valiant 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, both barely surviving the war, one of whom sadly succumbed days after getting home.
• A Union sailor who survived the first sinking on an American warship by a submarine, only to have his next ship ambushed and sunk by a calvary unit – another first in Civil War history.
• An area carpenter who suffered a catastrophic wound in battle, resulting in multiple amputations, who became a successful farmer and local official upon returning home.

Each one of these stories energize me, make my R&R efforts worthwhile, and I hope the outcome will be to provide interesting tales for my readers.