By Mary Ellis
Researching the area of
the country that your story takes place in can be a minefield, no pun intended.
An author has a responsibility to put characters into an accurate historical
context. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. My current series of romances takes
place during the American Civil War.
I’ve spent the past dozen years in a local
Civil War roundtable, in which the members are dedicated to remembering four
tumultuous years of our country’s past…at least from their perspective, which
happens to be decidedly Yankee. Although these dedicated historians believe
their information to be accurate, I’ve heard conflicting accounts of the same
events while traveling through the South. Who is correct—the distinguished
professor of history from a respected New England college, or his counterpart
who teaches at the University of Alabama? Far be it from me to decide. Everyone
with firsthand knowledge is long dead. I believe there’s never been a more
controversial period than the Civil War.
I have visited
historical sites in Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Maryland,
and Virginia for background. Once I’m home in my office, I read history books
and detailed biographies, and then double-check the info against Wikipedia. I
can rest assured of accuracy, right? Wrong. Often three different sources
provide three different sets of details. History can’t even agree on the names
of battles: Bull Run is called First Manassas south of the Mason Dixon Line,
while Maryland’s Antietam is often called the Battle of Sharpsburg. When I
tried to ascertain how cavalry general, J.E.B Stuart died at Yellow Tavern, VA,
one source said his adversary was a “Union sharpshooter,” while another
described him as a “scalawag deserter.” Hmmm. Are you sensing
that a source’s geographic location determines the “slant” of the information?
If you don’t believe me, compare how university presses in the North interpret
the exploits of John Singleton Mosby and John Hunt Morgan against those in the
South.
When I started gathering
information, I assumed the victor of a particular battle would be
cut-and-dried. Not so the case. One account of the battle of Spotsylvania
Courthouse, listed the outcome as a “draw,” despite the Union suffering twice
as many casualties. However, a U.S. Park Service brochure listed the same
fourteen days in May, 1864 as a Union victory.
No one could possibly
describe conditions at Andersonville Prison as anything but horrific
cruelty…unless one studies the residual effects of Sherman’s march-to-the-sea.
Unfortunately, destroying food production to reduce Confederate resistance also
resulted in the starvation of Union prisoners of war.
As a lover of history, I
try to see both sides of complex issues. I am a Northerner, born and raised,
but I enjoy spending as much time as possible in the South. I hope my fictional
characters will resonate with a sense of humanity that transcends political
affiliations to uplift, inform and most of all, entertain. The first of my
Civil War Heroines series, The Quaker and the Rebel,releases January 1st from Harvest House Publishers.
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