I was excited. Author Jack C. Mason had discovered a hundred or so letters written by Israel B. Richardson – mortally wounded as a major-general at Antietam and a colonel and brigade commander in Daniel Tyler’s division at First Bull Run – and used them to produce Until Antietam: The Life and Letters of Major General Israel B. Richardson, U. S. Army. Great – fair usage would allow me to add to the resources section Richardson’s letters pertaining to Blackburn’s Ford and Bull Run. After a long wait for the publication, I ordered the book from Amazon and received it last week. The book is 202 pages of text, and in addition to other sources used Richardson’s unpublished letters as a basis for a full biography. But silly me, I assumed by something in the title (oh, I don’t know, maybe the Life AND LETTERS part?) that the letters were included. Sadly they are not. This may be a kick-ass biography (I don’t know, I haven’t read it yet), but it is not a Life and Letters book. Oh well, you live and learn
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