Preview: Scott Patchan, “The Last Battle of Winchester”

Savas Beatie continues its summer 2013 deluge with Scott Patchan’s The Last Battle of Winchester: Phil Sheridan, Jubal Early, and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, August 7 – September 19, 1864. Mr. Patchan is the author of a number of works and is a frequent guide through the Shenandoah Valley and elsewhere. While one might suspect from the title that the this is a somewhat narrowly focused, and shorter, book. Such suspicions are misplaced in this instance. Last Battle weighs in at 474 pages of text (including foot, not end, notes), with 33 pages of OOB and strength info. The bibliography reveals that Patchan consulted a very respectable number of non-published archival sources from across the nation, and leans very heavily on participant accounts. Proof-reading and copy editing can make or break a book – I’ve been fooled before. I haven’t had a chance to read enough of this to get a feel for that end of it, but preliminary indicators for Last Battle overall are positive. It’s definitely worth a closer look.