William Riley Brooksher

In today's posting on his blog, Dimitri is wondering where William Brooksher has gone. Last I heard, he was working on a history of Steele's wing of the Red River Campaign as a companion to his War Along the Bayous: The 1864 Red River Campaign in Louisiana (but this was several years ago).

What intrigued me most about Dimitri's post is that it's the most glowing assessment by far of his writing that I've ever come across. I've devoured just about every modern work that covers the war in Missouri but Brooksher's Bloody Hill: The Civil War Battle of Wilson's Creek, mainly because I allowed a quick glance through the bibliography and text to convince me that every part of it was superseded by other, more detailed works.

As Dimitri might suggest, I think I'll check out it's coverage of the Harney affair, if nothing else. I've read a bit about it over the years (and I think I can guess what Dimitri is getting at) and have always been meaning to pick up the standard biography of the general General William S. Harney: Prince of Dragoons but still haven't gotten around to it.