Library Advisory Board

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Allen Mesch

I just received word that I have been selected as a member of the Library Advisory Board for the City of Plano. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to this important resource. My appointment is for two years. Please see the Plano Libraries web site.

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Interview on RadioVision Network

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Allen Mesch

I am pleased to announce that I will be appearing on RadioVision Network on October 6, 2106 at 11:30 am.  My interview will be on the air for live viewing on RadioVision Network. I will be discussing my book Teacher of Civil War Generals – Major General Charles F. Smith, Soldier and West Point Commandant.

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Kindle Sales Events

Posted on September 7, 2016 by Allen Mesch

I will be holding two Kindle sales events in September.

Cover_Your_Affectionate_FatherOn September 10 from 8 am PST until 11 pm PST, the digital edition of Your Affectionate Father, Charles F. Smith will be on sale for $0.99.

From December 1855 to March 1860, Lieutenant Colonel Smith served with the Tenth Infantry Regiment in the Minnesota Territory where he led an expedition to the Red River of the North and then in the Utah Territory as an officer in the Mormon Expedition. During this period, Charles F. Smith began to correspond with his daughter Fanny Mactier Smith. The letters contain unblemished observations about Charles’s experiences and fatherly advice to Fanny. These letters provide an intimate view of antebellum life in a military family.

the_analyst_cover_for_kindleOn  September 15 from 8 am PST until 11 pm PST, the digital edition of The Analyst will be on sale for $0.99.

When Professor Russell Conrad received a call to fly to Washington, he didn’t expect that he would find himself in Saudi Arabia trying to rescue the President and prevent a nuclear war. After Conrad is summoned to Washington he finds himself on Air Force One as part of an American delegation to a secret peace conference in Saudi Arabia. President Omar Sanjar’s hopes of forming a lasting Middle East peace are shattered when the American delegation is kidnapped. Their captors’ ransom demands present a moral dilemma that threatens to plunge the Middle East into a nuclear war. Conrad’s role is transformed from CIA advisor to agent as he tries to rescue Sanjar and warn Israel of the impending missile attack.

This is a great way to sample these two books.

Please read and post a review.

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Digital vs. Paper

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Allen Mesch

Last week, Pew Research Center issued a report on America’s reading habits.  The study found that 65% of Americans read a print book in the last year. Pew found that 28% of Americans read an e-book and 14% listened to a audio-book in the previous year.

Although the share of e-book readers on tablets more than tripled since 2011 and the number of readers on smartphones has more than doubled over that time, e-book readership only increased from 17% in 2011 to 28% in 2014 and has not changed in the last two years.

Other highlights from Pew’s report Book Reading 2016:

  • Americans read an average of twelve books per year
  • Twenty-eight percent of Americans read books in both digital and print formats
  • Age does not seem to matter, and 6% of 18-29 year-olds only read digital books, 7% of 30-49  year-olds, and  5% of those 50 and older
  • Young people read more than seniors. Eighty percent of 18-29 year-olds read a book in the past year compared with 67% of those 65 and older.

For more information, see Book Reading 2016.

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Charles A. Marvin – “One Year, Six Months, and Eleven Days”

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Allen Mesch

I took a writing detour last week to work on a history of my wife’s ancestor Charles A. Marvin. As far as I can determine, Mr. Marvin is the only relative who fought in the American Civil War. As the title on the blog entry reflects, the “working title” is Charles A. Marvin – A Brief Interruption. The interruption referred to is Marvin’s one-year, six-month, and eleven-day time in the Union Army. Charles was a private in Company L of the Seventh Cavalry Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers.

Charles was a farmer in Covington, Pennsylvania when the war broke out in 1861. The 1860 US Census indicates that six people were members of the Marvin household: Charles (31), his wife Olive (28), Charles Elis (listed as Elis C.) (7), Emma J. (5), Elisabeth (4), and Hattie (1).

Charles was thirty-four when he enlisted for three years on February 12, 1864. The Regiment was originally formed in December 1861 and, during the course of the war, added new companies like Company  L to its ranks.  The company was probably organized and trained at Camp Cameron about 1 1/2 miles east of Harrisburg.  It was one of twelve camps in Harrisburg and vicinity. The company was raised in Berks County.

Seventh_PA_Cavalry_at Chickamauga

The Seventh Cavalry Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers Monument at Chickamauga, Georgia

The regiment fought in General William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign in 1864. After the capture of Atlanta, the Seventh went to Louisville, Kentucky to obtain new mounts and equipment. The Army sent the regiment to Gravelly Springs, Alabama, on the Tennessee River, where it drilled and completed its organization  for the spring campaign of 1865. On March 22, it joined the command of General James H. Wilson on the expedition from Eastport, Mississippi across the Gulf States. Under Wilson, the regiment fought at Selma and Macon. The Seventh occupied Macon in April and performed duties in Nashville until mustered out of service in August 23, 1865.

After he returned home, he continued to farm in northern Pennsylvania until his death on October 2, 1898 in East Smithfield.

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Your Affectionate Father on Kindle

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Allen Mesch

Your Affectionate Father, Charles F. Smith is now available on the Kindle platform. The price is $5.49.

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Reviews of Your Affectionate Father

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Allen Mesch

Cover_Your_Affectionate_FatherI am looking for some Amazon reviews for Your Affectionate Father, Charles F. Smith. Please contact me, if you would be interested in reading and reviewing this book.

In that regard, William MacKinnon has offered to review the book for the Utah Historical Quarterly in Salt Lake City. Mr. MacKinnon has written two books on the Mormon Campaign: At Sword’s Point: Volumes 1 and 2. Bill is an authority on the Mormon Campaign and was intrigued by the new information on the campaign contained in General Smith’s letters to his daughter, Fanny.

According to Bill’s Wikipedia page,  he is the author of At Sword’s Point: A Documentary History of the Utah War to 1858. MacKinnon has published over thirty articles on the history of the American West. In 2008, the Mormon History Association awarded MacKinnon its Thomas L. Kane Award. In 2010, he contributed an article to Mormonism: A Historical Encyclopedia. Please check out Bill’s books on Amazon.

I hope you will join Bill in lending your support to Your Affectionate Father, Charles F. Smith.

 

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Future Presentations

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Allen Mesch

This October will be busy with three presentations. I hope that you will be able to attend one of these talks.

  • October 2, 2016 – G.A. R. Civil War Museum & Library – Philadelphia, PA
  • October 8, 2016 – Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall – Carnegie, PA
  • October 20, 2016 – Dover Civil War Roundtable – Dover, TN

 

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Presentation at Allen Library on May 12, 2016

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Allen Mesch

Thank you to Allen Public Library for inviting me to speak about Major General C. F. Smith.  Also thanks to those who attended the talk and bought books.

It is wonderful to tell people about this fine gentleman, soldier, and Teacher of Civil War Generals.

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Review of Teacher of Civil War Generals in America’s Civil War

Posted on May 12, 2016 by Allen Mesch

During a book signing at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Plymouth Meeting, PA, I picked up the July 2016 edition of America’s Civil War. I was delighted to find an excellent review of Teacher of Civil War Generals written by Allen Barra. Barra wrote, “Teacher of Civil War Generals is a fine biographical history, compact and concise, complete with maps of major battles that are models of clarity.”

Barra recognized my intent in writing Smith’s history.

“It is also a plea for giving a great man his due.” “Should the Academy [US Military Academy] ever raise a statue in Charles Smith’s honor, Grant [General U. S. Grant] long ago supplied its dedication: ‘A better soldier or truer man does not live.'”

Thank you Allen Barra for your review.

 

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