Thanks for visiting my new web site, which I created to help in preserving our Civil War heritage. Civil War Legacy is dedicated to the memories of those soldiers—in both blue and gray—who fought with dedication and valor, as well as to those people who have carried the baton since then to honor the soldiers' sacrifices and preserve the grounds upon which they fought. My site will feature information about the Civil War books that I am working on (and how to purchase the books once they are published), interesting artifacts and documents from private and public collections, Civil War related travel, preservation initiatives, interesting Internet links, etc. I will also have a section on "Legends & Leaders" that will feature those pioneering, intrepid writers, historians, tour guides, and preservationists who have helped to keep the Civil War story alive.

I'm a businessman and don't pretend to be a formally trained Civil War historian. Nevertheless, I have studied the Civil War extensively for over a dozen years and am pleased to share with you what I have learned during my journey. Pardon me for seeming a bit audacious, but I thought I might also provide you with my perspectives on how to conduct Civil War and genealogical research, navigate through history centers, and develop a process to write a book yourself. Along the way, I'll also recommend essential reference materials, classic books, and important resources, which have proven to be of value to me.

I've learned a few pragmatic lessons in putting together my first book project (Chicago's Battery Boys: The Chicago Mercantile Battery in the Civil War's Western Theater), which has been a seven-year "labor of love"—that means I have spent far more of my own money in researching and producing it than I'll ever get back. But that's okay. It's a great story and one that I feel blessed to be able to share with readers.

I'm also working on my second book, A Mapmaker in Lee's Army, which is the journal collection of Captain Oscar Hinrichs. Leaving a successful career in the U.S. Coast Survey, Hinrichs drew upon the help of Confederate sympathisizers in southern Maryland—including John Surratt, Sr., who hid Hinrichs in his parlor—and "escaped" from the Union with Wat Bowie across the Potomac River to Virginia where they were received by Wade Hampton at his Rebel camp. Bowie was a Confederate spy and mail runner who would later become a Mosby Ranger. Hinrichs subsequently went to Richmond and joined the Confederacy as a topographical engineeer. He was actively involved in Robert E. Lee's Second Corps throughout the war, and began his service by helping General Joseph E. Johnston to develop a plan to move the Confederate troops from outside Washington, D.C. in the spring of 1862 and to fortify the Yorktown defenses. Like his mapmaking friend Jed Hotchkiss, Hinrichs also served under Stonewall Jackson. Information on this book project can be found in the section entitled "C.S.A. Mapmaker" on this site.

For those of you who are interested in blogging, I will try to keep you apprised of what I am going through as I launch Chicago's Battery Boys, complete my research and begin to edit/write A Mapmaker in Lee's Army, go on Civil War tours, etc. Hopefully, the blog will be fun and informative. I've never done anything like this before, so please be patient. Feel free to let me know what you think is working/not working with the blog and the web site itself. Thanks!

-Richard Brady Williams