Civil War 101: rethinking the Maryland campaign

Tim Reese says McPherson's Lawrence talk has got him rethinking the Maryland campaign. He's going to junk the nuance, the complexity, the sticky details that burdened his forthcoming book on the subject:

* McClellan relentlessly pursued Lee to Sharpsburg to return the Lost Order. Hey mister, here's your cigars!

* Jackson laid siege to Harpers Ferry in anticipation of the Federal government re-opening the arsenal.

* Crampton's Gap was in fact an elaborate scheme to keep Franklin out from under McClellan's feet.

* There are many monuments at Antietam because a battle occurred there.

* Lincoln released his Proclamation to encourage entrepreneurship in the deep South.

* If McClellan had had tanks he would have used them.

You are on your way to a mass audience, Mr. Reese, and if McPherson is not going to use his Pulitzer, I hope he'll let you borrow it for awhile.