James and Suzanne Gindlesperger have written a couple of very interesting books dealing with the monuments on the Gettysburg and Antietam battlefields. On his own Jim has written several highly acclaimed books and has been nominated for the prestigious Lincoln Prize. Suzanne is a co founder of a very successful writing group. I am honored that they have agreed to answer some questions for us. Links to my reviews of their books and also a link to their website may be found at the end of the interview. If you haven't seen their books yet I highly recommend them!
CBR--Jim and Suzanne, Thank you so much for
agreeing to answer some questions. First off, can you tell readers a little bit
about yourselves?
Thanks
for asking us, Robert. Well, we’ve been
married for 42 years and we live in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. We have two children and two rescue
dogs. We both enjoy the same things,
especially tramping over Civil War battlefields, so it makes it easy to do
projects like our books together. Jim
works at Carnegie Mellon University, and Sue is a Travel Consultant for AAA.
CBR--What led to your interest in the
Civil War? Was it a particular book or visit to a battlefield?
It
really wasn’t anything specific that we can recall. We both have always enjoyed history, and with
both of us having ancestors who fought in the Civil War it was a natural
progression. Because Antietam and
Gettysburg are the two closest major battlefields to where we live, we just
seemed to gravitate to them at first, and from there we just expanded our
interests to the point now where most of our vacations seem to center around
battlefield visits.
CBR--You've co-authored two books in
the So You Think You Know... series, one dealing with Gettysburg and your
recent book dealing with Antietam. Can you please describe your books and also
what was the inspiration behind them?
Both
books are similar. We have always
enjoyed learning some of the “behind the scenes” stories that you don’t often
read about in the usual books about the battles. We find them fascinating, and they give a
truer picture of the men who fought.
Both books include photos of many of the monuments and locations on the
battlefields, along with maps and GPS coordinates so people can locate them
easily. Then, we added stories about
each one, trying to focus on the things we are often asked, such as why the
monument sits where it does, what does it represent, who designed it, and, of
course, the human interest stories. Some
of these stories are humorous, some are sad, but they all tell the story of the
men who fought. In a way, it’s kind of our
own little tribute to them, hoping that people who read about them will not
forget what they did.
Both
battlefields, but especially Gettysburg, have been written about
extensively. But we haven’t found many
books that tell the stories behind the men who fought, or the monuments that
they built. We wanted to stay away from
the battle details, the tactics, and the strategies, because they had been done
so well by so many others that we didn’t see any way we could add
anything. But the approach we have taken
seems to have taken hold with many readers who tell us that they enjoy both the
photography and the stories that they hadn’t heard before.
CBR--What has been the most interesting
thing you have learned while researching these two battlefields?
One
of the things we quickly picked up on in our early battlefield visits was the
significance of the monuments. Each one
tells a story, and we’ve tried to pass that along in our books. We tell people to take a few extra minutes to
study the monuments, to look at the inscriptions, or focus on the figures shown
and what they are doing. In nearly every
instance the monument depicts some significant event that the regiment or
individual was involved in. That is
really what got us interested in the behind-the-scenes stories we referred
to. We wanted to find out what the men
who fought were trying to tell us with their monument, and we learned that the
scenes shown weren’t just something general but were actually testimonies to
someone who did something outstanding in the battle, or to honor the entire
regiment for some stand they took or some charge they were involved in. Too often these monuments are taken for
granted. We look at them for a moment
and move on to the next, and people
would be surprised at how interesting their stories really are. It might take a little digging when you get
back home, but it will add to anyone’s appreciation of the battle and is well
worth the time.
CBR--How have the books been received
by readers?
They
have been received extremely well. The
Gettysburg book won the bronze award for the ForeWord Review’s Book of the Year
in 2010, and that really seemed to trigger a lot of interest. In fact, the reception the Gettysburg book
got was the real reason we decided to do the one on Antietam.
It’s
really gratifying to have strangers come up to us at a book signing or after one
of our lectures and tell us that they didn’t have much of an interest in the
Civil War until they read our books. And
how flattering is it when a licensed battlefield guide tells us he uses some of
our stories in his tours? It doesn’t get
much better than that.
CBR--Many writing partnerships are done
long distance but the two of you are married. Can you describe how you do your
research and who is responsible for what? Does one of you do the writing and
the other the photography or is the writing more collaborative?
Our
research techniques are really pretty hard to describe. Maybe because we really don’t have a specific
procedure. One of us can be taking a
picture and the other will say, “Here, let me have the camera a minute,” and
then take a photo of something that the other didn’t see. As a result, we have a lot of photos of the
same thing that we can choose from, with different angles or lighting
effects. And we often look at the
pictures later and truly don’t remember which one of us took some of them.
We
don’t have a set pattern, where one takes the pictures and the other writes the
stories. While one of us is talking
about something we learned about an individual or a regiment, it may remind the
other of something that seems totally unrelated, and we write it down so we can
try to work it in somewhere later. It
sounds pretty haphazard, and maybe it is, but it seems to work for us.
Our
work really is a joint effort, and we’ve always had the luxury that we don’t
take our writing too seriously. We do it
because we enjoy it, and we don’t put any pressure on ourselves to get
something done by a certain time. We
don’t even submit it to our agent until it is finished, so we don’t have to
rush to meet any contract deadlines.
That keeps it fun.
CBR--Time to put you on the spot. Of
these two battlefields do you have a favorite? Also, any particular monuments
that stick out as being your favorites and why?
Jim; For me, each battlefield has its own strong
points. Gettysburg is a treasure trove
of stories, simply because it is so large and so many troops were
involved. But Antietam is such an easy
battle to follow, and the field itself is small enough that it can easily be
covered in a weekend. So I guess I would
have to say I don’t have a clear cut favorite.
But
I do have some favorite monuments. At
Antietam I like the 90th Pennsylvania monument, mostly because it is
so unique. The fact that Gary Casteel, a
friend of ours, sculpted it, helps, too.
And I like the story behind the 51st Pennsylvania at the
Burnside Bridge. They had their whiskey
ration taken from them as punishment for some infraction, and when their
colonel asked them if they thought they could capture the bridge, they
immediately saw a chance to negotiate.
They said they could take the bridge if he gave them back their
whiskey. Both got what they wanted.
One
of my favorite spots at Gettysburg isn’t even a monument. It’s a rock on Culp’s Hill where Private Augustus
Coble of the 1st North Carolina left his mark. He was so proud of his participation in the
battle that he found a way to go back to Gettysburg many years later and find
the boulder where he fought, somehow carving his name and regiment into
it. It shows how important the battle
was to those who fought there.
And
because I enjoy irony, I also like the Excelsior Brigade monument in the
Wheatfield. It was supposed to include a
bust of General Daniel Sickles, but when the time came for the bust to be
sculpted, an audit revealed that the money to pay for it was missing. Turns out that the good general was
responsible for the missing money, so he never got his bust on the
monument. A fitting end to the story, I
think. Although later, as a Congressman,
he was responsible for the act that established the battlefield as a national
park, so in some respects, he got his recognition anyway.
Suzanne: Like Jim, I can’t pick one battlefield over
the other. Each holds a special place
for me. Gettysburg has the most
spectacular sunsets and watching them from Little Round Top is an experience
everyone should enjoy.
I
do have a special place, though, along Wheatfield Road. There’s a marker for Captain Jedidiah Chapman
of Connecticut who died while leading his company towards the Rose Woods. I came across this marker several years
before the naturalization project began in Gettysburg. When I found it, it was hidden in overgrown
weeds and seemed forgotten. I wondered
who he was. Since that time I’ve learned
a bit about him and his family. Sadly,
he was so young when he died, leaving a wife and children. Whenever we’re in Gettysburg, I try to visit
his marker to thank him for his sacrifice.
I
have two favorites at Antietam. The
first is the Dunker Church. It’s plain
and simple and so quiet whenever you
enter, so unlike that day in September 150 years ago. I like to sit in one of the pews and listen
to the silence and offer a prayer not
only for those who fought there, but for
my loved ones as well.
The
second place is unique, and as Jim mentioned, it’s one of his favorites, too. It’s the monument to the Ninetieth
Pennsylvania Infantry and is three fixed bayonets and a hanging cook pot. It sits along Cornfield Avenue and is shaded
by the tree line. On one visit, it was
covered with bright orange Monarch butterflies.
What a treat that was!
CBR--Jim, you've written several other
Civil War related books. Would you care to let readers know about your earlier
works?
My
first book, Escape from Libby Prison,
documents the famous tunnel escape. This
was the largest Prisoner of War escape in American military history, and
according to the National Park Service, my book was the first in-depth account
published. Escape from Libby Prison won the George Washington Honor Medal for
Excellence from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge. It was also featured in a Discovery Channel
documentary, and Warner Brothers purchased the film rights. Tom Hanks and Dylan Sellers were to be the
producers, but unfortunately, after a few years, Warner Brothers decided not to
follow through with it.
My
second book followed the cadets of Virginia Military Institute in the Battle of
New Market. It was titled Seed Corn of the Confederacy, a title
that Jefferson Davis gave the cadets. It
was the first book about New Market that was devoted exclusively to the
participation of the VMI cadets, and the director of the VMI museum wrote that
the story had never been told better.
My
third book, Fire on the Water,
focused on the voyages of the CSS Alabama and the USS Kearsarge. The Alabama accounted for nearly one of every four Union merchant
ships lost during the entire Civil War, with more than 60 ships destroyed. The Kearsarge
was one of the Union ships charged with finding and sinking the Alabama. The two finally met in an epic battle off the
coast of France on June 19, 1864. I
used ship logs and diaries to document the words and lives of the participants and
was able to offer a look into life at sea during the Civil War. I also examined and discussed the many
controversies surrounding the battle. Fire on the Water also won the George
Washington Honor Medal for Excellence and was nominated for the Lincoln Prize.
CBR--Suzanne, you are a co founder of
Pennwriters. Can you let readers know about this organization?
What
began as a brainstorm of five people, Pennwriters has grown as a not-for-profit
organization of more than 450 members from Pennsylvania and beyond. It was established in 1988 to be a network
for published and aspiring writers of all genres. We offer a three-day writers conference each
year as well as area events, email groups, online classes and social
networking. I encourage any writer who
needs help and encouragement to visit www.pennwriters.org
CBR--So what is up next for the two of
you? Any books in the future for readers to be on the lookout for?
We
have a couple of projects in the works.
We are working together on a second volume of So You Think You Know Gettysburg? that we are kind of excited
about. There were so many pictures and
stories that we wanted to include that we couldn’t fit them all into one book,
so that is something that we definitely want to do. And Jim has had a long time interest in the
trial and hanging of Henry Wirz, the Commandant of Andersonville Prison. He is actively gathering information on that
and plans to do an objective study of Wirz and the trial. Sue has an idea for a book on field hospitals
that is just starting to take shape, so she hopes to pursue that at some
point. All in all, it looks like we have
enough ideas that we should be busy for a while.
Thanks so much for allowing us to be a part of this
interview, Robert. We really appreciate
it.
CBR--And thank you for taking the time to participate. I really appreciate your time and highly suggest readers purchase your books. They are both entertaining and informative!
Please see my review of So You Think You Know Antietam here.
Please see my review of So You Think You Know Gettysburg here.
Please visit James and Suzanne's website here.
Monster Ballads X-Mas
.
. 
as Recker admirably shows this was not the end of Antietam photography but rather the beginning.
. In 1849, while traveling as an attorney on the Eighth Judicial Circuit in
Illinois, Abraham Lincoln befriended Leonard Swett (1825–89), a fellow attorney
sixteen years his junior. Despite this age difference, the two men built an
enduring friendship that continued until Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. Until
now, no historian has explored Swett’s life or his remarkable relationship with
the sixteenth president. In this welcome volume, Robert S. Eckley
provides the first biography of Swett, crafting an intimate portrait of his
experiences as a loyal member of Lincoln’s inner circle. 
. 
Throughout his twenty-three-year
legal career, Abraham Lincoln spent nearly as much time on the road as an
attorney for the Eighth Judicial Circuit as he did in his hometown of
Springfield, Illinois. Yet most historians gloss over the time and instead have
Lincoln emerge fully formed as a skillful politician in 1858. In this innovative
volume, Guy C. Fraker provides the first-ever study of Lincoln’s professional
and personal home away from home and demonstrates how the Eighth Judicial
Circuit and its people propelled Lincoln to the presidency. 
. 