You can order your copy directly through me.

New Book is Out!

Okay folks, the time has come.  My newest book has just arrived! You can purchase it here: Deeds Publishing    Amazon has the Kindle version.  Get'em while they last! ;)

Good news!  The draft of Broomsticks to Battlefields 2nd edition has been submitted to my publisher, Deeds Publishing. www.deedspublishing.com/.

This edition includes additional research on Delaware Military Academy and Henry C. Robinett.  It also includes a class mate of Robinett's, David Vickers.  Vickers was captured at the battle of the Wilderness and imprisoned at Camp Oglethorpe in Macon, GA, then moved as Sherman's march began.  His story after the war is quite intriguing.  More to follow.

Henry C. Robinett

David Vickers

Delaware Military Academy

Well, you are all due an update, sorry for the delay.  I have been working on the firs draft of the second edition of Broomsticks for some time now and I am pleased to report I am about 3/4 of the way through it.  I have added additional information about Delaware Military Academy and some new research related to Robinett and his suicide.  I am hoping to have the firs draft ready for outside review by August.  It has been a grind as I can only work on this around my "real" job work schedule but things are finally moving along.

Now on Kindle!!!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_6_27?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=broomsticks+to+battlefields&sprefix=broomsticks+to+battlefields

An AHA Moment about Vickers and Freemasonry

I was talking to four Freemasons this week about both Robinett and Vickers.  They indicated that when a mason is removed from the organization every mention of them is purged for all records.  That could MEAN, in the case of Vickers that is what happened to him and why I cannot find where he was raised. BUT, then why was he buried in a Masonic cemetery?

Every question answered always generates new questions.

Keep History Alive
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New Review

Al Nofi has posted a review of Robinett on Strategy page.  You can view it here:

http://www.strategypage.com/bookreviews/590.asp

Robinett and Vickers

AS the first draft of my manuscript winds down it is becoming quite obvious that the two had far more in common that simply DMA.  It now that David Vickers shared the same psychological issues: PTSD and Narcissism.  Hard to say for sure as long distance psychiatry is difficult at best and in Vickers' case he left so little in the way of personal papers.

North & South Magazine

The current issue of North & South magazine, Vol 12, # 6, March 2011 has an article I wrote about Henry C. Robinett, "When All But Life and Honor's Lost."  Be sure to pick up a copy.

Good news

 "This book has been nominated for the 2010 Tom Watson Brown Book Award through The Society of Civil War Historians."

Robinett Family Association Gathering 2010

What a wondeful time in Fulton, MO. They were very interested in learning more about Henry C. and his experiences in the war and his untimely death.

A Christopher Wrens design, St Mary Aldermanbury church in the City of London, is first mentioned in 1181 but was destroyed by the Great fire of London in 1666. Rebuilt in Portland stone by Sir Christopher Wren, it was again gutted by the Blitz in 1940, leaving only the walls. In 1966 these stones were transported to Fulton, Missouri, by the residents of that town, and rebuilt in the grounds of Westminster College, Missouri as a memorial to Sir Winston Churchill. Churchill had made his Sinews of Peace, "Iron Curtain" speech in the Westminster College Gymnasium in 1946.

Off to Fulton,MO!

I leave for the Robinett Family gathering in Fulton tomorrow morning.  I will be speaking to them about Henry on Saturday.

It's OUT!!!

I am pleased to announce that Deeds Publishing has just released my new book: Broomsticks to battlefields. To paraphrase Al Nofi:


Bill Speer has done something interesting. He has used Robinett’s life to throw some light upon several aspects of the American experience and society in the mid-nineteenth century that have not yet been fully explored.
Unlike many who returned to civilian life after the war, Robinett pursued a career in the Regular Army. That career, however, was marred by increasingly erratic behavior that ended in his suicide just three years after the war - the result of complex psychological problems that are carefully discussed in the book. From Broomsticks to Battlefields gives us a little more insight into the extent to which the horrors of war affect the personality and reminds us that historians and psychologists have barely begun to study the question of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury among Civil War veterans.


If you are interested in purchasing a copy you can go to the Deeds website:  http://www.deedspublishing.com/  and place your order.  I am very interested in hearing what you have to say about this piece.

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New Title?

Al Nofi has a new title for my book with some modifications by me:

Broomsticks to Battlefields, being the True and Concise History of Henry Clay Robinett, Captain, USA, in the late Rebellion, with some comment on the social mores of mid-century Americans, the state of military education in the United States, and sundry other subjects, among which may be the First U.S. Infantry, General Ulysses Grant, the battle of Corinth, New Orleans, Freemasonry, Delaware Military Academy, with additional information on courts martial, and military suicide, with some supporting maps and details never before seen in print, published by Mr. Robert Babcock and Deeds Publishing, purveyor or fine offerings in military history.

What do you think?

And the Decision Is...

Well, I have decided. I am going to apply for another grant from AMU and will continue this project this coming year. I have discussed the project with Bob and Mark Babcock of Deeds Publishing http://www.deedspublishing.com/ and they both believe that a series has merit. So, the title of the series shall be: Broomsticks to Battlefields: The Cadets of Delaware Military Academy in the Civil War. Robinett will be the first published in the series.

The second will be David Vickers Jr. of Camden, NJ. Vickers is another interesting cadet from DMA. He was in the 3rd and 4th New Jersey Volunteers and was eventually captured at Spotsylvania Court House, take to Macon, GA and Camp Oglethorpe. When Sherman’s forces approached, he was moved to Camp Sorghum near Columbia, SC. He was brevetted to brigadier general in 1865 and after the war served as a diplomat in Cuba. During the Spanish American war he was an inspector general. Upon his death his will was contested by a second wife from Chile. He should make for a very interesting story.

Of course the pace of my research will be greatly enhanced if I receive a grant from AMU. Failing that , I will continue the project but at a slower pace.
That is the story for now. My Robinett project is due next Tuesday so this would holiday weekend will be spent putting the finishing touches on him and his story.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

and remember...

keep History Alive!
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Back to Work

Well, this Sunday I will be back at work on my second draft. Thanks to last weekend at PMC/Widener I have numerous items I wish to add to the project.

AMU is asking for next year's grant applications by 1 December. That means I must decided if I wish to do this again and if so how. The options are:

1. Don't apply, chill for the year - NOPE - doesn't sound like me.
2. Apply and expand Robinett in a full biography - not sure that is really interesting to anyone as I have the most critical events in this one.
3. Make Robinett volume one of a series on the cadets of DMA/PMA in the Civil War. This hold great merit as no work has been done on them and there are a ton of interesting cadets involved in the war. I am leaning towards this for my grant proposal. Your ideas are greatly appreciated.

I have been talking to a friend of mine, Bob Babcock who owns a publishing company and is also an accomplished historian himself. He think s the best potential is for a series of mini-books on these guys. You can check out his works here. What Now Lieutenant? is a great read and still relevant for today. He has also written a nice work on the 4th ID in OIF 1.

http://www.deedspublishing.com/

Keep history Alive!
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The class of 1954 met the current ROTC cadets for 2 hours today. There were some great conversations! After that both groups got to hear about Henry C. Robinett and how his experiences relate to our soldiers today from me---good stuff. LTC Peterson gave me a Commander's Coin which I greatly appreciated. THEN he gave me a brick from the old Armory they tore down (1920-2008) last year--WOW, something special! It was a good day.

Keep History Alive
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First Rough Draft is Complete

Well, the first draft is completed. It is very rough. special thanks to Becky Warda and Jim Timmerman for looking it over for all my typing/spelling errors. I am an abysmal typist and when I write something this large I just keep going unless it is obvious.

Making a few copies to take with me to Homecoming at Widener/PMC this weekend. It is going to be COLD and WET. Some fun. Be nice to get some good shots of the Broom Drill at halftime of the game.

Next week, I will begin editing the draft and completing the sections I don't fell are just right.

Keep History Alive
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Big Push This Weekend

Well, a three day weekend is upon us and I plan of finishing the first draft by Monday evening. I have discovered some more interesting connections between Robinett and the people of power in Wilmington, interesting stuff.

If you would like to read and help proof/critique the first draft just let me know.

More Progress

Got Henry to "his" day at Corinth, all out push this week to complete the first draft.

I stumbled across his nemesis at his two major courts martial.


Isaac Denniston DeRussy is buried in Arlington. From their site:
"Appointed from New York, Second Lieutenant, 26 April 1861; First Lieutenant, 14 May 1861; Captain, 27 February 1862;

4th United States Infantry, 29 September 1879; Lieutenant Colonel, 14th United States Infantry, 1 July 1885; Colonel, 11th United States Infantry, 19 May 1891; Brigadier General, 1 April 1902; retired 15 April 1902;

Breveted Major, 13 March 1865 for faithful and meritorious services during the war.

Isaac D. DeRussy was born in 1840 at Fort Monroe, Virginia. He began his service as a Second Lieutenant with the 1st United States Infantry and by the end of the Civil War was a Captain. He participated in the siege of Corinth in May and June of 1862 and was breveted Major in 1865 for faithful and meritorious service during the war. He served with the 4th, 14th and 11th United States Infantry regiments. While commanding the 11th regiment as a Colonel, he also commanded Fort Huachuca, Arizona, in 1891 and 1892. On 10 August 1898 he led his regiment against Spanish forces near Hormiguero, Puerto Rico. He was retired on 1 April 1902 as a brigadier general and died on 17 February 1923 in New York City. He was buried in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery. His wife, Laura Requa DeRussy, who died in 1929, is buried with him.

What is most interesting is the fact that Robinett claims he never actually "served" during the war. Hmmmm....must check the ORs tonight.