Who here is a regular reader?

[ironglow]

   I have been about all my life...and assume others here are. I normally have a regular regimin. Each evening I read one chapter from the Bible,
   Then read another non-fiction book, before bedtime..just to aid in going to sleep.


    My choice at present, is, TWILIGHT OF EMPIRE..by Allan W Eckert .  It is the account of the BlacK Hawk war, when Chief Blackhawk of the
   Sac tribe, gathered up a small army of Sac and Fox Indians, along with a few Menominees, Potwatomies & Winnebagos, and attempted to kick the
  pioneers out of the Rock Island, Galena, Ottawa & Des Moines area of  of Illinois & Iowa..
 
  At present, I am at page #403 of 734 pages., but I have already gained much knowledge concerning the struggle.Much key knowledge, plus much
   incidental  information.

  One incident which struck my fancy, was when a militia unit encountered an old , frail Potawatomie man on the trail. He produced a stained,
   and tattered '"safe conduct" paper,.  However, the troops ignored that !

   These excitable militia men started crying for his blood, with shouts of  "shoot the &^#@%,", "run him through" and "make an example of him"..

  They were about to do just that, when their tall, rugged commander made it to the scene.  The commander shouted, " Stop ! You men back off!
 He's harmless andno one's killing him..
even calling their head officer a "coward"..
  When some of the troops still threatened the old man, even calling their head officer a "coward" ; the commander curled his fists and told them, "If any man here thinks I am a coward, let him test it right now !

  With that, the grumbling  ceased..and their commander..Captain Abraham Lincoln, wrote the old man a new "safe conduct" pass.
   Those details pique interest..

    Curiously, both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis (already a West Point grad) served there during the Black Hawk war.

[gene_225]

Interesting story, but not clear who was who. Was Lincoln the good officer or the bad one, or was he an incidental presence? And what part did Davis play in the episode?

[ironglow]

Interesting story, but not clear who was who. Was Lincoln the good officer or the bad one, or was he an incidental presence? And what part did Davis play in the episode?

  I have to assume both were credible officers, since they both went on to become notable persons of high rank..with no scandal following them

  Jefferson Davis was noted as having carried critical messages as an envoy during the war..  I had to cheat and look into the epilogue, to discover that Lt Jefferson Davis commanded a specific guard detail.
  It was the detail that escorted Black Hawk and the other warring chiefs as prisoners, down the river to Jefferson barracks at St Louis, after
  their surrender..

  Another incident relating to the young Abe Lincoln..  Being militia, and no West Point grad, as was Jeff Davis...  Captain Lincoln was not
    comfortable, and apparently not confident while marching troops..

  One day, leading his troops, he came to a narrow bridge.  Not being sure of the manner of marching a body of troops across a small bridge,
  the Captain halted his troops and he had them fall out... directing them to assemble the other side of the creek..within 2 minutes..

   Especially intriguing, that these two men would serve in such a local action.  i suspect it is more than likely that they knew each other rather well.

[Bob Riebe]

My reading of books, is like a sine wave, right now reading Science Fiction from the fifties to sixties.

Magazines, ever since I read the Weekly Reader in Grade School.

I should re-read the Bible, coulda, woulda, shoulda....

[ironglow]

  I read very little fiction...but now and then, I will pick up a "historical Novel" that deals honestly ..weaving the characters into an honest telling of the facts.  A work such as THE FORT, by Bernard Cornwell, will keep me awake..turning pages.

   Sometimes I will indulge in a fictional movie that is historically accurate, such as COLD MOUNTAIN. 

   One problem I find, and I suspect you also find, is that so many people gain their historical and or technical knowledge  from movies, apparently not
    realizing that they were watching a movie that was  pure fiction..

   My son and his wife watch a fair share of science fiction... but old curmudgeon I am, I see it as a waste of tiime, despite the fact that some
   scientific developments have been previewed in them.

   Then again, he is much into technology with his occupation..  His cameras, drones and processing equipment and procedures have to be cutting
   edge.  He has some 2 year old drones that are primarily shelf decorations.

  Myself on th eother hand, try to keep such technology out of my life as much as possible..since I see people in general, becoming slaves to it !

  Clumsily using this laptop is about as far as I am interested in going.

[darkgael]

IG: Regarding historical fiction....ever read any work by Kenneth Roberts (Arundel, Northwest Passage, Rabble in Arms, etc.)?
Nonfiction....Teddy Roosevelt wrote more than 40 books....African Game Trails is a good one. How about Robert Ruark's autobiographical "The Old man and the Boy" or "The Horn of the Hunter"?

[ironglow]

IG: Regarding historical fiction....ever read any work by Kenneth Roberts (Arundel, Northwest Passage, Rabble in Arms, etc.)?
Nonfiction....Teddy Roosevelt wrote more than 40 books....African Game Trails is a good one. How about Robert Ruark's autobiographical "The Old man and the Boy" or "The Horn of the Hunter"?

   Thanks, DG...I haven't read any of those works yet, but i will be looking into them..  My favorite author by far, is Allen W Eckert. His books are called "narratives" because he dies take the liberty of composinng what must have been some short conversations..other than that his research for the facxts is pheonominal.   

  I perticularly enjoyed  'THe Wilderness War' since it takes place very near where I live.  His research is so thorough, I can go to the very spot
  (covered in the bibliography) where a small event happened. 

    For example;  He may saynin the bibliography, something like.." Chief so and so was killed just 20 yards down stream where the bridge today
   crosses county road 36 at the east bank of Turtle creek...

  Here is Amazon's list of books by Eckert...but be prepared for several hundred pages in each volume..

   https://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-War-Narrative-Winning-America/dp/1931672148/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=89PKb&content-id=amzn1.sym.cf86ec3a-68