What were some of the primary source materials Tom used in writing Lost Triumph?
Tom used many and varied sources — both primary and secondary — in writing Lost Triumph. Some of the primary sources he used include the official Civil War records and after action reports, the Bachelder papers, letters and memoirs, and the Hotchkiss maps. The material was found in various archives around the country including those at West Point and Gettysburg among others. He examined textbooks and other personal military books that were used by Lee, including Antoine Henri Jomeni’s Precis de l’Art de la Guerre (Art of War) published in 1838. This book, in the original French, was central to Lee’s understanding of military tactics and strategy. Tom read and used the original French version that would have been used by Lee.
