ECW Welcomes Eric Wittenberg

Since the earliest days of Emerging Civil War, Eric Wittenberg has been a huge fan. He’s talked us up a lot, he’s offered advice, and he’s always had a lot of positive energy to inject any time we’ve turned to him as a sounding board for ideas. To be honest, it’s been a veritable Wittenberg-ECW Mutual Admiration Society. It was only natural, then, that we invited him to serve as our keynote speaker for the symposium this past August. (You can check out his fantastic talk, “The Battle of Trevilian Station,” on C-SPAN.)

Since then, Eric has played an increasingly active role in our internal planning and discussions. Somewhere along the line, we all realized, “Hey, he’s one of us.” So we’ve all decided to make it official!

We’re pleased to announce today that Eric has accepted our formal invitation to join the ranks of Emerging Civil War as a regular contributor.

For those who want the official bio on Eric:

Eric J. Wittenberg is an award-winning historian, blogger, speaker and tour guide. His specialty is Civil War cavalry operations, and much of his work has focused on the Gettysburg Campaign. He is the author of 18 published books on the Civil War and more than three dozen articles that have appeared in various national magazines. He is also deeply involved in battlefield preservation work and often assists the Civil War Trust with its efforts, and is also a member of the Governor of Ohio’s Advisory Commission on the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War. He is a native of southeastern Pennsylvania, and was educated at Dickinson College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He is an attorney in private practice. He and his wife Susan and their three golden retrievers reside in Columbus, Ohio.

Most importantly to us, Eric has been a good friend to ECW and a strong supporter from the outset. His decision to formally join ECW was the obvious next step in the evolution of our relationship. Of course, the real benefactors will be YOU, Faithful Readers.

Eric’s decision is especially exciting coming on the heels, as it does, of the addition of Dave Powell to the ranks, which was another nice post-symposium coup for us.

Eric is an “all-in” kind of guy, so of course he’s jumping in with both feet first. He already has a book in the works for our Emerging Civil War book series, which we’re putting on the fast track for release in the first half of 2015. Eric’s most recent book, “The Devil’s to Pay”: John Buford at Gettysburg, sold out its entire first printing before it even hit the bookstores (more copies are being printed even as we speak), so we’re delighted to have the power of his pen writing on behalf of the ECWS now, too. Details about that project will be coming soon.