Mea Culpa

I am writing today to correct a misrepresentation from an earlier post. An article was published in the Winter 2020 issue of Civil War Navy, The Magazine about the US Navy's role in the Battle of New Bern in March 1862. I mentioned in a blog post last year that I coauthored the article, but never mentioned the primary author by name. The primary author of that article is Steve Shaffer of New Bern. Steve has been involved in the New Bern Civil War Roundtable and New Bern Battlefield for many years and is part of a large and enthusiastic group of Civil War historians in a town known more for its history as the colonial capitol of North Carolina. What they have done over the years is quite impressive.

Steve had researched and written the article, sending it to me and asking for comments and suggestions. I thought that it would be a good fit for the magazine, and Steve graciously offered to add my name as coauthor for help in getting it published. The editor liked the article and made numerous editing suggestions. My role in this project was to respond to those editing suggestions and to format the citations. In answering the editor's requests, I added some material to the manuscript (usually extra information or quotes from the Official Records, or other things of that nature). I also worked with the editor to select some of the images used in the finished article. All revisions that came back to me from the editor were sent to Steve for his comment and approval before being finalized. The groundwork for this article (research and original draft) were Steve's.

I never intended to misrepresent my role in this project, but by not including Steve's name in the blog I did just that. For that, I humbly apologize to Steve; I never meant any slight. The issue was brought to my attention and I felt that a public apology was necessary.