Author Robert Broadwater will appear in State College next month to discuss his new book on the Civil War.
The Tipton native is scheduled to discuss his book, Battle of Despair: Bentonville and the North Carolina Campaign. Broadwater will be at the Barnes & Noble located at 365 Benner Pike on Sept. 12 at 2 p.m.
A press release from the book store said the Battle of Bentonville has become one of the forgotten battles of the Civil War. It became overshadowed by other major events such as the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and the assassination of President Lincoln.
The book chronicles the skirmishes and battles between the Union and Confederate forces under General Sherman and General Johnston, respectively. The book relies heavily upon first-person accounts of the battle, with much of the action being related through the words of the actual participants.
Battle of Despair was nominated for the Lincoln Prize at Gettysburg College and for the Douglas Freeman Award for best history book, according to the press release.
Broadwater resides in Tipton and has authored several books and dozens of magazine articles which deal with the Civil War. He also writes a column on Civil War collectibles.
Broadwater has also written about the Revolutionary War, World War II, the Spanish-American War, the Mexican-American War and other aspects of military history.
Last month in a previous Daily Herald article he said he is looking to have a book published soon which will detail the Battle of Perrysville. He also said another book was under review at a another publisher.
Recently, Broadwater has been working on a book about the largest battle to take place in Florida in the Civil War. He said Macon University Press in interested in publishing that book when it’s completed.
“(The publisher) said, ‘please’ three times to send it to him as soon as I got it done,” said Broadwater. “(They’re) out of Georgia, so a book about a battle in Florida would be of regional interest to them.
Broadwater attended Salisbury-Elk Lick High School in Salisbury before going on to attend Penn State University.
He first moved to the Tyrone area in the mid-70s and spent about 20 years in Tyrone. Although, Broadwater spent a few of the last 28 years out of the area, he eventually returned and resides in Bellwood.
More details on Battle of Despair, a Macon University Press offering can be found at the web site: www.mupress.org.
The event at Barnes & Nobles next month is free and open to the public.
