Shaping a Human Experience for a Fictional Character
James is the father of my new character, Flora. He was killed in Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. Even though the Civil War is not the subject matter for the book I am working on, I need knowledge of the battles of Gettysburg, particularly the one that featured Pickett’s charge on July 3rd.
The historical context helps to establish the interactions of a Confederate Private with his peers and how he became involved in the North Carolina 26th Regiment, Company K, Pee Dee Wildcats.
What emotional journey does he make that takes him away from his farm and family? Should he enlist to protect his family, be arrested, or shot for desertion? His only choice was to enlist with little to no training, along with the rest of the Johnny-come-latelies he marched with.
I need to understand his mindset, the difficulties of fighting for something he did not agree with, while sacrificing his family and his farm. His inner conflicts created daily struggles as he marched further away from the valley he loved for a year, under an unprepared government that provided poorly for its soldiers.
How could I put myself in his shoes, or should I say barefeet, because he was not a soldier but a farmer carrying his hunting rifle, wearing his work clothes, and whose shoes wore out long before he ever reached Pennsylvania.
I went to Internet Archive.org, then to Open Library.org, and found a book entitled Gettysburg: A Journey to America’s Greatest Battleground in Photographs. It was published in 1913, fifty years after the battle, by Patriot Publishing Co., Springfield, Mass.
It features photographers Matthew B. Brody and Alexander Gardner, these men (and their assistants), brought their mobile studio and darkroom, along with the new method of photography, into the battlefields.
The old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is true for me, so I am thankful for the imagery in this book and for the online exhibit of photographs at Metmuseum.org. I think it would be very difficult for me to describe events James participated in without a visual to build on.
Years ago, I watched the Ken Burns series of Gettysburg, although back then, I didn’t have the idea for this historical fiction. In 2017, we went to Gettysburg National Military Park, where the fields, stone structures, and woods are still visible. The sense of this hallowed ground is evident when I had the knowledge that the remains of two armies are buried there, approximately 3,800 men.
The other helpful documentation in this book is for each day of the battles, July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, there is a timed chronology for each day. For example, I know that on the first day, sunrise began at 4:31 A.M. and by 5:00 A.M., the first movement of the troops began, and drums sounded. The recorded times document the Federals and the Confederacy, their locations, which division, and where the skirmish lines engaged throughout the day, until sunset, when the armies rested for the next day of battle. Throughout this document, the Union was referred to as the Federals.
I was excited to discover this treasure on the internet to help bring another character to life. What have you discovered that might help you with a project, a goal, or a fact-finding mission? Please feel free to leave your comments below.
https://openlibrary.org/subjects/gettysburg_battle_of_gettysburg_pa._1863
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/283195
