Heard the news that Dr. Joseph Harsh has crossed over the river. Everything I know about the military side of the Civil War I learned from him. I had him at George Mason and not only took the Civil War class, but also a two-week (or was it three?) summer school class "on the road" as we traveled by van from Gettysburg to Appomattox following the late war campaigns in Virginia. I have fond memories of that--sitting around a hotel swimming pool debating Nolan's Lee Considered--and can't believe they gave me actual class credit for it!
Anyhow, I also remember some late evening in his office helping him open and examine boxes of books he had received by mail and talking about the "look" of Confederate soldiers on the Maryland Campaign. Best of all, while imbibing his hearty and well-known defense of McClellan, I learned first-hand how you could be an iconoclast and a first-rate scholar at the same time. That is harder than it looks.