Thanks for the tip, Mr.Biggs. I'll email or call Dr.Hafendorfer to see if he can point me toward a reliable source on troop dispositions. Haven't read his work on Wildcat, but we talked a couple times and emailed back and forth quite a bit while I was doing research for my book on the Battle of Richmond. His book on Richmond was good, and very professionally done, but there were too many instances where he took the initial reports in the ORs to be the gospel, even when evidence to the contrary was readily available for anyone who cared to dig a little deeper. Casualties, for example: The figures given in the ORs were, for the US Army:206 KIA, 844 WIA, and 4,303 captured. CS Army: 98 KIA, 492 WIA, with these being the statistics later cited by the Federal Gov't. as fact(An institution not exactly known for being forthright about anything, then or now.) From the research of Mr.Anthony Hawkins, and some small contribution from myself, the MINIMUM casualty figures for Nelson's force come to 273 KIA, 1,101 WIA, and 4,364 (not wounded) prisoners. Smith's Confederates lost 156 KIA and 503 WIA, with the missing cavalrymen from Scott's comand returning. With far less money and resources at our disposal, we were able to come up with the most complete and accurate statistics to date. Dr.Hafendorfer does good, professional work, but 391 casualties short is quite a difference. Where others give only the numbers, mostly provided by the same US Gov't who lost the battle but ultimately won the War, we provide the names of each casualty we found and often the type of wound. This is not a criticism of you in any way, and I thank you for your suggestion, and trying to help me. Just please always remember that the book with the nicest cover and the neatest graphics inside does not mean it is any closer to the truth. I'm headed South, to KY, to "Flee unto the hills from whence thy came", as the Book says, and while I recuperate from a serious illness with my family, I'll only be approx 20-30 min away from that battlefield and plan to spend alot of time there. Thanks again, and if you aren't too far away, maybe we'll run into each other at the Wildcat reenactment, 16-18 OCT. Have a good weekend,Sir.

Michael J Gabbard