The Tale Untwisted and the Open-Minded Historian
By: Marcy E. Zimmer
Do you think you know everything there is to know about George McClellan and General Robert E. Lee’s Special Orders 191? A perfect example of broadened research and writing beyond accepted fact is recently published The Tale Untwisted by Alex Rossino and Gene Thorp (Savas Beatie, 2023). The crux of their argument can be boiled down to this: historians cannot be historians without embracing new facts and interpretations.
The Tale Untwisted examines in fascinating detail the Union side of the story of Lee’s Lost Orders 191. Rossino and Thorp are not the first authors to argue that McClellan performed better in the Maryland Campaign than heretofore argued, and they do so in a concise fresh perspective. (Rossino just published the Confederate side of the story in Calamity at Frederick, also by Savas Beatie in December 2023). Trust me, The Tale Untwisted challenges a lot of what you thought was true.
It is easy to stick to works that align with narratives we view as correct, and harder to read that which challenge our beliefs. Why do we need to broaden our research and writing? There are many answers to this question; here are my own.
New source material requires fresh interpretation. Imagine a world where everything is blindly accepted as immutable fact; a world devoid of discussion and the free exchange of ideas. In this world, there will be no new ideas, sources, or writings. We do not have to all agree, but we do need to welcome new perspectives.
Reading new perspectives will enhance your own work. Imagine you believe X and someone else claims Y and explains why he believes it. In order to be an honest scholar, it is imperative to understand various arguments, sources, and conclusions and then use them accordingly. Civil War history is no different. Regardless of what you present, there are always other perspectives.
The depth of your knowledge is directly related to the strength and veracity of your argument. In most cases, historians who fail to acknowledge different perspectives limit the usefulness and strength of their own study. What impressed me about The Tale Untwisted was that it did not simply repeat the accepted narrative about the Lost Orders. Thorp and Rossino performed extensive new research that convinced them to challenge what has been repeated as fact since the 1800s. The result is an interesting scholarly work that sets a new standard.
Do you still think you know everything there is to know about George McClellan and Special Orders 191? If you have not already read The Tale Untwisted, you have a treat waiting for you. It’s the perfect book to open your mind. After all, historians cannot truly be historians without embracing new facts and interpretations.