Doyle, many years ago I was collaborating with Colonel Simpson on a definitive history of the 3rd Arkansas Regiment and the 2nd Arkansas Battalion. "Collaborating" sounds a little pompous, I guess. Actually, I was just doing some pick and shovel work for the Colonel in various archives and research rooms, transcribing stuff and sending it on to him. Colonel Simpson envisioned the book as a companion volume to his Hood's Texas Brigade compendium. Unfortunately, he passed away and the project just sort of fizzled out. No one at Hill Junior College knew what became of his manuscript, and no one else has stepped up to the plate to write a history of the 3rd Arkansas.

I love doing the research, but I lack the skill and motivation to be a writer.