Johnston's uniform is something else but it's always fun to see a rebel surrender. I believe it's a Currier & Ives lithograph.

Grants seige and victory at Vicksburg was pivotal for beating the confederacy. He of course couldn't do it without Sherman, Porter, and the thousands of our boys in blue who were committed to ending treason and forming a more perfect union.

I'm trying to plot out a book about a Mormon vampire cult in the Utah territory directly following the Civil War, with a former Union soldier as the protagonist who stumbles on the cult after he gets lost in the desert on his way to California.

Look it's really in rough drafts right now. But I'm trying to do research on what the hell those real-life Mormons were up to during the 1860s and I figure the best way to find out is to ask the best community of Civil War geeks on the internet. Were they sympathetic to the Confederates? Were they messing with the native American people? Were they just farming and doing their polygamy stuff?

Look I think I've got a good book idea on my hands but I really need to do a lot of reading before I feel like I can write with confidence. If y'all have any suggestions for reading material that can tell me more about Mormon culture during the Civil War, I'd love to see it.