Thursday, May 14, 2015

Year problem

Found in a newspaper: On April 10, 1875 (the same day that Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox but unknown to Stoneman), the advance troops came to the Flynt Plantation and helped themselves to whiskey.

This isn't the only mistake in the story, but 1875 stands out; the Civil War ended in 1865, not 1875. Lee suffered a massive stroke and died Oct. 12, 1870, so he wasn't available in 1875.

From the same story: He posted a Provost Marshall's Directive Order on the gate threatening court martial for any troops who looted or damaged the property.

I don't know that you need to uppercase Provost Marshall's Directive Order, certainly not directive order. And I'm pretty sure it's provost marshal, not marshall.


Contact: You can reach me at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.comAlso, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.

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