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.com. Also, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.

More EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a steal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2015)

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• 12-plus years with my dog Lady

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Good Samaritan

• The PRESS cap and my friend Mike

• Watching TV

• No luck with Billy Sims

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!