Down The Guerrilla Trail

I posted a couple of days ago on Patreon to explain to backers the direction I’m heading in with The Ranger Project. Now I’m offering up this explanation to Frontier Partisan readers generally, in a follow-up to the recent Bushwhacker’s Manifesto post. I’m finally ready to offer a clear and definitive statement about where the hell we’re going. Been a long time coming, I know. This explains all that…

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I’ve been working hard “behind the scenes” to define and redefine The Ranger Project.

I’m finally there.

Figured y’all might want a glimpse of the map of the territory and how I got here.

My initial concept for The Ranger Project was to craft a survey, an overview of the Ranger archetype and Ranger operations from the colonial period through the Global War on Terror. But as I worked on that concept, it became increasingly clear that the format was inherently superficial — there’s just too much ground to cover anything in depth. And I crave depth and immersion.

So I started casting about for topic areas to hone in on. I’ve selected and discarded a few, for … reasons. Some because I feel like I’ve done as much in a particular territory as I am able or care to do; some because the subject matter is too ‘“niche.” I won’t ever pander to an audience, but I do want this project to find one.

The watershed moment came from reading Patrick O’Donnell’s The Unvanquished — The Untold Story of Lincoln’s Special Forces, the Manhunt for Mosby’s Rangers, and the Shadow War That Forged America’s Special Operations. That excellent book rekindled my mostly dormant interest in the Civil War. There was a time, in my college years, when my passion for the history of the American Civil War was as consuming as my lifelong interest in frontier history.

It took a little while to fully manifest itself, but my path became clear: The Ranger Project will focus on irregular warfare in the American Civil War. This is a subject that combines the two passions in an authentic and profoundly satisfying way.

The well here is deep, and there has been a lot of excellent work done in the field since I last dug in hard on ACW history. Guerrilla warfare, Partisan warfare and counter-insurgency — all the elements of Frontier Partisan warfare are here. And many of those conducting operations, even in the Eastern Theater of the War, had experience in and ties to the frontier. Many self-consciously styled themselves as frontiersmen. Like this dude, a Union guerrilla hunter whose name was (no kidding) William Tough…

In fact, it is endless. I anticipate spending months or years working it.

This does NOT mean I am setting Frontier Partisans aside. The original blog will remain active, and I will still visit the worlds of the Mountain Men and Long Hunters, and report on frontier-related popular culture developments. But my primary focus, and the in-depth essays and other content, will be built around irregular Warfare in the American Civil War.

The time period I will cover starts in 1854, when the conflict began over whether Kansas would be a “slave state” or a “free state,” and run to 1882, the year that Jesse James was assassinated by the Coward Robert Ford.

The content will include in-depth accounts of campaigns and actions from Missouri to Virginia; analysis of weapons and tactics; social history, with a strong focus on the influence of the frontier ethos; biographical essays; analysis of related novels and film (think The Outlaw Josey Wales and Ride With The Devil — both the films and the novels their based on). I’ll also venture into the Far West to cover the “Three-Cornered War” involving Union and Confederate forces and native peoples in the Southwest. Bear in mind that Scout and Mountain Man Kit Carson was also a Union General (he was a Colonel through the war and breveted a Brigadier for gallant service in 1865 or ’66). And we’ll definitely be exploring the way irregular warfare in the Civil War spawned outlawry and feud — in Texas and the rest of the “Wild West” and in Appalachia.

I suppose I oughta explain how I plan to deliver the “essays and other content.”

I originally intended for The Ranger Project to take book form. With what I have in mind, I would have to work for months or years without the work seeing the light of day, THEN try to get it published, or do the whole Kickstarter/self-publish thing. There’s a better way, one that will allow me to put the work in front of readers as it develops — with remuneration to enable continuation of the work.

I will launch a Substack in June. I also plan to launch a related YouTube Channel over the summer. I will continue to use the Frontier Partisans Podcast platform, but the content will be focused on this project.

If you’re not familiar with Substack, it is a subscription-based platform that has proved an outstanding vehicle for independent journalists and content-creators. It allows creators to receive remuneration for their work from reader subscription support, not from advertisers.

What does this mean for you, the Frontier Partisans Patreon brigade? Nothing, necessarily, other than that you will have access to some killer content (apologies for the pun). I have to figure out the most effective logistical means, but if you are a Patron, you’ll get the content. I’ll either post it here [meaning on the Patreon page], or provide a Substack subscription to each of you. Alternatively, you could, if you choose, migrate over to the Substack when it’s up. In any case, I’m not going to ask you to pay twice.

So here’s where I need your input: I’m working on a title for the Substack page. I have a couple — weigh in if you would, and if you have other suggestions I want to hear ’em.

RANGERS, RENEGADES & ROGUES — IRREGULAR WARFARE IN THE CIVIL WAR

VIOLENCE OF ACTION — PARTISAN RANGERS, SCOUTS & GUERRILLAS IN THE CIVIL WAR

I feel a great sense of relief at getting the shape and scope of this project figured out. It’s been a frustration and a weight on me for many a long month. There’s an even greater sense of excitement as I get underway. I absolutely love this stuff.

I hope you find it as compelling as I do. As always, thank you for your support (and patience).

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So, there it is. The feedback I have received so far is enthusiastically positive, which is gratifying. I’m already having a blast with the material, and I can’t wait to push it out into the world.