The McCleod Place by William H. Armstrong

[Dana Wiser]

Folks,
Anyone else out there who loves this book and can discuss it?
Specifically I'm intrigued by a character in Armstrong's book, the historian Walter Johston who walks all over the South and has written a book about southern boys who refused to fight for the secessionists during the Civil War.
The book is fiction--barely, strongly based on true events-- but was this Johston a real figure? Is anyone else out there interested in this remarkable character in a remarkable book? (Wendell Berry for the younger set.)
Thank you,
Dana