Kevin Levin at Civil War Memory has an interesting discussion on how hard it is to write about the tactical aspects of Military History.

I agree that it takes a great imagination. It is hard to put incredibly difficult situations like battles into human terms. The noise, the fear, the confusion & the uncertainty of what is actually happening can contrive to rob any person of their senses. So, how does a writer of history capture that fact along with a smooth narrative? With great difficulty.