on historical fiction

Over the past several months I've mentioned my interest in writing an historical narrative taking place in colonial America. The idea has been fomenting in my mind for quite some time, and I've been filling one of my journals with ideas, notes, scripts, trying to piece it together and figure out exactly what I'm wanting to accomplish. The itch to write fiction has been burning inside me, and the longer I go without penning a story, the more the itch... well, the more it itches. The idea I've been playing with takes place predominantly around Boston in 1775, focusing mostly on the battle(s) of Lexington & Concord, the first days of the Siege of Boston, and the Battle of Bunker Hill (the epilogue being none other than Washington coming to take command). If it goes well, I'd like to continue the story throughout the rest of the American War for Independence (it'd take about six 300-page books, at the least!). 

I'm focusing on major and minor characters in the book, all except one taken straight out of history. Thomas Gage and John Pitcairn on the British side; and Paul Revere, Joseph Warren, Israel Putnam, and John Parker on the colonial side. The fictional character is a fellow by the name of Elijah Clark, and if the story goes on after I finish the first book (if I finish the first book; I have a lot on my plate right now), I'd like him to be a consistent character, with different characters taking center stage depending on the theater. I've chosen not to make George Washington a main character, not only because he's not really involved in anything concurrent with Boston in 1775 until after the Battle of Bunker Hill, but also because he's somewhat overplayed. I'm thinking of patterning Elijah Clark after aspects of my own person; I think having him in love with a faraway woman (perhaps in Charles Town) would be fitting, and I could work with that a lot if I continue the books into the Southern Theater (and Charles Town would figure prominently in Book Two with Sullivan's Island). 

As far as narrative style goes, I don't want to write anything long-winded. That's a real struggle for me. I want a swift-moving story, lots of plot developments and action. I've been reading great historical novelists such as Shelby Foote and Jeff Shaara to see how their style works, and I've been looking at Cormac McCarthy's style in Blood Meridian and the way Allan Eckert so expertly weaves historical information with rapid-fire plot development. All of these are writers to be envied, and I'm not above taking lessons from them.