Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Valor: Into The Jaws Of Death

Via SHNV

http://www.naaminis.com/discus/messages/27213/44512.jpg


My wife asked me the other day, "what was the Civil War about anyhow?"

This caught me a bit off guard, since historians have written about the causes of the Civil War ever since the Civil War broke out and still battle over interpretations. How does one answer a loaded question, whose answer spans monumental issues like slavery, states rights, constitutions and the invariable role of individuals who don't always behave predictably?

We are in the midst of commemorating the 150th anniversary of that war, which spanned from 1861-1865. More men were killed — 625,000 — in the American Civil War than in any other conflict the United States has been in since the American Revolution. 

The statistics of famous campaigns and battles are staggering — tens of thousands of men killed and wounded in the space of a few months — like the Union campaign to bring Vicksburg, the key to controlling the Mississippi River, to its knees, or in three short days early in July in the rolling countryside of Pennsylvania at a place called Gettysburg.

The "high tide" of the Confederacy was marked at Gettysburg by the most famous charge of the war, led by Gen. George *Pickett on the third day of battle, July 3, 1863.


*B.T.

The description of the Confederate attack as "Pickett's Charge" is misleading on two counts. First, Major General George Pickett was the commander of only one of the three Confederate units that took part in the assault. Major General Isaac R. Trimble and Brigadier General J. Johnston Pettigrew each commanded a unit of the attack. The second misconception is with respect to describing the Confederate assault as a "charge." The assault line of the approximately 12,500 Confederate soldiers engaged in the attack extended a half-mile in width. The hapless attackers were required to advance one mile through an open field and over a stone fence before they could engage their enemy. The majority of this distance was covered at a rank-and-file walk while Union troops poured deadly cannon and rifle fire upon them. The Confederates could not fire back. The Union troops, however, maintained a murderous hail of rifle fire by organizing themselves into efficient lines of four soldiers. After the first in line fired, he would move to the back of the line to reload his weapon while the next in line fired.

The impact of this efficient killing machine on the approaching Confederates was devastating. As their comrades fell, their units would reorganize and tighten their ranks. Smoke from the cannonade from both sides soon drifted over the field dramatically reducing visibility. The noise was deafening. As they approached withina a few feet of the Union line, the Confederates charged. Some were able to scale the low stone wall separating them from their enemy, but the devastating fire from the Union troops forced a retreat. The battle was over.

“. . .the grand march moved bravely on.”

19 comments:

  1. With Respect to your wife, damm-that's a loaded question. :)

    And you only mentioned the high points, to boot. lol

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    1. :)

      We pale in comparison to the men of yore. (Men and women, come to think of it.)

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  2. Yes, we do. Some of us think in the same spirit as those in years gone by, your words are proof of that, but it was a different way of life. I wonder sometimes what Wyatt or Virgil, and many others, would think of today's society. The answer is obvious, of course, but the level of their incredulousness would be difficult to estimate and amusing to watch. :)

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    1. the level of their incredulousness would be difficult to estimate

      Indeed, my dear sir.

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  3. Question.. Why was that particular spot chosen by the South to fight? Did they not have artillery? Is that why they couldn't return cannon fire?

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    1. Lee did not want to fight at Gettysburg, but because of JEB's errant ramblings was forced to do so. They had expended almost their complete supply of cannon balls and powder by the time the charge began, but the majority of fire had gone high and didn't incur the amount of damage expected. See Gettysburg, a long, but powerful film. A part of Lee's battle plan that has often been overlooked in conjunction with Pickett's Charge was the East Calvary Field where Lee envisioned Stuart successfully breaking through the rear of the Yankees while Picket, et all did so from the front with the expected successful cannon fire. Nothing went right, least of all the delay by Longstreet from ordering the attack in the afternoon instead of the morning. Lee immediately rode onto the field after the repulse exclaiming to the privates and others that it was all his fault. Men do not have that humility today, unfortunately. Gettysburg The Second Day is an excellent book. As I remember, about 600 pages concerning three hours of battle. My book is at Dixieland, but I'm in Cape Carteret.

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  4. Mom, if you're asking about Gettysburg, the short answer is that Lee went there after his victories in Virginia, and met the Union army there. The long answer would take up too much space here to reply :) so as vague as it is, I'll post the wiki info.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg

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  5. Thank you Mr. Townsend and Grog for taking the time to point me in the right direction for the battle information. There is a lot on the web that I didn't know about and this will save me another trip to the library - I'll be reading a lot this weekend (again). :0)

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    1. Thank you for being a Copperhead!:)

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    2. Do you really think so?...... :0)

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    3. :) Read Last Chance for Victory by Bill Ward and Scott Bowden. About 600 pages long and everything anyone would want to know about the battle.

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    4. I'm being a pest,(I know) but I just downloaded the book from Amazon to my laptop. Thanks to all!

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    5. Please pest away as I'm thrilled that you are so interested! Before I posted above, I checked Amazon and saw they had a used paper back for .44 cents with $3.99 shipping, but I guess you couldn't wait.:)

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  6. As one who was only born in the South and has been intrigued by the War for Southern Independence (because Civil War assumes that the winner take all .. all of the country that is) for decades, my opinions have shifted from the PC account back toward a more real and balanced account.
    What was this war about ... well, the politics had failed (that is when most wars start) ... having the South support > 75% of the federal government's revenue (mainly through tariffs collected at Southern ports) would make anyone ticked .. add to that the way the government then used that $ for Northern "internal improvements" ... well this thing got to brew.
    Then .. there is the South's attempt at peace even with France's help (Lincoln opted out), there is Lincoln's offer (by way of the Corwin amendment) to ensure slavery would be perpetually "legal" ONLY IF the states stayed in the union and those tariffs were collected .. the South opted out (because it was NOT all about slavery .. but it was a good cover) .. then, Lincoln's cabinet was not for war UNTIL after a month of Northern newspapers wrote more and more about the threat the new South would be IF they split and offered free trade with other nations ... recession and depression was the fear in New England .. and the Midwest wondered how to get their exports to the world (since the Mississippi would no longer have free passage). in one month's time the cabinet shifted toward a war future .. out of FEAR .. and as Lincoln waited to call Congress into session until AFTER the war was underway AND lured the military around Ft. Sumter into firing first .. Lincoln then had the Northern sheep all believing that this insurrection had to be put down and the "union" preserved at all costs. But what preserved the union killed the republic .. and empire/imperialism were allowed to take center stage :(
    An aside, the South too had eyes on Cuba and other Caribbean interests for it's own potential empire ... think that the Noth coveted that region as well.
    Just my two cents .. on my off-the-cuff response to what that war was all about.

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  7. If any reader gets near Montford Avenue in Asheville, would you please tie a yellow ribbon around any tree. I'm coming home--I've done my time. There won't be any trees left in Colorado after these fires. The smoke is choking us in Denver. This is not my choice for first state to burn down, but it's a start.

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  8. Quit talking about it and come!:) Get here by the end of June and we'll welcome you at Dixie' birthday party.

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  9. That's just narrowly possible. I'll establish strong intent. July 4th in NC.

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    1. That will work also for fishing.:) Just beautiful summer weather here now. Walked out on the pier yesterday and you couldn't ask for better.

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