Civil War Surprises: Conclusion
On the anniversary of one of the greatest surprise attacks of the American Civil War (the Flank Attack at Chancellorsville), we’re wrapping up the Civil War Surprises series. Here are quick links to all the posts in the series in case you missed any or want to reference the entire collection.
Thank you to all the authors who participated and to you—the reader—for letting us share some interpretations of the theme “surprises.”
Civil War Surprises: Introduction
Civil War Surprises: Santiago Vidaurri’s Tempting Offer (Neil P. Chatelain)
Civil War Surprises: Capturing Fort McAllister (Derek Maxfield)
Civil War Surprises: NOT the First! Not! Not! Not! (Meg Groeling)
Civil War Surprises: Was Pvt. John Hines A Surprisingly Uncommon Common Soldier? (Tim Talbott)
Civil War Surprises—The Blockade Proclamation: An Act of International War (Dwight Hughes)
Civil War Surprises—Confederate Flashman: The Adventures of Henry R. H. MacIver, in four parts (Frank Jastrzembski)
Civil War Surprises: A Tale of Two Diarists at Shiloh (Sheritta Bitikofer)
Civil War Surprises: McClellan’s Surprises (Doug Crenshaw)
Civil War Surprises: Dropping In On General Grant (Cecily Nelson Zander)
Civil War Surprises: We Didn’t Know She Was Pregnant (Sarah Kay Bierle)
Civil War Surprises: A Wisconsin Soldier’s Fateful Dare (Melissa A. Winn)
Howard was told by his commanding general to expect an attack from the West. So the fact that he didn’t prepare for an attack makes it The Greatest Civil War Surprise? Grant crossing the James while facing Lee could be The Greatest Civil War Surprise. In terms of the number of people’s opinions changed, the fact that the war would not end after one battle could be The Greatest Civil War Surprise (to all except Colonel William T. Sherman, promptly shipped West by Washington for being smarter than the average bear.)
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