Question of the Week: 7/3-7/9/23
We’ve been right in the midst of the 160th anniversaries of Gettysburg and Vicksburg this past weekend.
Who’s your favorite person at either location?
We’ve been right in the midst of the 160th anniversaries of Gettysburg and Vicksburg this past weekend.
Who’s your favorite person at either location?
I admire General Frances Channing Barlow at Gettysburg. Got run over like a freight train but rose to fight again in the Overland. Got a beautiful knoll named after him.
Pop Greene. His defense of Culp’s Hill prevents the Union fro losing the battle
Grant. Not a perfect general by any stretch (who was?), but his handling of the Vicksburg campaign is pretty remarkable, and I think we’ve come a long way in our understanding of his postwar career, too.
John Buford at Gettysburg for his delaying action on day 1.
Agreed!
Winfield Scott Hancock for his important contributions on all 3 days.
Hancock the Superb, for the reason Eliot stated. Cannot overestimate his significance at several critical points at Gettysburg.
Admiral David D. Porter for his partnership with Grant and Sherman at Vicksburg. Grant: “The navy under Porter was all it could be, during the entire campaign. Without its assistance the campaign could not have been successfully made with twice the number of men engaged. It could not have been made at all, in the way it was, with any number of men without such assistance. The most perfect harmony reigned between the two arms of the service.”
Brigade commander with Early’s division of the 2nd Corps ANV, William “Extra Billy” Smith.
Meade. The man thought he was being arrested when he was summoned to be told he was now in charge! He had just a handful of days to execute his new responsibilities. He won!
Dan Sickles. Sickles made a major contribution to ultimate U.S. victory by having his leg shot off at Gettysburg on July 2, permanently removing him from combat command.
Afraid you made enemy of Jim Hessler
Gen.John “Black Jack” Logan at Vicksburg.
Sarah Kay Bierle. Wait, maybe I didn’t understand the question.
John Reynolds. He was my favorite as a kid so I might as well stay consistent.
Why, US Grant @ Vicksburg, of course!
John Buford for knowing to hold good ground and making sure it was done against long odds…
All the (mostly young) battery commanders in the US artillery at Gettysburg, several of whom paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting their guns.
I think General Steven Weed who killed defending Little Round Top with his artillery and today, no one know anything about him.
Except that, in addition to his fighting qualities, Weed had a way with words, rebuffing an attempt to comfort him with: “By sundown, I will be as dead as Julius Caesar,” https://www.silive.com/news/2013/07/150_years_on_remembering_a_sta.html.
Armistead and his hat at Gettysburg
U. S. Grant at Vicksburg. Many men at Gettysburg.