2017 ECW Early Bird Symposium Admission
Subscribe BY RSS
Category Archives: Western Theater
Longstreet goes West, part four: Discord
In the immediate aftermath of Chickamauga Bragg and his generals were all gripped by a measure of collective uncertainty. Early on, it seemed as if Rosecrans might just abandon Chattanooga, falling back to his railhead at Stevenson Alabama, on the … Continue reading
Longstreet goes West: Part three: On to Nashville?
Longstreet’s move to Georgia took 9 days, though some of the trailing elements in his corps – Anderson’s Brigade, which was diverted to Savannah for a week or so, and any number of individual Georgians who hadn’t been home in … Continue reading
Longstreet goes West, Part Two: Westward Ho!
The decision to reinforce Bragg came only after much debate, and only after every other expedient had been exhausted. While President Davis believed that the Confederacy needed to use interior lines to achieved localized concentrations of force, that theory did … Continue reading
Longstreet goes West, Part One: Machiavellian or Misunderstood?
Confederate General James Longstreet remains one of the war’s most controversial figures. Detractors see him as a scheming subordinate whose ambition overreached his talents; supporters hail him as a clear-sighted realist who understood the changes in warfare better than most … Continue reading
Happy 200th, General Thomas
200 years ago this weekend George H. Thomas was born in Southampton County, Virginia. The link below is an appreciation of Thomas I did in 2014. Pap Thomas to the Sledge of Nashville
“Not written in letters of blood.”
Edwin M. Stanton to Major General William S. Rosecrans, July 7, 1863: “We have just received official information that Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant on the 4th of July. Lee’s army overthrown; Grant victorious. You and your noble army now … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Campaigns, Emerging Civil War, Leadership--Federal, Western Theater
Tagged Army of Tennessee, Army of the Cumberland, Bragg, Campaigns, Rosecrans, Tullahoma
2 Comments
Winfield Scott Reconsidered
On this day in 1841, precisely 175 years ago, Major General Winfield Scott became Commanding General of the U.S. Army. He held this post for 20 years and four months, longer than any other Commanding General or U.S. Army Chief … Continue reading
Posted in Antebellum South, Leadership--Federal, Lincoln, Mexican War, Personalities, Weapons, Western Theater
Tagged Anaconda Plan, Douglas MacArthur, George McClellan, George Patton, Lincoln, Mexican War, Mexican-American War, Nullification Crisis, South Carolina, Vicksburg Campaign, War of 1812, Wellington, West Point, Winfield Scott
3 Comments
The Stakes of Vicksburg
On April 30, and May 1, 1863, Union Major General U.S. Grant crossed his Army of the Tennessee over the Mississippi River south of Vicksburg. He then cut loose from his supply sources and plunged inland to surround the city … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Battles, Campaigns, Leadership--Confederate, Leadership--Federal, Sieges, Ties to the War, Western Theater
Tagged Army of the Tennessee, British Army, Earl Van Dorn, Guadalcanal, Imphal, India, Japan, Japanese Army, Kohima, Pea Ridge, Samuel Curtis, Siege of Vicksburg, U.S. Marines, Ulysses S. Grant, Vicksburg, Vicksburg Campaign, William Slim
2 Comments
Remembering Pickett’s Mill
This past weekend (June 3-5) I was privileged to participate in activities connected with the 152nd Anniversary of the battle of Pickett’s Mill. I cover the engagement in our new volume in the Emerging Civil War Series, A Long and Bloody … Continue reading
Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Emerging Civil War Series, Western Theater
Tagged A Long and Bloody Task, Alatoona Pass, Ambrose Bierce, Dallas, Emerging Civil War Series, Georgia State Historic Sites, Joseph Johnston, New Hope Church, Patrick Cleburne, Picket's Mill, Western & Atlantic Railroad, William T. Sherman
3 Comments
Hood’s “Miserbels”
Here’s a new take on “Lee’s Miserables.” Recall that Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables appeared in print in 1862 and became a favorite in Lee’s army. After its translation and publication by a Richmond firm, a “soldier edition” was distributed throughout … Continue reading
