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Tag Archives: Henry Halleck
Pope’s “Headquarters in the Saddle.” Sort of…
“Headquarters in the Saddle.” For a man that uttered many phrases that often make him the main course of mockery for Civil War historians, John Pope’s infamous dateline certainly receives its fair share of jokes. It did too in 1862. … Continue reading
Lincoln Develops a More Modern Command System – Part 2: Frustration to Breakthrough
Emerging Civil War welcomes back JoAnna M. McDonald (This piece follows the introductory reminder of wars and republics and Part 1: Growing Pains) Thus far, in the first fourteen months, President Abraham Lincoln’s command systems had failed to generate success … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Lincoln, Politics
Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Civil War Strategy, Henry Halleck, JoAnna M. McDonald, politics, strategic leadership, Ulysses S. Grant
4 Comments
Railroads – Tracks to the Antietam: The Railroad Supplies the Army of the Potomac, September 18, 1862
“We can distinctly hear firing again this afternoon in the direction of Harpers Ferry,” wrote a Union soldier in the Washington defenses on September 17, 1862.[1] Closer to the Antietam battlefield, one onlooker attempted to count the number of Federal … Continue reading
Was Lee’s “Lost Order” a Turning Point? (part one)
(part one of three) Civil War campaigns could often turn on a dime in favor of one army or the other. A sudden change in initiative marked the turning points of the war that scholars love to toss around the … Continue reading
Grant Ascending . . .
The events of July 4, 1863, cemented Ulysses S. Grant’s position as a household name firmly into the public mind. The capitulation of the Confederate bastion of Vicksburg to “Unconditional Surrender” Grant of Donelson fame – on Independence Day no … Continue reading
Posted in Engaging the Civil War Series, Leadership--Federal
Tagged Battle Above the Clouds, Braxton Bragg, Chattanooga, Department of the Gulf, Department of the Mississippi, Henry Halleck, Joe Hooker, Lincoln, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Nathaniel Banks, Stanton, Tunnel Hill, Turning Points of the American Civil War, Turning-Points-Series, Ulysses S. Grant, Vicksburg, William Rosecrans, William T. Sherman
23 Comments
Voices of the Maryland Campaign: September 2, 1862
Remnants of the crushed Army of Virginia, together with pieces of the Army of the Potomac, came reeling into the defenses of Washington following the stinging defeat they just received on the plains of Manassas on August 30. Fresh off … Continue reading
In the Wake of Vicksburg, U. S. Grant as Commander of the Army of the Potomac?
By early August, 1863, Ulysses S. Grant had settled into administrative routine following the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi—but Grant wasn’t one to sit idle long. He had set his eye on Mobile, Alabama, which he was “very anxious to take” … Continue reading
Book Review: “The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, Volume III: Shepherdstown Ford and the End of the Campaign”
Mere months after the bloodletting subsided on the Antietam battlefield, participant Ezra Carman began collecting materials for a history of the Maryland Campaign. It proved to be his life’s work. When Carman died in 1909, his 1,800 page handwritten tome … Continue reading
The Fog of War–When Modern Weather Gives Us a History Lesson
Col. Lonsdale Hale first coined the now oft-used phrase “fog of war” in 1896. He termed it as “the state of ignorance in which commanders frequently find themselves as regards the real strength and position, not only of their foes, … Continue reading
Posted in Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles
Tagged Antietam, Fog of War, George McClellan, George Smalley, Henry Halleck, Piper Farm, Sharpsburg
6 Comments
Advance of the Ironclads (part one)
Today we are pleased to welcome Eric Sterner. Eric is a national security and aerospace consultant in the Washington, DC area. He held senior staff positions for the Committees on Armed Services and Science in the House of Representatives and served … Continue reading
