Civil War 150th

[ilovestrategy]

Each link was 20 lbs. That had to have been heavy.

[parusski]

ORIGINAL: ilovestrategy

Captan, I love reading your stuff. Don't stop!

I too look forward to a few years of Capt. Harlock's posts.

BUT, I can't believe there are only 7,937 hits on this thread(you and I probably account for a lot of those hits).

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

Now that a part of Kentucky had been occupied by Confederate troops, Brigadier Ulysses S. Grant and his troops became more energetic. He marched from southern Illinois into Paducah, Kentucky, taking control of the northern end of the New Orleans and Ohio Railroad and the mouth of the Tennessee River.

Kentucky was a politically divided state. Governor Beriah Magoffin was a pro-slavery and Southern-leaning man, but he also opposed secession. Much of the legislature, however, was by this time solidly pro-Union. Hearing of the dual occupations, Governor Magoffin denounced both sides for violating his state's neutrality, and called for both sides to withdraw. Neither side paid much attention.

[ilovestrategy]

It seems to me that both sides were nothing more than invading forces.

[parusski]

ORIGINAL: ilovestrategy

It seems to me that both sides were nothing more than invading forces.

Oh yeah, both were invading forces. As much as the South loved to say they were fighting against Northern aggression they invaded a the North a rather large number of times.

[ilovestrategy]

The more I study this, the more I find that the issues of time were not black and white like everyone thinks. There was a lot of murky grey in all the politics and issues of the time. Both sides waved their proverbial flags but it seems to me that no one was a saint.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

The Kentucky state legislature now responded to the occupations of Columbus and Paducah. The House and Senate passed a resolution ordering only the withdrawal of Confederate forces. Governor Magoffin vetoed the resolution, but both chambers of the legislature were now leaning heavily towards the Union side, and would soon override the veto.

[t001001001]

I remember reading about the bridge burning incident, Capt. Harlock. IIRC the guerillas did it because the train was supposed to be loaded with Union troops. Or was that just the story the Bushwackers circulated?

Outrage after outrage is being listed here.  For example General Fremont ordering ppl bearing arms to be shot on sight was so far out of scope of his command that's he's the one who should have been restrained and shot.  It gave President Lincoln the willies and he ordered the General to knock that shit off straightway.

A war about slavery [8|]  Indeed [8|]  What bullshit.

[parusski]

ORIGINAL: t001001001

I remember reading about the bridge burning incident, Capt. Harlock. IIRC the guerillas did it because the train was supposed to be loaded with Union troops. Or was that just the story the Bushwackers circulated?

Outrage after outrage is being listed here.  For example General Fremont ordering ppl bearing arms to be shot on sight was so far out of scope of his command that's he's the one who should have been restrained and shot.  It gave President Lincoln the willies and he ordered the General to knock that shit off straightway.

A war about slavery [8|]  Indeed [8|]  What bullshit.

LOL. Do you know or think Lincoln said know "that s**t off straightaway". I would like to think he said it that way!

[Capt. Harlock]

LOL. Do you know or think Lincoln said know "that s**t off straightaway". I would like to think he said it that way!

Well, if you go back to my post on Sept. 2, Lincoln did use language much more appropriate to the Victorian era:

"Two points in your proclamation of August 30th give me some anxiety,” was the President's understated beginning. He ordered that Fremont “allow no man to be shot, under the proclamation, without first having my approbation or consent.”

Incidentally, Fremont sent his wife, who was also the daughter of the famous Senator Thomas Hart Benton, to try to convince Lincoln to let the proclamation stand. She was no diplomat, reminding Lincoln that Fremont had more political and military experience than he. Lincoln's language off the record after this little chat might well have been , shall we say, intemperate, but all we know is that this was very likely the final straw in his decision to replace Fremont.

[mytony]

The avatar with two cats are so lovely.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:

After the embarrassment at Kessler's Cross Lanes, Brigadier William Rosecrans had led three brigades of infantry southward from Clarksburg to support the regrouped 7th Ohio regiment. Brigadier John Floyd, though not the smartest of Confederate generals, had known enough to fortify his campsite at Carnifex Ferry. His request for reinforcements from General Wise had been met with as few troops as Wise could manage without angering Robert E. Lee.

At 3:15 in the afternoon, the Union advance made contact. Fighting raged for several hours, with five separate attempts made by the Federals to break the Southern entrenchments. However, marksmanship on both sides was lacking. Rosecrans finally called off the attacks because of darkness. He had lost only 17 men killed and 141 wounded, but had failed to overrun the Confederates in spite of having 5,000 men to Floyd's 2,000. (Confederate losses are uncertain.) Interestingly, the Northern forces included two future Presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley.

Taking stock of his situation, Floyd decided he could not hold where was. Rosecrans's artillery had caused significant damage to his fortifications--and there was nothing to stop a resumption of bombardment the next day. He ordered a retreat that night across the ferry to the south side of the Gauley River, which allowed the Northerners to claim the victory.

[parusski]

Interesting skirmish, and it should have been a victory for Billy Yank.

The civil war has lots those facts such as the two future presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes and William McKinley, were in this one battle.

[ilovestrategy]

17 killed to 141 wounded. Yup. Marksmanship was lacking. At least the spambot thinks my avatar with the two cats is lovely! [:D]

[bugwar]

ORIGINAL: parusski
Oh yeah, both were invading forces. As much as the South loved to say they were fighting against Northern aggression they invaded a the North a rather large number of times.

For what it is worth, when attacked by a bully, do you spend your time just blocking his blows,
or do you give him some licks of your own?

Oh, and your nanny isn't around to pull your chestnuts out of the fire.
So you either can fight or are beaten.


[:-]

[parusski]

Thanks Capt. I have read hundreds of civil war books and you are teaching me thinks I have never read(or maybe forgot).

[parusski]

ORIGINAL: ilovestrategy

17 killed to 141 wounded. Yup. Marksmanship was lacking. At least the spambot thinks my avatar with the two cats is lovely! [:D]

AHAHA, AHAHA, as Eric Cartman would laugh. I too love your cats. I wish the spambot would pick and avatar, maybe something like a pirate photo-Captain Jack Sparrow.

[Capt. Harlock]

150 Years Ago Today:


Near the head of the Gauley River at Cheat Mountain was a key position that controlled the traffic on the major turnpike and several mountain passes. It was held by almost 2,000 Union troops under General Joseph Reynolds. The bulk of his men were in a defensive position on the turnpike, with one regiment in a fort at the summit. Against this, General Robert E. Lee brought a force of about 5,000 men, the first time he would command a battle in the Civil War.


Knowing the Federals were well fortified, Lee came up with a fairly complex battle plan which involved coordinated attacks on the Union positions from three directions. But his troops were not as well trained as those he had been accustomed to as an officer in the Mexican-american War. More, the weather was rainy and foggy, and for once the Union troops knew the terrain better than the Confederates. The result was confusion, and the longest-lasting battle yet fought in the Civil War. (In fact, different sources give different dates, but it appears to have gone on for three full days or more.)

The attacks went in without any coordination, and were beaten off. The hoped-for surprise attack on the summit didn't happen at all. Captured Union soldiers convinced Lee that he was outnumbered two to one, when in fact the ratio was opposite or still higher. By September 15, Lee had had enough, and called off any further attacks. Two days later he retreated his force to Valley Mountain. The Federals had lost a total of 88 casualties comprising 10 killed, 14 wounded, and 64 captured, but remained in full possession of Cheat Mountain. Confederate casualties are unkown but the Union commanders claimed 100 enemy soldiers were killed and twenty were captured.

Lee's reputation plummeted after this affair. Though in modern times it is astonishing to read, Southern newspapers at that time were calling him "Granny Lee" and "Evacuating Lee". And the realization began to spread that that part of Virginia was lost to the Confederacy.

[font="Courier New"]The Kanawa Valley is wholly traitorous ... You cannot persuade these people that Virginia can or ever will reconquer the northwest.[/font]

[center]-- Brigadier General Henry A. Wise, telegraph to Richmond, September 1861.[/center]

[ilovestrategy]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock


Lee's reputation plummeted after this affair. Though in modern times it is astonishing to read, Southern newspapers at that time were calling him "Granny Lee" and "Evacuating Lee".

That is astonishing to read! [X(]

[bugwar]

ORIGINAL: ilovestrategy
That is astonishing to read! [X(]

Yep. Hindsight is usually 20/20.

On a related note, Lee's travails just go to show that every public personality needs a good PR department.

With skilled hacks working for him, Lee could have turned the reporting of the battle into a cunning example
of a spoiling attack, designed to keep pressure on the North, while preventing them from aggressive actions
in the near future. Moreover, at little cost in Confederate lives!


[:'(]