Category: Campaigns & Battles
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“A.J. Smith’s Veterans” or was it non-veterans?
Recently, while reading about the 1864 Red River campaign, a few things written about the detachment from the Army of the Tennessee commanded by General A.J. Smith left me scratching my head. The first thing that caught my eye was a statement by Craig Symonds in Lincoln and His Admirals wherein Symonds calls Smith’s men […]
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“I’ve Been Ordered Up to Fight!”: Phil Kearny to the Rescue at Williamsburg
Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of guest posts by Greg Quinion. In addition to being an avid history reader and world traveler, Greg works as a freelance travel and history writer and Information Analyst in Washington DC. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, […]
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The Confederate Defense of Resaca – May 9, 1864
In a pair of recent posts I wrote about the movement of the Army of the Tennessee through Snake Creek Gap to Resaca on May 9th 1864. Let’s take a look at the other side — who was defending Resaca that day? The Official Records make no mention of this, but in his book ‘Four […]
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Further thoughts on the move through Snake Creek Gap
In a previous post I wrote about the impact of movement on the organization and strength of a force and used the advance of the Army of the Tennessee through Snake Creek Gap and to Resaca Georgia on May 9, 1864 as an example. There is another aspect of that movement I wish to explore. […]
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Gettysburg’s Mystery Man
One of the most well-known, yet most mysterious characters of the Battle of Gettysburg is Lieutenant General James Longstreet’s scout Henry Thomas Harrison, or more commonly known as simply, Harrison. Harrison gained fame and acknowledgement with the release of Ron Maxwell’s motion picture, Gettysburg and Michael Shaara’s novel The Killer Angels . Portrayed by the […]
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Defeat By Detachment – The Missing Men At Cedar Mountain
After the Battle of Cedar Mountain, General Pope was surprised to learn that General Banks had less than 8,000 men in the battle. Just 10 days earlier Pope’s staff had compiled the strength report of the Army of Virginia for the month of July and Banks’ Corps was shown as having 14,785 present for duty. […]
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What were they doing over there?: Walker’s Div. at Chattanooga
The selection of Confederate reports for the battle of Chattanooga that made it into the Official Records is skimpy. There is a report from Bragg, the army commander, but not from either of his corps commanders, Hardee or Breckenridge, and there are no reports from several of the division commanders or their subordinates. Consider the […]