Month: April 2012

  • Anniversary Post – Two Notes on Chancellorsville

    Bridging Problems Robert E. Lee’s skillful use of Virginia’s rivers made the Chancellorsville Campaign heavily dependent on the Union engineers. Any actions Hooker planned against The Army of Northern Virginia had to be proceeded by the crossing of the Rappahannock River. Because of their prominent role the engineers, like at Fredericksburg, drew the first criticism. […]

  • The Battle of Belmont Part 1

    Introduction In the fall of 1861, while much of the national attention was focused on events in the east, a tense political and military situation was also developing in the west. The border states were particularly sensitive. In Kentucky the election of Abraham Lincoln brought the politically diverse population into turmoil. In the southern and […]

  • The Mobile Campaign Conclusion

    Fort Blakely The Federal investment of Fort Blakely began with the arrival of Steele’s column from Pensacola on April 1st. The week long skirmishing between Steele’s troops and the Confederate defenderd brought them “within 900 yards of their works.” On April 9th Canby started moving his forces at Spanish Fort to Blakely to complete the […]

  • The Mobile Campaign Part 6

    Spanish Fort I While Forrest was meeting defeat around Selma MG Canby was encouraging the Union navy to move up the river to seal off the rear of the Confederates at Spanish Fort. Two gunboats (Octorara and Genesee) and four monitors (Kickapoo, Milwaukee, Winnebago, and Chickasaw) attempted to pass over the Blakely Bar on March […]

  • The Second Battle of Gettysburg – The Fight for the Monuments

    Gettysburg National Military Park has hundreds of monuments and markers to commemorate the courageous acts and sacrifices of the men who fought so gallantly there. They appear in such a large quantity that in can be quite overwhelming. With every turn of the head, the view of the battlefield is disrupted by a stone structure […]

  • The Mobile Campaign Part 5

    Ebenezer Church McCook, acting on his knowledge of Forrest’s plan, dispatched a battalion in advance of his 2nd Brigade to seize the bridge at Centerville. Selected for the mission was MAJ Shipman with the second battalion and Company M of the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry. Shipman’s detail had no trouble running off the Confederate guard at […]

  • Short Takes

    While discussing the rivers going into Mobile Bay with Dan O’Connell I came across a really nice map of the Gulf coast in 1861, covering the area from the Louisiana delta to Pensacola. And…you can zoom in! Just the thing for following Dan’s campaign posts. Fold3 looks at The Curious Case of Adelia who, it […]