Any history nuts here?

[Jeric 46,834]

Epic bump

 

I'm a big Civil War nut and also know quite a bit about other various bits of military history. I hang out over at historum, which is a great history community, so if you guys like history you should check it out.

 

So I specialize in Civil War history (particularly enjoy discussing the war in Virginia and Gettysburg is my favorite battle. Grant is my favorite general and Stonewall Jackson is the most overrated general imo).

 

 

I was just watching episode 2 of Ken Burns Civil War yesterday with a copy of "Confederates in the Attic" by my side. I was hoping a thread like this would rise from the depths.

 

I was raised in PA so I've been to Gettysburg three times. Nothing prepares you for the moment you stand in the spot where Pickett's Charge began, look out into the expansive field before you, and begin to wonder what went through the mind of those men in that moment.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Jeric

[xX_PinkDragon_Xx 417]

I believe in these gods:

1) Horus, the god of the sky, and the god of war and hunting.

2) Ra, the god of the Sun.

3) Osiris, the god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead.

4) Isis, the goddess of health, marriage, and love.

5) Anubis, the protector of the dead.

6) Akhen-Aten, the other god of the Sun.

 

My favorite subject of history is Ancient Egypt.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Schoolboy B

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

I was just watching episode 2 of Ken Burns Civil War yesterday with a copy of "Confederates in the Attic" by my side. I was hoping a thread like this would rise from the depths.

 

I was raised in PA so I've been to Gettysburg three times. Nothing prepares you for the moment you stand in the spot where Pickett's Charge began looking out into the expansive field ... and wonder what went through the mind of those men in that moment.

I was watching Ken Burns' Gettysburg episode just the other day!

 

Also, that's so cool you've been to Gettysburg THREE times. I haven't ever been

And yeah, Pickett's Charge is a crazy event. I guess Lee didn't learn his lesson from Malvern Hill or from the Federal's assault at Fredericksburg.

 

 

Well on that topic, here's my little piece of history for the day. Many people (largely popularized by The Killer Angels and Gettysburg) put blame on Richard Ewell for not taking Cemetery Hill after the I and XI Union Corps were defeated on July 1st. It's commonly believed that he was indecisive about taking the hill and that had Stonewall Jackson been in command he would have taken Cemetery Hill. However, what people overlook is two things. For one, Lee's orders to Ewell were to take the hill if practicable and without bringing about a general engagement. Ewell had earlier in the day disobeyed this order and engaged the XI corps at Oak Hill. His actions helped crippled that Corps and forced the I Corps back through town.

 

However, he did not pursue the Federals up to Cemetery Hill, since Lee had not wanted a general engagement (he did not want to disobey him again) and Lee refused to give him reinforcements for the attack. As it turns out, even if Jackson was in command (as many Lost Causers love to speculate), he would not have taken the hill. Any attack against Cemetery Hill would have been easily repulsed. At 4:30 Ewell had 4,000 troops available for an assault. At this time the Federals had 12,000 men in position from Cemetery Ridge through Cemetery Hill and around to Culps Hill. By 5:00 the force grew to 20,000 with reinforcements from the newly arrived XII Corps. Attacking these positions would have surely failed, so in short, Ewell, while not performing at his highest level during the three days, cannot be blamed for losing the battle here. Taking the heights south of Gettysburg was not in the least bit practicable.

 

Here's a great article to read further on this subject - http://www.historynet.com/did-lt-gen-richard-ewell-lose-the-battle-of-gettysburg.htm

Edited July 25, 2014 by LZRD WZRD

[Jeric 46,834]

I believe in these gods:

1) Horus, the god of the sky, and the god of war and hunting.

2) Ra, the god of the sun.

3) Osiris, the god of the afterlife, the underworld, and the dead.

4) Isis, the goddess of health, marriage, and love.

5) Anubis, the protector of the dead.

 

My favorite subject of history is Ancient Egypt.

 

I assume that you wouldn't be a Akhenaten fan then? Netflix seems to be in love with Egypt ... huge source of docs on the subject.

[---- 85]

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Edited June 10, 2018 by ----

[xX_PinkDragon_Xx 417]

I assume that you wouldn't be a Akhenaten fan then? Netflix seems to be in love with Egypt ... huge source of docs on the subject.

Uh, yeah. Akhen-Aten and Ra are the gods of the Sun.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Schoolboy B

[Jeric 46,834]

I was watching Ken Burns' Gettysburg episode just the other day!

 

Also, that's so cool you've been to Gettysburg THREE times. I haven't ever been

And yeah, Pickett's Charge is a crazy event. I guess Lee didn't learn his lesson from Malvern Hill or from the Federal's assault at Fredericksburg.

 

 

Well on that topic, here's my little piece of history for the day. Many people (largely popularized by The Killer Angels and Gettysburg) put blame on Richard Ewell for not taking Cemetery Hill after the I and XI Union Corps were defeated on July 1st. It's commonly believed that he was indecisive about taking the hill and that had Stonewall Jackson been in command he would have taken Cemetery Hill. However, what people overlook is two things. For one, Lee's orders to Ewell were to take the hill if practicable and without bringing about a general engagement. Ewell had earlier in the day disobeyed this order and engaged the XI corps at Oak Hill. His actions helped crippled that Corps and forced the I Corps back through town.

 

However, he did not pursue the Federals up to Cemetery Hill, since Lee had not wanted a general engagement (he did not want to disobey him again) and Lee refused to give him reinforcements for the attack. As it turns out, even if Jackson was in command (as many Lost Causers love to speculate), he would not have taken the hill. Any attack against Cemetery Hill would have been easily repulsed. At 4:30 Ewell had 4,000 troops available for an assault. At this time the Federals had 12,000 men in position from Cemetery Ridge through Cemetery Hill and around to Culps Hill. By 5:00 the force grew to 20,000 with reinforcements from the newly arrived XII Corps. Attacking these positions would have surely failed, so in short, Ewell, while not performing at his highest level during the three days, cannot be blamed for losing the battle here. Taking the heights south of Gettysburg was not in the least bit practicable.

 

Here's a great article to read further on this subject - http://www.historynet.com/did-lt-gen-richard-ewell-lose-the-battle-of-gettysburg.htm

 

Well, the first two visits were with my middle and high school ... but when I went back as an adult with more knowledge and appreciation ... it hits you.

 

I agree that Ewell gets unfairly blamed for failure to press the 'advantage'. If Lee had decided to reinforce him, things might have been different. Also, the fact that Lee failed to listen to Longstreet on the plan to take Big Round Top was another failure on his part. Can you imagine a coordinated flanking effort on both sides of Union forces?  To be honest, this was an engagement that should have not been avoided at all costs by Lee, because even if a few more things went his way, the best result would have been Antietam and resupplying the depleted Army of N. VA in PA would have made his desire to begin pressing into MD or DC that much more difficult.

 

It's too easy to just simply say Jackson would have made the difference, and Lee is even responsible for that view as well. Even in death the man is wrong about some things.

[Philosopher Pone 108]

History nut here!

I've been interested in history since childhood. It was always my favourite school subject. Actually i'm interested mostly in World War 2 period, especially fights on European front, and warfare, mainly armoured warfare. My hobby connected to military history is scale modeling- I assembly models of tanks and other vehicles (actually I'm working on 1:35 scale Sherman tank).

[LZRD WZRD 1,929]

I agree that Ewell gets unfairly blamed for failure to press the 'advantage'. If Lee had decided to reinforce him, things might have been different. Also, the fact that Lee failed to listen to Longstreet on the plan to take Big Round Top was another failure on his part. Can you imagine a coordinated flanking effort on both sides of Union forces?  

A coordinated flanking effort would be very questionable for two reasons: one, it would be very hard to coordinate. The plan Lee DID go with (an en echelon attack starting with Longstreet's corps and going up to Ewell's assault on Culps Hill) was horribly coordinated and delayed and nonetheless did come close to working, albeit at heavy casualties. Two, such an attack would have left Lee's center (Hill's badly damaged Corps) vulnerable to counterattack. However, I like Longstreet's idea to redeploy the army to the south. Would it have forced Meade to attack? Questionable. He likely could have simply maneuvered right around Lee (as we see Sherman do to Johnston in the Atlanta campaign). And as Lee said, "Meade will commit no error". So once the first day of action had occurred, it was likely either retreat back to Virginia or try to fight the AotP there. Any chance of destroying the spread out and tired AotP in detail was lost after the first day of battle. 

 

To be honest, this was an engagement that should have not been avoided at all costs by Lee, because even if a few more things went his way, the best result would have been Antietam and resupplying the depleted Army of N. VA in PA would have made his desire to begin pressing into MD or DC that much more difficult.

Antietam was a huge strategical defeat for Lee. If he had succeeded at Gettysburg, it would not have nearly that bad. However, the cost in manpower would have been worse for sure. Lee simply performed poorly throughout the campaign and had a bad habit of giving vague and contradictory orders to his commanders and then scapegoating them (Jeb Stuart and Ewell for example).  

Edited July 25, 2014 by LZRD WZRD

[Shanks 10,811]

Yes, I have had a very long interest in history and it is even my major. I am especially interested in The Renaissance, The Enlightenment, the American Revolution and many ancient cultures as well. I am disturbed at the lack of knowledge among the general public and it is leading to the same mistakes being made over and over again.

[Philosopher Pone 108]

This might be interesting for you: photos taken by me during the biggest Polish historical reenactment event "Strefa Militarna" ("Military Zone").

http://s1320.photobucket.com/user/geraltofpoland/library/Strefa%20Militarna%202014

[yeet 2,026]

I like history, most of my knowledge is on medicine and surgery though. But that doesn't mean I know everything.

[Khaoios 1,970]

Im big when it comes to history. Yet, i tend to enjoy ancient history (archeology), learning about specific civilizations, (ex. Aztecs, Mayans, Incas