CWI at Gettysburg College

          There is still time to register for the Civil War Institute, the annual five-day seminar about the war at Gettysburg College. Your loyal blogger attends the CWI every year and it is always a tremendous experience.

          This year’s theme is the war in 1864. The 2014 speaker list is impressive, as usual, and there are field trips scheduled to various battlefields. I recommend you check it out at http://www.gettysburg.edu/cwi/.

          The typical CWI schedule includes lectures on topics spread across the entire spectrum of Civil War study. It also includes battlefield tours of Gettysburg during which small groups of attendees follow the actions of specific regiments, some on each side of the fighting.

          There are scholarship opportunities at the CWI for high school students every year.

          I always get to Gettysburg a few days ahead of the CWI and spend time walking the Gettysburg battlefield. Then I try to spend an additional day on the battlefield after the CWI ends. I never fail to learn something new about Gettysburg during the seminar and I like to have one last day to investigate the information. Obviously, you don’t have to spend the extra time in the area that I do, but I am blessed with an understanding wife.

          Mrs. Leeway does not attend the CWI. We stay at an area hotel (as a frequent traveler, I have lots of hotel points and we use them) and my wife enjoys the local movie theaters, shopping malls, restaurants, free bus service and leisure time available at said hotel. Most CWI folks stay in the dorms at the college and eat at the student commons.

          If the Civil War interests you, the CWI is a tremendous opportunity to hear the latest scholarship on the subject. I take lots of notes and keep them. It’s never too late to learn something.

 

          Thanks for reading.

A walk in the (battlefield) park

          Summer is coming.

          Well, maybe it is coming. Some parts of the country haven’t seen very many concrete signs that warm weather is on its way. Mrs. Leeway shoveled snow off the driveway yesterday and that is not typically an indicator of summer temperatures.

          Still, it is best to plan for the chance that summer will visit sometime this calendar year.

 

          For the time being, spring has allegedly arrived and you know what they say about spring: Spring comes and everyone’s mind turns to visiting Civil War battlefields.

          A few pointers then about making successful visits to those wonderful historic sights.

          Every visit should start at the Visitor Center. Get a park map (battlefields are national parks) and be sure to ask any questions you have concerning directions. The Rangers at battlefield parks are both helpful and friendly. Most battlefield visitor centers have theaters and show short films about the battlefield or the battle fought there and the films are interesting.

 

          Most parks have driving tours that you can drive yourself at your own pace and listen to an audio guide. The tour’s stops are indicated on the park map. Take advantage of your car’s heater (or air conditioner) while you look at the history in front of you.

          If you leave your car, you’ll want to have sturdy walking shoes and I recommend high top shoes or boots. Sometimes the ground of a battlefield is uneven and it is pretty easy to turn your ankle unless you are very careful about where you put each step. You should also use sun screen and bug spray (get the kind that works against tics), wear a hat, carry water and keep your map with you.

          When my plans allow for an extended day on the battlefield, I usually spend the lunch period indoors. At Gettysburg, for example, I’ll return to the Visitors Center for lunch. This gets me out of the sun and allows me to sit down. The restrooms are an important consideration, too. If your time is short, a lunchtime sit-down might not work for you. Still, I have found the midday break to be very beneficial.

          The midday break also allows you to reapply the sun screen and bug spray while resting.

          Battlefield walks are best done with company, particularly at places like Chickamauga where much of the battlefield is isolated. Bring a friend and enjoy the visit together.

          Plan ahead. Know some of the history before you visit where it was made. It’s a lot easier to understand what you see if you know what happened where you stand.

          A friend once told me that you have to listen to what you see at a battlefield and I did not understand what he meant at the time. Now I do and it is an experience that changes with every visit I make.

          I hope you get a chance to experience the same thing.

 

          Thanks for reading.

Different views and colors

          It is amazing what a difference a little editing will do to an image. With that in mind, your loyal blogger had a little fun with some images and included them in this blog.

          The Photoshop program has many options for dressing an image, but these images have had very little work done to them, except for cropping and switching from color to black and white.

Here is a series of pictures taken within a short period of time, roughly 90 minutes, and all within a quarter of a mile of each other. The location is the area near Dalton’s Ford on the Chickamauga battlefield in Georgia and your loyal blogger was there around midday. You can tell from the colors that the images were captured in late winter.

These views are the same image. My feet did not move from
their spots while producing the two images. The difference
is in the camera positions.

 

 

 

Cropping can make a dramatic difference in how you see the subject matter but the most important cropping begins with the camera in your hands.

 

 

These first images show the same view from the same position, same camera and same lens. The difference is that one shows the standard horizontal view while the other shows the camera turned vertical.

Do you see how the different views impact the look of the area? The path is narrow (believe me). The horizontal view sort of pulls you in, which is a neat effect by itself, and the vertical makes you feel the tight confines.

These images come from the same original. Which
do you like better?

 

Now look at the images from next to the creek. Typically, yours truly likes the black and white look. But in this case, the loss of color takes something away. Look at the shallows on the right side of the color image. See the lighter color? You lose part of that color change in the black and white image. The tradeoff is the stark look the black and white image gives the creek bed. The color image, with the hint of greens in some parts of the picture, is less forbidding.

The walking path is cropped and changed to black and white.

These same areas, visited in spring or summer, are very lush and green. Color images might be more pleasing in the middle of the year.

That said, the dark, stark look is fun to work with as well.

Same original image again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This visit was in late winter because the landscape is easier to see with trees that have not yet grown leaves. Researching Chickamauga is easier when the trees are naked because you can see longer distances in wooded areas and that gives you a better appreciation for the landscape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          Thanks for reading.

The hills of Horseshoe Ridge

          There is no way to overstate how much the hilly, undulating nature of the terrain impacted the struggle for possession of Horseshoe Ridge during the Civil War battle of Chickamauga.

The sign that marks roughly the mid point of Gracie's
Brigade's attack on the heights of Horseshoe Ridge during
the battle of Chickamauga Sept. 20, 1863. At the upper
edge of the image is the top of Hill 1.

          The weaving berm of Hills 1, 2 and 3 made it almost impossible for the attacking Confederates to mount a well-coordinated attack all the way to the top. That same topographical feature gave the defending Federals opportunities for enfilading fields of fire as the attackers moved up the hillside.

          Fair to say, the Federals had their own trouble with the swerving nature of the face of the Ridge because the twists and turns of the crest gave the defenders more ground to cover. This stretched their manpower thin in places.

          Some attackers moved up steep climbs toward the crest while others attacked up easier grades. But some of the easier grades were in the draws between hills and aimed at pathways between hills that weaved between the heights. The soldiers that moved up some the draws probably had a further distance to go to get to the Federal line.

          This collection of images illustrates the points.

          Thanks for looking and reading.



On the hillside between Hill 1 (to the right) and Hill 2(left). The marker to the left marks the furthest point of advancement of a North Carolina regiment on the afternoon of the 20th. A stone for a South Carolina unit is at the far right. A marker for a Federal unit rests at the upper center of the image.

 



From the saddle between Hill 2 (to the left) and Hill 3. See how the hills create a draw
on the side of the Ridge. There were far fewer trees at the time of the battle. This image was
captured in early spring in the hopes the absence of greenery would give the viewer better sight lines and better see the impact the constant changes in topography had on the fighting here.

 

A Ridge too far: The story of the 63rd Tennessee

          Dwight David Eisenhower once said that battle plans go up smoke as soon as armies collide. Things go haywire just about the time plans are supposed to go into effect, Ike figured.

          That idea has never been truer than during the Civil War battle of Chickamauga. Case in point: The story of Archibald Gracie’s attack against Horseshoe Ridge, specifically the fate of the 63^rd Infantry Regiment of Tennessee.

This image looks to the front of the 63rd Tennessee's march
toward the Snodgrass cornfield. Horseshoe Ridge is roughly
 a 90 degree angle to the left and the Union artillery ahead
is masked by the rise in the land ahead.

          Basically, the 63^rd was at the far right end of Gracie’s brigade as it attacked the heights of the Ridge in the late afternoon of September 20, 1863. The uneven ground of the uphill approach toward the Union army’s defensive position came into play because Gracie’s straight line of attack through a forested area had to bend where the Ridge curved. Imagine running a group of people toward the corner of a building. Some of those people have to move toward the right side of the corner, some to the left.

          While most of Gracie’s line followed the intended path of attack toward the Ridge’s Hill 1, the 63^rd did not veer to its left and instead kept going straight. The Tennesseans marched into the teeth of a Federal artillery nest situated in a cornfield owned by the Snodgrass family. The 63rd suffered grievously before pulling back a short time later.

This image looks toward Horseshoe Ridge, to the left of the
63rd as it marched. The stone in the upper center is the position
marker for the 63rd after its abuse by the artillery in the
 cornfield. A regimental monument for a Union command
can be seen through trees in the extreme upper left.

          Walking the path Gracie’s command walked on the battlefield this week, your loyal blogger suddenly understood what might have led the 63^rd into trouble. Combat rookies, like most of Gracie’s men, the men of the 63^rd were confronted by ridgelines to both their left and their front. They were initially taking fire from their left and when they topped a small rise in the land, they were also taking artillery fire to their front.

          Before they walked into a new career as cannon fodder, the commanders of the 63^rd must have believed they were attacking their intended position.

          Picture the situation: Combat is terribly noisy, with the cracks of rifles, whizzing sounds of bullets going by (if they don’t hit you), the cries of the wounded and the dark pounding of the big field guns.

This particular piece of war had the added element of small fires burning on the forest floor and the hillsides and tree branches falling from above. At the very least, the smoke from these small fires made recognition of the direction the Confederates were walking harder than it would normally be and the falling branches (shot down one way or another) must have been a terrible distraction.

Just walking was very difficult for Gracie’s men. They had to step over the prone forms of dead and wounded comrades who were members of earlier attacks up the hills. Gracie’s attackers probably singed their feet on the previously-mentioned fires, tripped over discarded weapons, tree roots and, since some of these attackers were without shoes, it probably hurt their feet to strike the hidden hurdles.

It is worth noting a second time that these men had not been under fire before. The hellish confusion that is combat does not allow for timeouts. Adjustments must be made on the fly and that is why Ike, the World War II hero, said that plans don’t matter much once the shooting starts.

Soon after stumbling in to the carnage from the cannons, the men of the 63^rd pulled back to a less dangerous position and here the confusing topography helped them. They pulled back enough that a small fold in the earth’s surface was between them and the Federal field guns, allowing some protection. If they were still within reach of the Union rifles to their left, they were at least safer than they had been and that must have seemed good enough.

The position marker for the 63rd, looking toward the Snodgrass
cornfield. Notice the rise in the round, which may have offered
cover for the beleaguered Tennessee soldiers.

          The 63^rd Tennessee started the day with 402 soldiers and officers and lost more than half its men, counting the killed and wounded. The regiment’s losses were due to the rude greeting in front of the Snodgrass cornfield.

          Had the 63^rd executed the turn to the left that other portions of Gracie’s force completed, it might have lost the same number attacking the determined northern defenders anyway. Their planned position in Gracie’s line approaching the top of the Ridge would have made the 63^rd an excellent target for the artillerymen in the cornfield. As it was, the big guns pounded Gracie’s right flank as it attacked the hillside.

          History has largely skipped past the 63^rd in telling the story of Horseshoe Ridge. It says here that if historians would stand where I stood this week, where the 63^rd walked that bloody afternoon so long ago, history might better serve the Tennesseans.

          Thanks for reading.

 

Fording the Chickamauga

          Around sunset on September 18, 1863, the men of Archibald Gracie’s Brigade crossed Chickamauga Creek at a place known as Dalton’s Ford. The brigade was part of the Confederate Army of Tennessee and crossing the Creek basically put the brigade in position to become involved in the costly battle of Chickamauga.

          One hundred fifty years, five months and three weeks later, your loyal blogger put his boots in the same mud as Gracie’s men did all those years ago.

Dalton's Ford, looking to the south. Gracie's Brigade
crossed Chickamauga Creek from the far side toward the
side where the photographer stood.

          This was a humbling experience, a literal step into history. Maybe a step into the muck of history. Or something like that.

          It took lots of direction from the patient park Rangers at the Chickamauga National Military Park Visitors Center, a fancy map and a wonderful spring day to make the trek pay off, but the Ford was waiting when yours truly showed up.

Muddy boots!

          The sand in the foreground of this image at the Ford is all that remains of the crossing and even this much is more difficult to see when the Creek’s water level is higher. Still, it is there to be seen on the southern end of the Park’s portion of the battlefield.

          After stomping around the area near the Ford, it was time to drive the rental car to Horseshoe Ridge. It has been two years since my last visit to the Ridge but the time between visits has allowed for study of the fighting. James Ogden, the Park’s historian, has been kind enough to help me understand a great deal of this very complicated area of fighting. Today I looked at the Ridge with a better understanding than ever before.

          For your loyal blogger, today was about fitting a little bit of book knowledge with the pure facts of the topography. New questions popped up, which always happens to me here. But brief moments of understanding also happened and those moments were thrilling.



This image shows the area between Hills 1
and 2 on Horseshoe Ridge. See how the ground
changes in both directions



          Regular readers of this blog know I begin each trip to a battlefield with detailed plans for each day and I typically blow those plans off as soon as I find something new and interesting.

          Today’s visit was disciplined. There was no plan shredding, just a careful following of the plan as outlined. I noted things I want to explore, but I left them unseen for the time being. Talk about making a sacrifice for the greater good, this was it.

          Tomorrow will be more of the same, although the goals are very different and will probably be harder to accomplish. Still, no one promised me a rose garden. Even if they did, I don’t like roses anyway.

 

          Thanks for reading.

Life in the 60s

                The headline made me laugh. It was online, which should have been a tipoff that someone was stupid somewhere, but even for an online headline it was lame.

          “History” the headline read. “James scores 61.”

          LeBron James scored 61 points for the Miami Heat in a game they won Monday. Anytime an NBA player scores 40 points or more they are to be congratulated and when someone scores 50 or more it is a tremendous accomplishment.

          This blog is not critical of LeBron James. He’s the best offensive player in the game today. The criticism here is directed at the nitwit who wrote the “History” headline.

          The fact of the matter is that 22 players scored 60 or more in NBA games before James did so on Monday and many of those players reached 60 points without benefit of the 3-point shot. James’ 61-point night, great as it was, is still 39 short of the all-time single game record.

          If Wilt Chamberlain were alive today, he’d probably say something like, “The first 20 or so times I scored 60 in a game, I was pretty excited, too.”

          Chamberlain scored 60 or more points 32 times. Read that again: Wilt had 60 points or more in 32 games. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant have done it five times each and Elgin Baylor reached 60 four times. Neither Chamberlain nor Baylor played during the 3-point shot era.

          James’ 61-point game was great stuff, no question. But Chamberlain scored 100 one night. He also had games where he scored 78, 73 (twice), 72 and 70 points. Bryant is second on the single-game list with 81. Remember David Thompson? He had a 73-point game and David Robinson scored 71 in a game.

          Jim Mora, the football coach, would ask about the playoffs. Jordan set the NBA record when he scored 63 in a post season game and Baylor had the old record, 61.

What LeBron James did Monday was the result of a great effort but it was Miami Heat history and little else.

Thanks for reading.

Artists are beholden to the beholders

          Nobody has ever confused your loyal blogger with an art expert. Everything I know about painting can be summed up this way: It is best to use even strokes so that the wall looks the same from end to end.

          When Mrs. Leeway and I visited two major art museums within the space of a few weeks, it was a major shift in behavior.

Not for her, you understand. My wife is the soul of refinement, the essence of elegance and the embodiment of everything that is right in the world. She likes art.

          I am somewhat less refined. My idea of art is a snazzy paint job on a racecar.

          Still, we visited the art museums in Philadelphia (where the statue of Rocky stands) and the one in Cleveland and had wonderful visits to both. All the big-name painters have work in both places and yours truly discovered that painters from the same school of work as Rembrandt, whatever you call those guys, are my faves.

          In photographers’ terms, those works show more focus through a deeper level of contrast than most others. They look more realistic, so they are easier to look at.

          Both museums had photo galleries, but neither photo gallery was overly exciting.

          Each had armory exhibits and these were interesting. Philadelphia’s display included a sword from the Viking era and Cleveland’s had a shotgun once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte. Great stuff.

          The Cleveland museum is free to enter. I closed my eyes and handed over my credit card in Philly. I have no idea what it costs to visit there, but the trip was worth the price because it is a well-run location and the art, I am told, is excellent.

          A visitor to Philadelphia or Cleveland would enjoy spending time in either museum, but a word of caution: Take a taxi or a bus. The condition of the streets in both towns, and the brutal driving style needed in Philadelphia, can be very hard on a car. Save yours and let someone else deal with it.

 

          Thanks for reading.