Granting you some trivia

          Remember the old joke, the one where you ask who is buried in Grant’s tomb?

          Don’t worry about trick questions here. The answer is simple: Grant.

          But you can win a lot of bets by asking who Grant’s pallbearers were.

          The answer in a moment, but first a dose of context.

          The American Civil War did not end when Ulysses Simpson Grant, the head of all United States forces in the final months of the war, forced Robert E. Lee to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia in April of 1865. Other Confederate forces were still in the field elsewhere and it took a while longer for those Confederate armies to give up.

          But when Grant dictated the terms of surrender to Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, Grant also dictated to his government what the terms of surrender should be.

          Confederate soldiers who swore an oath of allegiance to the United States were paroled and those who had horses with them at the time of surrender were allowed to take their horses home in order to help with the spring planting.

          The terms Grant gave Lee’s men were in line with the thinking of Abraham Lincoln but not in line with many members of Congress nor with Andrew Johnson, the man who succeeded Lincoln as president after Lincoln was assassinated. Still, Grant’s prestige was enough to make the terms stand up.

          Grant understood that our nation needed to begin heeling at war’s end. The iron stamp of revenge, if stomped on the states that stood in rebellion, would do more harm than good, Grant indicated.

          Grant was right.

          When Grant died a little more than 20 years after Lee’s surrender, Grant’s funeral was one of the biggest events in Washington D.C. history. According to a reprint of a story which appeared in the New York Times on July 30, 1885 that this blogger found online this week, Grant’s widow asked President Cleveland to appoint the pallbearers for her husband’s funeral.

          Predictably, the list included former U.S. generals William T. Sherman and Philip Sheridan, two U.S. Navy admirals and some civilians.

          Less predictably, the list of Grant’s pallbearers also included former Confederate generals Simon B. Buckner and Joseph Johnston.

          Go figure.

          Thanks for reading.

The fighting map maker

          During the American Civil War, the newspapers covering the Army of the Potomac did not call its commander ‘Mapping Joe’ Hooker. He was ‘Fighting’ Joe Hooker.

Hooker’s successor as head of the army was not nicknamed ‘The Mapmaker.’ No, George Gordon Meade was nicknamed ‘The Snapping Turtle.’

Under both Hooker and Meade, the Army of the Potomac had a cartographer. That same map making expert had done important work before the war. During the war this man was a somewhat unsung hero but he rendered great service in important moments of key battles and now has one of the most iconic statues in the United States honoring his best-known contribution to the army.

The hero is General Gouverneur K. Warren. His pre-war work gave the federal 

The front view of Warren's
statue at Gettysburg.

government a better understanding of the part of the North American continent that was west of Philadelphia. The theory at the time was probably something like this: If we’re going to govern something, we’d best send Gouverneur out there to tell us what we govern.

Once the Civil War started, the Army needed detailed maps of the areas where it might travel and fight the Confederates and that’s where Warren came in handy. By 1863, Warren was serving with the Army of the Potomac as chief cartographer and chief engineer. He was good enough at his jobs that he served through part of the round-robin series of army commanders that the AoP went through in the first two years of the war.

Fighting Joe Hooker, who gifted himself with his own sobriquet, headed the AoP during the battle of Chancellorsville in 1863. Hooker used Warren’s eyes and ears on some occasions and as a messenger at other times. When a general officer showed up with a message from the commanding general, that message got instant attention. Hooker struggled at times to get maximum effort from some of his subordinates at Chancellorsville and he used Warren to help get things moving.

The Confeds won at Chancellorsville, but it certainly wasn’t because of any failing on Warren’s part. There is a school of thinking that doesn’t even blame Hooker.

Eventually Meade replaced Hooker and three days later the AoP found itself smack in the midst of the battle of Gettysburg. It was during the three-day death struggle against Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia that Warren earned himself the wonderful statue which stands for the ages on a hill named Little Round Top.

On the second day at Gettysburg Meade, as Hooker had done, sent Warren to observe the condition of the Federal lines, particularly atop Culp’s Hill and Little Round Top. Warren famously stood on a tall rock at Little Round Top and determined that Lee’s army was attacking in that direction. Rather than report to Meade, Warren acted quickly on his own, found four regiments that didn’t seem to be too busy and got them up on Little Round Top a few minutes before the Confeds arrived.

It says here that Warren saved the battle of Gettysburg for the Federals.

Warren later earned promotions but lost his job as commander of V Corps in the

final days of the war when General Phillip Sheridan, Warren’s boss, decided Warren lacked the needed aggressiveness for Corps command. A court inquiry heard Warren’s case in 1879 and finally published its findings nine years later. The court absolved Warren of Sheridan’s charges, but Warren had been dead for six years by that time.

Even armies that win wars can only have a limited number of heroes. During the American Civil War, the United States Army had plenty. One of them is The Great Map Maker, Gouverneur K. Warren.

 

Thanks for reading.

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.