Thanks!

Readers,

July was by far the best month, in terms of page views, in this blog's history.

Many, many thanks for reading!

Confederate soldier Robert Norris

          It was September 20, 1863 during the bloody fighting for Horseshoe Ridge in the final hours of the terrible battle of Chickamauga. The battlefield was (and still is) in northern Georgia, within a handful of miles of the Tennessee line.

          The 15^th Alabama Infantry Regiment had battered itself against the Union defenses in an area between the Ridge’s Hills 1 and 2 and was pulling back after suffering losses.

          It had been 79 days since the 15^th fought so gamely and failed to push the 20^th Maine off the rocky sides of Little Round Top during the second day of fighting at Gettysburg. Now this veteran unit, led by William Oates, had been transferred with about 12,000 other Confederates from Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia to Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee.

          The fighting at Horseshoe Ridge was every bit as brutal as the desperate

This path is located in the general area
where the 15th Alabama  and the Alabamians
of Hilliard"s Legion got in each other's way
during the battle of Chickamauga.

bloodletting had been at Little Round Top. One historian referred to the “iron hail” of Chickamauga and your loyal blogger agrees with that descriptive phrase.

          Fighting among his comrades of 15^th was an officer named Robert Cicero Norris and Norris was about to meet his future.

          Norris enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private at the age of 23 in 1861. He was not married and his occupation was listed as ‘student.’ He progressed through the ranks and was a Sargent Major by 1864. His rapid rise may have partially been due to the heavy losses suffered by the 15^th during the war.

          During the battle of Chickamauga, the Confederate attack against Horseshoe Ridge was not a well-coordinated affair. Your loyal blogger is working on research which, hopefully, will be a book someday. It would take a book-length treatment to explain the lack of coordination between Confederate commanders that afternoon. For now, just read along with the assumption that the commanders on hand struggled to work together.

          As the 15^th pulled back down the hill, it bumped headlong into another determined group of Confederates, a brigade of about 2,000 men, rushing up the hill. This group of attacking southerners included two regiments and a bunch of Alabamians in an outfit known as Hilliard’s Legion.

          The retreating 15^th forced part of the Legion’s line to stop attacking in order to allow the exhausted survivors of the 15^th to get down the hill and it was during this meeting of the units that Norris met his future.

          In a span of about 90 minutes, the Legion suffered severe casualties but managed to force the Federals off the line at the top of the hill. The Legion’s losses were so severe that in the months following the battle, the Legion was split into three smaller units, the 23^rd Battalion Alabama Sharpshooters, the 59^th Alabama Infantry Regiment and the 60^th Alabama Infantry Regiment.

          The 15^th Alabama and the three units that splintered off from the Legion eventually spent parts of the next 19 months fighting in the same areas of the war. The losses suffered by the 60^th were tremendous, both among the officers and enlisted men. In 1864, Norris was promoted to 2^nd Lieutenant and transferred to the 60^th. He eventually became a first Lieutenant.

          The tattered survivors of the 15^th regiment, 23^rd battalion and the 59^th and 60^th regiments from Alabama all surrendered at Appomattox.

This marker in memory of Robert C. Norris stands on the grounds
of the Confederate Memorial Park in Alabama. The plate glass covering the
area with the printing gives off distracting reflections, so your loyal
blogger burned in some areas of the marker to make it easier to read here.

          Shortly after the end of the war, the leader of Brazil offered former Confederates inducements to relocate to that South American country and settle there. Some number of Alabamians did so, including Norris. They lived in a settlement named Americana.

          George W. Hilliard, who organized the Legion which bore his name, was the United States Minister to Brazil after the war from 1877 to 1881. Lieutenant John Washington Keyes of the 60^th became the family dentist for the royal family of Emperor Dom Pedo.

          Many of the transplanted Confederates returned to the United States after five years or so in Brazil, but Norris and others remained.

          Robert C. Norris died in Brazil May 4, 1913 at 77 years of age.

          There is a marker in his honor at the Confederate Memorial Park near Montgomery, Alabama.

 

          Thanks for reading.

An internal compass for Gettysburg historians

          In her tremendous book, Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory, Professor Carol Reardon quotes Lieutenant Frank A. Haskell about the Battle of Gettysburg.

Haskell was at Gettysburg. He witnessed Pickett’s Charge. His letter to his brother about that day in the farm fields outside the little town in Pennsylvania should be an enriching resource for historians.

Maybe it is. Your loyal blogger has not read the letter.

But the quotes selected by Reardon’s perceptive eye have an even greater impact than just a description of the final clash at Gettysburg. Those quotes should serve as an admonition or maybe an internal compass for historians.

From Reardon’s book, a quote from Haskell’s letter: “a full account of the battle as it was will never, can never be made…It’s not possible.” The ellipsis is not in the original.

Again, from Reardon’s book, Haskell wrote, “some eye that never saw the battle will select, and some pen will write what will be named the history.”

“As a consequence,” Reardon wrote, “we know less about what really happened on July 3 at Gettysburg than history purports to tell us.”

Reardon’s book is published by the University of North Carolina Press. The research into how the history of that day came down to us is tremendous. Anyone out there who thinks the modern day’s PR wars are something new can learn from this excellent book. The constant bickering between Virginia troops and their former comrades from North Carolina is fascinating.

In addition, the chapter covering the reunion of Federal and Confederate soldiers at the battle’s 50^th anniversary observation is gripping stuff.

The message in the first few pages, which includes the Haskell quotes, is powerful reading. Think about what those words mean: We know less than we think we do and as we continue to research the Civil War in the future, the reports on any new discoveries will be written by owners of eyes which never saw the battle and never conversed with a participant.

Here is a reality check alert: The same is increasingly true for both world wars, the conflict in Korea and, yes, even Vietnam.

Perhaps historians do a better job when they are far removed, in terms of time, from an event. There is a lessening of emotional attachment to the subject that way and that distance might allow for a clearer eye.

But can’t you picture this? An old veteran reads a book about the battle of Gettysburg and summarizes his opinion with the words, “That’s a nice try, but you weren’t there.”

All these years later, we can pour over reports, diaries and letters in order to extract information about what happened during those three days. Photographs from the days immediately following the fighting might also lend us some clues. We can determine what happened, who made it happen, where it happened and why.

But the fictional veteran described above would be right: We weren’t there. We can’t know the experiences that impacted individual soldiers.

On the other hand, it is also true that no participant in an action with the size and scope of the Battle of Gettysburg could possibly know much of what happened, either. Soldiers know what they themselves did during those three days, but seldom know more than that.

This is the central point we should take away from Haskell’s letter: Participants in an event of such a large scale can’t know the dramatic twists and turns that happen even a few hundred yards away. What they do have is a feel for the experience.

Modern scholars can determine with a certain degree of accuracy the who, what, when, where and how of the battle. Strategic choices can be questioned but the record is solid about who made them, when those decisions were made and the reasons for the decisions. The data for the number of soldiers involved and the casualty counts is reasonably clear.

Researchers, however, cannot have the feel for the event that the participants had.

The point?

The point is that no serious student of the Battle of Gettysburg should fail to read Pickett’s Charge in History and Memory because there are many, many thinking points and the feelings of many of the participants are made clear. Your loyal blogger wore out a new highlighter reading this book. Maybe you’ll do the same.

Thanks for highlighting…uh…reading.

Major League fun at a minor league game

          The Akron Aeros minor league baseball team plays its home games at Canal Park Stadium in downtown Akron, Ohio. Real nice ballpark; it is well-kept, pretty and roomy enough to be comfortable while attending games.

          Your loyal blogger attended a game there recently and had a great time. The Aeros are a double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.

          Accustomed as I am to Major League prices, and to not attending Major League games because of those Major League prices, I rediscovered how affordable minor league ball can be.

          Reserved seats directly behind home plate, the most expensive thing they sell, cost all of $9. Parking can be free, although I parked the Mustang in the pay lot this time. I bought a large hot dog, large soda and a large bag of peanuts for $12. That’s a total of $21 if you park in the free lot. If you buy a cheaper seat, you can save a few bucks. If you eat at home before the game, it’s cheaper still.

          Programs are free. That’s right, free.

          Let’s face it, this is affordable entertainment.

          They do all kinds of mid-inning crazy stuff to keep the crowd energized. Fans dress up in mascot suits and race. Children are selected out of the crowd to introduce the batters on the public address system. T-shirts are thrown into the crowd. They play the Chicken Dance song on the PA and put video cameras in the crowd to show the best Chicken Dancers on the scoreboard’s big screen video player.

          I was there on Thirsty Thursday, which means cheap beer, and it was some kind of celebration of German-American heritage night.

          The Aeros have a hot new shortstop. Don’t ask me where he came from, but he doubled, homered and singled, driving in three runs and scoring twice the night I was there. The Akron third baseman is very good, defensively, and he started two very slick double-plays. It’s professional baseball and these guys play like it.

          The Aeros beat a team from Richmond, Virginia by a score of 5-1 the night I was there. I’m not sure I could have had more fun anywhere else.

          If you like baseball, you’ll like the minor leagues. If you like the minor leagues, you’ll just love the Akron Aeros.

 

          Thanks for reading.

Why are the Alouettes losing?

          It has been interesting to watch the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes this season. Here in the States, CFL football has not always been available on television, but this year there a CFL package is available.

          Consistent readers know that your loyal blogger has been interested in recent years in the career of Montreal’s history-making quarterback, Anthony Calvillo. Calvillo is professional football’s all-time leader in passing yardage and has some other records within reach. He is second only to Brett Farve in both scoring passes and completions.

          Well, those marks were within reach. Maybe not so much now.

          For some reason, the Als (that’s what their fans call them) hired a head coach from here in the United States with no CFL experience. That guy hired a non-CFL guy to be the offensive coordinator.

          Montreal is 1-3 this season and the offense has been a problem. The team isn’t scoring many points. That makes things hard for the Montreal defense, which has played well.

          Last year’s team, which was coached by a CFL veteran, scored 478 points in 18 games, one of only two teams in the league to score 450 or more. Only the BC Lions scored more points than the Als and BC scored 479. This year, the Als are averaging 24.3 points a game.

          Last year, Calvillo completed 60 percent of his passes and finished second in the league with 5,082 yards (averaging 282.33 per game). He tossed 31 scoring passes and was intercepted 14 times.

          This year, Calvillo has averaged 208.25 yards and has as many scoring passes as he does interceptions, four each, in four games.

          It says here the problem is not Calvillo. The problem is the coaching staff, which has not adapted well to the Canadian game. We read recently that the team has brought in an offensive coach with CFL experience, which might help. It might also help to scrap this new offense, print up copies of last year’s playbook, and get back to playing Montreal Alouette football.

 

          Thanks for reading.

Gettysburg's best Angle

          In the old days, when news stories were longer than 140 characters, journalists knew that without a good angle they had no story. Editors asked reporters repeatedly what the reporter was working on and what the angle was.

          If the reporter answered that he/she wasn’t sure what the angle was, the editor would say, “You don’t have a story yet. Keep digging.” If the reporter answered that he/she had several possible angles, the editor would sometimes say the magic words, “Write the main and gimme a sidebar.”

          Your loyal blogger has found the same to be true of Pickett’s Charge: The Angle is the key to the story. Of all the locations along the Federal line on July 3, 1863 in the fields outside Gettysburg, the spot where that little rock wall made a 90-degree turn east-west for a hundred yards or so before another 90-degree turn to head north-south again is the key to the story.

          The entire day, both for the Federals and Confederates, can be viewed and understood from the standpoint of what happened at The Angle.

          Some will disagree, and many of those who feel differently are more learned on the subject than this writer. However, none of them write this blog and, thus, they are wrong.

          It is true that the Confederates involved in the attack that day were aiming, generally, toward a group of trees a bit behind the Federal line. This area has come down through history to be known as the Copse of Trees. It is said to be the so-called high water mark of the war for the Confederacy.

This image, from roughly halfway between Seminary Ridge, where the Confederates started their attack, and Cemetery
Ridge, where the Federals waited, shows two key points. The group of trees in the center of the horizon is the Copse
of Trees. The two trees to your left mark The Angle. In order to avoid confusion, many of the monuments along the
Ridge have been eliminated from the image. The fence marks the Emmitsburg Road.

          But Confederate General Lewis Armistead didn’t lead a group of Confederates through the Federal line at the Copse of Trees. Armistead and a group of southerners burst through a gap in the blue line at The Angle, roughly a hundred yards north of the copse. For this observer, the southern high water mark at Gettysburg was at The Angle.

          For what it is worth, it says here that the Confederates lost the Battle of Gettysburg on the second day and started along the road toward losing the Civil War with the wasteful attack on the third. But that’s a blog for a different day.

          Generally speaking, George Meade’s boys in blue detected, inspected and then rejected the attack by Robert E. Lee’s gray guys along the Cemetery Ridge line. Most Confederates failed to reach the line of defenders along the ridge. Some did in a few locations.

          But there was nothing like the penetration perpetrated by Armistead and his men. The estimates your loyal blogger has seen put the number of Confederate attackers to rush through the Federal line at The Angle between 100 and 200 men. For the sake of simplification, let us make the number 150.

          Many of Armistead’s attackers were killed shortly after pushing their way across the line, some were wounded and others captured. By most accounts, the Confederates lost steam when Armistead went down with a mortal wound as he rested his hand on a Union artillery piece.

          The events at The Angle represent the entire day for both armies. The Federal army stoutly defended its line of defense. The Confederates mounted a determined attack and briefly broke through the stout Union defense.



This image, collected from a point slightly north of The
Angle, shows all the monuments to Federal regiments
that were near the Union line on Cemetery Ridge.

          But Meade’s men had reserves waiting the plug any leaks in the wall, so to speak, while Lee’s army had far fewer reserves to commit and did not commit what few they had to the attack.

          That’s Gettysburg in a nutshell, isn’t it? Go back to the first day. The Confederates had the Feds on the run but failed to take advantage of an opportunity at the end of the day and did not seize the high ground. Most of the Confederate units on site were exhausted and could not push anymore. The remainder of the army was a day’s march or more away.

          The Federals were still feeding regiments into the area as the first day ended.

          Lee’s army was generally successful on the second day. It pushed the Army of the Potomac off of most of the engagement points on the Southern half of the battlefield.

          But the Army of Northern Virginia could not win the day at Little Round Top, generally because the bluecoats kept finding reinforcements at critical moments and the graycoats did not.

          By the time Armistead stepped away from Seminary Ridge toward the Union defenses on the third day of the battle, he was destined for the same fate his comrades met the previous two days: His attack created an opportunity that no Confederate could take advantage of.

          The story of The Angle is more than just the high water mark for the Confederates at Gettysburg. It is a microcosm of the battle as a whole.

          Thanks for reading.

 

Terrific research by PFRA member Brian Marshall

          A tip of the blogger’s cap to Brian Marshall, a fellow member of the Pro Football Researchers Association, for his outstanding research into the career yardage of legendary running back Jim Brown.

          While researching Jim Brown’s career statistics as a whole, Marshall went through the official play-by-play sheets from the Cleveland Browns’ 1962 season. He detected that Jim Brown’s totals were slightly inaccurate in five games that year.

          Marshall’s research shows that Jim Brown actually rushed for 1,016 yards that season. He is officially credited with 996.

          The matter is covered in the current edition of The Coffin Corner, the official publication of the PFRA. Marshall’s article is titled, Rushing to Judgment: Recovering Jim Brown’s Lost Yardage.

          If you follow sports history, this is a must read.

          Interestingly, 10 years later, the Miami Dolphins asked the NFL to review halfback Mercury Morris’ rushing yardage for the 1972 season. The league discovered a play in which Morris was credited with a loss when the yardage should properly have been subtracted from someone else’s total. The result was that Morris was officially credited with exactly 1,000 yards gained rushing that year, giving the Dolphins two rushers with at least that many yards. The other 1,000-yard Dolphin rusher was Larry Czonka.

          Correcting Brown’s official totals for the 1962 season should be something the league can do, assuming the league looks into the question and agrees with Marshall.

          More information on the PFRA, including how to join and become a subscriber to The Coffin Corner is available at www.profootballresearchers.org.

          Thanks for reading.