I Ask You About the Battle of Shiloh 1862...Again

[Barsoom]

Sigel is given command of a corps comprised of two divisions assigned to the Army of the Southwest and he had no finer military campaign than the march through Springfield, MO into NW Arkansas to the Battle of Pea Ridge / Elkhorn Tavern. Sigel will bring Ordnung to the battlefield, lead from the front, and will personally direct the artillery barrage that breaks the Confederate positions on the second day of the battle.

Sigel is then redeployed to the Shenandoah Valley where Stonewall Jackson spins him around and sends him running.

At times I experience a strong sense of compassion with the poor plodding Jominian, so well versed in the intricacies of modern warfare, so unsuited to deal with an opponent who breaks the rules.

If you've played chess at a club, or if you've seen The Queen's Gambit, you might recognize those conscientious souls who always follow sound principle, who are always flabbergasted when your opening move is 1. b2 - b4.

 

[Andre Bolkonsky]

At tim

I am uncertain Tim the Enchanter was on this battlefield, but I can confirm the presence of a killer rabbit.

 

[Barsoom]

I am uncertain Tim the Enchanter was on this battlefield, but I can confirm the presence of a killer rabbit.

Damn new phone is too touch sensitive.

 

[Andre Bolkonsky]

At times I experience a strong sense of compassion with the poor plodding Jominian, so well versed in the intricacies of modern warfare, so unsuited to deal with an opponent who breaks the rules.

If you've played chess at a club, or if you've seen The Queen's Gambit, you might recognize those conscientious souls who always follow sound principle, who are always flabbergasted when your opening move is 1. b2 - b4.

Well said, and an apt example. It explains exactly why early in the war on the westernmost edges of the Union his tactics work so well, but becomes less effective as the war continues.

Speaking of The Queen's Gambit and Anya Taylor Joy I saw the trailer to this movie at Dune. I'm intrigued: Last Night in Soho

 

[Rubidium]

To my knowledge, the only army destroyed in the field during the Civil War was Hood's Army of Tennessee at Nashville., General George 'Rock of Chickamauga' Thomas' underappreciated masterpiece.

And even that, coming at the end of a disastrous campaign of multiple battles, saw the large majority of the soldiers survive. The army collapsed in large part due to desertions in the aftermath of a crushing defeat. It was a major problem for the South late in the war: your army was starving, your family were also suffering, and many of you were close enough to home that you could run away and have a good chance to not get caught (not to mention, in the later years of the war, significant Southern territory was essentially controlled by various gangs of deserters, so even if you couldn't get back home, you could certainly get "away"). For comparison, Lee's army shrunk from roughly 60,000 at the start of Petersburg to 28,000 at Appomattox. Many of those were losses to disease or battle, but just as many were folks deciding the war was lost and they might as well go back to their families while they had a chance.

That's much less of an issue for a Union army in Tennessee in 1862.

More realistically, you could trap and besiege an army into surrendering (Grant managed to do this several times, at Ft. Donelson, Vicksburg, and finally Appomattox), but it's hard to imagine the Confederates managing to pull that off at Shiloh, especially given that the Union controlled the river.