Posted on 09/19/2020 5:29:58 AM PDT by Bull Snipe
Confederate General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee attacks Union General William Rosecrans Army of the Cumberland near Chickamauga Creek in North West Georgia. By the end of the battle, over 30,000 men on both sides would be casualties. Chickamauga is the second most costly battle of the war, second only to Gettysburg.
30,000 unreal. I read William T. Shermans memoirs a few years ago, and besides calling Confederates “Democrats” which I’m sure blacks would love to hear about today, he also described battles that are hard to imagine, like the Union line rushing the Confeds and saying that they fell like ocean waves on shore, just unbelievable slaughter and bravery.
And, knowing that Braxton Bragg was the Confederate general, you can be sure he pulled defeat out of the jaws of victory.
On the first day of the Battle of Chickamauga, Confederate Brigadier General Benjamin H. Helm of Kentucky was mortally wounded. He died early on the second and final day of the battle.
Helm was Abraham Lincoln’s favorite brother-in-law, whom the president had tried unsuccessfully to convince to accept a commission in the Union Army. Lincoln openly wept at the news of Helm’s death.
The War of the Rebellion truly was a conflict of brother against brother.
Union General George Thomas (who was from Virginia and whose family disowned him for staying loyal to the Union)...............Is buried in Albany NY.
>>30,000 unreal<<
The number of bodies of Confederate and Union soldiers was so great that the large, open field between tree lines upon which much of the battle was fought was completely covered by the dead. One could tread from the lower to upper portion of the field without one’s feet touching the ground.
As a teenager, he saved his family from slaves during the Nat Turner Rebellion. The lesson he took from the rebellion was different from the other plantation owners. Instead of banning slaves from learning to read and write, he thought to himself, "Is it really a decent and moral thing to own other people?"
Plus, he married an anti-slavery New Yorker. I'm guessing he's buried next to his wife in New York State.
It was Rosecrans that most probably pulled defeat from the jaws of victory. Bragg would win the battle. He than besieged the Army of the Cumberland in Chattanooga. It would be a couple of months later that Grant would drive him off the mountains South of Chattanooga.
😀
“The War of the Rebellion truly was a conflict of brother against brother.”
President Trump in Bemidji, Minnesota was talking, off-the-cuff, about how poorly the media treated Lincoln.
He said something about Lincoln and the Revolution.
I’m not sure if the media will glob onto that or not. But it made me think - and search. I think the “Civil War” was more of a rebellion - or a “revolution”. (Not trying to excuse Trump’s mixing up words - but it did make me think.)
As far as I can tell, the South didn’t want to take control of the entire country (a Civil War) - they just wanted to leave and control their own destiny (a rebellion/revolution).
But what the heck do I know - I’m a “Yankee” (At least that’s where I was born.)
It’s a revolution if you win, a rebellion if you lose.
It’s hard to imagine, the bravery must have bordered on suicide. I can’t imagine any vet thinking they could possibly survive that.
I recall stories of Vietnam, where our guys had to knock over the piles of enemy around our fire-bases in order to maintain fields of vision.
Yes, agree. The War of the Rebellion is the official name in Federal archives given to the Civil War.
I am a Southerner, and still in the family is a small farm property hard against the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Battlefield Park. I have walked, jogged, explored much of the park, including into the surrounding woods where the forces marshaled and in some cases fought.
It is the first Civil War battlefield to be thoroughly mapped and marked in the late 19th Century, even before Gettysburg. Military war college students to this day visit and study the battlefield and the battle. The lessons of strategy, logistics, operations, and tactics are still valid for 21st Century armed forces.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlJUuNny9mc
I found the following about the battle. Pretty intense.
It makes me wonder about what CWII will be like.
I wonder. Have there been any books, sci-fy or whatever been written about what the world would look like if the South had been able to create their own nation?
On one of my morning jaunts around the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Battlefield Park, I encountered the Ranger who lived in a grand wooden house located on the park proper. We discussed the presence of the “Green-eyed Ghost” that is known to haunt the battlefield, and the Ranger admitted he had encountered the apparition on more than one occasion.
The ghost is a male figure, with long hair, a long coat, and luminescent green eyes.
I never walked the park after dark.
>>Have there been any books, sci-fy or whatever been written about what the world would look like if the South had been able to create their own nation?<<
I am not aware, but that certainly would be an interesting subject.
Huh? I've always thought Sharpsburg (Antietam) was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.
>>I’ve always thought Sharpsburg (Antietam) was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.<<
The number of killed, wounded, or missing/captured at Sharpsburg (Antietam) was about 23,000. For Chickamauga, the number is close to 36,000.
The difference may be that Sharpsburg (Antietam) was fought on a single day, September 17, 1862, and Chickamauga was fought one year later over a two-day period, September 19 & 20, 1863.
I think Sharpsburg (Antietam) may be considered the single bloodiest day of the Civil War. In any case, both battles resulted in carnage on an almost unthinkable scale, even in today’s world with weapons of mass destruction at the ready.
Antietam was the bloodiest single day in our history. About 22,000 casualties in that battle. The battle lasted one day.
Gettysburg with 46-51,000 casualties and Chickamauga with 34-35,000 casualties were fought over three days
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