tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679713926179902683.post441791774038049799..comments2023-05-16T07:15:08.080-06:00Comments on Battlefield Wanderings 2.0: ShilohNickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03108569840442927455noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679713926179902683.post-67829810666381937082009-04-08T08:07:00.000-06:002009-04-08T08:07:00.000-06:00Craig,I think Chickamauga came too late. But it d...Craig,<br>I think Chickamauga came too late. But it does represent a beautiful opportunity. But at that point the North has the ability/opportunity to shift men to blunt the threat. If they had scored such a victory a year earlier, at Stones River, Shiloh, Corinth or Perryville then they might have been able to do more with it and not let April 6th be the high water mark.<br><br>Fully agree though that if its not Shiloh the Confederacy's high water mark is Missionary Ridge before its at a copse of trees in Pennsylvania.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08528725361910007225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679713926179902683.post-84727586109678796992009-04-08T08:02:00.000-06:002009-04-08T08:02:00.000-06:00I understand your point on moral authority but don...I understand your point on moral authority but don't completely agree. Yes it will take a long grueling war to firmly establish a winner, demonstrate to all concerned that the Union is in control. But I believe that after April 7 1862 the South does not have the chance to do this. Because as much as we talk about the South's will to fight and Copperheads in the North I think realistically the North had just as much will and would have needed a spectacularly bloody stalemate to finally give up. The South's chance of stopping the flow in the Western theater is gone after April 7thNickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08528725361910007225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679713926179902683.post-61256706680988623082009-04-08T07:41:00.000-06:002009-04-08T07:41:00.000-06:00Nick, I agree with your assessment. Mabye Missio...Nick, I agree with your assessment. Mabye Missionary Ridge was more the turning point of the war than a copse of trees.markerhunterhttp://markerhunter.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679713926179902683.post-8518753289461124552009-04-08T05:58:00.000-06:002009-04-08T05:58:00.000-06:00I will be tramping the Shiloh battle again next we...I will be tramping the Shiloh battle again next week. Always one of my favorites. Also a western theater fan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6679713926179902683.post-63232441683975482492009-04-07T17:48:00.000-06:002009-04-07T17:48:00.000-06:00Nick, I appreciate your well reasoned argument tha...Nick, I appreciate your well reasoned argument that the west was the decisive theater of the war. I think it is flawed for only one reason. The war was not about resources so long as the moral authority of the union was not established over the minds of secessions supporters. It required Grant's defeat of the Lee's army in Virginia to establish that moral authority once and for all. <br><br> We can see this necessity when we study the populations of cities and states that were put under union control during the war. I think a look at the behavior of Louisana's citizens in New Orleans is a good illustration of this point. It took Bank's tyrannical methods to quell major unrest and he never completely subdued the town. <br><br> I would further point out that Lee's surrender was more than symbolic. E. Port Alexander wrote of his urging Lee to instruct his men at Appomatox to escape and evade and open a guerilla campaign. Lee refused and chose to surrender himself as well as his army and urged his officers and men to submit to the federal government.<br><br> The surrender of Johnston's forces and his remarks upon his capitulation also punctuate the morale authority that the Yankee forces have established with the defeat of these field armies.<br><br> I want to see our Civil War as the first modern war, but too much about it still has the hauntings of the 18th century. <br><br> Finally, I am a resident of Sterling, VA and spending time on the battlefields is more than a hobby for me. So, whenever you come to Northern VA or central Maryland, please feel free to contact me. Happy to join a fellow historian tramping along.Broadsidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12612954071747151083noreply@blogger.com