Part, for the topic of her program today. As you can see, she has fully immersed herself in the history of mississippi where she let the Community Driven study of the mississippi confederate home. She recently launched the civil war governors project between the archives and history, the digital library, and urc of southern mississippi. Your attention to roleommon theme their as educators and mentors. She is the former president of the Mississippi Historical society and serves on the board of trustees of the society of military history. Too many mississippis and when introduction. [laughter] the academic journal of war and society, and the magazine civil war times. Expose thef her book intersection of military and social history. Her newest book, hoods texas is the basis of her program today, redefining unit history. Ladies and gentlemen, dr. Susannah ural. [applause] susannah thank you, john. Thank you for coming out. My thanks to the American Civil War museum and library of virginia. It is a true pleasure to be back in richmond. As i was preparing this talk, i kept noticing how many times i was talking about richmond but during a very different time. When john first talked to me about this program one of the things i decided i wanted to think about is the changing role of military history. It works quite nicely with the book because i kind of have a foot in each camp if you will with how i designed the book and wrote it. It is true to my roots as a military historian, it is why i went to graduate school and have been doing for the last few decades, but also about bringing in other fields and how it is to benefitifficult from so many other fields that are becoming very interested in military history. In particular, understanding the importance of remaining true to the Core Principles and tenets of the field of military history. That is what i want to look at with you today. Hoods texas brigade studied in Northern Virginia under robert ely. They fought at some of the bestknown battles antietam, gettysburg, the wilderness they would always add to that list the battle of gainesville. They were the most proud of that one and usually the anniversary of gainesville when they held the veterans reunion. Contemporaries and later historians are great the texas brigade was one of the most effective units of the war. Yet, when i dove into the history of this hard fighting unit when i first started the project i felt like we knew a lot about its combat experiences and Overall Services but we did it wasly understand why so successful on the battlefield. What made this an elite unit . I concluded it is because we lacked a full picture of these men but really of the unit as a whole because i did not think we were approaching unit histories in the right way. I thought we could certainly approach this unit history in a different way. Modern unit history has largely abandoned the celebratory tone which were often written by veteran in a heroic tale. By the time we got to the late 20th century, these had become pretty sophisticated analyses that did accomplish what williams once said, a unit history done well is a democracy at war. One of my favorites of the late 20 of sentry time is alan nolans iron brigade. He made sure we knew about individual men, we considered their experience, we analyze motivation, and brought in some homefront factors. As i was working on the book i was inspired by his approach and other unit histories from the 21st century. Those works helped me ponder what shaped hoods texas brigade into a unit and shipped to the questions that guided my project. How did the world the texans came from influence their effectiveness in war . When i say that, im talking about expanding beyond questions of wealth and class which are important and have been used to consider what motivated men to serve or to investigate whether wealthy southerners were underrepresented or overrepresented. What i wanted to think about was how the world that came from infected not only their decision to serve but the soldiers effectiveness in combat. Where their families able to sustain themselves . Did they join other confederates in contacting their governor with complaints . Requests for assistance . Petitions to exempt men from service . I was wondering what made this unit able to suffer such high casualties and continue to fight. They dont, they dont get consolidated. The unit remains effective wealth rating 64 despite effective well through 1864 despite tremendous casualties. Their losses are opposite of what the norm is. It is a 21 ratio. Most died from disease. The texas gate is opposite and it was not because they were well disciplined and clean. They were a hard fighting unit. How do you sustain that and remain an effective fighting force . I decided that if we are going to understand military units and effectiveness in war, we need to craft the fullest picture possible of their world. World i sayhere the home and at war. That is when a unit history needs to be. Not just a study of campaigns, battle, and camp life but the community of soldiers cannot be separated from the families in town. Communities that would try to sustain them, and each other, and their absence. To understand any units effectiveness you have to study that unit in its full. Approach reflects a transition we are seeing in the field of military history over the last several decades. Social historians, scholars, cultural historians, environmental scholars, the first two decades of the 20th century witnessed the explosion examining this experience in placing that in fields that traditionally did not intersect. My work reflects that movement. It has benefited from those ideas. Is art, my study really community study. Said, i also believe the nuts and bolts of a military unit or just as important, absolutely essential, to understanding those soldiers experiences. I want to make sure we do not forget that. My expanding definition of a military unit, i never lost sight of the fact it was a military unit. Community withe different rules and expectations. Understanding the military structure and assignments, the interactiomensns interactions. Those of you who study history in the audience are going, yeah, rocket science. But if you do not enter coming from other areas of specialization, just as i make sure i was grounding myself in the field of social history and the tenets that guide the field i am encouraging scholars who work and go into military history to really master the traditions of that field and recognize how much we can benefit from each other. Writers use a letter from a soldier any soldier you have to understand the military context in which that letter was written, right . Weters not necessarily recognize a battle may have happened. Thatt that but how is effective . What is the relationship between the men . Did they get a bunch of draftees . That is what i am talking about. That context is important for us to remember and study. But i also want to be clear about one thing, i am not a military historian yelling at a whole bunch of people to get off my lawn. [laughter] i want that clear. Fieldry history is a big and has become stronger because so many people from other fields recognize the value of the field. I am very fortunate to be one of those terrible academics working at a university i work with eight other military historians. It is a fantastic job that i have but we do not work in isolation. Historiansultural that are also military historians but we benefit from these fields. Expand onhe word our definition of unit histories, im using that purposely. I do not want to replace something with other things. It can all be beneficial as long as we are remembered the context and tenets of these fields. That was my goal when i wrote this book. Militarytraditional history to craft a full military unit to understand its effectiveness and the uneasy peace that followed. Im good to share what i found and you can tell me later if you think im full of a bunch of hoeoey. I always do that. Texans, a couple of things stood out to me. I really settled on four key principles because we can never just pick two. One, they had incredibly high devotion to the confederate nation. They believed in confederate independence and their determination to fight for that. Officers atd superb the company and regimental level. Three, had a strong belief personally that they had a key role to play in the war and that role had to be played in virginia. Four, they had the support of their families who were both not always able to things that go together to sacrifice and support other texas brigade families and themselves while the men were gone. Those are the four key things i want you to think about as i talked today. I want to give you a little bit of background on the texas brigade itself. 1, 1 of the interesting things about this unit is that this was not a creation of myth and memory. The texas brigade was celebrated during the war just as it is recognized as a hard fighting and talented unit today. Robert e lee relied on texas soldiers in all type places and argued must have more of them. In april 1864 when james long corps was joined with the texas brigade he said it was the best fighting brigade. The battle of the wilderness declared texans always move them. Expressing confidence these men would turn the tide of the battle which they did. Other confederate, and im picking on texans because texans love texans [laughter] the texans won immortal honor for themselves, their state, and their commander. I could talk a week and not say half they deserve. Led,xas could be properly they would end the war in three months. North carolina confided to his boys with thexas best material on the continent without a doubt. Even foot soldiers agreed. Glory of the army of Northern Virginia. The other background i want to give you is what units im talking about. The three core regiments are the first, fourth, and fifth infantry. Those are the three that are in the brigade beginning to the end. At the beginning, there joined by the 18th georgia. The georgians and south carolinians are transferred out following antietam and transferred in as the third arkansas which will be in hoods texas brigade through the end of the war. When you look at those three , the first texas if i have to give you a picture theyre the ones i called the diehards. These are your volunteers who are ready to go to war from the moment the secession process is started. Theyre chomping at the bit to go and once you have those 11 theys and the confederacy, are rushing to virginia because that is where the are convinced they can make a difference before they have approval. The thinking was that texans would help on the frontier and coastlines. These are your diehards and they will suffer the casualties of a diehard aggressive unit. The fourth and fifth infantry are not too far behind. They wait for actual permission before going to virginia but the second they have it, they are going. This is a highly motivated unit. Other background to help you kind of picture these men as you can see some of them as they were. If you just look at those three regiments to get a sense of whos volunteering, about two thirds of texas brigade soldiers came from middleclass classolds to upper end which is 500 up to 20,000. Fairly comfortable, moderate to welleducated. Most were not born in texas. They kind of kept traveling west and arrived in texas like most 19th century americans and came from Farming Families but they included blacksmiths, teachers, physicians, and many lawyers. Most were from rural areas but you also had some from austin, dallas, galveston, houston. They were known for republican policies that they and their families accumulated and that included a commitment to slavery. About two thirds of the texas officers and one third of private came from households that enslaved men, women, and children. If you are in a middleupperclass family even if you do not own slaves, you have access to slave labor and the status came with that class. Rarely spoke directly about slavery. Particularly early in the war. The first year or two, i could barely find it in their letters and i looked at a lot. Even when Abraham Lincoln announced the emancipation proclamation and thousands of southerners worried about the results, hoods texans talked a bit more about it but they are not particularly worried like many of their peers were. I argue it is because it did not occur to them they were going to lose this war. It did not occur to them slavery would end in their world. They did address the issue clearly when they ran into africanamerican troops on the battlefield. Examplet heights is an where the texans enslaved black soldiers and refusing to give quarter. Argued it wasthey a Legal Institution and one that had been key to the economic success that many of them had enjoyed, particularly during the 1850s, and the texans resented efforts to limit the expansion of slavery or threaten it in any way. Now we have basic background on the unit. Decided itnto why i was so effective in battle. The first thing i told you, they had superb company and regimental commanders. They were key to their successes. It does not mean they found those commanders right away. In fact, the texans were famous for rejecting officers they did not like particularly if they were appointed rather than elected by the men. They did not necessarily like texans. Colonel but hely te. A martinet the most effective for disciplinarians when it came to drill but tended to be more relaxed when it came to other cap regulations. Camp regulations. Rtp alan made a big deal out of everything and the men disliked him and make him miserable until he left. This is going to be a common tactic. Frankrack schaller schaller decided he was a dandy. He was appointed, not elected. They described him as a man so little where the of remark that i deem it a worsted dish waste of paper waste of paper and ink to make the slightest. Ntion of him picku [laughter] mustache covers his face and would sooner be taken for the driver of a dry than the lt. Volunteers. He is unfit to occupy the position he holds. He at last left in disgust. The lath they saw of him was his backside writing out of camp astride his horse, its main sheared off, its tail naked and sleek as a possum. [laughter] they made such a mockery of quadlebaum that he resigned. Devils,o associate with he would wait until he got to hep where he could wherell. [laughter] were always suspicious of our archer and to near yankee dom. Who did they approve of . This guy. Martin his name is william this is one of the reasons he loved them. He thought the saluting thing it was stupid. They would salute him and he would say howdy and this is how he got his name. He is clearly in control. He is a very effective commander but like i said its like with horses be gentle on the bit. He knows how to control the men without being too controlling. Guy ter the war, this if you have not read the memoir, read it. It is one of the best written. Val giles,the war, was reflecting on their optimism in the summer of 1863 as they marched toward pennsylvania. He said some good cheer was aided by the whiskey. Each man received it was chain lightning and knocked out many a valiant soldier, especially those who accepted rations from abstaining friends. They never did figure out where hood got the whiskey but every man in the regiment was a no nothing after he got his guilt. We ate breakfast in the state of virginia, maryland, pennsylvania, and slept in the state of intoxication. [laughter] in 24 hours. He remembered the man he was walking with when he crossed into the keystone state. He was waiting for the company commander, strolling at the head of his company has cavalry saber thrown over his shoulder. Martin to join him in capturing pennsylvania which martin agreed to do. Him theent signified to tight bonds between the Citizen Volunteer officers and the men of the texas brigade. A relationship that was key to their past and future successes. Arm in arm, a captain in fort sergeant invaded the united states. Such familiarity between a captain in a noncommissioned officer would seem ridiculous in the eyes of a disciplinarian but captain martin was a man we all loved and could approach. They approached him a lot when they got in trouble. He was a lawyer and they would get sent to the guard has for one of the other and martin was always there. He could usually argue the case pretty well and get them taken care of and back in the ranks. Officerpton was another they respected. He was strict, courageous in battle, but rejected other aspects of military regulations like traditional uniform that you might associate with an officer. Consider this description from Robert Campbell of what upton looked like. Wore an old concert, a slush hecat, a huge saber blackn old coat, slouched hat, circling his saber over his head and yelling above the noise. He embodied the kind of man texans would accept as the leader and disciplinarian. But they loved John Bell Hood the most. I think the institution for letting me use this photograph has it came from the time when he was with the men. The texans warmed to hood immediately. When the regiment first met their colonel they were well pleased with him. He is a texan and a good soldier and is the appearance of a brave man. That is just what texans want. A man that will lead them onto victories or death. This loyalty lasted for the rest of their lives. It lasted long after hoods reputation had become tarnished after atlanta, franklin, nashville, the battles for civil war memory when hoods texas brigade veterans organize themselves into an association they named themselves the hoods Texas Brigade Association. They had longer brigade commanders but it was hood they loved the most. Mused it is been a question whether he made the texas brigade where the texas brigade made hood. Rules im violating the of powerpoint. [laughter] what i want you to notice are the number of casualties the unit is suffering. Lose ell, they they lose close to 50 . Jackle of antietam davis was talking about the it does have flaws. I had a grad student working with me and he said there is a big spike in the september of 1860. I said yeah, its called antietam. [laughter] i told you the first texas was diehard aggressive unit. They pushed so far into the cornfield theyre basically surrounded by federal forces. 82 or 83 casualties for the first texas infantry. If you look at the report long , he argues it was closer to about 86 casualties. Some men had joined who were not yet on the roles. Ls. If you look at june 27 through closeam, you are getting to 200,000 men wounded or missing. If you look at gettysburg, they suffer 600 casualties. At the wilderness, of the 811 men engaged they suffer through to 65 casualties. This is one of the reasons 365 casualties. This is one of the reasons i read the book. You cannot sustain those and be an effective fighting force. You do not tend to do that. It is not going to be effective anymore. I started trying to figure out how this was possible and i found a couple of things. Hoods texas brigade had high return rates from hospitals and capture and exceptionally low desertion rates. Over one third of the army of Northern Virginia was listed as deserters between 1863 and 1864. 6 ween 1861 and 1865, only of hoods texas brigade deserted end of that 6 one third of them abandon the ranks between november 1863 in the spring of 1864 when they were away from one of the commanders they trusted most robert e lee and felt like they were being misled, undersupplied, and unjustly treated. This was when the first core detached to go to east tennessee and the texas brigade was miserable. The brigade commander, robertson, was facing courtmartial charged with demoralizing the men about complaining about lack of food, clothing, and shelter. They were led by one of the brigade regimental commanders who was a superb commander but trying to lead the entire brigade. That moment of frustration, that lostw of just they were in the winter of 1863. The rule for the texas brigade is that fewer men deserted and if they were captured or in the hospital, they fought not to get home but to the home that was the brigade, the unit home. They marveled that this once. Idmitted to his fiancee remember reading this letter and he was heading back to the unit as good as it is to be home, what he wanted to do was get back to the unit. That had become his home and i remember thinking, i dont know if i would say that your fiance. [laughter] it is a powerful statement of the families and communities that develop in war that are echoing homefront families within the unit. Speaking of homefront families, 1. I asked you to remember was the ability of hood one point i asked you to remember was the sility of hoods brigade families being able to assist sustain himself. Themselves. Thatow from studies floodeds offices were with complaints with complaints. They will spout off about everything. You can really tap into the frustrations, concerns, and hopes of 19th century americans by looking at these papers. Realizing what other scholars had done i started to explore the texas governors paper to see how many complaints are coming in. How many requests to have a son home . Band sent i could not find one. That does not mean they dont exist but i could not find them and we looked. What i argue is that these families were financially stronger, wealthier when the war began so they were more likely to sustain themselves and for the families that were not, they were able to take care of them. The woman on the left, mo maude young, did most of the successful fundraising for the brigade. She was adored by the men of the fifth texas. Her brother served, she made the the biggest sacrifice she personally made she did a tremendous amount with fundraising but also came from a wealthy family and had a lot of roots in the wealthier communities. She had been widowed while pregnant with her only son. He finally turned 16 in 1864 and she sent him to join the fifth texas. He is showing up in the early months of 1865 personally making that sacrifice. Again inhis again and texas brigade families whether they are wealthy or if they are not. Cartwright did not come from a wealthy family. They made a living raising hogs and he and his brother volunteered early on. He dies in an accident on the train. He does not get to the war. The brother continues on. In 1862, another brother volunteered and joined the texas brigade. You will see this happening again and again even after they start to have high casualties. Youdont have to do this if are worried about serving honorably or making a sacrifice. These men could have served closer to home. Quite a few texans did. It was perfectly acceptable. But they saw at the texas brigade because this is where they argued they could make the greatest difference. They wanted to be in and an unit they thought could win the war. Most ofn you see here, them come from fairly wealthy families. Most of them have more than one Family Member in the unit. Maude young sent her son. Lucy sullivan sent a nephew, a son, a soninlaw. She sent her brother, her nephew, a husband. Felicias husband was Close Friends with the unit. Each one of them left some rich records of their experiences in the war. Their ability to sustain the families including when the Family Members did not come home as was the case with lucy eslivans son and ann brother and husband. The families shared that devotion that you saw in the men and that is what i am talking about when i tell you about the full picture of the multiple communities that make up and sustain military units to understand their effectiveness or ineffectiveness in war. One last thing i want you to think about that was interesting to me as i was writing this book. Most civil war historians will tell you one of the frustrating parts is that we do not want to just end our books in 1865. It is not like their lives ended. They kept writing letters but nobody thought they were particularly important because they were about everyday things so they did not save or donate desperate it is hard to trace these men. When they get home. Mentionedoff davis one of the great things about the civil war era newspapers if you can find them and what they are doing after they get home. Do they come home if you are in the same company, you were recruited in the same towns and counties. Did they stay in close contact . For the limited . Were they going into businesses together . One of the most interesting things i found was the either stay together, forming used their or they service in the texas brigade as you would put a degree from an Ivy League Institute on a resume. For those in the back if you cannot see all of this, when d. C. Farmer he was a former captain when he opened a he didin october 1865 not advertise education, his experience as a teacher. Highlighted the spirit of business and Mental Energy and reminded leaders that he was inthe old texas brigade virginia. Like thats all you need to know, hes a good guy, go here. The other one i love, dr. Rj breckenridge, a medical practice in houston. Years ofe of his experience, doesnt mention that he was the original surgeon and rose to chief medical inspector in Northern Virginia by the end of the war. The endorsement in the ad was that he was a gentleman wellknown to the old texas brigade. This is not a newspaper for veterans of the texas the gate. This is the triweekly telegraph, a major net major newspaper. But they use their connections within the brigade with comingly the endorsement from within the brigade to wage the peace that followed the war. Example,mentioned, for other veterans of the brigade would be welcome when two men of store in opened a houston, the post included a reminder that we need not ask that any member of the texas brigade who visits will always. Made at home in the store texas brigade veterans and their families sustained each other after the rolled after the war just as they had before. Working to take care of the poor and sick veterans of the unit, they testified on each others , and it also truly had an effect on their security, their wealth postwar. The number crunching i mentioned to you earlier, some of the metrics, its like with digital history. It doesnt provide the answers as much as it tells you where to look deeper. If you crunch the numbers, yeah, they look lost a huge amount of wealth. Shocker. When compared with them neighbors, and two thirds of cases that texas brigade losses were left by those suffered in the county as a whole and i argue that this is because these men and their families stuck together and cared for each other after the war just as they had during it. Thank you very much. [applause] once again, we have generous time for questions. About 15 minutes or so. The microphones will be coming to you. High. Two and questions. First of all, one could argue that the low desertion rate had to do with the distance to their homes after vicksburg fell. Whats the point in deserting if you cant make it home . Secondly, what was the relationship to the western armies . Did they get together with those guys . Was it a Northern Virginia thing . That theyld argue didnt have homes to go to, texas is a few thousand miles to get home. Except for the fact that when they do get furlough sometimes and they couldnt get across after the fall of vicksburg, they went to their families in virginia, the carolinas, extended families. Most of these guys were not born in texas, their families have moved west. Instead of going to a hospital for example sometimes they would be allowed to recuperate in western virginia, Something Like that. They definitely had places to in temporarye desertion. The french league, going for a while in coming back. They did not tend to do that. And going back. Again, i argue they just believe in what they are doing too much. It isnt what you see in an elite unit. They are so convinced of those ideals from the beginning. Remember, they are well led. They are not as miserable as you will see some of the other units. Not going through what Leslie Gordon talked about where you have real problems with leadership and unit cohesion. You dont have that in the texas brigade. Otherked on your question. Postwar reunion . Yeah, there went. Yes, they tended to get together with other texas units in texas sometimes, but those were not there favorites. They would talk about going there but needing to get together on their own unit. Like any other elite unit getting together with regular soldiers. They like them, they are great, but they are not like us kind of thing. Even if theymuch, kind of had those other reunions or went to those other reunions, they would work to have their own. High. Was the process after losing so many men in these battles of getting new recruits . How did they get them all the way from texas . Where did they get them . Is a great question and it is one of the reasons i started crunching the numbers, it didnt add up after the fall of vicksburg. Some of them were sent back to recruiting duty over the winter and early spring. Particularly in 62 and 63. They would recruit and bring back a number of men. After the fall of vicksburg, it becomes difficult. Is number of new recruits minimal. Maybe a dozen guys in 1864. What i am showing you is that when you track the wounded, and this is more of that ,umbercrunching, in hospitals who were captured and exchanged, they are very quickly making their way. You can find them reaffirm reappearing, resurfacing on the roles. Its how they were able to do it. They also tended to reject guys that they did not view as worthy. Some of the western units under general greg, west texas texans would say would you accept the texans from the west . Elite attitudean of i dont know, you guys surrendered and i dont know if i want you in the unit. No, you dont find a lot, i dont think you find almost any draftees in the unit. If you show up in the texas brigade, it is because you specifically wanted to be there. Particularly by 62 and 63. Certainly by the time of second manassas, you know what you are committing to, dedicated, youre probably going to stay. Theres a question with which im wrestling in my own work. You told us about the elite unit and how well they performed and the slaveholding among them and their devotion to the cause, which we all know was ultimately the preservation of slavery. Two people who talk like this publicly or among your colleagues, do you ever get and how would you answer if you did that they fought for slavery. They performed so well and you waxed on and on about how well they performed, but come about, but they did so in the interest of slavery. How do you cope with that or deal with it . Yeah, no, part of it is, im not married to it. I dont tend to write about units because i love them, because i agree with everything they do. I get particularly invested in some of the characters whose letters and diaries are particularly interesting and every once in a while you knew that one of them dialed died in the battle of the wilderness but im more interested in what made them so effective. Not that they are so glorious. There were texans that fought for things that we all fundamentally disagreed with. But they also did a lot of things that i fundamentally disagree with. What i was the most curious about was what makes an elite unit an elite unit. How does that happen . How could they suffer the casualties they could and keep going . The very famous irish brigade was a part of that. They suffered tremendous casualties but were not able to sustain that level of strength or fighting force for long. The irish brigade has been weakened because of it. The answer i often give to colleagues is that im not interesting interested in writing the glorious book of the texas brigade. I am interested in what makes an effective unit. Thank you for your discussion. With all the casualties, you mentioned that they were close as he unit, did that carry over into taking care of those that lost Family Members as well . Takesort of steps did they to take care of those that had lost loved ones . During the war they will talk about soandsos family having a hard time. Mod young was probably the most effective. But i think that because she left the letters that make it possible, i could know that, right . For example there is a powerful that rick helped me to uncover where after the war they found a texas brigade veteran who is just crippled down, horribly suffering, on his deathbed. She is working with other folks, i think it was baltimore isnt it terrible when you cant remember what you wrote about them even after it was in your the . She would do networking within the veterans association. Probably the bestknown case was the Texas Brigade Association raising money for their monuments when John Bell Hood and his wife and their youngest daughter died in that yellow fever of the 1870s and they. Ook that money to help the other things you will see them doing are the things that are not that unusual, testifying on temp pension applications. He didnt desert, he was in the hospital, and by the way he came back in time for derby town road and i can clarify. You see things like that, but it is also the closeness that they maintained in terms of opening ,p as this is together advertising to kind of support each others businesses. That kind of networking that they do after the war. Everything from that kind of day to day business to really cannot working to take care of veterans who had fallen on hard times. High. This, years ago, i admit, over my fascination with Joshua Chamberlain. We all went through our Joshua Chamberlain phase. [laughter] i dont know how much i learned was true, but im still fascinated. I have to admit that oats, part of what youre talking about here, im curious from your reaction washe after that key battle at gettysburg. What it was, do you think he wouldve done this or that, that kind of thing. Im curious about your thoughts on that. Sure, great question. I wrote a piece on this in civil war times, looking at that guy on the far right there. Lockridge, right, wrote home to his wife in the immediate aftermath just weeks after gettysburg just devastated. He had literally seen one of his who was ads go down schoolteacher. They had fought so hard. If you ever, im going to put in a plug for the battlefield parks. Study at all you want, and dont just you go, take people, take young people, ok . Go to the parks, walk the ground and you will understand what they are writing about in a whole new way. I was there with a brother and a friend and i said we always go the route of third arkansas and. He first texas, devils den lets go the fourth and fifth way and all the times i have hiked that ground, i have only done it once and the reason is that there are boulders and trees and we were exhausted going through that route up to little round top. So in their letters, as they are writing home immediately after that, you have that exhaustion, that frustration. They are so close, right . Yet one month after lockridge wrote the weather to hit the letter to his wife saying just this is terrible, what are we going to do, one month later hes like i dont know, i think we won. By the way, we took for prisoners. They so believe in what is happening and what they are, any negative things they heard are just rumors. , that a logical ability to bounce back like that, thats one of the factors am talking about, which helps to sustain a unit, keeping it going militarily, effectively. Thank you. [applause] thank you. This is American History tv on cspan3. 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