Theyve left a large train of munitions in the Eastern Central portion of atlanta that obviously cant get out. And so they set it on fire. This is 18 boxcars full of explosives. And you can imagine the sound that was heard 15, 20 miles away. This is the scene incidentally thats depicted in gone with the wind when red is in the wagon trying to get scarlet and the baby out, and theres all the sets burning in the background. I told my kids some of those sets were from the wizard of oz, which was true. They dont care anything about gone with the wind, but they were upset that the sets from the wizard of oz burned in this movie. Its worth pointing out here that the destruction of atlanta cannot be attributed solely to uncle billy sherman, that hoods army in fact began the process with the evacuation and the destruction of the firing of this train. And sherman took it a good bit further just before the march to the sea. On september second, the mayor of atlanta surrendered the city. Sherman a
Than 200,000 complete suits of uniforms to its soldiers in the field just in that time period. I do have to note a few qualifications. It was not always the most perfect system. The Southern Railroad network as it deteriorated often meant that Raw Materials and finished products would be delayed in either reaching the factories or reaching the destination points. It also meant that some alternate materials had to be used instead of the preferred all woollen outer garments, the confederates had to reply very extensively all on what was commonly called jean cloth, a mixture of wool and cotton, what was often called negro cloth. In the antebellum cloth this cloth was used to produce clothing for slaves in the south. In the production of shoes, teen agricultural south had a shortage of leather and could not make two standard infantry footwear that jefferson brogan or jefferson booty. That had been developed in the United States army in the 1850s. The southern style shoe had to produced a l
If the British Forces simply sailed up the potomac, everybody would know that washington was the ultimate party. Coburn recommends that the force be split up, one squadron sail up the Potomac River and threaten the capitol and the city of alexandria, the main force is going to go up the Pawtuxet River into southern maryland. The advantage was that it would shield the ultimate british intention it might mean an attack on washington, it could also mean the british were simply chasing after Commodore Joshua Barney who was the american commander of the chess peak flotilla, who had a flotilla of barges and the rivers flowing into it. He had been trapped in the Pawtuxet River, he was further up river than the british, and the british could use barneys presence. Its what the british commanders, general ross and admiral alexander dock run agree to do. This weekend a panel of historians as they discuss the bu burning of washington. Thats sunday at 6 00 and 10 00 p. M. Eastern, all right here on
Rebuild these huge wooden spans. So thats where the real mastery logistics comes into play. One more question over here. General hood has been undergoing a bit of a reevaluation recently. It seemed to me that his plans. Once he took over as commander of the army of tennessee were fairly good plans on paper, its just that his army couldnt execute them for one reason or another. Could you comment briefly on hoods generalship as the commander of the army of tennessee . Sure. Hood is doesnt certainly doesnt have the mastery of logistics that sherman does. That becomes painfully evident during the Tennessee Campaign in 1864. But hoods operating under some pretty severe handicaps. Not only his own physical handicaps, he also has the command structure with a lot of generals who are woefully inexperienced at their division and core level of command. They just they dont execute hoods orders, and dont carry out his plans the way he had envisioned them. I think the other important factor is that
In may 1864, had hundreds and hundreds of trains moving down a rail system through kentucky and tennessee stockpiling supplies in nashville and chattanooga. In chattanooga alone between the months of march and may of 1864, there are 145 rail cars unloading on a daily basis there. So hes Building Supply bases that hell need as he advances into georgia. During the campaign, he had about 5,000 wagons that were constantly on the move from the railroad to the army in the field. As Richard Mcmurray, who is one of the foremost scholars of the Atlanta Campaign writes in one whats one of the best overviews of the campaign, and like some of the other speakers youve heard, ill throw out some book titles. If youre like me, you love books about the civil war. Mcmurrays atlanta 1864 is a very, very, very good overview. If youre looking for one book that gives you an overview, decision in the west by Albert Castel is also an outstanding book. Mcmurray points out that sherman had a couple of big advan