Nashville as a major union supply base for the rest of the war. I always like to get up and say our next speaker needs no introduction. Thats because ive introduced him about 9,000 times, i think, which is why he needs no introduction. My great friend and polish brother chris kowlikowski is the director of the macarthur memorial which is a fantastic resource and a mustsee place to visit. But once upon a time he was a civil war guy before he found himself embroiled in world war ii. He started as an internal at Fredericksburg Spotsylvania National Military park, from there hes gone to perriville where he was the site manager, hes done work with the civil war trust, he went to the George Patton museum which is what first got him involved with world war ii and while hes busy doing that hes written a couple fantastic books, one on perry ville and one on stones river. Im very fascinating with theullahoma but it was equally monumental in its strategic success. Hes here to talk about stones river, the first portion of that that sets up to. Its going to bring us into 1863 with this battle in one of the great defenses of the civil war. Ladies and gentlemen, chris kowlikowski. Thank you very much. I have a tough job and i should take it as an offhanded compliment that i get this slot because not only do i have to follow those two im also all that stands between all of us and launch. [ laughter ] so im going to move with ala alacri alacrity. Im going to talk about the battle of stones river. I refer to it as stones river because i had relatives who fought there and well talk about the great defense of the war and why it matters. So hopefully well be able to spend some the next 40 to 45 minutes unpacking why this battle matters. Before i do that, how many folks have been to stones river battlefield . Before. Thats a lot more than i thought. Wonderful so you got a sense of the ground. The battle of stones river occurred the last day of 1862 and the first two days of 1863 just outside of the town of myrrh frid of murfreesboro tennessee which is smack dab in the center of tennessee. Theres a monument in front of the Rutherford County courthouse in downtown murfreesboro. Its fought between the federal army of the cumberland, which was informally known as that. It will be formally designated that after the battle. The army of the cumberland under William Stark rosecrans, 46,000 men against 36,000 men, the army of tennessee, the Confederate Army of tennessee under the command of braxton bragg. Well talk more about the armies as we go. Its a battle that was summed up by president Abraham Lincoln in the late summer of 1863 when he wrote to rosecrans, he says i cannot forget will i remember anything that at the end of the last year and the beginning of this you gave us a hardearned victory that had it been a defeat instead the nation could have scarcely lived over it. Thats a huge statement and that makes the experience and the defense that rosecranss army puts up at stones river to my mind one of the great defenses not just of the civil war but one of the great defenses in American History because one what are the two things that make a great defense . The first is context. The stakes, are the stakes high. The other aspect if theres a drama or sublime aspect to the defense. If you put the two factors together as i submit they are in stones river then off great defense not just of a conflict but in some ways one for the ages so the escape from the near death experience, as a matter of fact as a matter of fact, the army of the cumberland endures a great near death experience of a large army that point in the war and i would submit only july 2, 1863 at gettysburg is equal in terms of the near death experience. The army of the cumberland weathers and survives a near death experience on new years eve, 1862. And how they do that and how the leadership makes a difference is a compelling incredible compelling story so if youve been to the battlefield. Youll know the power of the place im talking about. So far the next time i have that today im going to spend time developing those themes of why this is a compelling defense, why the odds are so high and why its such a great story and a truly great defense not just in the civil war but the history of the United States army writ large. So before we get to december 31, 1862, i want to rewind the clock a little bit and in some ways the talks that have gone earlier have teed up a little bit of what i want to talk about because really the true story to understand the context of which stones river is fought you have to rewind the clock to really Early September of 1862. We look back through hindsight and we miss the deep, deep trough of union fortunes in the fall and early winter of 1862. September 1, 1862, what is going on . The confederates after being on the ropes, in fact, the union Army Believed as late as in may of 1862 that they had stopped recruiting because they believed the war was almost over. The confederates have turned around and launched massive counteroffensive both in virginia where robert e. Lee wins his greatest victory at manass manassas, we just heard from kevin about the battle of antietam in the maryland campaign. You have confederates in kentucky on the offensivoffensi armies have invaded the bluegrass state, Abraham Lincolns birth state, he believed to lose kentucky was nearly the same as to lose the whole game and it sure looks like that is going to happen. You have confederates on the offensive on the atlantic sea board against charleston. You have confederates on the offensive in mississippi and west tennessee and you have confederates on the offensive in baton rouge, louisiana. So suddenly this army, this country, this confederacy has roared back to life and is putting a flurry of blows against the union. Theres also a great debate going on in the summer of 1862. Its been a political one in the north about the nature of this conflict. In other words how hard is this war going to be against the south . Are we fighting the southern armies . Are we also fighting the southern economy and Southern Society . That includes everything from do you burn fence rails if youre troops and you need to build tires . Do you live off the land when youre in the south to bigger political questions including the question of emancipation of slaves. Abraham lincoln decided to emancipate the slaves but hes been persuaded to wait for a victory before issuing his preliminary emancipation proclamation. Of course, the plot is fairly well known. The battle of antietam, september 17, 1862 gives lincoln the victory he seeks and on september 22, 1862 he issues the preliminary emancipation proclamation. And thats an important distinction. Its the preliminary one. He still has to issue the final one. He still has to sign the final proclamation january 1, 1863. Theres no guarantee that hes going to do that and he is going to face incredible political pressure in the north not to do that because it recasts the war not just as no longer just a war to preserve the union, it now becomes a war of abolition and liberation which, quite frankly, in certain sectors of the north, is not what they signed up for to put it mildly. The Kentucky Campaign terminates in a Union Victory in october of 1862 with a victory at perriville and the other confederate offensives are turned back. But lincoln faces a political battle because you have the midterm elections for congress and you have quite a few statehouses both governorships but state laegislatures up for reelection. Why does that matter . Who musters these guy in . Who equippeds them, who gives them their training before they join the federal service . Its the states. Lincoln has been driving a coordinated team of horses but if the elections go wrong that team is going to get a lot bulkier and, well, to be quite frank with you in that atmosphere theres a good chance some of the elections are going to go against lincoln and his allies and thats exactly what happens because early november the republicans lose 34 seats in congress, they barely hang on to the control of the United States senate, but more importantly they lose the governorships of new york and new jersey. As a matter of fact, the governor of new york that is elected in the summer of 1863 will greet the new york draft rioters who are resisting the conscription act. Hell greet them in union square in new york my friends. So how do you think hes going to view how supportive do you think hes going to be of the Lincoln Administration and their war efforts and war aims when he takes office in january of 1863. And, oh, by the way, lets not forget that new york is the not only is it the economic hub of the north, new york city, but it also provides it provides the largest number of troops to either side in the war. So that is a very, very big issue that new yorks governorship has gone is going to go democratic in janua january. They also lose the legislatures in the following states indiana, illinois, and new jersey. Now with apologies to some of my friends from new jersey, the two that really matter because of the quantity of the troops that they provide and the quantity of munitions they provide are illinois and indiana because the governor can call volunteers, the president can call volunteers but ultimately who in the constitution, both in the federal constitution but also in the representative state constitutions provides for the armies . The funds, the equipment . Its the legislatures. So divided government mean this is team of horses lincoln is driving, divided government in the states, this team of horses lincoln has been driving since 1861 is about to get a lot bulkier. Lincoln also knows that with the emancipation proclamation issue not too far away, hes used something of a tie. Antietam was victory enough. He realizes to give the emancipation proclamation teeth, he needs to have another victory. And so he pushes his commanders and with some replacements now, mcclellan had been fired right after the election and theres some evidence lincoln waited to after the election to fire mcclellan because of the political impact it would have on the north, to mitigate that, now he is Ambrose Burnside with the army of the potomac in virginia, he has rosecrans and on the Mississippi River is ulysses s. Grant and he urges them to engage in hard, tough fighting that will hurt somebody. So all three men undertake campaigns in december of 1862 which is unusual by the standards of 19th century warfare to have december campaigns but this is the political imperative of lincoln pushing his commanders in the field to go forward. Well, what happens, this december of 1862, lets take it chronologically. First, december 13, 1862, burnside has crossed the river two days before, the army of the potomac hurls itself against the heights of fredericksburg, its been called robert e. Lees easiest victory. I certainly agree with that. In one portion of the field they break the line but for all intents and purposes its a onesided fight and burnsides is sent scurrying back across the river from whence he has come. A complete disaster for the north. Outwest grant starts moving over land. It goes pretty well until on december 20 of 1862 Earl Van Dorn raids the depot at Holly Springs and cuts grants supply line and forces grant to turn around and go back to tennessee. Even though the army, grants army is saved for another day, they will eventually move by ship down the river toward vicksburg, its an overland retreat and for all intents and purposes in the north its viewed as a significant defeat. Then on december 27, william t. Sherman leads an expedition against vicksburg northwest of town, northnorthwest of town and has smaller western bayoubased version of the battle of fredericksburg. So the news from the battle front is not good. On top of everything, lincoln is facing incredible political pressure not to issue the emancipation proclamation. Hes also got voices on the other side telling him go ahead and issue it anyway no matter what happens. This news, however, all of these news, precipitate a cabinet crisis in the week before christmas, 1862 and only through deft political maneuvering is lincoln able to prevent the radical republicans from basically taking control of his administration. Even as it is with all of this lincoln confesses to a friend they want me to resign and i am half willing to gratify them. Thes thinking about resignation and he tells another friend at the same time just before christmas, 1862 if this is hell, i am in it. The pressure on the Lincoln Administration is enormous as the days of 1862 tip down. Its a political nadir for the Lincoln Administration. Theres one hope left, one card left that the United States army had not played and that is rosecranss 46,000 men. And on the day after christmas, the federals, the stakes could not be higher because if the largest army in the union army, the army of the potomac has failed, the Third Largest army, grants army is retreating ignominio ignominiously. If they fail, too, im not sure lincolns going to be able to withstand a political storm. So thats the stakes of stones river. Thats the latest of 1862. Theres five days of maneuvering through cold weather, Rainy Weather at one point the men as they wake up their pants are soez so frozen they have to crack them. Theyre three miles west of myrrh free murfreesboro. That night bragg and rosecrans consult with their commanders. He has three core commanders, each corps 10,000 to 15,000 men. Alexander mccook is holding the right side of his line, George Henry Thomas and on the left is thomas. Will crittendon. Braggs commanders who will be on the confederate left opposite mccook and opposite the other two union core ps is going to b the confederate corps. And both bragg and rosecrans come up with the same plan, which is this. Hold on the right and left hook the enemy. Rosecrans idea is were going to get behind bragg, threaten murfreesboro and force him to retreat. Braggs idea is more succinct. Hell start with hardy on the left. If you imagine Rosecrans Army deployed like this hes going to move the hardys wing and close the jackknife and close the army, close the federal army in on itself. His objective, which is about three miles away from hardys initial position is the nashville pike which runs right here so if you push that jackknife closed you cut the nashville pike, cut the army of the cumberland off, it will be destroyed. Thats braggs plan. Heres the essential different between the two men. Rosecrans decides hes going to start his preliminary movements at 7 00, attack at 8 00, bragg says well start our preliminary movements now and be in position and attack at 6 00. Thats the difference. Rosecrans liked to sleep in. He liked to stay up late and sleep in, thats the difference. Next morning, new years eve 1862, its the last dawn of 1862, 10,000 confederates who have spent a wet night in tennessee in the 30s, no fires, in the case of one of the divisions pat clay burn they marched clear from one end of the line to the other and forded stones river in the process. And theyd had about four hours of sleep. Something to keep in mind, that will be a factor. At 6 00 in the morning they start to move forward and at 6 20 the first federals here on the end of the line see the confederates coming. The federals are not expecting to have to be in position until 7 00. As one of the indianaens said later, bull run. We all know what that means but we had a second and moreimproved version. As a matter of fact, the confederates, several confederates take advantage of the federal breakfast which are just about cooked and as they go through the federal camps and as the jackknife closes and they push on the blade they enjoy a nice hot coffee and breakfast. [ laughter ]. Courtesy of the United States army. The two divisions on the end of the line are jefferson c. Davis and Richard Johnson fairly quickly collapse and the jackknife begins to close. Phil sheridans division on the hinge begins to hes been up since 4 30 and his men stand and make a stand. Over on the other end of the line, rosecrans hears the firing. Hes superintending the Movement Across stones river which has begun at about 7 00 in the morning. A staff officer arrives saying general mccook on the right is heavily pressed and needs reinforcements. Hes fine, rosecrans says. Its working right he says to a staff officer. 7 00, turns to 7 15 which turns to 7 30 and suddenly things are not sounding so good, literally because the sound of battle if im rosecrans the sound of battle has moved from here, its now moving back into here which means its getting north of me. The other thing is i can now look over and im seeing stragglers and people who have fled from mccooks line and theyre reaching where i am overlooking the nashville pike and another cuourier arrives saying mccooks has been defeated. This is a moment where leaders are measured because rosecrans has a choice. He goes pale, he has a choice. Things are not breaking favorably on the right but he has just enough time to bring back troops on the left and send them over to the right to help out. What does that mean . It means you abandon your entire plan ayouve basically committed yourself to do nothing more than just survive the day. Its a moment that requires moral courage. Its also a moment where an Army Commander earns his pay because rosecrans is the only one that can make that decision and he makes what i consider to be one of the great command decisions of the war. To abandon the move across stones river, bring back the troops and send them marching in the direction of mccook to stabilize the line and try and hold the army and rosecrans will immediately tell his staff were going to the front. And for the rest of the day and this is something thats important rosecrans has a cli clamped cigar in his mouth the whole day, he has a gray hat and the rest of the day everybody will be see him. He will be everywhere, he will be at the critical point so much so that one of his Division Commanders who is a rosecrans enemy will later say if i have to fight one battle for the d e dominion of the universe i would give rosecrans as many men as he could see and as could sigh him. Because his visible active presence and hes not the only one, but the visible active presence of the commanding general is going to make a difference for these men because as the crisis deepens and this is true of any organization when the crisis deepens you look to the leadership and take your cue from them and the fact that rosecrans will be there all day, we will win, organizing people, he assures them, we will win, we will make it through. Organizing people, makes a huge difference. Leadership makes the difference. Bragg was a passive observer all day but rosecrans is an active participant and that leadership makes the difference on new years eve. But its going to take time for these reinforcement, particularly horatio van cleaves division to move from the federal left over to the right and meanwhile the blade continues, the jackknife continues to close. By 10 00, its half closed because reinforcements from thomas and phil sheridans division right here have taken position in a cedar forest if you will, known appropriately as the cedars and as russo moves in, theres nothing to the north of him, as rousseau moves in he tells his commanders hold it until hell freezes over. Meanwhile, sheridan is being attacked from three different sides and theres a young lieutenant who will later say as it was a genre treat, i wouldnt have given a snap for the army. This young lieutenant is a wisconsinite, Arthur Macarthur who 75 years in the future i heard a cheer, thank you for that. A little postscript real fast, a little sidebar, 75 years in the future in 1937 his son douglas will marry a murfreesboro girl jean faircloth, she had relatives fighting they werent literally shooting at him but their units were shooting at Arthur Macarthur in 1862 and when douglas later refers himself as the reunion of blue and gray personified, this is one of the things hes talking about but i digress. So the jackknife is almost half closed and as the confederates slam into rousseau here and they repeatedly slam against the hinge it gets tough in the cedars and after an hours worth of fighting rousseau orders his men to retire and as one of the Brigade Commanders says we have determined that hell has indeed frozen over and we decided to retire. From the cedars, its important to note from the cedars to this point to the nashville pike is a half mile and theres an open field between the cedars and the pike and rousseau and rosecrans have realized the place to make their final stand is the road itself, which is capped by a noe knoll. You know thats where Stones River National cemetery is today. You put artillery on the hill, infantry in the road, where does that sound familiar . Its a familiar playbook you see a lot in the civil war, use the slightly sunken road as a makeshift earth work with the hill behind it studded with artillery. As rousseau falls back, the confederates push into the open field. Neighlys division at the anchor or at the hinge, they have to retreat. Sheridans boys are almost completely out of ammunition, his response fix bayonets and cut your way to the rear. As an observer from the pike later said. It was like 10,000 men suddenly erupted from the cedars and they raced across the field with the confederates coming in hot pursuit. Its now 11 00 in the morning and the jackknife has closed again a little bit further. Theres no retreat beyond the nashville pike. If the nashville pike is cut, the jackknife will be closed. This is going to be the last stance for Rosecrans Army. But heres the problem. The jackknife is closing but it hasnt stopped closing. Rosecrans needs time. He needs time to coalesce his new line on the nashville pike, he needs time to organize these men as they come back and replenish them and bring up reinforcements. They put the engineer brigade in position. He needs time to build that line. How is he going to buy it . Well, he makes the coldblooded decision to sacrifice the regular corps of his army. The army of the cumberland has a 1400 strug regular brigade, 15th, 16th, 18th United States infantries are all still on active duty today. Contra costa krans gi rosecrans gives the order to covered partly by general russo as they fall back. Those 1400 men that march across, later in the day when they muster, 806 will respond to the call. 44 of the regulars have been left back on the battlefield. And as another side bar, there were two men there whose names you probably recognize for different reasons. One of the 18th u. S. That survives that expedition, william fedderman. Will give his time a massacre in 1866 in who what is now wyoming. The other who earns the medal of honor is a guy named frederick fisterer are. Monumental history of new york in the rebellion, hes the one who wrote that after the war. A couple of connections for you. But regular sacrifice enables connections for you. But the regulars sacrifice enables rosecranz to stop the blood shutting and coalesce hisn line on the nashville pike. And as the last afternoon of 1862 dawns, confederates will do what they can to break this last line. First mcallens division will hit right where the knoll is. As one of the artillery men na said, the confederates came on like demons. Both sides sensed that this was the final shot. As one of the confederate Brigade Commanders said, we camt out of the woods, the federal artillery fire was so intense it was cutting bark and branches off the trees. And we got into the field, we e were in the field 10 to 12 minutes and it was determined that no troops could live under that fire. And so mckeowns guys, after six hours of fighting and marching, fall back and the center is now safe. But the left, excuse me, the federal right is not. So to the north, van leave has been able to take position up here short of the nashville pike. About 11 30 as the regulars fall back, van cleave encounters 8,000 guys under patrick cleburne. Ep these are the guys marching and fighting since about midnight. And the one that is have thwarted stones river and doing this on three hours of sleep. But they sense victory is nigh. The hit van cleave goes out with a wind, they push back the brigades and push the le skirmishers into the early k. Afternoon on the nashville pike. The confederates have it right here. But this is where leadership makes the difference. Because van cleave and his t brigadeers launch a counterattack. 39th michigan and ohio. Boys, go in and attack, do something to blunt their momentum. And guess what . It works. De because the confederates believing they have the victory, these exhausted confederates, believing they have the victory in their hands suddenly the shock is too much. Napoleon once said, the moralist of the physical is 3 to 1. The shock of the flank attack n this case, the southern flank, was too much. Ac and as one of the Brigade Commanders would later say, he said, i thought it was a general retreat. He was way on the other end of w the line. His men didnt even get engaged, but everybody starts falling back. E hes exhausted and the men have had enough. And they fall back. And he says, im mystified why we did that. T we just congratulated ourselves on winning the day. But they fell back. They were exhausted and there were no confederate reserves. And van cleave is able to restore his line and restore the federal line on the nashville pike. Re hardy will ride up later about b 3 00 in the afternoon and will call off any further attacks by mckeown or clayburn. He said it would be falling, not valor, to attack the troops. Er but we are not quite done. Because the jackknife, the bladd no longer has essential pressurp on it. Tt but the hinge will now become the focus. Down here theres a fouracre cedar break known to history as the round forest. And the confederates throughouti the afternoon, the last afternoon of 1862, will launch h repeated charges against that position. The firing will be so intense that men will pick cotton out of the cotton fields and put it in their ears, because the den is so loud on both sides. They will attack repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly where the point that rosecrans as his last attack is going in, hes us concerned that the federals might be wavering. So he rides down. As he rides down following his staff, he rides down off the re knoll and hit him right in the skull. They continue 20 paces and he slumps to the ground. N rosecrans is doused in the guys blood. Everybody in that sector sees as it. Phil sheridan who is in that hi area, he just recalled vividly the horrible public death. But in that moment, the ability to carry on stoically was what was needed. And rosecrans set the example and carried forward and did his duty. Later hell go make sure the body has been recovered and cut the buttons off rosecrans now ruined uniform and put them in a box to keep for the rest of hisn life. Because he and garishay were close. N so it impacted him, but he did his duty as a leader first. Imagine if he had lost control at that moment, what it might have done to the defenders, e especially in that High Pressure moment. As dusk falls, fighting ends. It has been quite a day. The army of the cumberland has come very, very close to death. But it has managed to escape oms every time. That night rosecrans calls the council of wars corps commanders held in a free style producing conflicting accounts. Essentially, rosecrans is trying to decide if he should stay or go. Theres some question as to what he really believed. But the guy who turns everything to Center Wing Commander George Thomas. When everybodys kind of discussing whether to retreat, George Thomas closing the matter by saying, this army does not to retreat. and thats what rosecrans wants to hear. Thats what he needs to hear. Because his Immediate Response is, yes, go back to your commands and prepare to fight in and die, gentlemen. Te and the army of the cumberland will be here on new years morning. Bragg, for his part, has reported an incredible victory, which to a certain extent is probably true. He doesnt expect the federals to be there in the morning. And when they are, hes at a loss for what to do. So they spend new yearss day essentially consolidating their positions. Then on january 2nd, bragg late in the day will decide to launch an offensive against the federal left opposite stones river at a place called mcfaddens ford, which rosecrans visited on december 31st and asked the Brigade Commander there three times, will you hold this fort . The first time, well try, sir. Will you hold this fort . I will dry right heree. Will you hold this fort . Yes, sir, that will do. The first two responses indicate he doesnt think he can do it. But when he says, yes, sir, thats what rosecrans needs to hear. Now the confederates are going after mcfaddens fort again on the federal right about here. They launch offensive at 4 00 0 and push it a little too far after driving some of the jo federal defenders back. And he turns to the chief of artillery and says, now is your chance. Captain John Mendenhall from ohio is on a hill overlooking mcfaddens ford. Co they completely shatter the oh confederate division under the command of john breckenridge. And that fighting on january 2n ends the battle of stones river. It has been a bloodiest battle by percentage of loss in the civil war. He leaves 28 of his army on the battlefield. Ag bragg 27 . Bragg counts his losses and retreats. The battle of stones river is over. Some people would argue its a r draw. The federals didnt really win n by attacking or making any great brilliant maneuvers. They hung on by dogged determination survival. And being able to stick it one round longer than the confederates. But you know what. Thats good enough. On january 1st, 1863, the final emancipation proclamation is er issued. And so thats why stones river u is a great defense. It is an unbelievably compelling story. Its something thats really an underappreciated battle in many ways. It is an unbelievably compelling story about how the army of thei cumberland repeatedly, repeatedly, repeatedly is pushed to the brink, but they always managed to escape, through hard fighting, good leadership and the steadfastness of the United States soldier. Ou so thats it meets one th criteria of a great defense. But it meets the other one as well. Wh because the odds could not have been higher when those armies fs meet in central tennessee. Think about the political crisie were in. Think about whats going on in the north. Think about the context of the battle. Cu and you begin to realize why is lincoln told rosecrans later, this was a battle. Had it been a defeat instead, the nation could have scarcely h lived over. And you know what. I think hes probably right. Because if bragg had taken the nashville pike, he would have s surrounded the army of the cumberland, and theres a really excellent chance that rosecranss army would have ceased to exist for all intents and purposes, and what would that have done to the north . H . And to the south, and to the b balance of the civil war . Its not too much to say that t the course of United States history was altered in a few hours of fighting along the nashville pike on new years eve of 1862. Ea first the incredibly dramatic story of the defense put up by the army of the cumberland. Li particularly on new years eve 1862 but also january 2nd, but the context, the fact that the odds were extremely high. This makes stones river not just a great defense of the civil wash but one of the great defenses in the history of the United States army. So folks, id like to thank you for your attention. If you have any questions, id om be happy to answer them. Thank you very much. [ applause ] ill take a few questions. Please introduce yourself and ig tell us where you are from. Bob ruth, columbus, ohio. As you rightfully noted, rosecrans was decisive, courageous. Quick thinking at stones river. What happened at chickamauga . That is the great 64,000 question. So if rosecrans and i think the biography of him thats ne written with the title edge of ghory is very true. Heres two things i say, between rosecrans at stones river and rosecrans at chickamauga. P the rosecrans at stones river has fought a very short campaign. Its also a very straight forward battle. Its also a fairly open place. I mean, its broken fields, but you can stand on the knoll, and you can see pretty much your entire battle line. O hes got a pretty good visual sense of whats going on. Whereas in chickamauga, its Like Fighting in jungle. And so rosecrans gets very out of touch with the situation. You couple that with the fact o that the guy has a very exuberant personality. He has a way of giving a lot of orders and being very enthusiastic. He also has a terrible time e er managing his sleep schedule. He usually averages only about four or five hours of sleep a night. T. R. Which, considering the fact that you left nashville on december 26th is not really that much of an effect, particularly adrenaline has a way of taking over, but by the time he gets t chickamauga, hes been three er weeks on campaign and maintaining that schedule. So theres an exhaustion of mental reserves thats there as well. You put all of that together. And what works, the formula that works at stones river because of certain other circumstances that we talk about doesnt work and gets him into trouble at chickamauga. So that would be the answer. Hes a fascinating study as a leader, he really is. Another question over here . Jim rosebrock, fredericksburg, maryland. You talked about the artillery guy of the potomac, did the armt of the cumberland have a similar artillery reserve type of organization which allows them to mass guns like that . And what overall is the result with respect to defense in artillery in the civil war . . Thats a really broad question. My ill take it this way. Unlike the army of the potomac, the army of the cumberland at this point in the war didnt have an Army Artillery reserve. However, each of the corps, in this case, right wing, center wing, left wing, soon to be 14th, 20th and 21st corps, have an artillery reserve of their own. And that enables the massing of guns. And thats why when crittenden goes in, he turns to his chief of artillery John Mendenhall any says nows your chance. And mendenhall promptly masses the artillery of the left wing plus a bunch from the center wing and theyre able to mass fires pretty quickly. Ea in terms of the broader question that you asked about artillery as, you know, a role in civil war defense, i would simply say this. The strongest piece in civil war chess is a hill defended by artillery with infantry support. Artillery is comparable to what the machine gun will be on the western front. P p its ability to put a lot of firepower down range and reach out and touch that range is far beyond what rifles can do. It makes it a powerful, powerful asset on the battlefield. Artillery and i say this as a descendant of a long line of artillerists. You begin to learn that artillery is a, very, plays a en very Important Role. The infantry, we talk a lot about the infantry because theyre the most mobile element. But the artillery, particularly at stones river, was the anchor of the federal defense, no question about it. I should point out, jim is sitting over here with a book called the guns of gettysburg. Hes asking an artillery question. What a surprise. Other questions . Other questions for chris . Other questions . Anything, anything . I think theyre all hungry, l chris. Ladies and gentlemen, chris kolakowski. Thank you. [ applause ] American History tv on cspan 3 focuses on the civil war all week. At 8 00 p. M. Eastern tonight, a seminar on civil war leadership. With talks about confederate general robert e. Lee and u. S. Army general ulysses s. Grant. Heres the former mayor of rio de janeiro. It this is a transition period and i think cities will play a major role. I see cities and the way cities can change representative democracies, cities as a Great Machine to change whats going on. Thursday, an indepth look at Opioid Epidemic including Ohio Attorney general who is suing several Drug Companies for their marketing of opioid painkillers. What is different about this drug problem that we have is how pervasive it is. It is absolutely everywhere, in the smallest communities, in our cities, its in the most affluent suburbs. And friday, a conversation with Supreme Court Justice Elena kagan. You said at the very beginning were not a pure democracy. Were a constitutional democracy. And that means that the jknew dish yar has an Important Role to play and that can make the judiciary an unpop yoular body n they say to the government or the president you cant do that because its not within your constitutional powers. Watch this week at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan and cspan. Org and listen using
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.