Posted on 07/12/2013 1:19:19 PM PDT by Kaslin
He did not. Meade commanded the Army of the Potomac for the rest of the war.
Grant was General in Chief of all US forces, though with his headquarters with the A of P.
Meade may have been only competent, but that was enough. John Reynolds might have been a better choice, but he did choose the scene of the battle and to take the high ground before he was killed, and Meade was smart enough toe send Hancock, who was brilliant, and even more ordinary men like Warren did more than their share. Still, on the second day, the South came close enough, and with a few good breaks would have won, except that the Yankees time and again filled the gaps in the nick of time. Glory enough for both sides.
Lincoln didn’t relieve Meade, Stuart wasn’t off on a private glory ride (Lee approved his plan), and Jackson, had he been there, would have smelled really, really bad, because he’d been dead for seven weeks. Aside from that, it’s a nice piece, from the Lost Cause perspective.
“...he can still hear the Rebel Yells faintly echoing, and then they stop.”
Too many factual errors ruin the entire piece.
BTW, if anyone goes and faintly hears the Rebel Yell, tell the world what it sounds like because nobody actually knows.
I disagree. Burns documentary had a clip of some rebel soldiers that gave
a rebel yell so we would know what it sounded like
“BTW, if anyone goes and faintly hears the Rebel Yell, tell the world what it sounds like because nobody actually knows.”
Actually, in the Ken Burns documentary, they show a newsreel clip taken in the 1930s of a reunion of surviving confederate and union soldiers on the gettysburg battlefield. The old gentlemen shake hands over a low stone wall. Union vets on one side of the wall, the confederates on the other. One of the confederate soldiers lifts his hat and swings it over his head while yelling “woo woo! woo woo!”. One of his fellow confederates turns his head to face the camera and says, “thats the rebel yell!”
reynolds was asked to take command of the army and declined.
After probing the flanks, and finding no give, Lee logically went to the center, unaware that the flanks had been withdrawn to the center. Result, failed attack. Had he pushed Chamberlain’s men harder at the right time, he might have won. Not a hard problem to figure out.
Here...
I was there last month. The scene is serene, standing on the “ridge” of Cemetery Hill.
This was the largest battle fought in the Western Hemisphere. I hope it stays that way.
The whole war, as usual was rooted in economics. The south counted its assets in slaves and did not want to give it up. The north was impatient, yet as time went on the economics of agricultural production would shift. Employees would become better than slaves.
What a waste of our finest men.
“One of the confederate soldiers lifts his hat and swings it over his head while yelling “woo woo! woo woo!”. One of his fellow confederates turns his head to face the camera and says, “thats the rebel yell!”
I must have missed that piece of the documentary. I will go back and watch it, thanks!!
I remember an account of an old-timer being asked about the Rebel Yell at a reunion and the gentleman stating (paraphrase) that it could only be done correctly in large goups.
“We can’t give you much, but we’ll give you what we got left”
Very nice! I learned the Rebel Yell today.
The ghosts of the war have been seen by a re-enactor I know. His face told the truth, having that fear remembering look. On Memorial Day in Springfield, MO I would visit the National cemetery to pay my respects at one grave for 16 unknown Pennsylvania soldiers. Now that I think of it, I haven’t been to the cemetery at Gettysburg. Will have to put it on my list.
Little Round meant little. That was not the hill that matter. Cemetery hill was the hill that mattered ad by extension Culps Hill, which on July 2nd was definitely a lot longer and against more troops by George Sears Greene and his regiment. He did the same thing...like refusing the line as Chamberlain. But because he died soon after the war he didn’t get a chance to state his case as did Chamberlain long after the war was over. He died in 1903 I believe. Greene died in 1868 if I have my years correct.
aarrrgh...defended ...not definitely
If they would have gotten through, it would have mattered.
He was a McClellan man, right?
Really? I am not so sure.
I was about to post the same Sherman. It's a misconception that Grant replaced Meade as head of the Army of the Potomac. Grant replaced General Henry Halleck as general-in-chief -- i.e., the head of all the US Armies, not just the Army of the Potomac. It was the same position that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff holds today.
Meade was the commander of the Army of The Potomac until the end of the war.
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