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Shelby Foote's Civil War narrative
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Date: October 13th, 2017 12:38 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Anyone else ever read this?
It's pretty 180. All sorts of cool stories and nice details on the battles. Hoping to check out some of the battle sites st some point. |
Date: October 13th, 2017 12:48 PM Author: Ruby Racy Principal's Office Mood it's good but long as hell. I hate the confederacy but he's so upfront about his approach that it has a nice "fuck libs" flavor to it, and unlike many southern sympathizers he doesn't hate lincoln (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34433809) |
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Date: October 13th, 2017 12:53 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle It's not even "fuck libs" its just that he straight up just tells good stories and sticks to facts. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34433850) |
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Date: October 13th, 2017 12:54 PM Author: Ruby Racy Principal's Office Mood all I mean is he's incredibly sympathetic to the southern view and doesn't pretend otherwise (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34433862) |
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Date: October 18th, 2017 10:30 PM Author: gay charismatic bawdyhouse what's wrong with that? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34475935) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:55 PM Author: gay charismatic bawdyhouse (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935093) |
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Date: May 26th, 2019 12:21 AM Author: laughsome magical market (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#38290647) |
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Date: October 13th, 2017 12:49 PM Author: at-the-ready field tattoo He steals the show (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34433815) |
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Date: October 13th, 2017 12:50 PM Author: copper station mother It's absolutely 180. I haven't read the whole thing but it's fun to return to it with a glass of bourbon on a quiet evening. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34433822) |
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Date: October 13th, 2017 12:54 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Yea, it's hard to get through if you're a "completionist" but it's 180 for reading casually for 30-60 minutes before bed. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34433860) |
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Date: October 13th, 2017 1:04 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza Read it all a couple years ago. Loved it, and it got me on a yearlong Civil War kick as various 2016 XO threads show. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34433941) |
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Date: October 13th, 2017 1:06 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle I never really looked at the civil war much after high school, so it's been a great resource to learn who's who and what mattered. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34433956) |
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Date: October 13th, 2017 2:35 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza It really is one of the most interesting conflicts in history IMO. A perfect mix between modern and pre-modern. Armies still move and fight in pitched battles, and are often led by top politicians or eccentrics rather than grounded professionals, yet at the same time the war is incredibly well-documented, industrial technologies played a critical role, etc. Plus, IMO the war was a lot closer than many people think. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34434711) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 11:06 AM Author: domesticated alpha reading party Think South could have won if they managed to sneak cotton out before the blockade so they had more funds? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34934414) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 11:14 AM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza I don't think so. Much is made of the South's economic and industrial inferiority, yet it was never really a lack of munitions that doomed them. They couldn't pump out weapons like the Union, but they had enough to mobilize almost the entire military-age male population.
My personal view is that Southern leaders made major strategic blunders during the conflict which wasted their scarce manpower and accelerated their demise (in particular, Lee's second attack north was a very bad idea). Without those blunders, they may have lasted longer and successfully gotten a tired North to call it quits. |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:09 PM Author: domesticated alpha reading party True but they may have been able to tempt foreign leaders into the war, hire mercs, foment rebellion up north, etc.
I tend to think the war was already effectively over before the second drive north (despite Hooker's defeat) just due to the logic of attrition, but my opinion may be unduly influenced by people like McPherson, and I've not read on the subject in over twenty years. |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:47 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza Attrition made Southern defeat inevitable if Northern will was absolute, but I don't think it really was. Some additional major setbacks would have made a rise in pro-peace sentiment quite plausible. Even in late 1863 and 1864, there's a lot of interesting what-ifs:
-What if Pemberton doesn't horribly bungle the Vicksburg defense, and at least allows his army to get out rather than losing the whole command in a siege? -What if Johnston was more proactive with his own army, perhaps attempting a recapture of Memphis or a relief of Port Hudson? (if Port Hudson is held, the Vicksburg victory wouldn't matter because the Mississippi would still be plugged) -What if Bragg is more decisive following his win at Chickamauga and actually retakes Chattanooga, possibly with many Union prisoners? The entire 1864 campaign is radically different if Sherman starts it off by having to simply recapture everything taken in 1863. -What if Bragg simply doesn't horribly botch his defense of Missionary Ridge? -What if Jubal Early reaches D.C. just a day earlier, or Union reinforcements arrived just a day later? Could he have overwhelmed its undermanned defenses and torched the city, causing a gargantuan morale hit to the Union cause? -What if Grant's exposed flank at the Wilderness is actually attacked, and he suffers a Chancellorsville-like rout? Would the Overland Campaign have gone differently?
Basically, there's a lot going on, even besides the big question of "what if Lee doesn't throw away a third of his army in a doomed Northern invasion?" The South was unlikely to win, but there are so many close calls in the war, and so many instances where they made big mistakes or were really unlucky, that it's interesting to speculate what would have happened if they were just a little more effective.
Hell, there's even weird quirks like the fact Grant was nearly killed in a freak accident shortly after arriving in D.C. Does a dead Grant change the outcome of the war at all? |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:57 PM Author: domesticated alpha reading party OFS. Excellent poast. To sum the theme, I'd say history is so complex, the product of so many interlocking factors, that any counterfactual or high level conclusion about causality is bound to understate the real texture of events by many orders of magnitude. The same principle applies in prospect: superforecasters are people with finely tuned models reflecting millions of inputs, not people with grand theories reducible to a satisfying formula.
Anyhoo, thanks for all the hypos. |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:03 PM Author: exciting buff abode sandwich I've always thought Lee gets a little too much shit for Gettysburg. It was also a closer call than people think and given that logic of attrition it wasn't an unreasonable shot to take. Even if he hadn't made the move north and lost those men, it's not like he would have had the resources to majorly reinforce the south and stop grant or Sherman. He saw the writing on the wall and took his shot. Two or three breaks go his way on the second day of one battle and all of the sudden he has real leverage to force a peace rather than just hoping the union isn't willing to torch the entire south (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935141) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:15 PM Author: domesticated alpha reading party People forget the fog of war and that Lee's commanders kind of let him down. Easy to judge him too harshly given 20/20 hindsight. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935208) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:32 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza I disagree; I think Lee's two advances north are his two biggest mistakes. The first was at least understandable and had better odds of working out well, but the second was just asking for catastrophe (and many people pointed it out at the time). Even if Lee had "won" at Gettysburg, what then? The Potomac is only fordable well north of Washington and of course he had no navy. Washington itself at the time was very heavily fortified and could be supplied by sea, so it would be almost impossible to capture even if he could get around Meade's army (something a lot of hypos on this ignore). Everywhere he goes he'll encounter a hostile rather than friendly populace, and the North can muster thousands of militia and the like to hinder his march and limit his foraging ability. Maybe he reaches Philadelphia or Baltimore and captures them, but that could easily have become a trap from which he couldn't escape.
Lee wasn't the only commander to try invading the North or raiding in force. It was also attempted by Bragg, Early, Price, and even Morgan if you want to count his cavalry raid. Pretty much all of them ran into the same problems: Once in enemy territory, they were rapidly outnumbered by fast-concentrating Union forces, their own innate advantages evaporated, and they were either crushed or had to rapidly retreat to avoid annihilation. Early's was the one that came closest to succeeding, and that was because it had a very limited goal (sneak up on Washington and draw forces away from Richmond), relied on surprise, and rapidly ended as soon as things started to go sour.
The Civil War occurred in a period of warfare that gave the defender a massive advantage. The South was defending, yet repeatedly it insisted on attacking. They made strategic offensives that were doomed to failure, and even at the operational and tactical level they routinely threw away good limited victories with excessive follow-up attacks (Shiloh, Stones River, Malvern Hill, and even Chancellorsville are all major examples). I think in most cases these attacks were a mistake, and it made their defeat inevitable. |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:44 PM Author: domesticated alpha reading party Interesting. Seems the South suffered from its martial culture similar to the French in early WW1. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935385) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:48 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza It did, but like so many other wars the Civil War had a lot of commanders trying to "fight the last war." Napoleon's campaigns were within living memory and they all wanted to imitate his decisive victories. Lee in particular was always gunning for that stunning blow that would win the war in an afternoon. But warfare had changed and it just wasn't going to happen. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935426) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:51 PM Author: domesticated alpha reading party Ironic to have such a colorful cast of characters waging a war that could be won only be a long slog. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935460) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:45 PM Author: exciting buff abode sandwich He'd still be fucked once the western front collapsed, it's not like Lee was incapable of defending Virginia at the time of surrender, there was just no south left to defend. He would never have defeated the north or sacked dc but he could have forced resources away from the south and put pressure on politicians. Sitting around Richmond just doesn't seem like a winning strategy, he had only bad choices and made the one that at least gave him a puncher's chance at changing things. I guess you could argue for just a full retreat to the Deep South but that would only embolden the north and kill morale. Realistically they were fucked and none of the options were good (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935397) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:13 PM Author: passionate hell I always thought the South's biggest blunder was naming Richmond as its capitol, thus requiring the South to dedicate a huge amount of its resources to northern Virginia. Instead, they should have named a defendable city deep in the South as its capitol so they could allocate their resources more evenly to a broad defense of the South, especially the Mississippi. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935197) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:36 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza Nah, the simple choice of capital was not a big deal on its own. The South still had to concentrate a ton of resources on Virginia because it was the most populous and developed state. Even if it wasn't the capital, Richmond was the South's only industrial city and had its only major ironworks. It had to be defended to the utmost. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935343) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 11:06 AM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Really insightful post here that I originally missed (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34934417) |
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Date: October 18th, 2017 9:48 PM Author: Rusted half-breed private investor bought the 3 volume set after seeing this thread. thanks. really enjoying it. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34475555) |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:08 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Glad you're enjoying. I just finished volume 1 and am taking a break before starting volume 2. His narratives on New Orleans, Antietam and general insights into Lincoln, Mccellen and Davis were all great reading.
I really enjoyed reading maybe 25-40 pages most nights after work before bed and reading in detail and not rushing. Going to take volume 2 with me to my in-laws for thanksgiving. |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:10 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza 180. Most people consider Volume 2 the best, which isn't surprising because it has the most famous clashes. Personally my favorite was the first volume though. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34526560) |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:11 PM Author: dashing bull headed stead the opening of first volume is pure artistry (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34526567) |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:20 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza I think my favorite segment was the two-chapter run covering Shiloh and the Seven Days; it's not surprising that the Civil War novel Foote wrote was about Shiloh.
"'General - are you hurt?' he cried.
"'Yes, and I fear seriously,' Johnston said.
"None of the rest of his staff was there, the general having sent them off on various missions. Riding with one arm across Johnston's shoulders to prevent his falling, Hrris guided the bay into a nearby ravine, where he eased the pale commander to the ground and began unfastening his clothes in an attempt to find the wound. he had no luck until he noticed the right boot full of blood, and then he found it: a neat hold drilled just above the hollow of the knee, marking where the femoral artery had been severed. This called for a knowledge of tourniquets, but the governor knew nothing of such things. The man who knew most about them, Johnston's staff physician, had been ordered by the general to attend to a group of Federal wounded he encountered on his way to the far right. When the doctor protested, Johnson cut him off: 'These men were our enemies a moment ago. They are our prisoners now. Take care of them.' So Harris was left to do what he could to staunch the bright red flow of blood.
"He could do little. Brandy might help, he thought, but when he poured some into the hurt man's mouth it ran back out again. Presently a colonel, Johnston's chief of staff, came hurrying into the ravine. But he could do nothing either. He knelt down facing the general. 'Johnston, do you know me? Johnston, do you know me?' he kept asking, over and over, nudging the general's shoulder as he spoke.
"But Johnston did not know him. Johnston was dead." |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:21 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza Reading this again a few years later, I have to note that the death of A.S. Johnson is amusingly close to the video of that rapper who is bleeding out while his friends keep clapping in front of his face in an effort to keep him "woke."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R38nVKsIL7k |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:36 PM Author: dashing bull headed stead "Goodbye, General," Wood replied as he set out in the direction of the uproar, which now was swelling louder as it drew nearer. "We'll all meet at the hatter's, as one raccoon said to another when the dogs were after them." (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34526715) |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:23 PM Author: copper station mother 180 love this guy's writing (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34526633) |
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Date: April 20th, 2018 2:12 PM Author: histrionic spot rigpig You've been hit by.. you've been struck by... a SMOOTH CRIMINAL (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#35882379) |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:11 PM Author: copper station mother I really enjoyed the narrative of the Monitor vs. Merrimack encounter for some reason. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34526572) |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:24 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Nice call.
Crazy to think that a single ship or two could have that big of an impact. They were so desperate to get these things onto the sea that they weren't entirely seaworthy yet. |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:27 PM Author: copper station mother And the Merrimack was still pwning the living daylights out of everything in its path despite being little more than a giant reinforced frying pan, until the Monitor came and bailed the Union out. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34526664) |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:27 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza Honestly all the naval stuff in the narrative was kooky. I loved Magruder's bizarre cottonclads retaking Galveston, the ram fleet capturing Memphis, the final stand of the CSS Alabama, etc. Foote had a knack for it. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34526665) |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:04 PM Author: Poppy Mischievous New Version About 100 pages in... Prologue biographies of Lincoln and Davis were just depressing to compare to our modern TTT leaders (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34526509) |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:22 PM Author: well-lubricated fanboi lodge Is there a version on audible? I don't like to actually read text. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34526624) |
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Date: October 25th, 2017 3:23 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza https://www.audible.com/pd/History/The-Civil-War-A-Narrative-Volume-I-Fort-Sumter-to-Perryville-Audiobook/B0036NMFRY (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34526631) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 11:05 AM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Working through the second volume now. Just read about battle of Chancellorsville. Pretty crazy move by Lee/Jackson to split the army and gonthat far to get at the Unionist flank.
Is it worthwhile to visit some of these battle sites? My wife really isn’t into history, so would she be completely bored? |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 11:08 AM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza If she doesn't care she'll be bored. I've been to Antietam and Spotsylvania and enjoyed both, but you need a lot of appreciation for what happened to get much out of it; it's mostly just unit monuments plus a lot of walking.
One nice thing with Antietam is that a linear north-south walk also follows the progression of the battle itself. |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 11:09 AM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Ty.
I’ll probably do a solo trip then. |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 11:15 AM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza Happy to do an XO meetup at Manassas if you're down. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34934446) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:29 PM Author: Cheese-eating spectacular messiness I would do this in the spring (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935285) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:36 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza 180 dood just summon me in advance. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935345) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:15 PM Author: Cheese-eating spectacular messiness Antietam is the best because the old War Dept. signage is 180. Vicksburg is really cool for this reason, too.
I went to Petersburg for the first time this year and it was really good. |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:16 PM Author: domesticated alpha reading party 180.
Re Antietam crazy how such a bloody mess makes such a nice place to visit. |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:20 PM Author: Cheese-eating spectacular messiness Have you been to Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34934787) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:48 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza Fredericksburg is a rather unexciting visit due to suburban sprawl, though its visitor center is kind of the "home base" for all the Wilderness-area battles so it's worth stopping by.
Spotsylvania is nice simply because the Mule Shoe entrenchments are still visible. |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:52 PM Author: Cheese-eating spectacular messiness agreed, but it's still nice to visit. I spent a few days in the area while moving years back, eating at diners and walking battlefields all day, it was 180 (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935066) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:57 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza Yes all very 180, I was with a POASTER that day and we went to Waffle House twice. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34935102) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 11:18 AM Author: thriller azn mad-dog skullcap how readable is it (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34934455) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 11:19 AM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza Foote was also a novelist so it's about as readable as 2700 pages of history will get. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34934465) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 12:21 PM Author: Rusted half-breed private investor there is no graveyard for the confederates at antietam which i thought was disgraceful. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#34934793) |
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Date: May 26th, 2019 12:39 AM Author: Bright blathering range indirect expression (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#38290687) |
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:28 PM Author: passionate hell Read these books several years ago and just started reading them again. They are 180.
Anyone else have family that served in in the Confederate Army? My great, great . . . grandfather and his brother served in the Richmond Howitzers and received a parole pass at Appomattox.
There is good family lore and a somewhat recent scandal concerning a family member that stole great, great . . . grandfather's sword. When I was in high school, my cousin and I were drunk as fuck and made the brilliant decision to break into the offending family members house, steal the sword back, and give it to the rightful owner. We actually went through with it, but couldn't find the sword.
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Date: December 16th, 2017 1:50 PM Author: Electric Self-centered Public Bath Xo Shelby Foote was a national treasure: https://www.c-span.org/person/?shelbyfoote
Way better than the cuck TLS McPherson. |
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Date: May 31st, 2019 4:47 PM Author: cracking casino (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#38320733) |
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Date: April 20th, 2018 2:06 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Finally finished the third volume. A few things that stood out:
The cat and mouse between Lee and Grant in VA as Grant closed in on him was fascinating reading. It seems like Grant lost patience a few times and led his men into frontal assaults where they got butchered.
Lee/Grant in VA is basically proto-WW1 battles on a much smaller scale right?
On a per-man basis Bedford Forest was probably the most efficient in the war. He just completely raised hell the entire time.
I think it might’ve been the second book but reading about all of Grant’s schemes to take over Vicksburg was great. The large amount of maps in the book really helped put it all together.
Joe Johnson seemed pretty useless the entire war. The Southern Mcellen?
Politics was shitty back then too. Lincoln sending home thousands of soldiers on furlough to go vote for him was lol. |
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Date: April 20th, 2018 2:09 PM Author: gay charismatic bawdyhouse now read about the Franco-Prussian War to further understand the evolution of warfare (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#35882360) |
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Date: April 20th, 2018 2:12 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Is that the one with Napoleon’s nephew? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#35882382) |
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Date: April 20th, 2018 2:14 PM Author: gay charismatic bawdyhouse yeah and he got steamrolled by alpha Prussian Chads (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#35882392) |
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Date: April 20th, 2018 2:26 PM Author: smoky institution multi-billionaire I remember thinking how tragic the Grant/Lee stuff was. Constantly sending each other telegrams saying the other was responsible for the needless effusion of blood. Interesting WWI analogy.
Foote LOVED Forrest and took some shitlib flak for it. One of the stories he told was Forrest's great granddaughter or whatever let Foote swing his sword around above his head. He said Forrest and Lincoln were the two original geniuses of the war. |
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Date: May 31st, 2019 2:42 PM Author: razzmatazz scarlet tanning salon stock car Finished the other day. Great books. I lost a little steam in the second half of the last book, probably because it wasn’t as exiciting with the south getting crushed. Might go back and read random sections or pick out the most interesting campaigns and revisit (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#38320010) |
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Date: May 31st, 2019 2:46 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Glad you finished. I liked the end as one who is not too sympathetic to most of the confederates. It’s always been interesting to me to see how negotiations and panic happens when it starts to become clear that a cause is lost.
I’m going to travel to a few battle sites this summer. Thinking Chickamuaga and Vicksburg.
Closest thing to as good as this that ive read since was Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The amount of inside first hand sources the author had was incredible. Fully recommend the book |
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Date: May 31st, 2019 2:57 PM Author: razzmatazz scarlet tanning salon stock car I think I might dive into world war 1 next and go from there. I have some friends in DC so I might do Antietam and would want to do Gettysburg. It’s easy to see how it’s hard to get perspective on those battlefields though. Even at the time most of the generals had no idea what was going on. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#38320088) |
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Date: May 31st, 2019 3:00 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle If you find a great WW1 book to recommend please poast. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#38320105) |
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Date: May 31st, 2019 3:02 PM Author: Medicated roast beef piazza At Gettysburg they've worked hard to restore the battlefield to how it "looked" during the actual battle. At least for Pickett's Charge you get a very good idea.
Antietam is less perfect but at least the bridge and sunken road are there. |
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Date: July 7th, 2020 5:24 PM Author: embarrassed to the bone drunken nibblets wrinkle Lots of talk about Foote lately. Figured I’d bump this in case anyone is looking to read his civil war work. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#40563059) |
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Date: December 13th, 2020 10:49 PM Author: up-to-no-good legend Great book but it has been slow going for me. It's not a great bedtime nightstand read because any time you pick it up you need to review back in order to orient yourself because everything is so detailed, and then you can't really just read "a few pages" because everything is so detailed and self-contained. So it's best to read at least the narrative of one battle all together if you can, but you need the time and freedom from distraction. I find myself using the maps pretty often because although his battlefield descriptions are incredibly detailed, i can't visualize everything just off of the words so the maps help. The prose is great though and I love the little vignettes about how random generals die and their last moments are beautifully captured in the book. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#41542212) |
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Date: July 10th, 2021 11:36 AM Author: Irradiated Black Woman (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#42759305) |
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Date: July 16th, 2021 11:26 PM Author: Dun Location The anti-semites here will be interested to know that Foote was Jewish. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3763033&forum_id=2#42795286) |