GDG- Re: Guns captured by Wright have been Identified.

[Laurence D. Schiller]

Precisely, J.D. - as I have said before, the historian must not only 
collect all the data he/she can but also be prepared to sift it, 
consider the broader context, and finally what is likely. Dave's 
comments about the 'capture' of the Confederate guns is a wonderful 
case in point. The observer clearly thought that, but put into 
context with everything else, it becomes clear that he was mistaken. 
Another case in point is the point of view of the observer. At Reed's 
Bridge, for example, on the first day of Chickamauga, Minty's cavalry 
brigade held up Bushrod Johnston's infantry brigade for 8 hours, thus 
blunting Bragg's attempt to flank the Union left. Federal accounts 
are justly proud and detailed about it. Confederate accounts suggest 
the cavalry was a minor annoyance and the OR is brief to say the 
least. How do we decide which is more accurate - we have to look at 
everything including context and come up with a reasonable theory 
that takes it all into account, including the fact that Johnston 
really has no stake in describing how he was made to look foolish for 
8 hours. Serious research takes a long time and is always being 
challenged - which is a good thing.

Best,

Laurie Schiller


>
>
>Indeed, and this is where the historian must, by necessity, become like a
>crime detective.  And like the reporter's adage - you don't go to press
>unless you have two corroborating sources.  Now, often the latter is not the
>case, but a case in point is the Federal claim that it seemed at one time
>"as if we were surrounded" or words to that effect.  If you take this one
>quote in a vacuum, it's difficult as hell to deal with or make sense of.
>Does the soldier mean that he was awash in a sea of gray - literally
>surrounded by the enemy?  Then when you take it in context with all other
>evidence, you quickly realize that he's talking about the sounds of combat
>over at Culp's Hill... from the position at CR it would sounds as if it were
>behind you, behind your line.  The soldier is NOT speaking of being
>literally surrounded and threatened by the enemy, but that the general sound
>of battle made it appear, for a time, that the ANV had the AOP surrounded.
>
>Piecing all of this together, nearly 150 years after the fact - or from
>whatever time period recollections were recorded - is like trying to solve a
>crime of the period with evidence just as aged.  You have to put everything
>together.
>
>The ocean is made up of many, many drops of water.  Take one of those drops.
>Is that representative of the entire ocean? If someone has never seen the
>ocean, and you show them only a single drop, can they claim to have seen it
>all?
>
>J.D.
>
> 
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-- 
Dr. Laurence Dana Schiller
Maitre d'Armes
Head Fencing Coach
Department of History
Northwestern University
Commissioner, Midwest Fencing Conference
Midwest VP, US Fencing Coaches' Association
Vice-Chair USFA Illinois Division
Lds307 at northwestern.edu
847-491-4654
FAX 847-467-1406
Official Sports site: http://nusports.ocsn.com/
Student web site: http://groups.northwestern.edu/fencing/