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

[J. David Petruzzi]

Laurie,

Great example regarding Minty - which is one of the great all-time examples
of cavalry delaying actions during the war...

Which reminds of the example of Buford vs. Heth on day one.  On the
Confederate side, one mostly finds the description of Buford's delay as
simple cavalry skirmishing action of little consequence.  On the Federal
side, of course, one often reads the troopers' descriptions of how staunch
the resistance was and what it ultimately accomplished.  Go deeper into
Buford's tactic, and you find that it was an SOP defensive action that had
been taught at West Point, for example, for decades, and precisely
delineated in the cavalry tactic manuals of the period.

As with Johnston's example, Heth not only had nothing to gain by lauding
Buford's efforts (emphasized by the fact that it began the battle that was
ultimately lost) but for about 20 years after the war he steadfastly
maintained that he never faced any Federal cavalry whatsoever on July 1.
Read only Confederate accounts, and the first two hours aren't even a blip
on the screen.  Take it all of both sides in context, and you find out the
importance it had and what it meant to the subsequent battle.  If you don't
have an appreciation for the first couple hours of the fight, IMHO, you will
have a difficult time understanding why the rest of the battle happened as
it did.

J.D.


>>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>>