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1. George H. Thomas and Politics in the Union
army at the Battle for Chattanooga by Bob Redman, 12 Sept. 2000
Grant comes to Chattanooga with the express purpose of creating
the conditions for promoting Sherman and relegating Thomas and Hooker to secondary
roles at best. Sherman’s political allies will then promote Grant’s career.
As events unfold and Sherman can’t bring off even a semblance of a victory
on his wing, Grant gets desperate and orders Thomas to sacrifice part of
his army in order to relieve the pressure on Sherman. Thomas hinders the
execution of the order until Hooker has begun to undermine Bragg’s left flank.
The most highly trained army of the day then does its job and takes the ridge,
whereupon Grant rewrites history so that it conforms to a modfied version
of his original plan. Article based upon McKinney and Cozzens, but goes one
logical step further. Mcfeely wrote on page 380 of his "Grant" biography that
Grant "had outmaneuvered all the generals who might have stepped in front
of him during the war". Fortunately for the nation this was true only politically.
As the following article will demonstrate, Thomas outmaneuvered Grant militarily,
and Grant never forgave him for it
.
2. Sherman and Grant vs. Thomas at Resaca
by Don Plezia, 17 Sept. 2000
- WORK IN PROGRESS
On May 7th, 1864 Sherman started his campaign to "break
up Joe Johnston's Army" as ordered by Grant. He could have won the war in
the West On May 9th, 1864! However, he refused to acknowledge Thomas’s
strategic and tactical superiority. Thomas had fought in the area for three
years. He knew it like the back of his hand and had in fact drawn maps
of the area. Secondarily (maybe primarily), Sherman was not going to let Thomas
overshadow again as he had done at Chattanooga. So instead, Sherman’s
ego or perhaps his unsettled mind allowed the conflict to proceed, until
Thomas finally Thomas ended it at Nashville, December 18th, 1864. During
the entire “Atlanta Campaign” Sherman was content to chase Johnston down
the tracks. Thomas never quit trying to destroy the Army of Tennessee.
.
3. 'Slow Trot' and other Thomas nicknames!
by Don Plezia, 19 Sept. 2000
The nick name “Slow Trot” was used pejoratively by Sherman,
Grant and others to deprecate Thomas and his achievements. At times,
when “Slow Trot” was not thought forceful enough, it was reinforced by additions
such as, “slow of mind, word and deed”. How was the nickname “Slow Trot” derived
and what was it’s real meaning? Read on and you’ll find out.
.
4. The Execution of Captain Jazeb R. Rhodes, C.S.A. by Terry Foenander
Before the battle of Chattanooga Gen. Bragg, struggling
with outright rebellion from his top commanders, was aware of the corruption
within his army and the effect this had on the daily life of the soldiers
in his army. This report, based upon contemporary newspaper accounts, indirectly
bears witness to his concern for this problem and his attempts to deal with
it. Regardless of what Sam Watkins wrote, Bragg was not "a bad feeder". Richmond
assigned to the Army of Virginia the choice forage areas closest to Bragg,
and furthermore never granted Bragg the authority necessary to establish a
modern command structure in the Army of Tennessee - Bob Redman, ed.
5. George H. Thomas, Practitioner of Emancipation
by Bob Redman, 5 Oct. 2000
As a boy Thomas gave family slaves bible and reading lessons,
his attitudes towards secession, views on slavery, use of colored troops in
general, doubts about their ability to sustain combat, his employment of colored
troops at Nashville, defense of colored troops after war, efforts to integrate
former slaves into economy while military governer of the South. Lincoln
was the great moral philosopher of the social revolution of the 1860's, Thomas
was its greatest practitioner. "...measuring him by the sentiment of his
country...he was swift, zealous, radical,and determined." Thomas ought to
be appreciated by black and white Americans, but he is not even known to
most people, being ignored or, at best, played down in most popular treatments
of American history.
6.The complete text of the 1882 biography The Life of Major General George H. Thomas (Part 1 pages 1-159;Part 2 pages 160-310; Part 3 pages 311-465) by Thomas Van Horne. In his 1875 History of the Army of the Cumberland, Van Horne had restrained himself, in keeping with Thomas's wish to avoid controversy. However, in his biography Van Horne, reacting to the crude polemics of the Grant apologists, took the gloves off. Compared to the mendacity of Badeau & co., Van Horne's occasional exagerations are mild. This book has not been reprinted since 1882, and you can not get it through interlibrary loan because it is falling apart. We are saving this book for posterity.
7. On the Causes of the Civil War, a short essay by Bob Redman, Oct. 2000
8. The Pioneer
Brigade by Geoffrey L. Blankenmeyer,
11 Nov. 2000
By August of 1862, the Union offensive into Tennessee had
bogged down. A new commander, William Starke Rosecrans, was put in charge
of the Union forces in Nashville to renew an advance the coming spring. Rosecrans,
an engineer by training, knew that he required the proper logistical support
to sutain a successful drive into the Southern Heartland. When his overtures
to Washington for an increase in engineers was refused, Rosecrans developed
his own units with the men he had on hand. Therefore on November 3,
1862 by General Order #3, the Pioneer Brigade sprang to life. And it
was these handpicked men that lead Rosecrans' Army of the Cumberland from
Nashville to Chattanooga with musket as well as with spade. In fact, it was
the only unit to receive Congressional recognition as a unit when reformed
as the First United States Veteran Vounteer Engineers in May, 1864.
This is the story of those Pioneers.
9. A series of newspaper articles which Karl Marx wrote about the Civil War.
10. A brief treatment of the Spencer repeater
and other Civil War breechloading rifles by Bob Redman, Jan. 2001
About 40 different models of breechloading rifles and carbines
were introduced during the Civil War, but the 7-shot repeating Spencer was
the best and the most important of them. Its breech mechanism was primitive
compared to later mechanisms and required hand cocking of the hammer, but
it was reliable under abuse and adverse conditions. At Hoover's Gap on 24
June 1863 the firepower it gave Wilder's Lightning Brigade under Thomas completely
overwhelmed Wheeler and Hardee and changed the course of the war.
11. The Confederate Spin on Winfield Scott
and George Thomas (Southern Unionists) by Francis Macdonnell,
from Find Articles, Civil War
History
The article deals more with Scott than with Thomas, but
it still offers many good insights about both. In addition, Macdonnell documents
what often happened to lesser known unionists in the South during and after
the war. Scott and especially Thomas only had their reputations blackened.
12. Thomas Shows He's No Slacker in Taking
the Offensive by Robert Meiser,
first printed in the Washington Times on 8 Jan. 2000
Summary: It assuredly is especially tragic when a
soldier loses his life in a useless or mismanaged battle or campaign.
Fortunate indeed therefore were those who served under George Thomas, for
there was no more competent commander on either side, North or South, to
whom one could entrust one's life. He wasted no lives because he made
no significant mistakes, yet at the same time he accumulated a long record
of remarkable military achievement. In fact, Thomas appears to be the
only Civil War general on either side of whom this can be said. This
article reviews the facts and adds voice to those who argue for a long overdue
reevaluation of Thomas's record and place in history, in line with what this
remarkable man deserves.
13. Gen. George H.
Thomas: Chief Conservator of the Union and Victim of Gross Historical Injustice:
A Compendium of Sources in Support of the Argument by Robert N. Meiser, June 15, 2003
Summary: A scholarly evaluation
of the current state of historical analysis of the role Thomas played in
determining the outcome of the Civil War and the fate of the nation.
14. The search for John Wesley Hargrave of Wilder's Lighting Brigade (A Mid-life Crisis Adventure and Travel Essay) by Ron Safstrom
15. Outline of a short essay about the Confederate railroads.
16. A Storm in the
Cedars: Colonel John F. Miller’s Brigade at the Battle of Stone’s River
by Daniel A. Masters. This is a digest
of a chapter from his coming book on the battle.Col. Miller's role was similar
to that of Chamberlain at Gettysburg.
17. Schofield vs. Stanley,
by Bob Redman, 25 July 03. The story of the campaign within a campaign to
plant Schofield in Thomas' pick-up army before the battle of Nashville.
18. Photographic essay Bring Thomas Home,
by Bob Redman, 11 Aug. 03. A discussion of why Americans, and among them Virginians,
and among Virginians the residents of the county where Thomas was born, should
better appreciate Thomas.
19. Sheridan's Last Stand at Chickamauga,
by Bob Redman, 2 Sept. 03. An exposure of Sheridan's attempt to cover
up his worst day in the Civil War.
20. McNair's Attack against Rousseau's division on 31 Dec.
1862 by
Gary Cozzens, 14 Sept. 03.
An excerpt from a much longer article about the actions of McNair's Brigade
during the Battle of Murfreesboro. This section is a detailed study of McNair's,
and to a lessor extent of Rains' and Ectors' attack on Rousseau's
Division and the Pioneer Brigade during the afternoon of December 31st.
Much of the information is based on the author's interpretation of the Official
Records and first-hand accounts, and he welcomes comments and corrections.
21. "Days of Glory"
by Larry J. Daniel: A review by Don Plezia (24 May 2004).
"There are many more incidents of these contortions of the truth or poor
research by the Reverend Daniel. They are too many to refute individually,
so I’ll leave it to the reader to question the need for this attempt to revise
history."
22. This space is waiting for your article about
the Army of the Cumberland (US) or the Army of Tennessee (CS).
hue 20, sat 240, lum 210, red 255, green 223, blue 191