Pvt. Drew provides a summary of his experiences over the past two months since escaping from Confederate captivity in Richmond. He describes returning to his regiment in the 6th Maine Infantry stationed at Brandy Station, Virginia. The soldiers underwent intensive training under Col. Emory Upton to prepare for the upcoming spring campaign, drilling daily using Upton's new tactics. Pvt. Drew catches up with friends and continues his duties with the regiment as winter turns to spring and the Army receives news that Ulysses S. Grant has been placed in command of all Union armies.
As Lt. General General Ulysses S. Grant pushes Gen. Meade's Army of the Potomac further south into Virginia -- on his OVERLAND CAMPAIGN ( sometimes called the Wilderness Campaign) beyond the Rappahannock, and then beyond the Rapidan -- the engagements of the Yankees with General Robert E Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia just become more and more ferocious ...the losses in terms of the number of men's lives, just staggering and unprecedented.
First the Battle of the Wilderness,
.... then the Battle of Spottsylvania Court House,
.... then the assault on the Mule Shoe -- the notorious Bloody Angle at Spottsylvania --
each creating literally heaps of human corpses lying in the Spottsylvania woods... MOST TO REMAIN LONG UNBURIED ...
At each engagement, the Confederates fight like wildcats, and give as good as they get -- General Lee shows off his strategic mastery and this topographers exercise an uncanny grasp of the hidden countryside ... Union losses mount....The finest fighters are mowed down ...Grant's men wonder, if he is a worse butcher than Burnsides.....
Nevertheless, Grant attains an advantage -- for a short time after the Wilderness it seems as if the Rebs show a new level of respect for the Union fighters, and are not leaving their defensive works to charge the Yankee lines. This limited advantage will not last for long, however....
NOW, almost a month after the launch of the OVERLAND CAMPAIGN it seems impossible that loss of life could escalate beyond the numbers of killed at Spottsylvania,
... but in fact, the party's just getting started. Now, GRANT and LEE SQUARE OFF AGAIN, this time at a field near COLD HARBOR TAVERN !! ... their armies dig in.
NOW, GRANT, UNPHASED BY THE CASTROPHIC LEVEL OF CASUALTIES OF THE PRECEDING MONTH, ORDERS THE CHARGE -- BUT WITHOUT ANY CORPS COHERENCE -- ACROSS 300 YARS OF OPEN FIELD, AND THE YANKEES FALL LIKE RIPE WHEAT BEFORE THE HARVESTER'S SICKLE!! The men retreat, and as his line is within reach of their own defensive works... PVT CALIF NEWTON DREW
IS HIT BY THE BLAST OF AN EXPLODING MORTAR !! HE IS KNOCKED SENSELESS ... his arm shattered, fingers blown off, a hole ripped in his abdomen ...AMPUTATION IS IN ORDER ...AND HE'S ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES !!
He's transferred to the Old Soldiers home in Washington D.C..
where, one Saturday morning, he receives an unexpected visitor....
FIND OUT WHO .. in YANKEE SCOUT -- Cold Harbor !!
YANKEE SCOUT in the CIVIL WAR !! COLD HARBOR
Following the stalemate called the MINE RUN CAMPAIGN of late November, 1863, the warring armies of the Confederacy and the United States have encamped for the Winter in Culpeper and Orange counties, Va., respectively, and Pvts Drew and Denbo been assigned to roving duty. Drew wrote: “[ Pvt. Henry C.] Denbow [ a Pleasant Point Passamoquody Indian ] and Drew were on detail for extry duty and was on the move around the enemies camps and army most-all the time. “We were given the Spencer seven-shots carbine it was the first gun using the metallic cartridge I had ever seen, we tried them out – a .50 calibre, lever-action it would do in close quarters – not to be depended on over 150 yards the powder charge could not be increased. We preferred the old Springfield for all purposes. THEN I WAS CAPTURED:
“I think it was on the 18th of Dec. while on a reconnoriter [sic] with Comp’s. C. and K. down toards the Alexander and Richmond RR. I was captured by a band of Johnny’s holding a observation post into which I ran during a thick snow squall.
“They had [seen] our forces, and counted it two large for them to attack – and was on the move to avoid us in the squall when we meet. When they saw the red and green cross on my cap they shure did treat me fine- gave me a horse to ride, four of them guarded – two of them went to Richmond with me on a flat-car where we arrived in good shape ….”
FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, when Pvt. Drew is declared a PRISONER OF WAR in Richmond !!
Even at a remove of some 150 years following the cataclysmic conflict of the Great War of the Rebellion or CIVIL WAR -- as most would have it -- there appear to be almost no historical treatments of General Joe Hooker’s creation of the Union Army’s 6th Corps Light Division – or sometimes, the Light Brigade – in the spring of 1863;
But your own memorialist, Pvt. CALIF NEWTON DREW, YANKEE SCOUT in the CIVIL WAR!! described the newly created Light Division in some detail, at p. 82 of his Memoir, where he wrote:
“On parade one evening by Gen’l Orders we was informed that the Reg’t was a unit in the Light Division of the 6th Corps which was composed of the 61st Pa Inft; 31st N.Y. Inf’t ; 43rd N.Y. Inf’t; 6th Me Inf’ty; 5th Wisc. Inf’ty. The 3rd N.Y. L:ight Battery of Artillery was attached to the Division and Gen’l John Newton was put in command of the Division.
“By Order of the 3rd of Feb. of Gen’l Joe Hooker, Commanding Army of the Potomac (Feb 3rd, 1863) the Light Division was supposed to be selection of the best troops in the [6th] Corps. They were to move at a moment’s notice in light marching order with 100 extra rounds of ammunition. Pack mules was to convay our knapsacks, tents, blankets and all over one days rations. We was to move with the cavalry when and where they needed infantry support, so we started to get acquainted. [P. 83 ] The 5th Wisc. was our sister regiment. The 31st Pa. we had seen under fire and they had stood up to the work in fine shape. We had a number of our men in the battery and we took the judgment of those who made the selection as to the efficiency of the New York men.” [All emphases added, here and throughout.]
The newly formed Light Division saw its first major action on April 30, 1863 in the Battle of Marye’s Heights – an engagement almost as lost to history, as the Light Division itself. The battle is sometimes otherwise known as the Second Battle of Fredericksburg ...
THIS IS THE REAL STORY
YES -- FANS, this is the story that started it all !!
IT'S A DESPARATE tale of Civil War deprivations and FORAGING by the half-starved men of the 6th Maine Infantry, one of the regiments in Brig-Gen's Winfield Scott Hancock's historic First Brigade that saw good service at Williamsburg and White Oak Swamp earlier in the advance of Gen. McClellan's 1862 Peninsular Campaign, and only more recently skirmished with Rebs at Second Battle of Bull Run !!
THE BATTLE-SCARRED men now make their way through a war-ravaged District of Columbia on their way to a certain rendezvous with the Army of Northern Virginia under command of Gen. Robert E Lee -- first at the battle of South Mountain, and shortly thereafter at ANTIETAM. But meanwhile, the men of the U.S. Army must EAT and as they enter Southern-sympathetic MARYLAND the citizens HOLDOUT on them, and official provisions are scarce, and what there is, is limited to Lincoln' s HARD-TACK and SALT PORK -- and if they want to sink their teeth into any fresh meat, the men are obliged to take DESPARATE MEASURES !! And then, they see the answer: Now ...
FIND OUT HOW THEY STOLE THE GOOSE, KEPT IT SECRET, AND THEN COOKED IT GOOD ....
YANKEE SCOUT -- KILLING OF GENERAL SEDGWICKRoch Steinbach
THE CARNAGE of the Battle of the Wilderness -- May 5-7, 1864 -- has ended, the guns of the contesting armies fallen silent, but GENERAL GRANT orders the advance towards SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE -- his original planned objective. Now ....
AS THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC advances south, it emerges from the Wilderness into an open area with scattered stands of oak and hickory, where the soldiers are widely exposed to intense fire from snipers posted in the heights of the trees round about.
ONE OF THESE REBEL SNIPERS keeps working away at the Union Army picket line, where soldiers like PVT. DREW are posted to cover the advancing YANKEE column. Suddenly the general commanding the VI Corps, GEN JOHN SEDGWICK, moves out towards the picket to reconnoiter the ground for placement of his artillery -- when he is hit by rebel sniper fire, and instantly falls from the mortal wound
YANKEE SCOUT -- Killing of General Sedgwick !!Roch Steinbach
In the days following the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-8, 1864), the Union Army moved south out of the Wilderness of Spottslyvania – Spott’s Woods -- mirroring the movements of General Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, as General Grant continued his pursuit.
Travelling little by night because of the thickets of underbrush, the Union forces moved south by road through the forests, with troops sent out skirmishing on either side, to guard the flanks of the advancing column. Private Calif Newton Drew, Pvt. Henry C. Denbo, and other scouts of the 6th Maine Infantry, were dispatched on this duty….
The Army of the Potomac eventually emerged into an area of sporadically-timbered farmland in the neighborhood of the Spottsylvania County Court House, Virginia, only to find that the rebel sharpshooters that had vigorously harassed them in the thick undergrowth of the Wilderness, had now moved up into the treetops, to positions which afforded them good vantage & many clear shots of the Union skirmishers. Nevertheless, the morning seems a routine one in war, until at the "crack" of a rifle, Union General John Sedgwick drops to the ground -- felled by a head-shot, -- and is dead.
PRIVATE DREW is the last man to speak to him alive ....
In this THIRD ISSUE of YANKEE SCOUT in the Civil War, as Pvt. Drew and his comrades of the 6th Maine Infantry regiment assume their posts on the Maryland side of Chain Bridge, crossing the Potomac to the sacred Soil of Virginia, they are stunned to be met by dozens upon dozens of retreating Union soldiers, fleeing from the Yankees first and most humiliating defeat at Manassas Junction, on the little creek called Bull Run !!
What could have gone wrong? A total lack of proper military training, and no uniformity to the tactical drill, for one thing; then there's those old muskets, and a lack of target practice, and those silly uniforms that the Fire Zouaves wore!!
President Lincoln calls in Gen George B. McClellan from the battefields of West Virginia, and gives him command of the entire Union Army, and charges him with organizing it in the best professional fashion...
McClellan gets busy,. and soon there is a meticulously organized campground, better food, new Springfield 1861 rifles, daily tactical drilling , and new officers appearing in camp. Pvt. Drew and the 6th Maine Infantry regiment luck out, and are assigned to a new brigade formed under Brigadier General Winfield Scott Hancock -- who will go on to become one of the winningest generals in the Civil War. And, heck, that's a pretty good start ... I'll say ....
YANKEE SCOUT -- Death on the Picket Line !! Roch Steinbach
In this FOURTH ISSUE of YANKEE SCOUT, Gen Hancock's brigade together with "Baldy" Smith's Division move their forces out across Chain Bridge in early September, and break ground for the construction of Fort Ethan Allen. Once completed, the heavy artillery are emplaced, and the brigades move further into enemy territory and set up camp at Lewinsville -- snugged up against the Rebel camps near Scott's Run, in Fairfax County, Virginia, C.S.A. !! Pvt. Drew and some friends are selected to conduct a reconnaissance of the Fairfax county lands south toward Falls Church -- but they are apprehended by Reb cavalry !!! Is there any way to escape ? There is... if you know what "V.M.M" stands for !! FIND OUT !!
Later, there's a problem: them Rebs is moving by night to attack the end of McCall's line of Union pickets: and in the morning a number of pickets have been found dead. General Hancock want to know what can be done, and Drew's services are offered... he takes two friends, a Springfield, some line ... and, well .... we better not spoil the suspense !!
As Lt. General General Ulysses S. Grant pushes Gen. Meade's Army of the Potomac further south into Virginia -- on his OVERLAND CAMPAIGN ( sometimes called the Wilderness Campaign) beyond the Rappahannock, and then beyond the Rapidan -- the engagements of the Yankees with General Robert E Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia just become more and more ferocious ...the losses in terms of the number of men's lives, just staggering and unprecedented.
First the Battle of the Wilderness,
.... then the Battle of Spottsylvania Court House,
.... then the assault on the Mule Shoe -- the notorious Bloody Angle at Spottsylvania --
each creating literally heaps of human corpses lying in the Spottsylvania woods... MOST TO REMAIN LONG UNBURIED ...
At each engagement, the Confederates fight like wildcats, and give as good as they get -- General Lee shows off his strategic mastery and this topographers exercise an uncanny grasp of the hidden countryside ... Union losses mount....The finest fighters are mowed down ...Grant's men wonder, if he is a worse butcher than Burnsides.....
Nevertheless, Grant attains an advantage -- for a short time after the Wilderness it seems as if the Rebs show a new level of respect for the Union fighters, and are not leaving their defensive works to charge the Yankee lines. This limited advantage will not last for long, however....
NOW, almost a month after the launch of the OVERLAND CAMPAIGN it seems impossible that loss of life could escalate beyond the numbers of killed at Spottsylvania,
... but in fact, the party's just getting started. Now, GRANT and LEE SQUARE OFF AGAIN, this time at a field near COLD HARBOR TAVERN !! ... their armies dig in.
NOW, GRANT, UNPHASED BY THE CASTROPHIC LEVEL OF CASUALTIES OF THE PRECEDING MONTH, ORDERS THE CHARGE -- BUT WITHOUT ANY CORPS COHERENCE -- ACROSS 300 YARS OF OPEN FIELD, AND THE YANKEES FALL LIKE RIPE WHEAT BEFORE THE HARVESTER'S SICKLE!! The men retreat, and as his line is within reach of their own defensive works... PVT CALIF NEWTON DREW
IS HIT BY THE BLAST OF AN EXPLODING MORTAR !! HE IS KNOCKED SENSELESS ... his arm shattered, fingers blown off, a hole ripped in his abdomen ...AMPUTATION IS IN ORDER ...AND HE'S ONE OF THE LUCKY ONES !!
He's transferred to the Old Soldiers home in Washington D.C..
where, one Saturday morning, he receives an unexpected visitor....
FIND OUT WHO .. in YANKEE SCOUT -- Cold Harbor !!
YANKEE SCOUT in the CIVIL WAR !! COLD HARBOR
Following the stalemate called the MINE RUN CAMPAIGN of late November, 1863, the warring armies of the Confederacy and the United States have encamped for the Winter in Culpeper and Orange counties, Va., respectively, and Pvts Drew and Denbo been assigned to roving duty. Drew wrote: “[ Pvt. Henry C.] Denbow [ a Pleasant Point Passamoquody Indian ] and Drew were on detail for extry duty and was on the move around the enemies camps and army most-all the time. “We were given the Spencer seven-shots carbine it was the first gun using the metallic cartridge I had ever seen, we tried them out – a .50 calibre, lever-action it would do in close quarters – not to be depended on over 150 yards the powder charge could not be increased. We preferred the old Springfield for all purposes. THEN I WAS CAPTURED:
“I think it was on the 18th of Dec. while on a reconnoriter [sic] with Comp’s. C. and K. down toards the Alexander and Richmond RR. I was captured by a band of Johnny’s holding a observation post into which I ran during a thick snow squall.
“They had [seen] our forces, and counted it two large for them to attack – and was on the move to avoid us in the squall when we meet. When they saw the red and green cross on my cap they shure did treat me fine- gave me a horse to ride, four of them guarded – two of them went to Richmond with me on a flat-car where we arrived in good shape ….”
FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, when Pvt. Drew is declared a PRISONER OF WAR in Richmond !!
Even at a remove of some 150 years following the cataclysmic conflict of the Great War of the Rebellion or CIVIL WAR -- as most would have it -- there appear to be almost no historical treatments of General Joe Hooker’s creation of the Union Army’s 6th Corps Light Division – or sometimes, the Light Brigade – in the spring of 1863;
But your own memorialist, Pvt. CALIF NEWTON DREW, YANKEE SCOUT in the CIVIL WAR!! described the newly created Light Division in some detail, at p. 82 of his Memoir, where he wrote:
“On parade one evening by Gen’l Orders we was informed that the Reg’t was a unit in the Light Division of the 6th Corps which was composed of the 61st Pa Inft; 31st N.Y. Inf’t ; 43rd N.Y. Inf’t; 6th Me Inf’ty; 5th Wisc. Inf’ty. The 3rd N.Y. L:ight Battery of Artillery was attached to the Division and Gen’l John Newton was put in command of the Division.
“By Order of the 3rd of Feb. of Gen’l Joe Hooker, Commanding Army of the Potomac (Feb 3rd, 1863) the Light Division was supposed to be selection of the best troops in the [6th] Corps. They were to move at a moment’s notice in light marching order with 100 extra rounds of ammunition. Pack mules was to convay our knapsacks, tents, blankets and all over one days rations. We was to move with the cavalry when and where they needed infantry support, so we started to get acquainted. [P. 83 ] The 5th Wisc. was our sister regiment. The 31st Pa. we had seen under fire and they had stood up to the work in fine shape. We had a number of our men in the battery and we took the judgment of those who made the selection as to the efficiency of the New York men.” [All emphases added, here and throughout.]
The newly formed Light Division saw its first major action on April 30, 1863 in the Battle of Marye’s Heights – an engagement almost as lost to history, as the Light Division itself. The battle is sometimes otherwise known as the Second Battle of Fredericksburg ...
THIS IS THE REAL STORY
YES -- FANS, this is the story that started it all !!
IT'S A DESPARATE tale of Civil War deprivations and FORAGING by the half-starved men of the 6th Maine Infantry, one of the regiments in Brig-Gen's Winfield Scott Hancock's historic First Brigade that saw good service at Williamsburg and White Oak Swamp earlier in the advance of Gen. McClellan's 1862 Peninsular Campaign, and only more recently skirmished with Rebs at Second Battle of Bull Run !!
THE BATTLE-SCARRED men now make their way through a war-ravaged District of Columbia on their way to a certain rendezvous with the Army of Northern Virginia under command of Gen. Robert E Lee -- first at the battle of South Mountain, and shortly thereafter at ANTIETAM. But meanwhile, the men of the U.S. Army must EAT and as they enter Southern-sympathetic MARYLAND the citizens HOLDOUT on them, and official provisions are scarce, and what there is, is limited to Lincoln' s HARD-TACK and SALT PORK -- and if they want to sink their teeth into any fresh meat, the men are obliged to take DESPARATE MEASURES !! And then, they see the answer: Now ...
FIND OUT HOW THEY STOLE THE GOOSE, KEPT IT SECRET, AND THEN COOKED IT GOOD ....
YANKEE SCOUT -- KILLING OF GENERAL SEDGWICKRoch Steinbach
THE CARNAGE of the Battle of the Wilderness -- May 5-7, 1864 -- has ended, the guns of the contesting armies fallen silent, but GENERAL GRANT orders the advance towards SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE -- his original planned objective. Now ....
AS THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC advances south, it emerges from the Wilderness into an open area with scattered stands of oak and hickory, where the soldiers are widely exposed to intense fire from snipers posted in the heights of the trees round about.
ONE OF THESE REBEL SNIPERS keeps working away at the Union Army picket line, where soldiers like PVT. DREW are posted to cover the advancing YANKEE column. Suddenly the general commanding the VI Corps, GEN JOHN SEDGWICK, moves out towards the picket to reconnoiter the ground for placement of his artillery -- when he is hit by rebel sniper fire, and instantly falls from the mortal wound
YANKEE SCOUT -- Killing of General Sedgwick !!Roch Steinbach
In the days following the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-8, 1864), the Union Army moved south out of the Wilderness of Spottslyvania – Spott’s Woods -- mirroring the movements of General Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia, as General Grant continued his pursuit.
Travelling little by night because of the thickets of underbrush, the Union forces moved south by road through the forests, with troops sent out skirmishing on either side, to guard the flanks of the advancing column. Private Calif Newton Drew, Pvt. Henry C. Denbo, and other scouts of the 6th Maine Infantry, were dispatched on this duty….
The Army of the Potomac eventually emerged into an area of sporadically-timbered farmland in the neighborhood of the Spottsylvania County Court House, Virginia, only to find that the rebel sharpshooters that had vigorously harassed them in the thick undergrowth of the Wilderness, had now moved up into the treetops, to positions which afforded them good vantage & many clear shots of the Union skirmishers. Nevertheless, the morning seems a routine one in war, until at the "crack" of a rifle, Union General John Sedgwick drops to the ground -- felled by a head-shot, -- and is dead.
PRIVATE DREW is the last man to speak to him alive ....
In this THIRD ISSUE of YANKEE SCOUT in the Civil War, as Pvt. Drew and his comrades of the 6th Maine Infantry regiment assume their posts on the Maryland side of Chain Bridge, crossing the Potomac to the sacred Soil of Virginia, they are stunned to be met by dozens upon dozens of retreating Union soldiers, fleeing from the Yankees first and most humiliating defeat at Manassas Junction, on the little creek called Bull Run !!
What could have gone wrong? A total lack of proper military training, and no uniformity to the tactical drill, for one thing; then there's those old muskets, and a lack of target practice, and those silly uniforms that the Fire Zouaves wore!!
President Lincoln calls in Gen George B. McClellan from the battefields of West Virginia, and gives him command of the entire Union Army, and charges him with organizing it in the best professional fashion...
McClellan gets busy,. and soon there is a meticulously organized campground, better food, new Springfield 1861 rifles, daily tactical drilling , and new officers appearing in camp. Pvt. Drew and the 6th Maine Infantry regiment luck out, and are assigned to a new brigade formed under Brigadier General Winfield Scott Hancock -- who will go on to become one of the winningest generals in the Civil War. And, heck, that's a pretty good start ... I'll say ....
YANKEE SCOUT -- Death on the Picket Line !! Roch Steinbach
In this FOURTH ISSUE of YANKEE SCOUT, Gen Hancock's brigade together with "Baldy" Smith's Division move their forces out across Chain Bridge in early September, and break ground for the construction of Fort Ethan Allen. Once completed, the heavy artillery are emplaced, and the brigades move further into enemy territory and set up camp at Lewinsville -- snugged up against the Rebel camps near Scott's Run, in Fairfax County, Virginia, C.S.A. !! Pvt. Drew and some friends are selected to conduct a reconnaissance of the Fairfax county lands south toward Falls Church -- but they are apprehended by Reb cavalry !!! Is there any way to escape ? There is... if you know what "V.M.M" stands for !! FIND OUT !!
Later, there's a problem: them Rebs is moving by night to attack the end of McCall's line of Union pickets: and in the morning a number of pickets have been found dead. General Hancock want to know what can be done, and Drew's services are offered... he takes two friends, a Springfield, some line ... and, well .... we better not spoil the suspense !!
Following the decisive Battle of Rappahannock Station on the Rappahannock River, on November 7, 1863, General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, DEFEATED, have now RETREATED further into Virginia, abandoning their Winter Quarters in Culpeper County, and continuing on south into Orange County, taking up new positions, and establishing his camp south of the Rapidan River in Orange County, near an overflown creek, known as Mine Run. Union Gen Meade gives Gen. John Sedgwick one last campaign assignment.
The Mine Run Campaign, so-called, was the General Meade's last-ditch effort to engage Lee's Army before the full onset of the Winter of ‘63-64. But Lee's new Winter Quarters south of Mine Run were so formidably defended -- by swamplands to the northwest, mingling with the overflown ice-cold waters of Mine Run itself, and a dozen other small creeks and sloughs; and furthermore blocked with thickets of slash and timber – “abattis” -- that the Army of Northern Virginia was completely impregnable to standard attack here!! The landscape was incomprehensible to military tactics, and thus thwarted every strategy: therefore, skirmishes dominated the "campaign" and isolated limited engagements marked the end of the 1863 fighting season, with Meade throwing in the towel.
Such indeterminacy does not make for STANDARD military literature -- but Pvt. Drew's narrative of scouting MINE RUN, and other relevant action, can be counter-pointed with other accounts to realize a vivid vision of the wintertime action !!
The historic War of 1812 Battle of Crysler's FarmFergus Ducharme
A historic battle in the War of 1812 between the British Armies and Canadian Militias versus the formidable United States Armed Forces. The American's plan was to invade Canada and force the British to leave North American once and for all. Well, guess what! The British and Canadians won not only the battle but the war too! One of the first times US Forces lost a war! And the bonus is that the British and Canadians, having occupied large swathes of the United States - especially Washington, DC which they, in fact, torched - burning the Hall of Congress and believe it or not the White House, too!
In this SECOND jam-packed issue of YANKEE SCOUT (TM), 15 year-old Calif Newton Drew returns to his hometown of Machias, Maine, from logging in the backwoods, only to learn the news relayed by telegraph, that President Lincoln has called fro 75,000 volunteers to join a new Union Army to be deployed to defend Washington D.C. against Secessionists in Virginia and Maryland !! However, because he had been out a few days, his hometown regiment is FULL UP and has already met it's quota ! So Drew and a few friends take the ferry boat up to Eastport, Maine on Moose Island and join the regiment there. Drew strips down to his birthday suit for his physical -- and one of the doctors says he is too young, "You are nothing but a kid !!" and not strong enough to serve -- so Drew lays the Doctor out flat on the floor with one punch !! And he's in the ARMY!! ....
The new soldiers train at Fort Sullivan using tactical manuals and muskets dating all the way back to the War of 1812, and finally are sent on a patriotic tour of American battlefields, as they make their way towards D.C. !!
Find out about the Baltimore Riots of April 19th-20th, the taboo subject of the Confederate burning of the bridges on the P.W.& B.RR line into Baltimore, and the details of the mysterious "Baltimore Plot" to assassinate President Lincoln !!
Finally, on July 20th Drew and his new comrades arrive in Washington, D.C. and are lodged in the old Hall of Congress, and then, the next day, are ordered 6 miles out of Washington to the D.C. perimeter at Chain Bridge ... where they hear the distant cannons sounding at Manassas Junction, the sounds of the Battle of Bull Run !!!
Poetry and background to Maurice Crowther, a World War 2 veteran who fought in Malaya and Singapore between 1941 to 1945. He was interned in Changi and subsequently worked as a convict labourer in Korea and Japan. Useful for students who are studying World War 2 in Asia from the perspective of European soldiers caught up in the war.
What engagement of the Civil War was so resoundingly successful for the Army of the Potomac, that it sent the Confederates on a 50-mile retreat back to Richmond ? Col. Seidule's "Official West Point History of the Civil War" doesn't even mention the Battle of Williasmburg, much less that Gen. Hancock's brilliant penetration of Rebel defensive lines at Fort Magruder, and his surreptitious occupation of a series of redoubts behind the lines, enabled him to take Gen Early's Army totally by surprise, and ROUT them Rebs, sending them on a midnight retreat, and earning Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock the nickname "the Superb."
Here's the story you've never heard before -- Hancock's Charge
With the smoke still rising from the wreck of the U.S.S. Cumberland, destroyed March 9, 1862, by the ironclad C.S.S. Merrimack (C.S.S. Virginia) , the Army of the Potomac is landed at Fortress Monroe, and shortly shipped out to Newport News. Va., where they immediately begin to move up the Peninsula through the wet and flooded terrain, towards Confederate held YORKTOWN !! Here, with Confederate earthworks largely undefended, Pvt. Drew's 6th Maine infantry is out on special engineering reconnaissance, when -- on April 6, 1862 -- they almost spontaneously overcome rebel-held works and engage the enemy, in perhaps the first skirmish of the "Siege" of Yorktown. They have to be ordered back over the entrenchments, and STOPPED from fighting the rebs!!! On April 9, McClellan is advised by President Lincoln that "you must act' to attack the Confederate Army ... but does he?
For the 2011 Black history Month, NAVSEA
is Focusing on African American’s contributions
during the civil war. The following
account highlights some of the major contributions
of their brave efforts to preserve our
nation.
As we learned in the Last Issue of YANKEE SCOUT – Fredericksburg!! – the Union Army is now reeling with the implications of a military,strategic and moral catastrophe precipitated by growing awareness of the grim news, of it’s unprecedented battlefield losses incurred before Fredericksburg, Virginia, on December 12, 1862 – a scene of carnage that was already being dubbed “the Slaughter Pen” by the men, even as it was occurring.
United States Army forces commanded by Gen. Ambrose Burnside, saw a staggering level of losses: Pvt. Drew will peg
the Yankee killed under Gen. Burnside at 12,172 -- men uselessly sacrificed at the Battle of Fredericksburg: for not a single square inch of rebel-held territory has been taken, and Burnside has finally been forced to retreat again, north across the Rappahannock.
Meanwhile, the loss to Gen. Lee’s rebel Army of Virginia Drew reckons on the order of 5, 377. Up to this point in the Civil War, only casualties on the battlefield at Antietam, the preceding September, can compare with these new numbers of Yankee lives extinguished. Gen. Burnside, too, has seen better days. After removing Gen. McClellan (again) President Lincoln
had offered Burnside command of the Army of the Potomac in
recognition of his signal victories at Roanoke Island and New Bern, early in the war. …
Now however, after Fredericksburg, the winds of destiny seem to have shifted against Gen. Burnside ….
The ignominy now to be achieved through his pointless "MUD CAMPAIGN" will now finish his command of the Army of the Potomac, and President Lincoln will hand the Army to Hooker, placing GEN. JOHN SEDGWICK in command of the 6th Corps.
Following the decisive Battle of Rappahannock Station on the Rappahannock River, on November 7, 1863, General Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, DEFEATED, have now RETREATED further into Virginia, abandoning their Winter Quarters in Culpeper County, and continuing on south into Orange County, taking up new positions, and establishing his camp south of the Rapidan River in Orange County, near an overflown creek, known as Mine Run. Union Gen Meade gives Gen. John Sedgwick one last campaign assignment.
The Mine Run Campaign, so-called, was the General Meade's last-ditch effort to engage Lee's Army before the full onset of the Winter of ‘63-64. But Lee's new Winter Quarters south of Mine Run were so formidably defended -- by swamplands to the northwest, mingling with the overflown ice-cold waters of Mine Run itself, and a dozen other small creeks and sloughs; and furthermore blocked with thickets of slash and timber – “abattis” -- that the Army of Northern Virginia was completely impregnable to standard attack here!! The landscape was incomprehensible to military tactics, and thus thwarted every strategy: therefore, skirmishes dominated the "campaign" and isolated limited engagements marked the end of the 1863 fighting season, with Meade throwing in the towel.
Such indeterminacy does not make for STANDARD military literature -- but Pvt. Drew's narrative of scouting MINE RUN, and other relevant action, can be counter-pointed with other accounts to realize a vivid vision of the wintertime action !!
The historic War of 1812 Battle of Crysler's FarmFergus Ducharme
A historic battle in the War of 1812 between the British Armies and Canadian Militias versus the formidable United States Armed Forces. The American's plan was to invade Canada and force the British to leave North American once and for all. Well, guess what! The British and Canadians won not only the battle but the war too! One of the first times US Forces lost a war! And the bonus is that the British and Canadians, having occupied large swathes of the United States - especially Washington, DC which they, in fact, torched - burning the Hall of Congress and believe it or not the White House, too!
In this SECOND jam-packed issue of YANKEE SCOUT (TM), 15 year-old Calif Newton Drew returns to his hometown of Machias, Maine, from logging in the backwoods, only to learn the news relayed by telegraph, that President Lincoln has called fro 75,000 volunteers to join a new Union Army to be deployed to defend Washington D.C. against Secessionists in Virginia and Maryland !! However, because he had been out a few days, his hometown regiment is FULL UP and has already met it's quota ! So Drew and a few friends take the ferry boat up to Eastport, Maine on Moose Island and join the regiment there. Drew strips down to his birthday suit for his physical -- and one of the doctors says he is too young, "You are nothing but a kid !!" and not strong enough to serve -- so Drew lays the Doctor out flat on the floor with one punch !! And he's in the ARMY!! ....
The new soldiers train at Fort Sullivan using tactical manuals and muskets dating all the way back to the War of 1812, and finally are sent on a patriotic tour of American battlefields, as they make their way towards D.C. !!
Find out about the Baltimore Riots of April 19th-20th, the taboo subject of the Confederate burning of the bridges on the P.W.& B.RR line into Baltimore, and the details of the mysterious "Baltimore Plot" to assassinate President Lincoln !!
Finally, on July 20th Drew and his new comrades arrive in Washington, D.C. and are lodged in the old Hall of Congress, and then, the next day, are ordered 6 miles out of Washington to the D.C. perimeter at Chain Bridge ... where they hear the distant cannons sounding at Manassas Junction, the sounds of the Battle of Bull Run !!!
Poetry and background to Maurice Crowther, a World War 2 veteran who fought in Malaya and Singapore between 1941 to 1945. He was interned in Changi and subsequently worked as a convict labourer in Korea and Japan. Useful for students who are studying World War 2 in Asia from the perspective of European soldiers caught up in the war.
What engagement of the Civil War was so resoundingly successful for the Army of the Potomac, that it sent the Confederates on a 50-mile retreat back to Richmond ? Col. Seidule's "Official West Point History of the Civil War" doesn't even mention the Battle of Williasmburg, much less that Gen. Hancock's brilliant penetration of Rebel defensive lines at Fort Magruder, and his surreptitious occupation of a series of redoubts behind the lines, enabled him to take Gen Early's Army totally by surprise, and ROUT them Rebs, sending them on a midnight retreat, and earning Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock the nickname "the Superb."
Here's the story you've never heard before -- Hancock's Charge
With the smoke still rising from the wreck of the U.S.S. Cumberland, destroyed March 9, 1862, by the ironclad C.S.S. Merrimack (C.S.S. Virginia) , the Army of the Potomac is landed at Fortress Monroe, and shortly shipped out to Newport News. Va., where they immediately begin to move up the Peninsula through the wet and flooded terrain, towards Confederate held YORKTOWN !! Here, with Confederate earthworks largely undefended, Pvt. Drew's 6th Maine infantry is out on special engineering reconnaissance, when -- on April 6, 1862 -- they almost spontaneously overcome rebel-held works and engage the enemy, in perhaps the first skirmish of the "Siege" of Yorktown. They have to be ordered back over the entrenchments, and STOPPED from fighting the rebs!!! On April 9, McClellan is advised by President Lincoln that "you must act' to attack the Confederate Army ... but does he?
For the 2011 Black history Month, NAVSEA
is Focusing on African American’s contributions
during the civil war. The following
account highlights some of the major contributions
of their brave efforts to preserve our
nation.
As we learned in the Last Issue of YANKEE SCOUT – Fredericksburg!! – the Union Army is now reeling with the implications of a military,strategic and moral catastrophe precipitated by growing awareness of the grim news, of it’s unprecedented battlefield losses incurred before Fredericksburg, Virginia, on December 12, 1862 – a scene of carnage that was already being dubbed “the Slaughter Pen” by the men, even as it was occurring.
United States Army forces commanded by Gen. Ambrose Burnside, saw a staggering level of losses: Pvt. Drew will peg
the Yankee killed under Gen. Burnside at 12,172 -- men uselessly sacrificed at the Battle of Fredericksburg: for not a single square inch of rebel-held territory has been taken, and Burnside has finally been forced to retreat again, north across the Rappahannock.
Meanwhile, the loss to Gen. Lee’s rebel Army of Virginia Drew reckons on the order of 5, 377. Up to this point in the Civil War, only casualties on the battlefield at Antietam, the preceding September, can compare with these new numbers of Yankee lives extinguished. Gen. Burnside, too, has seen better days. After removing Gen. McClellan (again) President Lincoln
had offered Burnside command of the Army of the Potomac in
recognition of his signal victories at Roanoke Island and New Bern, early in the war. …
Now however, after Fredericksburg, the winds of destiny seem to have shifted against Gen. Burnside ….
The ignominy now to be achieved through his pointless "MUD CAMPAIGN" will now finish his command of the Army of the Potomac, and President Lincoln will hand the Army to Hooker, placing GEN. JOHN SEDGWICK in command of the 6th Corps.
Treinamento Spend Analysis - Uma Introdução para o Planejamento Estratégico e...Cilene Bim
Como driblar a pressão por redução de custos dentro das organizações, no momento atual?
Este treinamento tem por objetivo capacitar os Gestores de Suprimentos a elaborar um Plano Estratégico para o Orçamento de 2016, identificando novas oportunidades de redução de custos com impactos significativos para a organização.
Um tema recorrente refere-se à questão da redução de custos que, para muitos gestores de empresas do Setor da Indústria, normalmente se torna questão de rotina, de práticas conhecidas e até de ações padronizadas para melhorar a produtividade. Porém, em se tratando de empresas de prestação de serviços, a abordagem deve ter um tratamento especial e diferenciado, devido às respectivas especificidades.
1.Hydrological Cycle
2.Hydrology
3.Sources of water
4.Watershed development
5.Uses or requirement of water
6.Need for conservation of water
7.Dams
8.Weir & Barrage
9.Rainwater Harvesting
10.Flood control Measures
For Outstanding Involvement and Leadership Skills
From Kelly Glass, Vice-President - Global Recruitment and Avi Pollock, Vice-President - Innovation and Strategic Planning
YANKEE SCOUT -- SPOTTSYLVANIA & the BLOODY ANGLERoch Steinbach
FOLLOWING the Battle of the Wilderness, May 5-7, and the surprise killing of GEN JOHN SEDGWICK by sniper fire, on the morning of May 9, the Union Army chain of command is greatly disrupted: GENERAL GRANT voices the opinion that he could better spare the loss of an entire division, than to lose Gen. Sedgwick.
Forced adjustments in the chain of Army command now put the alcoholic Gen H.A.G. Wright in charge of the VI Corps, and open up an "internal front" within the Union Army itself -- leaving a wide opening also, for the advancement of the ambitions of a young COL. EMORY UPTON -- the chief tactical innovator and tactical drill instructor of the Union Forces.
UPTPON HAS AN IDEA for a completely new type of tactical configuration of the troops, into formations which he believes will make for more effective assault on enemy Confederate works. BASED UPON his months and months of training of Yankee troops at Brandy Station, Upton takes his innovative idea directly to GENERAL GRANT -- who concurs with UPTON's proposal....
TO EXECUTE THE ATTACK, Upton picks the Union's most proven fighters for his charge ... and WHAT HAPPENS NEXT will fell the finest flower of the Union Army in just a few short minutes.
THEIR STORY makes for a fitting objective, this MEMORIAL DAY...
What Was the Reuben James? Why did Woodie Guthrie Write a Song About It?Bob Mayer
The USS Reuben James was a Clemson-class destroyer. It was torpedoed by a German U-Boat on 31 October 1941, over five weeks before Pearl Harbor, making it the first American warship sunk in World War II. It also . . .
With Falls City, in Polk County, Oregon lying dead center along the line of the line of east-west traverse of the moon's shadow from the coming August 21 eclipse, we thought it appropriate to commemorate this historic event with the publication (by uploading) of this LOST issues of the PYM PUZZLER -- MISSING PERSONS !
Falls City (Oregon) is one of Oregon’s gemstones-of a–town, which – about a century ago, was about the burgeoningist logging and lumber-milling towns on the Little Luckiamute River, in the foothills of the Coast Range, in western Polk County. TAKE NOTE: the City took its name from a particularly powerful waterfall on that same Little Luckimaute river, west and upriver a spot, from the heart of where the town was built: for it is there that the Little Luckiamute not only “falls” but – in its natural state – is largely propelled where it is funneled through a congestion of rocks on the banks at the brink of the falls – creating an especially spumey cataract of some 40-50 feet.
HOWEVER, at the time of the events in question in This Week’s Puzzler, the Little Luckiamute was dammed – a development enplaced during the late 1800’s – as pictured above. Water in the reservoir behind the dam, was diverted via an aquaduct of tongue-and-groove fir boards, to power the sawmill on the south bank of the Luckiamute … BUT THERE'S SOMETHING MYSTERIOUS GOING ON HERE ... FIND OUT INSIDE !!
DESCRIPTION OF THE MOUTH OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER -- Capt. Wm. Black (1813) Roch Steinbach
H.M.S. Racoon, Capt. Black, enters the mouth of teh Columbia River Nov. 30, 1913 to take possession of Astoria, during the War of 1812 !!.
I transcribed this extraordinary document a decade or so ago, from a photostatic copy held in the collection of the Oregon Historical Society. Apparently there are gaps in the text, or in the imagery of the text, or perhaps I just need to get back in and finish the job??? This is my complete effort at the time, and includes Capt. Black's description of critical repairs to teh Raccoon at at Angel Island, as well as of Mission San Francisco in early 1814, Monterey etc., and rather extensive material on Black's relationship with the Mexican government at the time... A HUGE DOCUMENT, totally underexposed...
IT'S ALL IN THE MINES !! -- RE-OPEN THE BUREAU OF MINESRoch Steinbach
I suggest here, that the Commerce Departmentshould be restored as an engine of productivity, modelled after Herbert Hoover’s Commerce re-organization, and featuring a restored Bureau of Mines understood as the very threshold of any real recovery of the U.S. industrial capacity, and directed at relieving the bottleneck at the very front of the cycle of production: that is, by actively promoting mineral exploration with an objective of actively advancing mining. The Bureau of Mines should be resuscitated and restored to a central position in Commerce, as stated. Under Hoover, an Englishman seeking to market English industrial output in the U.S. once said, “Our competitor is not so much American industry as it is the United Stated Department of Commerce.” But a century of progressive distortion to the very concept of Commerce, has now limited the meaning of the word, to simple trade or movement of goods generally imported, without any relationship to their native origin, or the level of science applied in finishing them for market. Recreating the BoM within Commerce may help to straighten out this badly skewed understanding, as well as recreating the sense of National mission-orientation which should cloak highly productive activity like mining
HOOVER'S BUILDING CODE COMMITTEE REPORT -- 1925Roch Steinbach
AS EARLLY AS THE 1920'S there were widespread complaints in the construction industry, about inconsistency in the way building codes were being implemented. In 1920 the Senate Select Committee on Reconstruction and Production concluded: "The building codes of the country have not been developed upon scientific data, but rather on compromises; they are not uniform in principle and in many instances
involve an additional cost of construction without assuring most useful or more durable buildings. TWO YEARS LATER, new Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover reported to Congress that conflicting building codes were increasing construction costs by 10 to 20 percent. Hoover appointed a Building Code Committee to draft recommendations that could be
used by local governments in preparing codes. The committee worked with the National Bureau of Standards until 1933, when funding was curtailed.
HERE., BY WAY OF ILLUSTRATION IS A REPORT ISSUED BY HOOVER'S BUILDING CODE COMMITTEE IN 1925 ....
HERE IT IS !!!! PART 3 OF THREE FROM SYM-ZONIA'S SUMMER OF SYM.-ERGY ~~~ (2014) with it's original BONUS COVER !!!
YES, it's a fact: THE PYRAMID LAKE INDIAN RESERVATION as it turned out, is shaped just like the outline of a KEY!!! making it beyond any doubt the TRUE KEY of the TRUCKEE RIVER... But we all know there's little sense in having a TRUE KEY until you can also match it to its TRUE LOCK !! So JOIN Native American UNK-KNOWN, Stephanie Beckon, Randy Kajtushka and the regular cast of experts, along w/ COL. JOHN CHARLES FREMONT, as they do what they can to assist Rupert Roget (Ret) former surveyor of Coon County, Oregon, to locate the TRUE LOCK that can UNLOCK your SUMMER OF SYM-ERGY !!!
TONY CHAITKIN: THE COUP -- KENNEDY & TRUMP: THEN & NOWRoch Steinbach
BREAKING RESEARCH FROM TONY CHAITKIN on the Dulles, Lemnitzer mole-network w/in the FDR Admin, and wholly dedicated to betrayal of the American V-E success, and FDR's legacy and plans -- as announced at Yalta -- for breaking up the British colonial system and ending colonialism for good. FDR's death, supposed an assassination by some leading U.S. historians, but not so referenced here -- shut-down implementation of this 4-term President's plans for securing the peace along those lines. "Those FDR had called the “Tories” rushed in to assert control over U.S. strategy' the result, inter alia, being NATO...
THIS IS THE STORY OF THAT SAME NETWORK behind the Kennedy assassination, maintaining maximum control over the U.S. Presidency during the Cold War, and which is still active -- and now largely exposed -- in the ongoing attacks on President Trump. Here,Chaitkin also discusses the work of Kennedy Administration in the production of two Hollywood films, the "Manchurian Candidate", and "Seven Days in May" -- the first released during the Cuban missile crisis, and the latter forecasting some details of a coup anticipated against a FUTURE president: DONALD TRUMP is now in their crosshairs.
FROM CHAITKIN'S INTRO:
"The Anglo-American oligarchy began a coup against President Donald Trump after his surprise 2016 election. They were in a panic to block his announced aims of partnership with Russia, the end of permanent war, the overturn of preda-tory Free Trade, and the return of Glass Steagall to break Wall Street’s power. The panic turned into a frenzy on the Russian angle, as it emerged that Trump had been working with strategic advisors who were prepared to return the United States to its traditional support for national sovereignty, and drop the regime-change insanity pursued by Presidents Bush and Obama.
"We have seen this kind of coup d’etat before, against the outstanding na-tionalist U.S. President of the second half of the 20th century, John F. Kennedy.We have lived in the shadow of that coup ever since. Perhaps throwing some new light on those events and, most importantly, what Kennedy himself understood about them, can help us see our way now to sanity and survival."
DOCUMENT PRESENTED HERE INCLUDES MAJOR ORIGINAL RESEARCH on Kennedy as a post-war correspondent for the Heart newspapers, covering the conference at Potsdam as a reporter, and the synchronization of efforts to initiate the Cold War; the rise of NATO, and JFK's own tour of Asia in 1951... MORE MORE MORE
CAPT. GEO FLAVEL -- WRECK & PERIL OF THE GEN'L WARREN -- LONG FORMRoch Steinbach
THIS IS THE SAME GRIPPING TALE told with CONTEMPORARY MAPS of the Mouth of the Columbia River !! A tale of the dangers of Pacific coast travel in the 1850's, before e there was any COAST GUARD PRESENCE on the river. The tale of the WRECK & PERIL of the GENERAL WARREN was a needless disaster occasioned by pride & foolhardiness; and triggered a daring sea-rescue gone wrong on the bar, at the mouth of the Columbia River, January, 1852.
THE SHIPWRECK WAS the virtually inevitable outcome of an unregulated shipping industry exploited by Pacific coast capitalists working the "coasting trade" between the newly recognized Oregon Territory and the equally untested State of California. The vessel that went down -- the General Warren -- was an 1844 screw steamer that left service in New York in 1850, and arrived in San Francisco on July 20, 1851: she was just one of a number of old tubs that were sailed around the Cape during the gold excitement in California. The disaster was entirely preventable -- and in fact was foreseen by a machinist who declined to accept work on the voyage outbound from Astoria: the voyage that wrecked the "General Warren". The story here is approximately as told in the papers of Oregon historian Fred Lockley.
PRESENTING THE ORIGINAL PYM PUZZLER in which was first posed the question PURPORTEDLY answered in the MATCH OF THE MILLENNIUM issue, as to whether the mysterious Western masterpiece "THE TRAPPER'S LAST SHOT'" is actually the artwork of WILLIAM TYLEE RANNEY as is conventionally and even universally accepted, or in fact does not -- as if FAR MORE LIKELY -- represent the work of a completely DIFFERENT WESTERN ARTIST, and one at east as good as RANNEY, maybe better, and who was a friend of JOE MEEK, whom all reasonable minds must agree, is actually represented in the painting , as he makes his lonesome transcontinental journey through MONTANA, and the headwaters of the Missouri River, ON HIS WAY TO WASHINGTON CITY, D.c., to beg for Federal aid for teh American settlers in Oregon !!
WAS BILLY BUDD AN ALBATROSS?
Billy Bud, an Albatross? Melville had described Billy’s hanging in chapter 26 this way: “In the pinioned figure arrived at the yard-end, to the wonder of all no motion was apparent, none save that created by the ships’s motion, in moderate weather so majestic in a great ship ponderously cannoned.”
The H.M.S. Dromedary mounted 44 guns, which might qualify the Dromedary as “ponderously cannoned” -- but, of course, so might any of scores of other British vessels of the age. At any rate, it is the ship’s MOTION, not her identity that is the focus of this line from Billy Budd. The ship’s ocean-going motions – yaw, roll, and pitch -- were the motions of all on board, who compensated instinctively, via a certain attunement of the inner-ear, or the acquisition of their “sea-legs,” to highly complex motions that could only have been interpreted, on land, as instability. Cf. “Sway”, “surge’ and “heave”. But these same motions were more “ponderously” imparted to the suspended bodies of the three mutineers, whose pendulous weight[s], elevated, and extended at the end of the yard-arm, would undergo corresponding acceleration of their movement, and amplification of inertial forces .. and more swinging.
In the last “Christmas in Richmond” issue of YANKEE SCOUT, our heroes George, the Fugitive Slave and Pvt. Calif Newton Drew, sub. nom “Sam” the slave, after a late night playing a Christmas Eve coloreds-only ball, in some large but unidentified warehouse down on the Richmond waterfront, had just pushed off from somewhere along the Richmond docks, quiet on this Christmas morning, out onto the frigid waters of the James River, as they make their desperate clandestine getaway from … RICHMOND, SEAT of the CONFEDERACY !!As part of the escape plan, Pvt. Drew is now thoroughly disguised in black-face makeup that was expertly applied by none other than George the slave himself, who, as an African-American, has an expert’s insight into this sort of thing, and who – being a barber – also cut Pvt. Drew’s hair “so short you could hardly see it.” [See last issue ! – Ed.] Now, with this baffling role-reversal, Pvt. Drew looks the spittin’ image of a strong young Ni….Ne….ne… ni … n-n African-American man, and is a suitable street-companion for George. Thus united in intent, and now largely in appearance, the two fugitives are stuck together like brothers, and ready to execute their common plan !!!
WILL THEY ESCAPE THE TENTACLES OF THE SLAVE STATE?
DRAFT ONLY -- PROPOSAL FOR A RE-ORGANIZED COMMERCE DEPTRoch Steinbach
THE U.S. ECONOMY NEEDS, IN PART, a Commerce Department re-organized along the lines of the one created by Herbert Hoover, during his service as Commerce Secretary. This Cabinet office became the engine to America's "Arsenal of Democracy" on the outbreak of WWII,
What Roosevelt appreciated in Hoover's Commerce Dept., was , however, was the extraordinary development and increase of influence that had accrued to Commerce, once it was helmed by a serious, hard-boiled U.S. mining engineer, responsible for successfully and profitably extracting mineral ores from the “bosom of the earth” using the most ingenious, leading-edge but reliable subterranean excavation, construction, mineral extraction technologies – and hard labor: Hoover himself had gotten his start working in the mines near Nevada City, California where he pushed mine-cars bodily, or manually, for a living. He also had to track the latest chemical-assaying techniques, work out cost-benefit projections for the latest milling machinery, guarantee the maintenance and upkeep of equipment, safety of existing shafts, and the digging of new ones, and personally create the “interfacing” of often–inaccessible mine-owners digs, by seeing to the construction of stub lines to the nearest rail-connections, in order to ensure transfer of ores to milling and processing plants sometimes scores or hundreds of miles away; and bring it all to work employing sometimes strife-ridden labor: all to start and then maintain productivity, not merely as against a fluctuating market demand, but sometimes also against all the physical, geological and material resistance that Mother Nature could compile to thwart him. The role of the mining engineer, in interfacing between hard, natural & physical contingencies and the masses of economic mankind, in order to render the former economically fruitful to the latter, is little appreciated today, when business often is reduced to playing by or adjusting man-made rules … creating new manners of valueless fictional papers is seen as showing business acumen.
HERE IT IS -- PERHAPS THE APEX of internet-based online historical puzzling, the classic CAUGHT ON TYPE !! issue of the PYM PUZZLER, edited by A.P. Dromgoole. This timeless issue craftily discloses, almost for the first time, the true but hidden history of the California Gold Rush, which opened not in 1849 with an exodus of New Englanders from the EAST Coast, but INSTEAD in August, 18848, with an exodus of OREGONIANS from the PACIFIC coast, -- from the Willamette Valley, in particular, heading south to California. The story begins when a strange single-masted vessel moors along the waterfront in Oregon City, just below the Falls, and begins buying up all the supplies in town !!! Why? SOON ENOUGH word leaks out of the gold strikes in the Sacramento valley, and before long wagon-trains are forming up locally, and men are leaving behind their well-tended fields and crops,their homesteads, and even their wives and children, for a long-shot chance to STRIKE IT RICH !! Amongst these men are some significant figures, who will soon make their mark on California history -- most notably the Honorable "P.' who makes a point of soliciting into his company, one young man, Charlie Putnam: the unknown, nondescript typesetter for the only newspaper being published on the Tualatin Plains in 1848 !! But just who was "The Honorable P" and why did he want to bring Charley along, of all people in the valley? Luckily some of their conversation was CAUGHT ON TYPE !! So perhaps you can find out, in why .... Only in PM PUZZLER -- CAUGHT ON TYPE !!
In which was addressed for the first time in World history ''Who was the Perpetrator of the Perplexing Plats of the Umpqua River Watershed" and how & why did create such wild, colorful and geeky oddball municipal plats for the cities and towns of Douglas County -- for instance "DRAIN" !! FEATURING A
PERTINENT GUEST CONTRIBUTION FROM ASS DR. BECKON !!
THIRD PART OF THE TRILOGY famously begun in SYM-ZONIA -- WATERSHED MOMENT !!, in this issue Michael C. Goldengate returns with further details on the mysterious survey plats of DOUGLAS COUNTY, Oregon, and the Umpqua River basin, wherein are uniquely found the works of a figure known to posterity only as the B.O.U.B. And, in particular, Goldengate probes into what may be tender areas in the personal history of the B.O.U.B., when his survey work shows a departure from a generally happy-go-lucky disposition, and takes a turn towards the darker side of life, as seen in his "Brooding Burnt Umber" period. What happened to the B.O.U..B.to cause him to create such gloomy, despairing survey plats???
RECENT RUMORS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE will fall with welcome on the ears of Oregon's "agricultural" community (U.S. Department of Forestry is in the USDA !!) throughout the state, especially in Southern Oregon'd mostly mountainous counties like Jackson, Josephine, Coos, Curry and Douglas, where, along with mining, logging has always been the economic bedrock that kept county services viable.
AT SYM-ZONIA, we the remnant followers of Michael C. Goldengate (ska "Stargate") and Stephanie Beckon herself, which to commemorate the occasion of the possible pending return of protectionism for domestic manufactures and serious industry, with the re-release of this stupendous "DRAIN" issue, and its discussion of the extraordinary history of BOHEMIA COUNTY, Oregon which had its proposed county seat in the town of DRAIN, itself -- with a key contribution form Ass Dr. Beckon herself, addressing teh question of whether Drain, Oregon isn't in fact the location of the REAL Oregon Vortex.
NOTE: THIS ISSUE IS IN FOLLOWUP to the August 19, 2012 "WATERSHED MOMENT" ISSUE, which will appear later.
McNARY-HAUGEN -- 1927 HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE HANDBOOKRoch Steinbach
THIS 1927 PAMPHLET IS INSTRUCTIVE on at least two counts, FIRST, in that it details the finer points of public debate concerning the possible advantages and potential disadvantages of the passage of the McNary-Haugen farm surplus bill, vintage 1927, for the establishment of a National Ag Bank, and in doing so -- that is because of the extraordinary level of mastery of public policy issues represented by the prompts in this text -- it also makes for an embarrassing reminder of the catastrophic falloff in the calibre of American public education over the ensuing 90 years, and also in American public political debate in general. Certainly it also illustrates something all of Washington has forgotten, that the U.S. economy has a historical & widespread cultural foundation in serious scientific agriculture and in the pursuit of improvements both in cultivation techniques and in policies that benefited the FARMER.
IT JUST SO HAPPENS that Mr. Schmidt's Google "Search" engine, has buried most such texts in which the merits of McNary-Haugen are treated: even Congressional Record Reports and hearings are unavailable. There are some texts available for access at the Hathitrust, but these require a subscription to get access. This particular unusual text I obtained myself, and scanned in a digital scanner some time ago, as appears from the irregularity of the page positioning. It should be a good text to begin considering whether an updated McNary-Haugen type of Ag Bank might still be of use to American farmers in his quest for price parity.
WITH THE OROVILLE DAM emergency spillway threatening to give way releasing a deluge and possibly Feather River downstream into a literal SHIT RIVER threatening MARYSVILLE and YUBA CITY and numerous other tranquil settlements downriver, its may be worth recalling that the denizen of MARYSILLE were once obliged to adventure into the remotest and most inaccessible regions of the Pacific coast to find SHIT RIVER itself, which was then merely mythologicial....
THE DEBATE CONTINUES in advance of eager intellectual investigation to solve the question of the TRUE authorship of "William Tyee Ranney"'s under-appreciated Wild West masterpiece, "THE TRAPPER'S LAST SHOT" -- which, it is asserted by Interim Editor Dromgoole, actually shows Oregon Pioneer Father JOE MEEK on special embassy to Washington City, encountered and encircled by a marauding band of BLACKFEET Indians. SPECIAL ISSUE includes a blockbuster reader contribution, revealing a hidden "R" on the horse's saddelback -- BUT also establishing that the artist possessed advanced equine experience, tending once again to suggest it was JOHN MIX STANLEY, and not W.T. RANNEY, the stay-at-home, who executed this fine painting.
GUEST ESSAY -- WHAT IS AMERICA TO THE WORLD -- by TONY CHAITKINRoch Steinbach
A PRIMER ON REAL AMERICAN IDENITY:
Treasure trove of core historical truths on the founding and development of the uniquely scientific & cultural American identity, sketched by one of our top tier historians, this essay is written in a simple & direct style for a new generation of audience. Chaitkin begins with the English -- then intrinsically American -- history of the industrial revolution and its core leadership in the person of Benjamin Franklin -- inventor, scientist, publisher, economist diplomat, and advances into the key intellectual alliances that underlay the American Project for liberating mankind -- finding a kind of early apotheosis in Nichols Biddle's management of the Second Bank of the United States (1816-1836), and realized in Lincoln's administration, and again under FDR and Kennedy. Chaitkin then demonstrates the spread of the American ideal to Germany, Russia, and the nations of South America.
This article is straightforward and without footnotes -- but fact-check Chaitkin's hard-nosed accuracy and this essential distillation of history, against some of the author's copiously documented works, such as the book "Treason in America" or his co-authored, "Unauthorized Biography of George Bush", as well as a prolific list of articles in Executive Intelligence Review magazine.
ROGUE RIVER VALLEY WINES now enjoy a reputation for excellence, being well-received and served in establishments of hospitality, well, almost worldwide. Wines of the Jump-Off Joe Wining District are especially sought-after, by those in-the-know. But the earlier history of this Southern Oregon wine-growing region, and some of its pre-eminent Pioneer Wines, are not so well known. This vintage matured in 1894!
NOTE: The images shown in this story, are from R.E. Ivans, M.E., C.E., unique manuscript Map of the Placer Mining Properties .. on Jump Off Joe Creek (1898). This map could be copyrighted !!! – and we don’t mess with legitimate copyrights. See, e.g., How Do You Explain the Shipwrack of David Fasold’s Noah’s Ark? [Last week – Ed.] so we’re only going to show a miniature, and a few bits and pieces – just to be honorable. Players!!! Rest assured: this has nothing to do with withholding the true location of the real Bummer Gulch and Henry Wine’s claim. Or his hidden cache ….. Because – who would guess that they switched the names around, on later maps !!!! Meanwhile, most of the events related in this story took place up Jump-Off Joe, about 4-5 years before this humdinger of a map was made.
But the story began earlier... much, much earlier ….and, in digging into the lodes in the neighborhood of Jump-Off-Joe Creek, you'll learn the answer to The age-old question "WHY DO THEY CALL IT BUMMER GULCH?"
YES.. this is indeed the very FIRST issue oF SYM-ZOnia !!
12 steps to transform your organization into the agile org you deservePierre E. NEIS
During an organizational transformation, the shift is from the previous state to an improved one. In the realm of agility, I emphasize the significance of identifying polarities. This approach helps establish a clear understanding of your objectives. I have outlined 12 incremental actions to delineate your organizational strategy.
Integrity in leadership builds trust by ensuring consistency between words an...Ram V Chary
Integrity in leadership builds trust by ensuring consistency between words and actions, making leaders reliable and credible. It also ensures ethical decision-making, which fosters a positive organizational culture and promotes long-term success. #RamVChary
Enriching engagement with ethical review processesstrikingabalance
New ethics review processes at the University of Bath. Presented at the 8th World Conference on Research Integrity by Filipa Vance, Head of Research Governance and Compliance at the University of Bath. June 2024, Athens
Employment PracticesRegulation and Multinational CorporationsRoopaTemkar
Employment PracticesRegulation and Multinational Corporations
Strategic decision making within MNCs constrained or determined by the implementation of laws and codes of practice and by pressure from political actors. Managers in MNCs have to make choices that are shaped by gvmt. intervention and the local economy.
The case study discusses the potential of drone delivery and the challenges that need to be addressed before it becomes widespread.
Key takeaways:
Drone delivery is in its early stages: Amazon's trial in the UK demonstrates the potential for faster deliveries, but it's still limited by regulations and technology.
Regulations are a major hurdle: Safety concerns around drone collisions with airplanes and people have led to restrictions on flight height and location.
Other challenges exist: Who will use drone delivery the most? Is it cost-effective compared to traditional delivery trucks?
Discussion questions:
Managerial challenges: Integrating drones requires planning for new infrastructure, training staff, and navigating regulations. There are also marketing and recruitment considerations specific to this technology.
External forces vary by country: Regulations, consumer acceptance, and infrastructure all differ between countries.
Demographics matter: Younger generations might be more receptive to drone delivery, while older populations might have concerns.
Stakeholders for Amazon: Customers, regulators, aviation authorities, and competitors are all stakeholders. Regulators likely hold the greatest influence as they determine the feasibility of drone delivery.
Comparing Stability and Sustainability in Agile SystemsRob Healy
Copy of the presentation given at XP2024 based on a research paper.
In this paper we explain wat overwork is and the physical and mental health risks associated with it.
We then explore how overwork relates to system stability and inventory.
Finally there is a call to action for Team Leads / Scrum Masters / Managers to measure and monitor excess work for individual teams.
Senior Project and Engineering Leader Jim Smith.pdfJim Smith
I am a Project and Engineering Leader with extensive experience as a Business Operations Leader, Technical Project Manager, Engineering Manager and Operations Experience for Domestic and International companies such as Electrolux, Carrier, and Deutz. I have developed new products using Stage Gate development/MS Project/JIRA, for the pro-duction of Medical Equipment, Large Commercial Refrigeration Systems, Appliances, HVAC, and Diesel engines.
My experience includes:
Managed customized engineered refrigeration system projects with high voltage power panels from quote to ship, coordinating actions between electrical engineering, mechanical design and application engineering, purchasing, production, test, quality assurance and field installation. Managed projects $25k to $1M per project; 4-8 per month. (Hussmann refrigeration)
Successfully developed the $15-20M yearly corporate capital strategy for manufacturing, with the Executive Team and key stakeholders. Created project scope and specifications, business case, ROI, managed project plans with key personnel for nine consumer product manufacturing and distribution sites; to support the company’s strategic sales plan.
Over 15 years of experience managing and developing cost improvement projects with key Stakeholders, site Manufacturing Engineers, Mechanical Engineers, Maintenance, and facility support personnel to optimize pro-duction operations, safety, EHS, and new product development. (BioLab, Deutz, Caire)
Experience working as a Technical Manager developing new products with chemical engineers and packaging engineers to enhance and reduce the cost of retail products. I have led the activities of multiple engineering groups with diverse backgrounds.
Great experience managing the product development of products which utilize complex electrical controls, high voltage power panels, product testing, and commissioning.
Created project scope, business case, ROI for multiple capital projects to support electrotechnical assembly and CPG goods. Identified project cost, risk, success criteria, and performed equipment qualifications. (Carrier, Electrolux, Biolab, Price, Hussmann)
Created detailed projects plans using MS Project, Gant charts in excel, and updated new product development in Jira for stakeholders and project team members including critical path.
Great knowledge of ISO9001, NFPA, OSHA regulations.
User level knowledge of MRP/SAP, MS Project, Powerpoint, Visio, Mastercontrol, JIRA, Power BI and Tableau.
I appreciate your consideration, and look forward to discussing this role with you, and how I can lead your company’s growth and profitability. I can be contacted via LinkedIn via phone or E Mail.
Jim Smith
678-993-7195
jimsmith30024@gmail.com
Public Speaking Tips to Help You Be A Strong Leader.pdfPinta Partners
In the realm of effective leadership, a multitude of skills come into play, but one stands out as both crucial and challenging: public speaking.
Public speaking transcends mere eloquence; it serves as the medium through which leaders articulate their vision, inspire action, and foster engagement. For leaders, refining public speaking skills is essential, elevating their ability to influence, persuade, and lead with resolute conviction. Here are some key tips to consider: https://joellandau.com/the-public-speaking-tips-to-help-you-be-a-stronger-leader/
A presentation on mastering key management concepts across projects, products, programs, and portfolios. Whether you're an aspiring manager or looking to enhance your skills, this session will provide you with the knowledge and tools to succeed in various management roles. Learn about the distinct lifecycles, methodologies, and essential skillsets needed to thrive in today's dynamic business environment.
Org Design is a core skill to be mastered by management for any successful org change.
Org Topologies™ in its essence is a two-dimensional space with 16 distinctive boxes - atomic organizational archetypes. That space helps you to plot your current operating model by positioning individuals, departments, and teams on the map. This will give a profound understanding of the performance of your value-creating organizational ecosystem.
Specific ServPoints should be tailored for restaurants in all food service segments. Your ServPoints should be the centerpiece of brand delivery training (guest service) and align with your brand position and marketing initiatives, especially in high-labor-cost conditions.
408-784-7371
Foodservice Consulting + Design
W.H.Bender Quote 66 - ServPoints Sequence of Service™ should be Identified fo...
YANKEE SCOUT -- THE WILDERNESS !!
1.
2. In the last three issues of YANKEE SCOUT, as Pvt. Drew recorded in his ALL TRUE Memoir, he was captured
by a Rebel scouting party on – he believed – about December 18th
, 1863. Thereafter, he was transported under guard
on a rail flatcar to Richmond, Seat of the Confederacy, and examined by the Confederate Army Provost Guard there!
He was declared a prisoner of war, and was sentenced to dig sand
on Belle Island, “until the end of the war or exchanged.”
But an exchange of Pvt. Drew for a Confederate prisoner of war of his rank – or any exchange for any prisoner of
any rank -- was going to be unlikely: for by this point in the war – December, 1863 -- prisoner exchanges had been
suspended!! No prisoners were being exchanged, of any rank…. and these men on Belle Island had in fact no hope
at all of exchange. What they could hope for, was release – either by death, or at the end of the war. The reason
for this additional torment, was a dispute over the status of the black man – in particular, of the Negro soldier.
The Union Army had begun forming “colored brigades” of African-Americans,
for combat, following a Congressional Act of February 2, 1863; and by this
December, many such black Union soldiers had served courageously in battle
and of those, some were now prisoners of war. But in retaliation, the Confederate
Congress threatened these new forces, promising to punish severely white officers
commanding black troops, and to enslave black soldiers captured on the
battlefield. President Lincoln issued his General Order 233, threatening reprisal
on Confederate prisoners of war for any mistreatment of black troops, and then
issued his General Orders 252, effective July 30, 1863, -- suspending prisoner
exchanges altogether. So Pvt. Drew would never have been exchanged …..
3. However, although the Union Army soldiers regularly read the papers (see
below, p. 8), Pvt. Drew may not have been fully abreast of all these details.
What he did know was that his sentence to dig sand on Belle Island was an
effective death sentence – and he had nothing to lose by attempting escape:
and thus, while being marched by the Provost Guard to Belle Island, Pvt.
Drew, under cover of darkness, in a rainstorm, SLIPPED THE LINE !!
To become a …..
YES: A PRISONER AT LARGE at the foot of Mayo’s bridge. Pvt. Drew escaped undetected by the Provost Guard,
thence making his way along the docks and among the tobacco warehouses of Richmond’s Shockoe District, near
the Shockoe Tobacco Warehouse. See YANKEE SCOUT – Stranger in Richmond: Confederate Christmas !!
There, he was lucky to meet a young African-American slave named George, and
the two men together formed themselves into a musical duo, playing fiddle and
banjo for a Coloreds-only Friday night dance!
Immersed in practicing their music, the young men had hit it off, and George –
probably suspecting that Drew was not a Confederate – disclosed that he, George,
was “a Lincoln man,” and wanted to escape to the North!! Which, upon hearing,
Pvt. Drew advised that he, too, was not what he seemed: that he was really a
Stranger in Richmond -- an escaped Yankee prisoner “at large” who needed to
return to his regiment. Young Pvt. Drew was in need of a Stranger’s Guide, for
sure – and if he didn’t get his hands on the latest issue, then George was his man.
So, in the he ensuing week in Richmond, Drew and his new acquaintance,
George the Richmond slave, hatched a plan to escape the Confederacy. They
executed the plan after playing tunes all night at a Christmas Eve ball; and they
did so by launching out of the Shockoe dist. docks in a small skiff, and floating
down the James River “to fish for the Richmond market” !! So, at any rate,
George had told his “Massa.” A nasty little fib there, George … !!
4. Col. Emory Upton
After a long cold voyage drifting down the James, in
their “freedom skiff’ finally the pair were picked up
by a Yankee tugboat near the Williamsburg landing,
and then taken to Fort Monroe, where Drew was
dropped off. There the two men parted company.
Finally, after a second week making his way through
Army channels, Pvt. Drew now finds himself at last
back with his comrades of Co. K, 6th
Maine Infantry,
in the Grand Army of the Potomac, in Winter
Quarters at Brandy Station –TOTAL TIME LOST –
TWO WEEKS ! Almost exactly …
Just two weeks … but this was precious time to Col.
Emory Upton, who was responsible for keeping the
men alert and exercised: disciplined and drilled to the
nines, thus ready for relentless, conditioned action
under orders, after a very long Winter -- whenever the
Spring offensive should finally arrive.
Thus, as we saw in YANKEE SCOUT – Mine Run !!
before Denbo and Drew had reconnoitered Lee’s
Winter Quarters at Mine Run in late November, 1863,
the troops had been getting regular drilling by Col.
Upton according to the systems of tactics of Casey and
Hardee, Drew had said. Meanwhile, Col. Upton had
evidently been actively revising the Army’s infantry
tactics, and when Denbo & Drew had returned to
Brandy Station, in Culpeper County, Virginia, there
was a new drill “on a new tactics introduced by our
Upton.”
5. “When we got back to the regiment we found a new tactics had been introduced by our [Col. Emory ] Upton.”
Pvt. Drew is stating here, that as early as November of 1863, Col. Emory Upton was making changes to the infantry
tactical drill routine, enough that it constituted a ”new tactics.” But this seems unsupported: there is no other record
of Upton working on his tactics during the war – not even in his own letters and papers. And Upton’s New System
of Infantry Tactics was only published well after the war – indeed, as late as August or September, 1867.
Hardee had turned Confederate, that much was certain: and so the brass had decided that his Tactics could only be
used – for a time -- in an anonymous printing. As Pvt. Drew had said, “The Army must have a Union tactics.” But
if so, then what was the problem with continuing use of Gen. Silas J. Casey’s Infantry Tactics? Earlier in his Memoir,
Pvt. Drew observed that in his initial infantry training – that is, in the late summer months of 1861, following the
Battle of Bull Run -- the Army was drilling the new recruits according to Casey’s Infantry Tactics…
“We were drilling at Casey's Manual, the regular Army drill.
Each Co. had a drill master. We all were anxious to become perfect.”
-- YANKEE SCOUT – Bull Run!!
Later, however, after the battle of Mine Run, Pvt. Drew mistakenly reports that Gen, Casey too had gone over to the
Rebels!!! And so, Drew writes on the presumption that both these officers’ tactical manuals were being “tossed” by
the Federal Army, and during the 1863-64 layover in Winter Quarters at Brandy Station:
“When we [Denbo and Drew, out on a scout – Ed.] got back to the regiment
we found a new tactics had been introduced by our [Col. Emory ] Upton.
Casis [ Casey ] and Hardee were boath rebels, so we must have a Union tactics,
we drilled at it morning, noon and night, it’s no improvement on the old one,
only a little harder on the line officers. ”
-- YANKEE SCOUT – Mine Run!!
But Pvt. Drew was wrong !! In fact Brig-Gen. Silas J. Casey was no
Confederate, and the Army had recently
approved a brand-new tactical drill
manual in his work, Infantry Tactics
for the Direction, Exercise and
Manuevers of the Soldier …”
which had been published by
the Secretary of War Edwin
Stanton, effective August 11,
1862. It is shown here in a
printing from 1863 – which
was, let’s face it, about as hot off
the presses as could be obtained
before the advent of
downloadable .pdf texts. There
were only two modest changes made
to this text when it was issued ….
So why then was Col. Upton modifying Casey’s tactical drills at all?
And under what or whose authority?
6. Brig-Gen Silas J. CaseyDespite the fact that Casey’s Infantry Tactics was published in August 1863, just after the Peninsular Campaign had
concluded in a humiliating retreat and defeat, it does not demonstrate any canniness of Virginia topography that the
Army would have been acquired during that Campaign. In fact, as Casey says in his introduction, he was only editing
Scott’s Tactics, by updating the translation of Scott’s source, and based entirely on this thoroughly established mutual
experience of campaigning in Mexico. Thus, the tactics being used by the U.S. Army were Casey’s revisions of Scott’s
revision of …. well, some French thing: good enough for the Revolutionary War, so successful because of French
military expertise. But these tactical manuals had been developed for conventional battlefield warfare on the model
of the Europeans – formations of serried ranks, deployed generally over expansive fields and open spaces. And
indeed, such tactics was naturally well-suited for use in battle on the great deserts and high plains of Mexico.
But the 1862 experience -- that is, the Peninsular Campaign -- proved this old tactics to be cumbersome and very
inefficient for the wilds of Virginia. And of course, in the heat of battle, “cumbersome and inefficient” will soon
translate into fateful and deadly. Indeed, this is precisely what some of the Union command had learned the
preceding year, where the troops were placed in jeopardy due to tactical limitations realized… during …
But only one author gives us the answer: E. Burd Grubb, Notes of a
Staff Officer of our First New Jersey Brigade on the Seven Days
Battles on the Peninsula (1910), writes (pp. 19-20):
“Now it will be seen that our brigade being I column of four right
in front under the old tactics, to have formed a line of battle the
order would have been given front, and all the men would have
turned to the left, which would have brought their backs to the
enemy, as the enemy was on our right or west side. To have
formed the line of battle we would have had to have faced by
the rear rank, and while that did not make much difference in
merely forming the line, only so far as the file closers were
concerned, any [p. 20] subsequent manoeuvers from that
formation would become exceedingly complicated; and I
doubt whether any of the regiments of the First Brigade at that
time could have successfully performed those manoeuvers.
These were some of the difficulties which the Upton’s tactics
subsequently adopted, aimed to obviate, and did so.”
The impetus for Upton’s development of a new tactics was the Union Army’s experience of a new battlefield terrain
– particularly the Virginia topography. Col. Emory Upton had his New System of Infantry Tactics published “by
authority” after the war, with the approval of a full Army panel headed by both Generals Grant and Meade. The
panel convened at West Point on July 9, 1867, and unanimously recommended approval to Secretary of War
Stanton, who ordered it adopted as of August 1, 1867. Upton’s Tactics was approved “with flying colors,” because it
had been tested for months at BRANDY STATION and thereafter had been proven in battle –and shown to be
masterfully adapted to American topography…”
7. John Singleton Mosby
New Years Jan 1st
, 1864
“I went went [sic] to regimental headquarters with Percival Knowles 1st Lieut
of Co. K. to pay my respects to Capt. Theo Lincoln of Co. F. who had been
promoted and was in command of the Reg’t.
“Then I took a walk to the hospital to see Dr. Buck, my he was pleased he
almost kiss me, he opened a new box of cigars and chatted for an hour.1
Then, taking his hat, he says, “Let’s go over to the band tent,” where he
called to Henry Bowles, “Pay me that $20 here is my boy Drew!” He had
made a wager with Bowles that I would be back with the regiment when it
moved on the Spring campaign. Denbo was on three days’ picket, when he
came in and found me we had a real Indian pow-wow, he said if I hadent got
home before the end of the month he was agoing to hunt me up and capture
me himself. On the 4th
we got paid two months pay, we are getting $16 per
month now.
“Drill six hours per day or more for the new recruits by some of the old
hands; guard mount at 9o’cl A.M. Dress parade at sunset, three meals with
fresh warm bread (butter if you furnish it yourself) + Coffee [ P. 137 ] Target
practice for the new members and any of the old that wants to, there was no
pains or trouble spared to make them come up to our standard. The old
members was allowed no more privileges than the recruits.”
“Tis True the 6th
Corps [ was ] fighting men. Our prize fight coming off about every two of three weeks for purses
of from $300- to $500. The Corps artillery division took charge of and conducted all such afairs. The Vermonters
and the Pennsylvania coal miners gave us several exhibitions of the manly art, sometimes quite large amounts of
money changed hands.”
“Guerilliers was always hanging around watching for a chance to capture
something or kill a union solder. A number of plans was laid to capture
one Mr. Mosby and his gang – we never got Mr. Mosby, we got four of
his gang with three horses one day. They were not soldiers at all had
never been enrolled in the rebel army never been enrolled in the rebel
army, were citizens and farmers living handy by, we turned them over to
the provose marshall.
“I understood they were given a drum-head court-marshall and sentenced
to be hung and president Lincoln pardoned them ( I don’t know this as a
fact).”
1
Dr. Buck was Drew’s high school teacher back in Machias, Maine. See YANKEE SCOUT – Fort Sumpter!!
8. Winter Quarters2
“As the month wore away the army grew. The rebels on picket on their side of the [Rapidan] river was very
pleasant, we visited and traded coffee for tobacco, paper, there was one northern papers that they would not
[accept] in exchange for any of their papers, it was the New York Tribune.”
As early as the 1830’s, Horace Greeley’s editorial policy at the
New York Tribune, as concerning slavery, was not just anti-
expansionist, but forcefully abolitionist: and this helps account for
the Confederate soldiers’ collective ban on trading Southern
newspapers for the Tribune, as noted by Drew. Greeley was not
just a journalist, however, but also a founder of the anti-slavery
Republican party, and an early supporter of a little-known up-and-
comer for the 1860 Republican party nomination for President,
Abraham Lincoln.
Greeley was committed to the International Labor movement,
and maintained as a stringer, a scruffy European correspondent
named Karl Marx3
– who carefully watched and applauded the
work of American President Abraham Lincoln. 4
In fact, the
whole world, and European intelligentsia in particular, watched
the American Civil War as a manifestation of the International
Labor Movement. Lincoln’s defense of the Union during the
Civil War was thoroughly informed by world intellectual
movements for social justice, and in particular for the rights of
labor.
2
Union Army Winter Quarters, at Brandy Station, Virginia. See p. 10, below. Drew has been here before – a few
times in fact! See, e.g., YANKEE SCOUT – Gettysburg & Brandy Station!! and YANKEE SCOUT –Mine Run!!
3
Karl Marx contributed essays on European politics from 1854 to 1862. A collection of his dispatches is here:
https://libcom.org/files/Marx%20-%20Dispatches%20for%20the%20New%20York%20Tribune.pdf
4
There are a number of good treatments of the ideological relationship between Lincoln and Karl Marx. The
editor believes, that one of the best, is here: http://isreview.org/issue/79/reading-karl-marx-abraham-lincoln
9. “We received daily papers from Washington, New York, Chicago, every morning, so we kept pretty well posted;
“So when orders was read on dress parade one evening early in March, stating that Gen’l U.S. Grant had been put
in command of all the armeys [ P. 138 ] of the United States and was a Lieut Gen’l we was not surprised….
The news of his promotion was received with much rejoicing by the 6th
Me and many speculations. We was tired
of Hallock siting in Washington and calling our army back when and if he found his pet generals found out he had
a job two time to big for him.”
By Act of Congress dated February 29, 1864, the office of Lieutenant-General was revived, and Grant was
commissioned Lieutenant General of the Union Army: the first man since George Washington to hold this title.
The prestige is entirely intentional. Thanks to availability of the telegraph, Grant will make his Head Quarters in the
field, where the Army of the Potomac is currently encamped at Brandy Station, in Culpeper County. See below ….
Lincoln did his homework on Grant …. as he had
hardly done with many other troubled top military
appointments. It wasn’t Grant’s competence that
Lincoln was investigating: his battlefield record was
impeccable. Nor was it his penchant for whiskey:
that was also well understood. What concerned
Lincoln, was the possibility that Grant entertained
political aspirations: in particular, to run for the
Presidency in 1864, in opposition to Lincoln– who
was ambitious for a second term. Lincoln already
had a problem of precisely this nature, from Gen.
George B. McClellan who in January, 1863, had
proclaimed his candidacy for the Democratic
nomination, running on a peace platform. 5
As it turned out, Grant reported that he had no
political ambitions whatever – no immediate ones
that is; and this satisfied Lincoln. Of course, long
after the war, Grant would go on to run as the
Republican Party candidate in 1868 – winning
easily – and again in 1872. While to treat of Grant’s
Presidential administration would be to get far
afield from the matters Drew reports in this issue of
YANKEE SCOUT, he does mention a few things
about the Grant Administration a little later on…
See YANKEE SCOUT – Cold Harbor!!
5
The complexity of the political situation and
Lincoln’s careful attention to intelligence-gathering
on Grant, in the weeks before this decision to
appoint him to command of the entire Union
Army, is covered in an excellent speech by Prof.
Brooks Simpson of Arizona State, here:
http://www.c-span.org/video/?305846-3/lincoln-
congress-grant-lieutenant-general-act
10. “Beats ran high when the Army advanced and crossed the Rappadan and struck Lee’s lines of rifle pitts and Forts
extending all the ways to Richmond – that if we could not go over them we would go around them. [See below –
Ed. ] “Wagers was laid ten to one that Grant’s headquarters would not be in Washington. It was past the middle of
March before we got a sight of him. He reminded me very much of Colonel Burnham, but so good-looking and
[yet in] some way he did not have as good a gate when walking. He had established his Headquarters with the
Army of the Potomac. But Gen’l Mead was still commander of the army.”
“General Meade and Grant in Consultation During the Battle of the Wilderness”,
from Leslie’s Illustrated The Soldier in Our Civil War, p. 257.
11. Grant arrived at Brandy Station on March 10, 1864, to take over command from Meade, and continue the planning
for the Spring campaign, in Winter Quarters camp with the Army of the Potomac. All in all, these preparations
would consume fully two months – and the resulting offensive starting in Culpeper County, Virginia, and continuing
through Orange and Spottsylvania Counties, and so forth, will become known as the Overland Campaign.
Although upon Grant’s arrival, Meade immediately offered to step aside and hand the reigns over to Grant, Grant
would leave Meade in tactical command of the Army, and in full command of the Army of the Potomac. Indeed,
part of Lincoln’s enius in reviving the rank of Lt. General for Grant’s prestige, is that no other generals, and esp.
not Meade, will have to be demoted to accommodate his arrival. But even as Grant’s ‘second,” Meade certainly had
his work cut out for him. Take a look: this links to the Order of Battle for the Army of the Potomac, as organized
by Meade: http://www.civilwarhome.com/wildernessbattleorderunion.html Meade of course had staff to assist with
this Herculean task: the planning of the troop movements for the coming Overland Campaign were mapped out by
Meade’s Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Andrew Humphreys, engineer and topographer. See, e.g., Roy Morris, Jr., An
Account of the Battle of the Wilderness, http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-wilderness But this is the same
engineer whose cartography was derided as “useless” by Babcock …… See YANKEE SCOUT – Williamsburg !!
Grant’s surprise “adoption” of Meade generated good will throughout the Army. And with such matters of
“command structure” settled early, and with tactical planning handled by Meade, Grant could focus on strategic
planning. Pvt. Drew reports that the troops did not see Grant until past the middle of March – and here he is correct:
Grant left for Washington the next day, March 11, and did not return to Brandy Station till the 26th, at which time
he pitched his own tent five miles south of Meade’s tent, and ordered all communications to be routed to himself.
As we have seen, Col. Emory Upton’s tactical reform was already in process as early as November of the preceding
year, 1863. The Editor of YANKEE SCOUT feels comfortable supporting Pvt. Drew’s observations regarding Upton
– see pp. 5-6 above -- namely, that Upton must have been encouraged within the chain of command, to continue in
his work to reform the tactical drill manual of Brig. Gen. Casey – as also to drill the troops on it aggressively. With
the object of correcting the “convolutions” encountered at White Oak Swamp, under Meade’s oversight Upton
would thus pursue his tactical reform throughout the winter at Brandy Station. Even after Grant’s arrival, with tactical
planning delegated to Meade, continuity of this project would have been assured, and as planning progressed, the
two officers could demonstrate the changes to Grant. Grant would thus have been carefully apprised of all essential
details: it is virtually inevitable that Grant was briefed by Col. Upton on his tactical work – probably in the company
of Gen. Meade and other Army brass. He must have been advised of the problems with the “convolution of the
infantry column” encountered at White Oak Swamp, as noted by Grubb.
Finally, Grant certainly must have observed his whole Army incessantly drilling at “Upton’s new tactics” as mentioned
by Pvt. Drew. So Grant knew Upton’s work well. And, for young Col.. Upton – who literally obsessed over his
chances of a promotion – delivery on this tactical reform was his one great opportunity in the war, to distinguish
himself from the crowd. Upton “maxed out” that opportunity in his reform -- and later proved that, while an
innovative tactician, he also had the makings of a good general. For more, see YANKEE SCOUT – Spottsylvania !!
This is why both Grant and Meade were on the panel that gave final approval to Upton’s Tactics, when it was finally
authorized for publication in August, 1867. Thus, the published Committee endorsements introducing the book
recite— at p. iv -- that Upton’s new Union Army Tactics had indeed been adapted to American topography:
“That it provides for all column movements required in an open country and by the column of fours, for
the Movements necessary in narrow roads, wooded or obstructed countries, without the extension incident
to Ordinary movements by the flank.” https://archive.org/details/newsystemofinfan00upto
12. There is some debate over where precisely Grant made his headquarters during his preparation. For my money,
perhaps the most meticulous and insightful historian of this period of the Overland Campaign, as well as for
numerous other Civil War events taking place in Culpepper County, Virginia, is Clark “Bud” Hall, founder of the
Civil War Trust, http://www.civilwar.org/ and other Civil War battlefield preservation organizations. Hall is a
crackerjack historian in his own right. Hall argues for the Barbour house in Culpeper, as Grant’s headquarters, based
on a variety of sources, especially Henry Brainerd McClellan, writing in The Battle of the Wilderness, at p. 46. This
house is now gone, but the site is on the grounds of the Culpeper County Courthouse. No plaque marks the site.
See, Hall, Grant’s Headquarters, Culpeper Court House, Virginia, March 26-May 4, 1864 (unpublished speech).
“I think -- with the exception of some of the recruits that have not had a ??? surfierners ???? drill some of them
has had none – that the Army was never so good as at present. Not so strong in old troops as when Burnside had it
at Fredericksburg, or when Hooker had it at Chancellorsville, but with more Unionship among the generals.
“Hooker and Burnside boath has been sent west, each given a good force. And Hooker had gained great renown
by his battle above the clouds. He is all right give him something of his size.”
General Joseph Hooker enjoyed one of his greatest victories in “The Battle Above the Clouds” at Lookout Mountain,
outside of Chattanooga. Tennessee, back on November 24, 1863. True to the principle that a cat can look at a king,
Pvt. Drew is not shy to offer Hooker a back-handed compliment on this occasion, while probably remembering, e.g.,
Hooker’s failure to make any progress before Williamsburg.
13. General John Sedgwick
[ P. 139 ] The 6th
Me had about 700 officers and men. “The 5th
Wis.
Had about the same but was looking for a few more recruits. The 49th
and 119th
Pennsylvania each was near full, they had never been put to
the hard work the 5th
[Wisc] and 6th
[Maine] had.
[ Corps Chain of Command ]
“The Brigade was commanded by Gen’l David Russell a West Point
graduate.
“The Division by Gen’l H.C. Wright a West Point graduate.
The Corps by Gen’l John Sedgwick another West Pointer.
“One day there was a review of the 6th
corps by General Grant and his staff and some military officers from France
and Russia. As our Brigade was marching in review with lines as straight as men ever formed, I saw Sedgwick nod
his head in our direction and Grant smiled, I wondered if he was smiling at so many read and green Greek crosses,
or if he thought our bunch to small to accomplish much.”6
“Inspections, reviews, skirmish drill, target practice, bayonet exercise was the order of the day. “Then we got
orders to turn in our extra blankets, overcoats and anything else we did not need on the coming campaign.
“Then the 1st
and 3rd
Corps was broken up and the troops distributed among the 2nd
under Hancock, the 5th
under
G. K. Warren, 6th
under Sedgwick redusing the army to three Corps. The 9th
and 11th
Corps and some more was
gone west or long the coast. Orders came in bunches every evening.
6
NOT LIKELY: In fact, there is reason to wonder if there wasn’t in fact a legend
building around these regiments. In the Editor’s opinion, it’s a fair bet that if Drew
did see Sedgwick gesturing to Grant, that Sedgwick was pointing out the caps of the
soldiers of General Hancock’s former First Brigade: those who later comprised most
of the Light Brigade, and who still sported the “Green Greek Cross” of the Light
Brigade, which Drew is careful to mention again. In particular, the 6th Maine and
5th Wisconsin volunteers, had led Hancock’s Charge at the Battle of Williamsburg
on May 5, 1862; and had mowed down the Stonewall Brigade at White Oak Swamp,
on June 30, 1862. Assigned to the Light Brigade, these same regiments led the assault
on Marye’s Heights at the second battle of Fredericksburg, May 3, 1863, and, still
later, under Russell, were the first to go “over the top” in the successful Battle of
Rappahannock Station, November 7, 1863 …. Just across the river from the Brandy
Station encampment… The Green Greek Cross of the Light Brigade – for details on
Gen. Hooker’s earlier Army reorganization of January 1863, and the creation of the
“special forces” Light Brigade, see YANKEE SCOUT – Mud Campaign !!
14. ““The last of April there came 100 rounds of ammunition extra inspection of rifles some of the boys got new guns.
On the 2nd
May Gen’l Orders read on parade for a grand advance of the army to begin at 4 o’cl A.M. of the 4th
with
six days rations fresh meet was to be driven on foot and butchered as needed – our load was not very light under
Grant.
[P. 140] Ditto
A man’s load was
3 days rations in the haversack
3 days rations in the knapsack,
40 rounds of cartridges in cart/ box
100 rounds of cartridges in the knapsack,
A army blanket, a rubber blanket,
A section of pup tent, a suit of undercloths,
Extra socks, 1 or 2 pairs,
A canteen of water, a cap box full of gun caps,
Our rifles with bayonets, and equipment.
“Many of the men who had been barefooted on former campaigns took extra shoes. I had a frying pan with a
hinged handle so it would lay down on the inside. I got a battery blacksmith to rivet loops on opposite sides so I
could strap it to the back of my knapsack.
Union frying pan with hinged handle – but without Drew’s custom rivet-loops provided
by the battery blacksmith !!
“Many had paper, enevelops, pens and ink ( it was before the days of the fountain pen).
About each six men had a light short-handled axe and carried [?] we took a day about
packing it, tobacco, pipe, matches, a housewife [ sic: this was Army lingo for a sewing kit
– Ed.] a few keepsakes.
“We discarded the uniform dress coat, and took the Army blouse, we put the whole, 6
days rations of hard tack in the haversack it filled it so full the cover or flap would not
buckle without putting in a loop.
“Generally the third evening found them [hard-tack] well pulverized if the weather was dry or redy to rebake if
there was a rain. Neither knapsack or haversack would turn water, we depended on the rubber blanket to keep
things dry.
“2 quarts of coffee ½ a qt of sugar we put in sacks we made from an old draws leg or pants leg as the case might be.
The meat we rolled up in the same kind of wraping to march all day in the heat or rain then not allowed any fire to
cook was common on a campaign.”
15. Advance
“On the morning of the 4th
of May, 1864, before the stars grew dim the 6th
Corps [ P. 139 ] was on the move to the
Germanna Ford7
of the Rappadan river Va., where the 5th
& 6th
Corps was to cross. The advance of the cavalry and
leading troops had driven the rebel pickets off and had laid the pontoones bridges, boath corps was all across
before dark. This crossing was some 8 or 9 miles below the Right of Lee’s rebel army.
Edwin Forbes, “General Meade Crossing the Rapidan May 9th
, [sic] 1864”
from Leslie’s Illustrated The Soldier in Our Civil War, p. 261
7
GERMANNA FORD, in Culpeper County, Virginia, was so-named by Virginia Governor John Spotswood, who
in 1714 settled a group of skilled German immigrants at this location along the Rapidan, in order to bring their
critical ironworking and metalworking skills to Virginia, to advance the economic prospects of the country.
“Spotswood wrote to Baron de Graffenreid… requesting him to recruit German miners for a project to develop a
Virginia iron industry. In the spring of 1714, twelve families, totaling 42 persons, arrived from the towns of Siegen
and Meusen in Nassau-Siegen. Spotswood … led them to the frontier site he had selected for the new mining
settlement. * * * He named it Germanna, honoring both the new colonists’ origins, and Queen Anne… The site
was along a horseshoe bend of the Rappahannock’s south fork, which Spotswood named the Rapidanna, about
thirty miles above what is now Fredericksburg.” In May of 1714, Spotswood wrote of Germanna, “I have placed
there a number of Protestant German, built them a fort [and] and furnished it with two pieces of cannon and some
ammunition.” H. Graham Lowry, How the Nation Was Won: America’s Untold Story, pp. 212-13 (EIR, 1987),
available at http://www.amazon.com/Nation-Americas-Untold-Story-1630-1754/dp/0943235219
16. “The 2nd
corps crossed some some 5 or 6 miles lower down.
“As soon as we got across skirmishers was put out a ¼ of a mile along the line of march to keep the rebs from
sniping the line. After seeing the Bridges up and moved off we took our place in line and went in camp, it was a
good days march and no fighting. No fires and no noise was the order, we chawed our hard-tack eat the meat raw,
washed it down with cold water then laid down to sleep in the wilderness.”
“Our army had moved to the attack once more and Gen’l U. S. Grant who had come to us thinking and even
saying that the Army of the Potomac didn’t know what real fighting was, would soon see how we could fight.”
Grant -- The Wilderness
“Was a tangled wild woods of many kind of trees, the undergroath of thick brush, creeping and clinging vines,
thorn brush, creeks, hills and hollows, had been mined for iron ore laying just below the surface leaving many
pitfalls, the trees shut out the sunlight.8
8
As Pvt. Drew notes, the land throughout this region is seamed with iron ore .... or, at least, it once was: for by the
time of the Civil War, the German emigrants resettled here by Spotswood (see note, preceding page) have, for
nearly a century and a half, worked open-pit mines to extract the metal ore– leaving dangerous pitfalls throughout
the Wilderness. For an introduction into the wild terrain in Culpeper County, Virginia, in 1863-4, review YANKEE
SCOUT – Winter Quarters – the Battle of Mine Run!! -- But for an unsurpassed narrative that makes this landscape
come alive, read the books by B. K. Benson referenced therein – esp. A Friend with the Countersign (1901)
Available here: https://archive.org/details/cu31924022256436
17. ‘The foe knew every cowpath, hogtrail and wallow. All bridges was destroyed, such roads as there were was worn
below the surface and the foe used them for rifle pitts. Some of the cowpaths was closed by fallen timber behind
which the rebels would lay and pick off our men. They stood behind brush and trees until we were close up then
opened on us – we were eternally running into ambush, many times we was within 40 feet of them when they
opened fire [ P. 142 ] then when the rebels set the woods afire to drive us out it was all that Denbo said on the
evening of the 6th
“One hell of a hole with thousands of Devills turned loose,” with death in every direction, where
many a man lay and rotted where he fell.”
“The next morning, May the 5th
, before 3 o’cl. A.M. we was up before the sun and eaten our cold breakfast, waiting
orders, and soon the sounds of battle reached us out on our left. A double line of skirmishers was put out. Soon
the 1st
Division was ordered forward on quick time as Warren the 5th
Corps was up aginst something hard. We
soon got in line on the right of the 5th
Corps our two left companyes [Including Drew – Ed.] put out as skirmishers.
The rest of us went to work building rifle pitts and breast works.
The Battle of the Wilderness was on.
“A rought and tumble, every man on his own hook, the rest of the 6th
Corps was up inline and the foe is attacking its
seemed along the [side] on our left. Our skirmishers was attacked awhile after noon.9
And the rest of the regiment
put out as a reinforcement.”
9
Drew implies that he was among the 6th Maine men deployed by Sedgwick as skirmishers on May 5th, as he was
on the 6th – see following page.
18. “We soon put the foe to rout and did not follow them up. About sunset, Lee’s men got around the end of the 6th
Corps and was working to the rear, when unkle John [Sedgwick] took two regiments form the left of the 3rd
division
and flanked the flankers and captured two or three lines as many of them than they had taken from us. Darkness
had settled down and the firing ceased.”10
“We got word that Burnside with the 9th
Corps was on the way to join the army. We slept soundly all night and was
ready as soon as any one else in the morning for the days’ work.
10
Sedgwick is much better known for having “flanked the flankers” in movements against Gen Ewell, occurring late
on the following day, May 6, 1864. See next pages. But Pvt. Drew is unambiguous in presenting this engagement -
- in which Sedgwick’s uses two regiments of his “new” Third Division to turn the Rebel flanking maneuver - as taking
place on May 5th
. (Darius N. Couch's Division of the IV Corps, had become the 3rd Division of Sedgwick’s VI
Corps.) Drew affirms this by his later reference to Gen. Burnside arriving with reinforcements – as Burnside did
on the evening of May 5th
. Stevens, Three Years with Sixth Corps, p. 305 (1866), confirms a Confederate effort to
flank Sedgwick on the 5th
: “The enemy now charged upon our lines making a desperate attempt to turn our right
flank but without avail. Again and again the rebels in columns rushed with the greatest fury upon the two brigades
in front, without being able to move them from their position.” Robert E. Lee Russell, in a series of 15 sketch maps,
shows just such an engagement of two brigades of Sedgwick’s Corps, occurring late in the day on May 5:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3884wm.gcw0668000/?sp=7
19. “And the ball opened with a vengeance -- about sunrise the rebels struck with the force of a battering ram. This was
the 6th of May. [ P. 143 ] Only two days since the crossing the River and not a hot morsel gone down my throat.
The regiment was relieved from the skirmish at daybreak and went to the rear of the line under a hill and cooked
and eat a meal, rolled up in our blankets to take a nap. Some way the 5th
Corps moving or closing up on the left,
let a gap get open between their right and the Left of the 6th
Crops – then some regulars gave way and some others
and the Johnneys was in the gap and trying to make it bigger, had capture 2 or 300 of our men.
“Then Sedgwick and Warren got to work and our regiment came in action on the flank of them Johnneys and
captured 4 or 500 prisoners – their fun was done, they had lost more than they had won, but the fighting was fine
for a few minutes.”
This official Army carto, Map of the Battle Fields of the Wilderness, by Bvt. Col. J.C. Duane intrigues, as it
not only correctly places the Army of the Potomac under the command of Meade, but omits all reference to
Grant. It is undated. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3884w.cw0665000/
20. “I was told that a mounted officer galloped up to Gen’l Grant and shouted, “The 6th
Corps is flanked and the foe is
in its rear, you have to retreat!” – he [ the courier – Ed.] had more likely been with Howard when the 11th
had been
flanked. All day the musket firing was as heavy as any I had ever heard. The Artillery could not be used and
had not fired a shot in the two days fighting,
“Our Corps was the rear of the Army and two or three times the foe tried to flank us but Sedgwick was always
found redy. The destruction of life was heavy on each side. I think they must have lost the most.”
At the opening of the Battle of the Wilderness, Gen. John Sedgwick’s VI Corps was
on the far right of the Union line, faced off against Lt. Gen. Richard Ewell’s Second
Corps, when Ewell tried to flank the line and come up behind the VI Corps – a
movement which Sedgwick detected and successfully countered. While Drew’s
narrative indicates a Confederate flanking maneuver was made around sunset on May
5th
(see p. 18, above) Gen. Ewell re-initiated this effort the next afternoon. A series
of 26 very fine maps of the Battel of the Wilderness, made by Judge Robert E. Lee
Russell, are available from to view or download at the Library of Congress website
here: https://www.loc.gov/item/2007627341/ Ewell’s effort against Sedgwick’s flank -
- but NOT Sedgwick’s successful turning of Ewell’s effort -- is depicted in a few of
these maps. See, No. 21 https://www.loc.gov/resource/g3884wm.gcw0667000/?sp=22
CSA Lt. Gen. John B. Gordon, in his Reminiscences of the Civil War, pp. 257-8 (1902) writes of the Confederate
leadership’s battlefield deliberations over whether to move against Sedgwick on that afternoon of May 6. Gordon’s
scouts indicated that Sedgwick was vulnerable – but Gen. Early reported key intel that Gen. Burnsides backed him:
“General Grant during that day was full of apprehension that Ewell would attempt some offensive tactics
against Sedgwick, while Lee was wondering why it was not done. Lee knew that it ought to be done, as will
appear later, if for no other object than to divert Grant's attention from his prime purpose and thus bring
incidental relief to Longstreet and the other heavily pressed Confederates far off to our right. General
Horace Porter, in his "Campaigning with Grant," more than once refers to General Grant's uneasiness about
Sedgwick. He says: "The general-in-chief was devoting a good deal of thought to our right, which had been
weakened." Well might General Grant be apprehensive. Had he been fully apprised of that strangely
exposed flank of his army, he would have been impelled to send troops to protect Sedgwick's right. On the
other hand, had Lee been advised, as he should have been, of the reports of my scouts and of myself, he
would not have delayed the proposed movement against Sedgwick's flank a moment longer than was
necessary to give an order for its execution. * *
“Both General Early and I were at Ewell's headquarters when, at about 5:30 in the afternoon, General Lee
rode up and asked: "Cannot something be done on this flank to relieve the pressure upon our right ?" After
listening for some time to the conference which followed this pointed inquiry, I felt it my duty to acquaint
General Lee with the facts as to Sedgwick's exposed flank, and with the plan of battle which had been
submitted and urged in the early hours of the morning and during the day. General Early again promptly
and vigorously protested as he had previously done. He still steadfastly maintained that Burnside's corps
was in the woods behind Sedgwick's right; that the movement was too hazardous and must result in disaster
to us. With as much earnestness as was consistent with the position of junior officer, I recounted the facts
to General Lee, and assured him that General Early was mistaken; that I had ridden for several miles in
Sedgwick's rear, and that neither Burnside's corps nor any other Union troops were concealed in those
woods. The details of the whole plan were laid before him. There was no doubt with him as to its feasibility.
21. “His words were few, but his silence and grim looks while the reasons for that long delay were being given,
and his prompt order to me to move at once to the attack, revealed his thoughts almost as plainly as words
could have done. Late as it was, he agreed in the opinion that we could bring havoc to as much of the
Union line as we could reach before darkness should check us. It was near sunset, and too late [for Ewell]
to reap more than a pittance of the harvest which had so long been inviting the Confederate sickle.”
“No mortal man has ever described the battle of the Wilderness or ever will.
Like Sherman, I’ll say it was Hell.”
22. The next morning May 7th
, 1864
“We was ready at 3 o’Cl A.M. to begin the days work, just after sunrise the skirmishers reported the foe had left
our front. Then we started to hunt them up – about [P. 144] noon we located them back in their fortified lines,
redy to entertain with the best they had if we would only call.
“Our army moved to the left and by dark
we was out of the Wilderness and we think
Lee had got as much of it as we had.
“We left the dead and fatally wounded.
Many from each side was cremated in the
fire.
“No fighting to day unot {?] in or ever
[even?] among the skirmishers. We are
close up to Lee’s lines and the rebs are
making their works stronger.
“When we haulted for the night we had
the first good wash-up since leaveing
Winter Quarters and we also had a good
nights sleep.
“On the morning of the 8th
while cooking
breakfast we began to sing
“O ain’t I glad I am out of the Wilderness,
“Out of! We are out of the Wilderness ….
“Orders came from Gen’l Russel to stop
that noise but Gen’l Sedgwick who was
riding with Russell told him to let the men
sing all they wanted to.
“We gave Unkle John three cheers. We
knew we had crossed the Rappadan and
Rappahannock for the last time…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JO4784QvSI
“Gen’ls Grant and Mead passed our Brigade and we gave them three cheers that made the forest ring and brought
a couple of shells from the rebs as a protest to our hilariousness – they are moving in the same direction we are,
but they are behind earthworks, and some of the boys thinks they must be packing them along…
“The Wilderness Battle was the last time Lee’s Army ever left their Breastworks to attack us while I was in the
army.
“We was on the road to Richmond again.”
23. Gen. Grant has brought with him to the battlefield something which Lee – operating a strictly defensive campaign –
can at first hardly comprehend: namely, a grand strategy for victory by which he will seize the initiative from Lee.
Grant’s strategic plan is not simply to advance toward Richmond in a “capture-the flag” sequence of pitched battles
and retreats, hoping to take the Confederate Seat, but rather to engage Lee’s Army wherever possible, for the sake
of inflicting maximum casualties, and wearing that army away. In other words, in his Brandy Station strategizing,
Grant had shifted the strategic objective of the Army, from a raw territorial one, of taking Richmond, to one of
engaging the Rebel Army itself, simply to reduce its numbers and effectiveness. With this in mind, Grant will
undertake to make repeated moves as if to approach Richmond, with the strategic objective of drawing Lee out to
defend it -- and to fight. Since Lee is operating a defensive campaign, Grant is effectively turning Lee’s strength to
his own purposes. For Grant, attaining Spottsylvania was only preliminary to drawing Lee out into further battles ….
In that particular, then, Grant had planned to march the Army of the Potomac to Spotsylvania Court House – a
crossroads which would give the Army of the Potomac an obvious inside track to Richmond. Again, Grant’s objective
of securing the Spotsylvania crossroads is not to attack Richmond “per se” – as in every other Union Army campaign
-- but only to force Lee to defend it. But by attacking Grant and engaging the Union Army in the Wilderness, Lee
had apparently “thwarted” Grant’s drive to Spottsylvania. Indeed, considered as if in isolation, much as earlier battles
in the war must be considered, the Battle of the Wilderness is often reckoned by historians to be a tactical victory for
Lee, or at worst, a “tactical draw” between the two Armies. But was it? YANKEE SCOUT sees it this way:
1. Pvt. Drew remembers with satisfaction the exuberance of the Union Army forces emerging after three days
fighting in the Wilderness, and underlines the sense of accomplishment with the comment “The Wilderness
battle was the last time Lee’s Army ever left their breastworks to attack us, while I was in the army.” For the
infantry soldier like Drew, this change means that Grant, in his first engagement with Lee, has already seized
the upper-hand and given a tactical advantage to his Army. This awareness was “bi-lateral” -- simply put, if
the Yankees knew that the Rebs were not leaving their breastworks to fight, the Rebs themselves knew it all
the more: Drew emphasizes this by relating the crack, that “some of the boys thinks they must be packing
[their earthworks ] along.” Thus, Grant in the Wilderness has forced the Army of Northern Virginia to adopt
a change in movement tactics, with increased defenses. This is a setback for Lee, and is instantly recognized
by the Union soldiers as a change in the battlefield initiative.
2. Drew also remarks that the Army knew it had crossed the Rappahannock and Rapidan for the last time.
According to one historian of Culpeper County, Clark B. Hall, the Rappahannock River was actually a
Confederate defensive “front” or “line” of great but unacknowledged significance: it marked the front of what
was accepted as Lee’s “home-turf.” Throughout the course of the war, the Rappahannock River has served
as a key barrier to Union advance. See, Hall, Upper Rappahannock River Front: the Dare Mark Line,” and
Hall, Chronology of Major Military Actions on the Rappahannock River Line, Fauquier and Culpeper
Counties (2011), online at: http://www.brandystationfoundation.com/places/Rappahannock%20Front.pdf
For the Union Army to have crossed the Rappahannock River now, and successfully engaged Lee’s forces in
the Wilderness, and yet thereafter effectively “dis-engaged’ to continue the advance -- moving south out
toward Spottsylvania Court House – represents the effectiveness of Grant’s strategy.
3. In addition, while it is unrelated to Grant’s strategy, on May 6th
, during the second day
of fighting in the Wilderness, Lee’s second-in-command, Gen. James Longstreet was
badly wounded, by “friendly fire” rifle shot to the throat, which removed him from
the battlefield for the duration of the summer – until October, 1864.
So, Lee’s Army emerged from the Wilderness almost in a different “phase” …..
24. “The country more open the roads better and it seems good to get out in the sunlight even if it is some warmer.
[P. 145] At the end of the day’s march, after we had eaten a bite, the Regiment was advanced about ¼ of a mile or
more, and haulted in a thick groath of Oak timber and formed line of battle in a road and told to lay down and
hold that position until daylight and then take the skirmish for the day.
“I had never see the officer before who placed us there it was dark before we got in the place. Colonel Lincoln
ordered scouts out in front and on each flank.
“We always took such precaution unless we was shore there was pickets in front. The grown was levell no
underbrush. On the right the scout reported all clear for a half a mile – no pickets. On the left the scouts found a
rebel fort with guns mounted less than 200 spaces, the foes lines making a bend and was nigher to us than in front –
so we put our pickets on front and left and the [men] was ordered to be on the watch also.
“No taking, no smoaking, no noise, no blanket – the men laid with their [weapons] in or close at hand. How still it
was, not even a treetoad was chippering. It was warm… I think the men in line was all asleep.”
Winslow Homer – Army of the Potomac – Sleeping on Their Arms, from Harper’s Weekly, (May 21, 1864).
Homer illustrates the impact that Grant’s hard-driving strategy is already having on the Union troops – who cannot
take time even to pitch a tent, but must bed down in the open without fire -- and without cooked food.
Inset Detail: A sleeping infantryman with the Greek Cross of Sedgwick’s VI Corps. See p. 12 above.
25. “ I got up and took a look at the pickets.
“Denbo’s signal reached me and I went to him ...
“He had been up to the fort and heard the Rebs inside takking, couldn’t make out what they said, but they had
loaded cannon in the fort.”
“It must have been past midnight. I started intending to get the men out of that road and had got close enough to
see them… When this strange thing took place… --- ”
SPECIAL THANKS TO LYNDON H. LaROUCHE (JR.) and STAFF
for LEADING MANKIND SUCCESSFULLY through the WILDERNESS !!