Yearly Archives: 2018

The apparent mishandling of Shiloh after-battle reports

 in Sherman / Shiloh by

On May 2, 1881, William T. Sherman, the Commanding General of the United States Army, apparently received the Shiloh after-action report of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert A. Fulton of Colonel Jesse Appler’s 53rd Ohio Regiment, and had it forwarded to Colonel Scott (probably for inclusion into the Official Records). He endorsed it as being “substantially correct,” as far as his own memory went. But why wasn’t this report, dated April 9th, sent […]

Sherman: North’s and South’s mutual guilt in the institution of slavery

 in Uncategorized by

William T. Sherman, speaking at an annual meeting of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, concluded that the war’s penalties should be shared by both North and South, because of their mutual involvement in the institution of slavery. “And I, born of Connecticut parents, bearing in affectionate remembrance the virtues of my honored ancestors, and yielding to no man in admiration of the intelligence, refinement, industry, and thrift […]

Colonel Grant of the 21st Illinois in contention with Colonel Turner of the 15th Illinois by Mike Maxwell 3 comments

 in Grant by

To Maurice D’Aoust, You provide an impressive report, upon completion of an interesting investigation: “How lucky was Grant?” At the start of the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant did not think of himself as lucky, but more likely, “under-appreciated.” His early attempts to gain a colonelcy, or possibly a Staff position with McClellan, came to nothing. So, when that June 1861 offer of the 21st Illinois was dangled in front […]

More on Horace Porter’s unreliability 1 comment

 in Chattanooga / Grant / Historiography / Porter / Reliability by

Horace Porter is a prime source of anecdotes that make General U.S. Grant look good. As I showed in my book, Grant Under Fire, and in an earlier article on this blog, the former staff member’s “reverential Campaigning with Grant contained innumerable, implausible justifications and apologies for his chief. It parrots many of the inaccuracies from Grant’s Personal Memoirs.” In another major discrepancy, Porter’s hagiographical volume relates how Grant, upon his October 1863 arrival in […]

Undeniably Serendipitous Grant by Maurice D’Aoust

 in Battles / Belmont / Chattanooga / Generalship / Grant / Henry & Donelson / Lew Wallace / Shiloh / Strategy / Vicksburg / Wilderness by

Serendipitous: Having an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. Synonym—Lucky A weary Napoleon Bonaparte listened patiently as the speaker continued extolling a friend’s military prowess. Finally, unable to contain himself any longer, the Emperor abruptly cut in and asked: “Fine, he is brilliant, but is he lucky?” Taken from Napoleonic lore, the story may have some basis in truth for, though he would have been the first to acknowledge […]