Copyright © 2012 Bob R Bogle
A day of battlefields and literature and rock'n'roll . . .
To understand the battle of Brice's Crossroads, check out this animated battle. (If you haven't seen these animations before, you're in for a treat.) This also provides some general historical background that informs much of LMRR'12.
We now are compelled to part ways with the Natchez Trace. . .
Yesterday (19 Sep) was the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Iuka, which was fought by armies commanded by two of the most annoying Civil War commanders, William S Rosecrans for the Union and Sterling Price for the Confederacy. No animation for this, but you can read about it here. One of the more famous Civil War battles in which acoustic shadowing played an important role: Union reinforcements never heard the sounds of the clash and so did not come to engage the confederates from the rear, which would have had severe repercussions for Price's men. As usual, Rosecrans moved too slowly and failed to follow the agreed-upon plan of attack. After the battle had ended, instead of pursuing the escaping confederates, Rosecrans made speeches to his men and belatedly followed the following day. Price was repeatedly lucky.
Two Civil War battles took place in Corinth, MS. Grant was headed there when he was surprised at Shiloh, TN. Corinth was a strategically important confederate city because of its railroad crossing. At the first battle (the Siege of Corinth) Henry Halleck demonstrated his unique incapacity to lead troops in the field. In the Second Battle of Corinth, after Sterling Price had reinforced him, the bungling confederate egomanic Earl Van Dorn commanded the confederates. Again Rosecrans was defeated, dispatching the same kind of mixed orders that later brought about his defeat at Chickamauga, and again he let the enemy escape. The inept Van Dorn and Price would go on to continue the Southern fight.
Oxford, Mississippi is famous for its association with William Faulkner. It's also the home of Ole Miss, which apparently enjoys some notoriety among sports aficionados. Of course this is also the university where, 50 years ago today (20 Sep 1962), James Meredith was blocked from registering for classes by a grandstanding Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, who had the state legislature pass a law that “prohibited any person who was convicted of a state crime from admission to a state school.” Meredith's alleged crime? Voter registration. Robert Kennedy sent in 500 US Marshals, supported by the 70th Army Engineer Combat Battalion from Ft Campbell, Kentucky, and President John F Kennedy sent in US Army military police from the 503rd Military Police Battalion, and called in troops from the Mississippi Army National Guard and the US Border Patrol. Meredith graduated in 1963 with a degree in political science.
And Graceland: well, you probably know about that.
A day of battlefields and literature and rock'n'roll . . .
To understand the battle of Brice's Crossroads, check out this animated battle. (If you haven't seen these animations before, you're in for a treat.) This also provides some general historical background that informs much of LMRR'12.
We now are compelled to part ways with the Natchez Trace. . .
Yesterday (19 Sep) was the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Iuka, which was fought by armies commanded by two of the most annoying Civil War commanders, William S Rosecrans for the Union and Sterling Price for the Confederacy. No animation for this, but you can read about it here. One of the more famous Civil War battles in which acoustic shadowing played an important role: Union reinforcements never heard the sounds of the clash and so did not come to engage the confederates from the rear, which would have had severe repercussions for Price's men. As usual, Rosecrans moved too slowly and failed to follow the agreed-upon plan of attack. After the battle had ended, instead of pursuing the escaping confederates, Rosecrans made speeches to his men and belatedly followed the following day. Price was repeatedly lucky.
Two Civil War battles took place in Corinth, MS. Grant was headed there when he was surprised at Shiloh, TN. Corinth was a strategically important confederate city because of its railroad crossing. At the first battle (the Siege of Corinth) Henry Halleck demonstrated his unique incapacity to lead troops in the field. In the Second Battle of Corinth, after Sterling Price had reinforced him, the bungling confederate egomanic Earl Van Dorn commanded the confederates. Again Rosecrans was defeated, dispatching the same kind of mixed orders that later brought about his defeat at Chickamauga, and again he let the enemy escape. The inept Van Dorn and Price would go on to continue the Southern fight.
Oxford, Mississippi is famous for its association with William Faulkner. It's also the home of Ole Miss, which apparently enjoys some notoriety among sports aficionados. Of course this is also the university where, 50 years ago today (20 Sep 1962), James Meredith was blocked from registering for classes by a grandstanding Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett, who had the state legislature pass a law that “prohibited any person who was convicted of a state crime from admission to a state school.” Meredith's alleged crime? Voter registration. Robert Kennedy sent in 500 US Marshals, supported by the 70th Army Engineer Combat Battalion from Ft Campbell, Kentucky, and President John F Kennedy sent in US Army military police from the 503rd Military Police Battalion, and called in troops from the Mississippi Army National Guard and the US Border Patrol. Meredith graduated in 1963 with a degree in political science.
And Graceland: well, you probably know about that.
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