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Yank...aboard the Cumberland as the Virginia destoyed her
Reb...aboard the ram Tennessee during the battle of Mobile Bay
Calicoboy
__________________ My dear mother:- I have come safely through two more terrible engagements with the enemy, that at South Mountain and the great battle of yesterday (Antietam). Our splendid regiment is almost destroyed. We have had nearly 400 men killed and wounded in the battles. Seven of our officers were shot and three killed in yesterday's battle and nearly 150 men killed and wounded. All from less than 300 engaged. The men have stood like iron....Maj. Rufus Dawes, 6th Wisconsin Volunteers
If a 'precise' worst location for a soldier to be, is the question, I pose:
Confederate: The Gin house at Franklin (pure legal murder)
2nd choice: attacking Snodgrass Hill at Chicamauga (frightful, with a full view of what happens when your friends reached the brow of the hill, beforehand!)
Union: The 'Dead Angle" at Kennesaw Line; you got shot and then burned alive by the dry grass catching on fire (most disconcerting to one's ever-present 'hopeful' attitude for surviving a non-fatal wound)
2nd choice: in front of the Stone wall at Marye's Heights (again, frightful; watch as your friends are shot to pieces...then..it's your time!)
Nope. I wuldn't desire to be in any of these postions but in reality, they all did so and died like men! Terrible, war is so very terrible! I hate the tragedy of war!
__________________ I've seen these sweat soaked heroes fight, in superheated air,to keep their ship alive and right, though no one knows they're there. And thus they'll fight for ages on, till warships sail no more,amid the boilers mighty heat and turbines hellish roar. So when you see a ship pull out, to meet a warlike foe, remember faintly if you can "the men who sail below"
~ excerpted from "The Men Who sail below", Author unknown.
Some shots managed to go through the armor of the CSS Arkansas and CSS Atlanta. The Atlanta surrendered after only 5 minutes.
I think those were worse places to be than the Tennessee.
Good point. However, the Tennessee was beaten to a pulp. Completely surrounded by warships and monitors. All of them vying for a shot. Buchanan's (sp?) leg was so badly broken that he was lying on top of it. I do not think we can appreciate the terror that was running through the Tennessee's crew. She fought single handedly (all other confederate ships were either destroyed or withdrew). The Arkansas survived to be scuttled by her own crew at a later date. The Atlanta's fate seemed to be quick. Surrounded and pummeled at close range....brrr
Calicoboy
__________________ My dear mother:- I have come safely through two more terrible engagements with the enemy, that at South Mountain and the great battle of yesterday (Antietam). Our splendid regiment is almost destroyed. We have had nearly 400 men killed and wounded in the battles. Seven of our officers were shot and three killed in yesterday's battle and nearly 150 men killed and wounded. All from less than 300 engaged. The men have stood like iron....Maj. Rufus Dawes, 6th Wisconsin Volunteers
If a 'precise' worst location for a soldier to be, is the question, I pose:
Confederate: The Gin house at Franklin (pure legal murder)
2nd choice: attacking Snodgrass Hill at Chicamauga (frightful, with a full view of what happens when your friends reached the brow of the hill, beforehand!)
Union: The 'Dead Angle" at Kennesaw Line; you got shot and then burned alive by the dry grass catching on fire (most disconcerting to one's ever-present 'hopeful' attitude for surviving a non-fatal wound)
2nd choice: in front of the Stone wall at Marye's Heights (again, frightful; watch as your friends are shot to pieces...then..it's your time!)
Nope. I wuldn't desire to be in any of these postions but in reality, they all did so and died like men! Terrible, war is so very terrible! I hate the tragedy of war!
Alabaman
Well put
Calicoboy
__________________ My dear mother:- I have come safely through two more terrible engagements with the enemy, that at South Mountain and the great battle of yesterday (Antietam). Our splendid regiment is almost destroyed. We have had nearly 400 men killed and wounded in the battles. Seven of our officers were shot and three killed in yesterday's battle and nearly 150 men killed and wounded. All from less than 300 engaged. The men have stood like iron....Maj. Rufus Dawes, 6th Wisconsin Volunteers
Worst place for a yank: Inside the crater at Petersburg.
Worst place for a reb: The Army of Tennessee under Hood.
Regards,
Cash
It has always ticked me off that after Franklin and before Nashville a massive sleet storm hit. The Confederataes had no food, no blankets, no tents and ragged clothing. While many of them literally froze to the ground, Hood sat in a warm house and dined on ham and hot potatoes. That has always showed me that he considered his men fodder units and little else.
Calicoboy
__________________ My dear mother:- I have come safely through two more terrible engagements with the enemy, that at South Mountain and the great battle of yesterday (Antietam). Our splendid regiment is almost destroyed. We have had nearly 400 men killed and wounded in the battles. Seven of our officers were shot and three killed in yesterday's battle and nearly 150 men killed and wounded. All from less than 300 engaged. The men have stood like iron....Maj. Rufus Dawes, 6th Wisconsin Volunteers
Calico, On Hood and "ham and hot potatoes", where do you find this information?
I bought the "Confederacy's Last Hurrah" by Wiley Sword when I visited the battlefield park in Franklin. I believe it is mentioned in that book.
Regards
Calicoboy
__________________ My dear mother:- I have come safely through two more terrible engagements with the enemy, that at South Mountain and the great battle of yesterday (Antietam). Our splendid regiment is almost destroyed. We have had nearly 400 men killed and wounded in the battles. Seven of our officers were shot and three killed in yesterday's battle and nearly 150 men killed and wounded. All from less than 300 engaged. The men have stood like iron....Maj. Rufus Dawes, 6th Wisconsin Volunteers
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