Brice's Crossroads Animated

The battle of Brice's Crossroads is now available animated at the link below:

http://www.civilwaranimated.com/brices-crossroad

Yahoo! Run Forrest run. Thanks I have that site saved but hadn't visited for awhile.

Really nice! (But he didn't say git thar fust with the most! He said, "Oh, I just took the short cut and got there first with the most men." In reply to Morgan's question about the 1st Murfreesboro raid...how did you beat the Yankees there?)

Thanks for posting!

That website is always interesting and informative.

Thanks for post.

Okay, now I understand the tactical deployments used by Forrest; the use of one cavalry regiment in a flanking maneuver; and Forrest's reliance upon the Union infantry being "winded" by the double-time march in the hot sun.

But I'm still puzzled over the quick disintegration of the Union line. Forrest's forces had been in combat since the beginning, one would expect that they would be a bit winded themselves. Were the Union forces so green that they could be easily routed by a general attack upon their lines by a force half their size, along with a fear of Confederate cavalry to their rear? It seems a bit strange for that late in the war (June 1863).

Forrest was a master at psychological warfare - this is how he beat them. He used those tactics to give the impression his force was much larger than it was. He managed to outflank Sturgis both right and left - even though his troops were one thin line. He also sent Morton's artillery down the road extremely close to the Union lines - unsupported. The artillery barrage was solid and fierce, which is what Forrest wanted, and the enemy was certain there were more troops to support this. And we got one of Forrest's most famous sayings at this point. He patted Morton on the shoulder and said, "You got 'em skeered, John. Keep the skeer on 'em!" He was right - Sturgis couldn't get off the field fast enough. Forrest ordered one of his dogged pursuits which only ended when he himself fell off his horse with exhaustion - Sturgis was still running! Grierson was a division commander at this point - later, when he was promoted to higher command, he did well against Forrest. Unfortunately for Sherman, Sturgis was in command and he was, quite frankly, never the same again.

Really enjoyed the annimation. Thanks for posting.

Shelby Foote would have loved this. Thanks for the post.

It occured to me that Forest was using scrub forest in the same way as Lee used the second growth in the Wilderness: to conceal his weakness, restrict movement of the Union troops to a series of narrow fronts, and thereby serve as a "force multiplier". But Sturges was no Grant.

I'm glad that CivilWarAnimated is continuing to expand beyond the biggest battles and putting some effort on the smaller actions.

Forrest had a good eye for terrain. He spent some time finding the right spot at Fallen Timbers. He picked a place that was full of felled timber that hadn't been hauled away, had lots of low bushes and tangled vines growing around the logs as well as muddy pools from the rain. He and his men were sitting on top of the rise; Sherman's infantry had to clamber over and through this stuff while going uphill. Naturally the line became ragged and disorganized - when that happened, Forrest charged. His 350 mounted men scattered Sherman's brigade. Sherman quickly formed the second line and Forrest would have plowed through that one with the momentum of his initial charge - except nobody followed him! Near personal disaster occurred then but Forrest survived to fight another day. I'm sure he said something along the lines of boys, next time you hear me yelling 'charge', FOLLOW ME!

I'm sure he said something along the lines of boys, next time you hear me yelling 'charge', FOLLOW ME!

Click to expand...

This is undoubtedly the edited version, right?