Does Burnside get an unfair rap?

[67th Tigers]

Rodman's flank move unhinged Toombs defense, giving Sturgis chance the chance to work.

For this thesis to be true Rodman would need to be over the creek in force. He wasn't, and the immediate reports of the men on the ground all said it was the Kentucky Battery. From his hospital bed some 5 weeks later Toombs might incorporate details not known to him at the time.

Cox in his B&L article stated that Rodman got over the ford after Sturgis had forced the bridge: "As Rodman died upon the field, no full report for his division was made, and we only know that he met with some resistance from both infantry and artillery; that the winding of the stream made his march longer than he anticipated, and that, in fact, he only approached the rear of Toombs's position from that direction about the time when our last and successful charge upon the bridge was made, between noon and 1 o'clock."

 

[NedBaldwin]

... the immediate reports of the men on the ground all said it was the Kentucky Battery.

This is false as has been shown already.

Cox in his B&L article stated that Rodman got over the ford after Sturgis had forced the bridge: "As Rodman died upon the field, no full report for his division was made, and we only know that he met with some resistance from both infantry and artillery; that the winding of the stream made his march longer than he anticipated, and that, in fact, he only approached the rear of Toombs's position from that direction about the time when our last and successful charge upon the bridge was made, between noon and 1 o'clock."

That quote contradicts you. For Rodman to approach the rear of Toombs position meant he was already over the river.

 

[NedBaldwin]

For this thesis to be true Rodman would need to be over the creek in force. He wasn't, and the immediate reports of the men on the ground all said it was the Kentucky Battery. From his hospital bed some 5 weeks later Toombs might incorporate details not known to him at the time.

Cox in his B&L article stated that Rodman got over the ford after Sturgis had forced the bridge: "As Rodman died upon the field, no full report for his division was made, and we only know that he met with some resistance from both infantry and artillery; that the winding of the stream made his march longer than he anticipated, and that, in fact, he only approached the rear of Toombs's position from that direction about the time when our last and successful charge upon the bridge was made, between noon and 1 o'clock."

Here is from a little further down in Cox's article:
"These were soon joined by Rodman's division with Scammon's brigade, which had crossed at the ford, and whose presence on that side of the stream had no doubt made the final struggle of Toombs's men less obstinate than it would otherwise have been, the fear of being taken in rear having always a strong moral effect upon even the best of troops."