What are the top five battles you like to study and why?

LCYingling3rd

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Apr 25, 2021
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Lycoming Co., PA/Sarasota Co., FL
I am a newbie here and am sure you have had this question a zillion times, however, I don't see it on any of the forums, so, maybe it has been a while. It is a fun way for me to get to know you all, so lets just have some fun; I think it is too difficult to ask everyone what their one favorite battle to study is, so I ask what your top five are. And I would like at least a brief explanation about why you like studying each battle. I have to admit that my interest is primarily personal more than strategic or tactical.

1. Gettysburg - Do I really need to say anything, it's Gettysburg! Okay, I was born in Carroll County Maryland, grew up northwest of Baltimore, and moved to Pennsylvania in 1976; so proximity to my life is one thing. Besides that, I have two ancestors that fought at the battle (2nd VA Inf. and 7th VA Cav.) and five that fought in the campaign (87th PA - 2nd Winchester). I do think it is one of the most pivotal battles in world history. Nuf said...

2. Cedar Creek - Yes, weird. I am obsessed with Cedar Creek because it is the only battle of the war that my great grandfather (87th PA Inf.) fought my great, great grandfather (7th VA Cav.). It is the battle that I had the highest odds of dying at! Besides that, I do think it is a fascinating battle to study. I believe it has the greatest surprise attack of the war and quite possibly effected the outcome of the 1864 Presidential election? It also led to one of the most interesting post-war, old soldier debates ever. I could go on; like I said, I am obsessed.

3. Antietam/Sharpsburg - (I have to use both names or my great aunts will haunt me...kidding, okay! I think; LOL) The born in Maryland thing. My parents took me to the centennial celebrations and reenactment in 1962 when I was like, four; and I swear I have memories of it. My mother is from Martinsburg, WV and we literally drove through the battlefield every time we went to visit my grandparents while I was growing up. It was the bloodiest single day in US history and is a fascinating battle to study anyway. My mother, her mother and aunts all went to Shepherd College. And my late wife's great, great, grandfather fought in the Miller Cornfield (7th PA Res.). Another one I could go on and on about...

4. Vicksburg - Look, I'm an old head, and up until the 1980's, maybe even 1990's, historians focused on the Eastern theater; everything was Bruce Catton and Douglas Southall Freeman when I was growing up; so sue me if I am Eastern theater biased...(again, just joking...having fun...which we American's are still allowed to do!) I am fascinated with the Vicksburg campaign. Again, historians were focused on the Eastern theater and all I ever heard was that Chancellorsville was the greatest tactical battle ever fought. I think the Vicksburg campaign is better. (I know, I know, but let's not debate that here!) I do believe it is a very important and interesting battle both strategically and tactically. And I really enjoyed visiting the town and the battlefield in 2006. The ironclad "Cairo" museum/exhibit and the Old Courthouse museum were splendid. Again, I could go on and on. In the 1990's I did start getting interested in Western theater battles, but this the most interesting one for me. I loved touring Chickamauga and Chattanooga and I would love to tour Shiloh...and...well...more...

5. Monocacy - Yes, yes, another head scratcher...The Maryland thing, the trips to Martinsburg thing, and the ancestors that fought against one another thing (2nd VA Inf./87th PA Inf.). Most importantly though, my great grandfather was in the 87th PA Infantry and Monocacy was a huge battle for them. Rickett's first brigade was on the Union left and at one point the 87th PA and the 14th NJ were ordered to take the Thomas house. They charged down the house's driveway (yes, it was probably called a "lane," I know), engaged in a brief, yet bloody hand-to-hand fight and gained control of the house until Gordon's troops started the rout of the Union army. I just think it is another fascinating and somewhat important lesser battle. (Actually, I like a lot of lesser battles, but I am only allowed to list five...who's idea was that!?!)

Okay....your turn...and have fun!!!!!
 
Brice’s Crossroads: cavalry as mounted infantry, direct fire artillery in close support, mounted pursuit, and great quotes: “The time to lick the enemy is when you got him a’runnin’.” “Keep the skeer on’em!” Score Confederate.

Tullahoma: Wilder’s brigade moving like lightning and Minty’s brigade giving them some steel. Score Union.

New Mexico: mostly forgotten and under studied. Score Union.

Indian engagements: mostly forgotten that small unit actions against natives continued in the west while big battles raged in the east. Score Union.

Trans-Mississippi patrol/counter-guerrilla actions: Missouri militia, Kansas militia, and 2nd Colorado Cavalry against bushwackers. Score back and forth.
 
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Little Big Horn is one of the most desolete battlefields I have visited. Would have been a lonely place to die and standing on the ground shows why the Cav troopers were unaware of the placement of the Indian forces. Literally 10-15' away from any spot, a grown man could vanish in the sage.
I’ve walked that battlefield twice and I can see your point up to a point. In the scattered actions around Last Stand Hill it seems the natives were indeed popping up everywhere and swarming small groups of troopers - just too many natives and not enough concentration of force against them. Down at the Reno/Benteen defensive site, things went better. And Reno’s initial valley fight was another case of too little against too many.
 
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5. Little Big Horn - Obviously not CW strictly speaking but the ultimate battle of another of my perennial favorites, George Custer!
Bonus points:

One soldier under Custer’s command was not scalped or mutilated. Only one. Who?

Custer had two horses on the campaign. Name them.

What was “Gray Horse Troop?”

On your honor now, no googling. Off the top of your head.
 
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I find this to be very interesting, considering I haven't really considered / ranked my top five civil war battles. I think I would have to choose, without ranking the following.

1) First Manassas - Amateurs
2) Antietam / Sharpsburg - Lee's greatest battle.
3) Gettysburg - The Union learned to fight.
4) Spotsylvania Courthouse - No winners but lots of losers, the true brutality of war.
5) Petersburg (March - April 2nd) - Desperate struggle for survival.

To me these battles reflected the progression in military leadership, advancement in arms, learning new tactics and the shear brutality of the war.
 
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so sue me if I am Eastern theater biased...(again, just joking...having fun...which we American's are still allowed to do!)
Welcome, “newbie”. A good question to get you started. I have always been more interested in the Western theater.

My favorite battles focus on where my ancestors fought and most are small battles with little history. Here are mine, in no particular order.

1- Fort Pemberton (Greenwood, MS). I grew up 15 miles from this site so I heard a lot about it but there was never enough details to satisfy my curiosity.

2- Lookout Mountain, TN. My ancestor fought in this battle that centered around(literally) a prominent mountain.

3- Collierville, TN. A small battle that took place in the center of my town. Another ancestor was likely at the 2d battle here.

4- Fort Pillow, TN 1864. Another battle an ancestor fought and died. A lot of ink has been printed about this battle but the hard part is sorting out the truth.

5- Vicksburg, MS. I struggle which to select as Im researching specific parts of larger battles where other ancestors served. Vicksburg and Shiloh are close enough to where I live that these battles are always in my mind. Im currently reading all of Tim Smith’s books on the Vicksburg Campaign. This battlefield first captured my imagination as a 10-year old and Im still learning more about this battle.
 
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Bonus points:

One soldier under Custer’s command was not scalped or mutilated. Only one. Who?

Custer had two horses on the campaign. Name them.

What was “Gray Horse Troop?”

On your honor now, no googling. Off the top of your head.
Not mutilated; I believe it was Capt. Myles Keogh. Often mentioned as the reason was that he was wearing some sort of papal medal or something from his days as a mercenary, but no one really knows the reason.

Custer's horses; Vic I believe was one, but do not remember the second.

Grey Horse Troop; was that company E?

Cheers.....and no, I did not search for any of it.... :smile:
 
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Excellent, Bill_S. Correct.

Custer rode Dandy and Vic (Victory). He was riding Dandy that morning and swapped to Vic before the battle. Dandy stayed with the pack train and survived. Various accounts are given for Vic - killed, captured and taken to Canada,etc.
 
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Excellent, Bill_S. Correct.

Custer rode Dandy and Vic (Victory). He was riding Dandy that morning and swapped to Vic before the battle. Dandy stayed with the pack train and survived. Various accounts are given for Vic - killed, captured and taken to Canada,etc.
Supposedly the exact location of Dandy's grave has been forgotten, but according to the historical marker below it's somewhere on the Monroe, Mich. farm of brother Nevin Custer to which Dandy had been retired after the battle. As an officer's private property and not government issue, Dandy became the property of widow Elizabeth Custer who returned him to her brother-in-law's farm.

1622651933317.png
 
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Also a newbie here and I think this is a fascinating discussion. My list isn't five, per se:
1. 1st Manassas (see below).
2. 2nd Manassas (my grandfather owned a lot of the land around the Van Pelt farm, along Young's Branch in the park before selling it in 1961...I grew up on Manassas and Bull Run stories and artifacts he uncovered farming the land).
3. Gettysburg (its consequences and searing into our collective consciousness & awareness about the war).
4. all battles in Tennessee (ancestor was in 17th Regiment, Tennessee Infantry, Company H, Captain George O'Neal).
 
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Leave it to another newbie to bump this interesting thread!

Antietam: my reenactment unit, the 8th Ohio, has a monument in the Sunken Road and I have camped and drilled on the battlefield as a guest of the NPS. So many moments in this battle where a good Union commander could have prevailed, but alas, McClellan was not that commander.
Gettysburg: also an 8th Ohio moment when they fire into the flanks of the Pickett/Pettigrew charge from their advanced position on the Emmitsburg Road. Also a NPS site I have had the honor of doing living history on. The story of the battlefield, from its creation through it multiple uses by the War Department in the world wars, to its current restoration also fascinate me.
Chickamauga: its not just the battle--and its myriad of details--that intrigues me, it is the post war story of the Army of the Cumberland's efforts to preserve its separate memory and identity by creating the park in the 1890s (and its use as a training ground in the War with Spain) that led me to write a book about it. Finally got to reenact this battle on the 150th.
Franklin: the regiment I have been studying for years, the 104th Ohio, was front and center at this bloody affair and ended up capturing a half-dozen Confederate flags during the melee. Reenacted the 125th early in my career and despite the cold it stands as one of my favorites 35 years later.
Utoy Creek (August 1864): another 104th affair during the late stages of the Atlanta Campaign. Schofield's turning movement is blocked by Confederate entrenchment so he sends a couple of brigades to check it out. They run into a fortified line and get shot to pieces. It was the largest loss by the 104th to date and an encounter that gained little for the Union effort. The battlefield is a Nature Conservation area where you can still see the entrenchments along the walking trails.
Honorable mention: Cedar Creek and Perryville, since I have reenacted on both battlefields; the siege of Knoxville (a 104th's participation and the Burnside vs Longstreet element make it very interesting); and the Battle of Resaca (104th in it, check; reenacted it on the partially preserved battlefield, check)
 
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After 60 years of study/reading, I rarely go to a battle book; rarely enough new to make it worth the time. I spend my time and effort on the logistics story in the South.

The last battle book was the Japanese account (in English) of the capture of the southern resource area at the start of WW2, as seen by their army and navy.
 
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