Hawkeye Brehm
Sergeant
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2017
- Location
- Myrtle Beach, SC
Okay, so the Licensed Battlefield Guides seem to have this obsession with the Order of Battle. If you ask them how to study for the LBG exam, or (in my case) tell them the manner in which you are studying for the exam, they chant "Order of Battle" like spectators at a Thugee ceremony watching a guy have his still-beating heart pulled out of his chest.
I guess my question is this: Is there only one way to know the Order of Battle? Because they act like I'm a complete moron for not wanting to sit there like some mindless idiot and memorize the Order of Battle until it's ingrained on my subconscious.
I'm studying the armies and their levels of organization by researching their experiences in the Eastern Theater. I began with broad studies of both armies, followed by researching the biographies and memoirs of army and corps commanders and their staff officers. I'm currently studying brigades, which will be followed by regiments before separate studies of artillery and cavalry in both armies.
One would think that in doing this, I would be gaining an understanding of those units, including how they came to be organized at Gettysburg and the experiences that shaped them as they marched toward Gettysburg. And when I do finally touch Gettysburg, I will be learning the ebb and flow of the battle at the army, corps, division, brigade, regimental, and individual levels.
But hey, I'm not an LBG, as they are so quick to point out. Their way is the only way they seem to be capable of going about this. I have been ridiculed and made out to be some "punk kid" who goes about everything the wrong way because it's not how the LBGs want people to do it. I definitely understand the Order of Battle is of immense importance, but I'd rather do this than mindlessly follow some retiree whose brain has calcified to the point that they've become little more than a monument to small-minded ignorance.
But yeah, any suggestions would be great.
I guess my question is this: Is there only one way to know the Order of Battle? Because they act like I'm a complete moron for not wanting to sit there like some mindless idiot and memorize the Order of Battle until it's ingrained on my subconscious.
I'm studying the armies and their levels of organization by researching their experiences in the Eastern Theater. I began with broad studies of both armies, followed by researching the biographies and memoirs of army and corps commanders and their staff officers. I'm currently studying brigades, which will be followed by regiments before separate studies of artillery and cavalry in both armies.
One would think that in doing this, I would be gaining an understanding of those units, including how they came to be organized at Gettysburg and the experiences that shaped them as they marched toward Gettysburg. And when I do finally touch Gettysburg, I will be learning the ebb and flow of the battle at the army, corps, division, brigade, regimental, and individual levels.
But hey, I'm not an LBG, as they are so quick to point out. Their way is the only way they seem to be capable of going about this. I have been ridiculed and made out to be some "punk kid" who goes about everything the wrong way because it's not how the LBGs want people to do it. I definitely understand the Order of Battle is of immense importance, but I'd rather do this than mindlessly follow some retiree whose brain has calcified to the point that they've become little more than a monument to small-minded ignorance.
But yeah, any suggestions would be great.