NF Philip Leigh's The Confederacy at Flood Tide - 3/24/2020 Book Chat Transcript

Non-Fiction

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  • @Philip Leigh is proud to launch his book:
    • The Confederacy at Flood Tide:
      The Political and Military Ascension, June to December 1862
    • Published May 25, 2016
    • Belatedly Launched on CWT on 3/23/2020
    • Buy it on Amazon
Below is a Transcript of the Book Chat with Philip Leigh from Tuesday, March 24, 2020!

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I'm sorry to say I haven't yet read your book - could you please explain what led you to the conclusion that the Confederacy was close to victory in the latter half of 1862?
 
The Richmond, Ky. battle is often overshadowed by Lee's 2nd Manassas win because the happened at the same time. Nonetheless, Kirby-Smith killed, captured or wounded over 5,000 of the 6,500 inexperienced Union army.
 
jvarnell: Problems started in Kentucky when Smith refused to cooperate with Bragg. That left Bragg short on supplies and forced him to forage. By foraging he opened a path for Union General Buell's army which had left north Alabama to pursue him.
 
As it happened, the showdown battle came at Perryville on October 8th and Kirby-Smith was not even there. Consequently, Bragg was badly outnumbered, especially considering that Buell had been reinforced while Buell occupied Louisville.
 
BTW, Buell could have crushed Bragg at Perryville but he claimed that an acoustic shadow left him unaware of how serious the fighting was. He had three corps and only one participated in the battle.
 
Thus, if Smith and Bragg and joined forces and kept Buell from getting reinforcements from north of the Ohio River, the decisive victory in Kentucky could have led to many more Southern recruits. It could also have caused the British cabinet meeting in mid-October '62 to move ahead with recognition notwithstanding the Rebel reversal at Antietam.
 
What effect, if any did the Battle of Shiloh have upon the English and other European countries regarding political decisions ?
 
Philip Leigh said:
If Smith and Brag blocked Buell's path to Lexington they could have had the showdown victory that some, perhaps many, Kentucky residents were waiting to see before joining the Confederate armies.
Do you think Kentucky would have joined the CS following a hypothetical victory? Why or why not?
 
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