samuel orris
Sergeant
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2010
- Location
- Elizabethtown, PA
Rich Keehner added a photo in Gettysburg and Your Thoughts.
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Rich Keehner
August 10 at 3:39pm
I believe that it was well over a year ago that I read comments made that in order to truly understand the Battle of Gettysburg, you needed to understand Chancellorsville, especially in regards to the actions of Dan Sickles on the second day. Well, immediately I went and read a book on the subject and decided that there was something to that. The theory is that Sickles viewed the Peach Orchard much like Hazel Grove. Disaster followed at Chancellorsville after he was ordered to fall back from Hazel Grove and the Confederates moved in with their artillery. While he was standing in the area assigned to his corps at Gettysburg and he looked west, he could see the Peach Orchard and he probably immediately linked it in his mind to Hazel Grove and how bad it could be if the Confederates placed artillery there. Well, after reading up on the subject and looking over maps, I thought that Sickles might have had a legitimate concern. Please note that this does not mean that I think that his actions, or any actions that are in contradiction to orders from your commanding officer are proper conduct, especially when the safety of the army is in question.
Fast forward to this past Monday when I made my first trip to the Chancellorsville Battlefield. While standing close to the foundation of the Chancellor House (all that remains) and looking towards Hazel Grove, I was immediately struck by what I saw. I thought, I could be standing at the low part of Sickles assigned line at Gettysburg looking towards the Peach Orchard. Granted, I do not have a trained eye, but to me the distance looked similar and the height of Hazel Grove also looked similar to the Peach Orchard. The only difference was that there is a direct line of sight still today at Chancellorsville, while that is not the case at Gettysburg. I don't believe that the view at Gettysburg was as open in 1863 as it was and is at Chancellorsville, but it was certainly more open than it is today, if for no other reason than the trees were shorter and there would have been virtually no underbrush I any woods between the two because of animals.
So, while I still do not give Sickles a pass for moving his corps forward against orders and in doing so jeopardizing the entire army, but I certainly have a better understanding of the link between the two and why he thought that it was the right thing to do.
In the picture that I provided, the Chancellor House would be a bit to my left. The cannon line at Hazel Grove is not a whole lot higher in elevation, but it is higher. That is not a spot that should have been abandoned, in my opinion.
Expired Image Removed I believe that it was well over a year ago that I read comments made that in order to truly understa...
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Rich Keehner
August 10 at 3:39pm
I believe that it was well over a year ago that I read comments made that in order to truly understand the Battle of Gettysburg, you needed to understand Chancellorsville, especially in regards to the actions of Dan Sickles on the second day. Well, immediately I went and read a book on the subject and decided that there was something to that. The theory is that Sickles viewed the Peach Orchard much like Hazel Grove. Disaster followed at Chancellorsville after he was ordered to fall back from Hazel Grove and the Confederates moved in with their artillery. While he was standing in the area assigned to his corps at Gettysburg and he looked west, he could see the Peach Orchard and he probably immediately linked it in his mind to Hazel Grove and how bad it could be if the Confederates placed artillery there. Well, after reading up on the subject and looking over maps, I thought that Sickles might have had a legitimate concern. Please note that this does not mean that I think that his actions, or any actions that are in contradiction to orders from your commanding officer are proper conduct, especially when the safety of the army is in question.
Fast forward to this past Monday when I made my first trip to the Chancellorsville Battlefield. While standing close to the foundation of the Chancellor House (all that remains) and looking towards Hazel Grove, I was immediately struck by what I saw. I thought, I could be standing at the low part of Sickles assigned line at Gettysburg looking towards the Peach Orchard. Granted, I do not have a trained eye, but to me the distance looked similar and the height of Hazel Grove also looked similar to the Peach Orchard. The only difference was that there is a direct line of sight still today at Chancellorsville, while that is not the case at Gettysburg. I don't believe that the view at Gettysburg was as open in 1863 as it was and is at Chancellorsville, but it was certainly more open than it is today, if for no other reason than the trees were shorter and there would have been virtually no underbrush I any woods between the two because of animals.
So, while I still do not give Sickles a pass for moving his corps forward against orders and in doing so jeopardizing the entire army, but I certainly have a better understanding of the link between the two and why he thought that it was the right thing to do.
In the picture that I provided, the Chancellor House would be a bit to my left. The cannon line at Hazel Grove is not a whole lot higher in elevation, but it is higher. That is not a spot that should have been abandoned, in my opinion.
Expired Image Removed I believe that it was well over a year ago that I read comments made that in order to truly understa...
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