The South's closest approach to Independence
SnakAmerican Civil War
Bliv bruger af LibraryThing, hvis du vil skrive et indlæg
Dette emne er markeret som "i hvile"—det seneste indlæg er mere end 90 dage gammel. Du kan vække emnet til live ved at poste et indlæg.
1JimThomson
Almost everyone knows that the Confederate States Army could not defeat the United States militarily. Therefore, the objective was to convince the U.S.A. that they should abandon the effort as being too difficult and costly. Many in the North were saying just this by the late spring of 1864 after the horrendous casualty reports of the Spring campaign of General Grant in Virginia.
I am told that by August of that year, with Grant stalemated at Richmond/Petersburg and Sherman stalemated at Atlanta, that no one would give you a wooden nickle for Lincoln's chances of being re-elected in November. And if Lincoln were not elected, the Opposition would open negotiations for a Cease-Fire. Lincoln knew this and told Gen. Grant to win it soon, one way or the other. Thus August of 1864 was the closest that the Confederate States of America ever came to winning it's Independence.
But what happened to change this? We all know that Lincoln was re-elected and the War continued until the South ran out of everything but Courage and Ammunition.
What happened was that General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army of Tennessee outside Atlanta, was relieved of Command by newly promoted General John B. Hood. General Johnston was so shocked by this that he did not make the effort to brief or advise Gen. Hood on the total situation or actions in progress.
General Hood was a Texan and was said to know, unlike Gen. Johnston, only one military strategy; ATTACK! Gen. Hood did so but was foiled by the superior numbers and firepower of the Union veterans of Gen. Sherman's Army of the Tennessee. Atlanta fell and the Victory restored the support of the northern public for continuing the War. Thus was lost the Last Best Hope of the Confederate States of America to gain it's Independence, Thank God.
General J. E. Johnston is buried about a mile from my home, in Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore. His monument lists both his rank in the U.S. Army and in the Confederate States Army. He had caught a cold while standing bare-headed in the rain at the funeral of General William T. Sherman-his opponent in the March across Georgia and the advance through South Carolina-and developed pneumonia and expired several weeks later. I have a biography of General Johnston; Joseph E. Johnston, a Civil War Biography by Craig L. Symonds and the Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman published by The Library of America.
I am told that by August of that year, with Grant stalemated at Richmond/Petersburg and Sherman stalemated at Atlanta, that no one would give you a wooden nickle for Lincoln's chances of being re-elected in November. And if Lincoln were not elected, the Opposition would open negotiations for a Cease-Fire. Lincoln knew this and told Gen. Grant to win it soon, one way or the other. Thus August of 1864 was the closest that the Confederate States of America ever came to winning it's Independence.
But what happened to change this? We all know that Lincoln was re-elected and the War continued until the South ran out of everything but Courage and Ammunition.
What happened was that General Joseph E. Johnston, commanding the Confederate Army of Tennessee outside Atlanta, was relieved of Command by newly promoted General John B. Hood. General Johnston was so shocked by this that he did not make the effort to brief or advise Gen. Hood on the total situation or actions in progress.
General Hood was a Texan and was said to know, unlike Gen. Johnston, only one military strategy; ATTACK! Gen. Hood did so but was foiled by the superior numbers and firepower of the Union veterans of Gen. Sherman's Army of the Tennessee. Atlanta fell and the Victory restored the support of the northern public for continuing the War. Thus was lost the Last Best Hope of the Confederate States of America to gain it's Independence, Thank God.
General J. E. Johnston is buried about a mile from my home, in Greenmount Cemetery in Baltimore. His monument lists both his rank in the U.S. Army and in the Confederate States Army. He had caught a cold while standing bare-headed in the rain at the funeral of General William T. Sherman-his opponent in the March across Georgia and the advance through South Carolina-and developed pneumonia and expired several weeks later. I have a biography of General Johnston; Joseph E. Johnston, a Civil War Biography by Craig L. Symonds and the Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman published by The Library of America.
