Analysis Of The Battle Of Wounded Kneee

The American Civil War has become a point of controversy and argument when discussing key events in shaping America. The arguments that arise when discussing the war tend to focus on whether the Confederate was constitutionally justified in seceding, or whether the North had the right to prevent the secession. However, when discussing the America Civil War and the idea of separation, it is important to be mindful that separation did not simply end at the state level. Letters written by Jesse Rolston, Jr. and Jedediah Hotchkiss portray two significantly different attitudes toward the war, despite the fact that the writers both fought for the Confederate States and give accounts of the same battle, one of which ended in the Confederate’s favor. When examining the documents, both writers express different viewpoints on life on and off the battlefield. This significant difference represents a division amongst the Confederate army.

On March 6-8 1862, almost 154 years ago today, An epic and war altering battle took place in Pea Ridge. Also known as the battle of Elkhorn Tavern. This battle took place in Benton County, Arkansas, and was part of the Pea Ridge campaign. The two major generals of this battle are Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis with the U.S army who divided his army between Peter Osterhaus and Eugene Carr. The other general was Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn with the confederate army. Van Dorn divided his army between generals Benjamin McCullough and Sterling Price.

THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN- The first battle between the Union and the Confederacy. General Irvin McDowell with 35,000 troops were on the side of the North and General Thomas J. Jackson with 35,000on the side of the South. The North was excited and confident that they would win and many civilians joined the troops to watch the excitement. General Irvin McDowell complained that his soldiers “stopped every moment to pick blackberries or get water; they would not keep in the ranks, order as you pleased” The first interaction happened about 25 miles to the southwest of Washington. The Union drove the left side of the Confederates back and 35,000 held positions along Bull Run. The Confederate defense stiffened until a Confederate Unit under General

For my battle analysis assignment, I have chosen to examine the battle of Shiloh. This battle began April 6 – 7 1862, in the Pittsburg Landing area of Tennessee. In Hebrew Shiloh, means “peace” nonetheless, this battlefield was far from a place of peace from April 6-7 1862. This battle was the bloodiest civil war battle to date and occurred between the Union and Confederate armies. Having analyzed the battle from multiple sources, I have discovered a number of operational, tactical, and logistical mistakes that contributed to the Confederate losses suffered. My sources include documentaries, historical videos, books, and articles from historians and civil war experts who have spent their lives studying and dissecting the civil war, its battles, commanders, and tactics. As part of my analysis, I will highlight the Confederate mistakes that could have produced a different outcome of this historical battle.

The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh starts as reinforcements from General Buell’s Army of the Ohio and a unit of Grant’s own reserve division joined the Union Army now positioned at Pittsburg Landing. These reinforcements added over 22,500 men to the Union lines13 bringing the total number of Union forces to over 45,000, which is more than they had on 6 April, the first day of fighting.14 On April 7, General Grant renewed the fighting with an aggressive counteract.15 Greatly outnumbered (Confederate forces now around 25,000) and disorganized the Confederate forces now under General Beauregard fought hard but eventually had to retreat to back Corinth.16 The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh was won by General Grant and his Union forces due to two main reasons. The first, Union troop numbers greatly outnumbered their enemy, over 45,000 to 25,000 respectively. And secondly, the reinforcements received by General Grant had not fought the day before and were fresh and excited to fight, unlike the exhausted remaining Confederate troops.17 This was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil up to that point, with 23,746 casualties (Union: 13,047; Confederate: 10,699).18 The Union lost more men but claimed the victory because the Confederate Army retreated back to Corinth, Mississippi.

As a result of its critical location, Vicksburg unified the southern states. As long as the South held control of the Mississippi the southern states were not divided. Jefferson Davis described Vicksburg as, “"Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South's two halves together” (Boundless, 2016). One of the main reasons the North wanted to siege Vicksburg was because they could cut the southern states down the middle, leaving Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas separated from the rest of southern forces. Without unity of command, the South was left to a severe disadvantage. President Lincoln described Vicksburg as “See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key. The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket,” (Vicksburg Siege, n.d.). In order to hinder the unity of command the Vicksburg campaign was designed to shut off communication and supply with the rest of the Confederacy. Without communication with other Confederacy troops, no one was aware that there were troops trapped in Vicksburg. After gaining the control of Vicksburg, the North was able to further hinder the communication and unity of command between the southern states as they now were split down the middle. General Grant knew that when

Up until now, slaves have been a part of both the Northern and Southern states. The Confederate States of America consisted of eleven Southern states; (Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Arkansas) and each state was in favor of slavery. But the northern states wanted to abolition slavery.

This complicated war full of bloodshed and death started merely by an assault of a Confederate left flank. Deemed the single most deadly day in American military history, the Union (who had more men) swept many attacks towards the Confederate army. Even though the South had more spirit and useful tactics the sheer numbers of the Union made this battle one to remember. They fought for many hours in Miller's cornfield to then make a last stand at Antietam Creek. With the only sign of cover being trees and the stone bridge which was worn by bullets and bodies you could tell this fight was going to be bad. The Union captured the bridge and with a final push and counter attack from another Union division the Union were victorious and were another

This most important Civil War Battle occurred over three summer days, July 1 - July 3 1863, around the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. It began as not that big of a deal but by the time it ended, there were 160,000 Americans. Before the battle, a lot major cities in the North such as Philadelphia, Baltimore and even Washington D.C, were under threat of attack from General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia which had crossed the Potomac River and marched into Pennsylvania. The Union Army of the Potomac under its new commander, General George G. Meade, marched to intercept Lee. ( Jeffry D. Wert)

The American Civil War was a war that divided the nation, pitting brother against brother, son against son. For four long years this war would drag on. At one point President Lincoln believe that only if the Union could capture and control one key terrain the war could be brought to an end. Nestle between Cairo, Illinois, and the Gulf of Mexico, lays the Mississippi River twisting and winding for roughly a 1,000 miles. This river will prove to be a vital area for whomever controlled it. Siting more than 200 feet high, the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi overlooked the river on the Louisiana-Mississippi state border. The Confederate control of this area gave them an ideal

The book Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee was written by Dee Brown. Dee Brown wrote a handful of books and the central theme around those books were tales of Native Americans and civil war stories. He spent a long time studying different tribes all around the United States. He has brought out the voice of the Native Americans which was muffled and silenced by the army and government. This book brought much awareness to a cause many had forgotten about, and to the shock of many when they realized he was not a Native American. Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee tells the stories of many Native American tribes and their hardships when facing the government, army, and settlers. While reading this book, I came to quite a shock. I learned the point of view that was hidden in history books, the loss instead of the win, and the sadness felt throughout the book that made it unpleasant to read. I believe this book has brought to light the mistreatment of Native Americans in the past, the main hardships including countless false treaties, harsh treatments from the settlers, and the unjust massacres. I found this book to be quite a difficult read but incredibly worth it. It is written in such a manner that you feel immersed, you feel the all the emotions and imagine how everything came to be. It is figurative, but also incredibly factual. In the beginning of almost every chapter, before the actual start, there is small paragraph with the year and the events in that following year, a quote, or

On the morning of November 4, 1791, Major General Arthur St. Clair, along with an estimated 1400 soldiers, came under a coordinated attack by Chief Little Turtle and over 1000 Native American warriors. By the end of the day, the casualties on the American side were well above nine hundred. The Native Americans casualties were fewer than one hundred and fifty. St. Clair’s defeat, or the Battle of the Wabash, resulted in America’s largest defeat in any one battle against Native Americans. President George Washington demanded and received St. Clair’s resignation from the army. St. Clair faced the first Congressional Special Committee investigation and the course of the United States military changed.

On the morning of December 29, 1890, many Sioux Indians (estimated at above two hundred) died at the hands of the United States Army near Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The Indians were followers of the Ghost Dance religion, devised by Wovoka, a Paiute prophet, as a spiritual outlet for Indian repression by whites. The United States Army set out to intercept this group of Native Americans because they performed the controversial Ghost Dance. Both whites’ and the Sioux’s misunderstanding of an originally peaceful Indian religion culminated in the Battle of Wounded Knee. This essay first shows how the Ghost Dance came about, its later adaptation by the Sioux, and

It is our duty, as soon to be Second Lieutenants in the Army, to learn from history. Learning from mistakes in the past is necessary to understand the responsibilities we will soon have. The Battle of Gettysburg shows prime examples of the nine principles of war: Objective, Offensive, Mass, Economy of Force, Maneuver, Unity of Command, Security, Surprise and Simplicity. In the military today, we are overwhelmingly blessed with every asset that we have including technology and monetary resources the list could go on forever but the most invaluable asset is history. Although all nine principles of war are pertinent to success on the battlefield, only five will be discussed in this analysis.

As Gala has no favorite style, she also can’t pick a favorite artist. Growing up, she said that her favorite artist was Arnold Friburg, a well known artist whose work is realistic and reminiscent of the Renaissance painters. Arguably his most famous painting is “The Prayer at Valley Forge,” depicting George Washington, kneeling by his horse. Friburg lived near where Gala grew up and she saw him as a local rockstar. Later, when Gala gained her own fame for “The Ten Virgins,” she sent Friburg an invitation to hear her give a lecture about her art. To her surprise, he came. She shook the hand of her childhood hero and he invited her to tour his personal artist studio, a “huge, gargantuan” barn full of 10-12 ft canvases. He had just finished painting a commissioned piece of Prince Charles, and it was still in the studio for her to see.