it was a hell of a story. glad he was able to do what he did-who knows how the aftermath of d-day would have gone if they hadn't managed to continue to fool hitler. and luckily, hitler ignored rommel!

now, lincoln would get put out with his generals, but at least he didn't delude himself into thinking he should or could step in and take over the waging of it...even if he did ask mclellan 'if you're not going to use your army, maybe i could borrow it for a while'. i've never looked, but i wonder what happened to him after he lost the presidential election to lincoln...

Spent a lot of time in Europe and eventually served a term as NJ Governor. Of course wrote a memoir that defended his actions in the war. "Little Napoleon" was a very accurate nickname.

yeah, i read up on him a bit. i know he had huge visions of greatness for himself. too bad his ambition didn't actually propel him to action.

This is one that I read some years ago that I would also recommend. Some of the things they did at Gettysburg are (wait for it)... legendary.

The Iron Brigade: A Military History by Alan T. Nolan

Union prisoners receive rations at Fort Sumter in 1864.

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shelby foote's trilogy is a must read for civil war buffs-who don't mind almost 3k total pages.
james mcphersons 'battle cry of freedom' is a very good single volume work.
fiction-if you haven't read 'the killer angels' read it as soon as possible! fabulous book.

Do you remember this..Best PBS series ever..I taped every episode and still have them in a box stored away in the house....haven't watched any in years..maybe dig them out and watch again...

The Civil War (TV series)

Starring

David McCullough
Sam Waterston :tro:
Jason Robards :tro:
Julie Harris
Morgan Freeman :tro:
Garrison Keillor
Arthur Miller
George Plimpton

September 23–27, 1990

The Civil War is a documentary film created by Ken Burns about the American Civil War. It was first broadcast on PBS on five consecutive nights from September 23 to September 27, 1990. Approximately 40 million viewers watched it during its initial broadcast, making it the most-watched program ever to air on PBS. It was subsequently awarded more than 40 major television and film honors. The film was remastered on the twelfth anniversary of its release, and a book following the movie has also been released.

haven't seen it. :o

not much of a watcher....but i do keep telling myself i need to watch it.


i was reading a book not long ago about the mexican american war, and polk, etc. contacted the author because i found a mistake! hehe....
he had sherman in mexico during that war...sherman was in california.

Did he print a retraction:)..or thank you:rolleyes:

lol
he responded to my email. said thanks, that he'd fix it in the paperback version. wonder if he did....

just bought two books by ralph peters, hell or richmond and cain at gettysburg. found the first at booksamillion while killing time....
cain at gettysburg won an award for military historical fiction. i'll let you guys know if they're good-they sound good!

"the killer angels" was the basis for the movie "Gettysburg". the second movie was "Gods & Generals"

the PBS series The Civil War was EXCELLENT!

Gettysburg movie very good with great actors...Gods and Generals not sure i've watched that one, put it in my netflix que...
Another good Ken Burns series was The War, have that on vcr tapes..

A Confederate and Union soldier shake hands during a celebration at Gettysburg in 1913. Image from the Library of Congress. July 1-3, 2013 marks the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg



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i saw a picture yesterday of a bunch of vets shaking hands over a wall at the same celebration.

it's funny (and sad too) but at the battles, after they were over, or there was a surrender, the opposing soldiers would sit and visit with each other like old friends. of course, you see that in other battles too.

when vicksburg capitulated, there was immediate visiting between both sides. hell, some of the soldiers were making trades of tobacco for coffee and the like during the siege! happened in virginia (pickets on either side of a river, with a burned bridge between).
i'd have to think the most famous incident may be the unofficial christmas truce in the trenches the first year of ww1. too bad it didn't create a peace like some of the soldiers hoped.

going back to virginia in march.
we're celebrating our 30th anniversary by going to two caps games...but i plan to visit richmond, and petersburg-battle of the crater! and whatever else in that area i can find that piques my interest. once i go there, i've pretty much been to every major battle site, and some of the minor ones.
i'll have to look at the list to see what may be left after this. but it's not much.