We will finish up Buford tonight and move on to Longstreet.

 

Buford
Buford has a good eye and real intuition. He is willing to risk his cavalry to hold the high ground, even if he doesn't really trust Reynolds to get to Gettysburg in time to occupy the dominant position. Shaara gives us the impression that Buford didn't trust Meade to do the right thing. You are right, Bill. I think Buford was fed up!

The Federals apparently ended up fightiing the war with the senior US army officers that were bottom of the barrel and not at all the equal of the generals taht ended up on the other side.

Why had the South kept on winning most of the major battles with far fewer troops and fewer casualties?

 

Company=100 men in 2 Platoons
Regiment= 10 companies (1000)
Brigade=4-6 Regiments (4000-6000)
Division =2-4 Brigades (8000-12000)
Corps=3 divisions (24000-36000)

These are based on full strength. Attrition by sickness, death or desertion would reduce these numbers.

A soldier would be identified by cank, company, regiment and corps.
Corporal, C Company, 10th Regiment, 3rd Division, 6th corps. You could determine this by markings on his uniform: Chevrons for enlisted men and shoulder boards for officers (Serageants an dup wore a sash as well in a color spcified for the rank, though this was not always used) and a colored cloth shape -cross, circle, crescent, star, etc. on his hat and brass company letter and regiment number along with the infantry bugle.

 

While the Henry rifle, technically a carbine, was available, they were not issues in any great numbers because the department of the army believed soldiers would waste ammunition by firing too quickly.

Some cavalry units were equipped with the Spencer Carbine which held a spring loded magazine of 8 shells which were brought forward by pulling down the trigger guard which alos ejected the spent cartridge but most had single shot carbines such as the Sharps or Springfield.

The infantry wouldn't get a magazine fed rifle until the 1890's.

 

Thanks for that info.

I was wondering the same thing.

 

I was just looking at my official Gettysburg National Military Park Battlefield Guide, and it adds about the average soldier on both sides:
The Union Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia were very different from each other, and also were very much alike. The average soldier on both sides had been a farmer before he volunteered to enter the service, and his school education did not reach far above that of a sixth grade level. The majority of them were used to being outdoors and adapted easily to living on the march, though it was a bit tougher for the city raised men...Their uniforms... The greatest differences came in the regional origin of the soldiers... By contrast Chamberlain, a colonel, was a tenured professor at Bowdoin who knew nine languages. It seems tht in this war the generals leading the infantry were often in harms way and were about as likely to fall as the privates. Years later Chamberlain was talking with a man from Alabama who had fought for Longstreet at Gettysburg, and the man said that he had had Chamberlain clearly in his sights twice closeby in the battle at Little Round Top when he was positioning his troops ; but that he just couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger.

 

As you read, compare and contrast Buford and Stuart. Both lead Cavalry regiments. Their level of service to their respective commanders could not be more different. When you are reading about one, keep the other in mind.

 

Remember, the south had been fighting a defensive war, largely on their home territory.

 

Buford seems the true professional, "get the job done" kind of soldier. Stuart seems the actor, the charleton.

 

[QUOTE=S1997,Aug 25 2006, 06:58 AM]
Chamberlain is an idealist. And he is fighting because of the demands of his own character. Of all the characters in the novel Chamberlain is the one whose ideals and values represent the best in man. Even the weakness of his faith and the strength of his belief in the individual represent an ideal, both for Shaara and potentially for the reader. Chamberlain's ideal America was the b