Tag: Union

Possibly a a Photograph of the "Philadelphia Greys"

CSA: General Robert E Lee Sues for “Peace” [1863] – Pennsylvanian “Minutemen” Non-Existent! (17.3.2025)

This reflected a remarkable situation. A Confederate Army was riding rampant through the Pennsylvanian countryside – the State within which Washington DC is situated – and yet “no one” amongst the young, elderly, disabled or wounded men (considered medically “unfit” to join the Regular Army due to ill-health or age) were prepared to defend the Union. Within the city of Philadelphia, 8,000 men of the already existing “Philadelphia Greys” bravely volunteered to march to the front in defence of the Union. Due to the general lack of volunteers from the ordinary population – the city of New York sent 12,000 of its own existing Militiamen to supplement the regular Union Army. How brave these men were! Militiamen are often called “Sunday Soldiers” – as they are working men, fathers and patriarchs who live in society, work and look after their families. They come together once a week, once a month, or just a few times a year to compare notes, fire their weapons, and discuss homestead self-defence. They are not frontline soldiers. Of course, Confederate citizens showed the same extent of bravery when the time came. 

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Battle of Chancellorsville

CSA: Would a Confederate Victory Have Led to a Socialist Revolution? (28.2.2025)

However, the Southern ideas of honour and their so-called aristocratic thinking were overblown and these ideas actually sometimes played to the South’s benefit, as the men in the South followed natural leaders and often times appointed them on their own (via popular vote). All too often, in the North, Officers were often political appointees – desk-bound Officers who hadn’t seen a battlefield in years – or ever. Or men who simply bought their way into a General’s uniform. One of the more stereotypical views of the South was the aforementioned backward, backwoodsman. Think about that for a moment. Yes – a significant portion of the Confederate Army was poor, uneducated, and illiterate. Some left-leaning historians have said  – with some accuracy – that the poor Whites of the South had more in common with the slaves – than they did with the leading families who owned most of the land and the fabulous estates like the fictional “Tara” in Gone With the Wind.

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Confederate Artillary

CSA: The Bravery of John Pelham’s “Creole” Cannoniers at the [1862] Battle of Fredericksburg! (17.2.2025)

Despite using good terrain to the maximum advantage, Pelham’s single cannon was still far in advance of the Confederate frontline. Firing at the Union flank meant each cannon-ball smashed through multiple ranks of soldiers – hitting side-on. It was a dangerous gamble – but one which paid-off because Pelham was a competent Officer and his “Creole” crew superb when under fire. A Union Pennsylvanian Infantry Regiment started to take ridiculous numbers of casualties as Pelham’s cannon balls smashed there way through life and limb. However, Pelham only managed to fire three rounds before Union return fire stated coming in. At one-point, as Union rounds were landing, the Louisiana “Creole” crew began to sing the French “La Marseillaise” in defiance. Within minutes, hundreds of Union cannons, both near and far, were returning fire into the general direction, even though the lay of the land often prevented a clear line of sight. The reality was that the Union forces only had to land just one well-placed shot to destroy the single Confederate cannon and neutralise most of its crew. Pelham had chosen his position so well that despite the weight of return fire – the Union artillery found it very difficult to score a direct hit.

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Confederate Museum - Louisiana

CSA: Email – Did Louisiana “Natives” [Creoles] Fight for the Confederacy? (6.2.2025)

I know this must be true, because every so often in the biographies of Union soldiers and Officers, I read that the dastardly Confederates had been fielding Armies of “Negroes” and “Indians”, etc. Furthermore, some of the exploits of these non-White Confederates are well-recorded. On the other hand, there are Civil War authors who state that there was never any non-White Confederate soldiers and what has been mistaken as such – were unarmed slaves forced into Confederate uniform. We know that this cannot be true – because Black Veterans of the Confederate Army campaigned to have their names and exploits recorded on official Confederate War Memorials after the war. My real objective is to work my way into this subject and discover primary sources that record “Chinese” people fighting in the Confederacy – as this is my academic subject (Chinese Studies). My enquiry below is essentially whether the “Louisiana Natives” were the same outfit as the “Louisiana Creoles”? Of course, I might be wrong and could be confusing two separate and distinct formations (the former “Black” – the latter “Mixed”) – as the book above seems to be suggesting that the “Cannoniers” were a well-known Unit. Either way, for the progression of research – no stone must be left unturned!

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Triumph of the Soviet Red Army!

Cuba: Soviet Sacrifice at Stalingrad Remembered! (3.2.2025)

Soviet troops not only completely surrounded and annihilated the German Sixth Army, but also demonstrated to the world that the Nazi military machine was not invincible. The precisely planned Operation Uranus struck at the enemy’s most vulnerable flanks and allowed more than 300,000 Wehrmacht soldiers to be encircled. No strategy of Hitler’s could save them.

The echo of Stalingrad resonated far beyond the battlefield. It inspired the peoples of Europe in their fight against fascism and pushed the Western Allies to intensify the opening of the second front. The ruined city, defended street by street, echelon by echelon, became a symbol of the indomitable will of the Soviet people.

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Library of Congress“Dead Horse of Confederate Colonel; both killed at Battle of Antietam,” by Alexander Gardner

CSA: Piles of Thread-Bare Confederates at Antietam [Sharpsburg] – Notes on Their Sacrifice! (31.1.2025)

The Union Army paid the farmer $1 per dead Confederate body and the farmer made $60 out of the deal. He dug a new well in a different place for the cost of $2 – making a wartime profit of $58. No one knows the names of these Confederate soldiers – and if it was not for a report being made by the Union soldiers concerned – no one would know about these men today. Of course, there was great bravery on both sides – but the spin placed on the war by the winners has skewed how the Confederacy is viewed today. These Confederate men (and boys) advanced into the Union fire with the utmost discipline and determination. They believed 100% in their cause – which was for the freedom of their individual countries (termed “States”). At the time, this war was not only about slavery – but has been made ONLY about slavery since 1865. Many believed the federalisation of the United States was a betrayal of the 1776 War of Independence – and nothing short of a great evil!

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