As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
I believe in the next few weeks, no matter the outcome of the time line, I will invest the time in setting the historical record straight, as it has been corrupted and permeates thee entire present each of us endures, and what took place years ago, affects all of us to this day.
I begin this first in stating God did not love the Union and Abraham Lincoln more than the Confederacy and Jefferson Davis in the Civil War. God's interest was in preserving the Union, so the Christ of battle preserved the Union. They were all Americans and unlike this period of the 21st century, most were good people.
Abraham Lincoln and his followers were not the better angels of nature that history dictates, because they dictated the history in smashing the South. The South refused to engage in the scorched earth against civilians that Mr. Lincoln and his advocates engaged in. In that the Civil War, was a war in the South against Federal Intrusion and in the North the war was an assault upon Individual Americans.
General Pope's General Order #10 led the Lincoln cause in arresting anyone, exiling them, and if they returned they would be shot or hung. The first homes fired in the Civil War were by Union officers burning down Southern homes in the first days of the war.
I am not here to cast stones, but to lay a framework of reality, which will expose the fiction of the LOST CAUSE, which was an excuse created by southerner Jubal Early, one of thee most foolish officers in the Confederate forces who entire career could be summed up as it begun as a rear guard shooting Confederates in battle at first Bull Run, some success in the mid war year, and then a buffoonery of being routed out of the Shenandoah and failing to invade Washington City at the close of the war, by delaying his march 2 days, when the South did not have 2 days.
The Lost Cause of Jubal Early was written at the close of the 19th century and basically was taken up by all historians in the South was a Lost Cause in the North was too strong, too industrial and too big for the South to overcome. Jubal Early and the ignorants who followed him place blame upon General James Longstreet primarily and to a lesser degree on General Rosser. Longstreet was a friend of President Grant and Rosser was best friends with General George Custer. Those were there sins, and the reason they were scapegoated, when in fact they were two of the finest Soldiers of the Confederacy.
Longstreet was one of the most capable field generals and Rosser was every bit the equal of George Custer and Nathan Bedford Forrest, who were the best cavalry officers in the world.
What the Lame Cherry is about to reveal to you is the dates of August 17th, 1862 and August 29th, 1862. Those dates are important in obliterating the Lost Cause in the South was not capable of winning the war. I state that God for His purpose did not allow the South to win, and if certain events had taken place as scheduled and planned, the South would have taken Washington City by August 30th, 1862 and forced the captured American Government to make peace or be hung, as the opportunity was the Second Battle of Bull Run or Mananas.
The first Confederate victory at Bull Run against General McClelland was not followed up. In that, General Johnston was in command at Virginia, and General Stonewall Jackson was commanding in the Shenandoah, and James Longstreet was in command at the Bull Run front, with Johnston at the Richmond line.
It was at this period of McClelland reeling back, that Longstreet attempted to coordinate with Jackson for an overwhelming drive up the Shenandoah. Jackson deferred as he did not want a superior ranked officer on his Shenandoah field of battle.
That ended that, but it began then the real invasion of the South in McClelland moved to take Richmond, where again Longstreet attempted to move his commander Joseph Johnston to move Jackson this time to fall on the Union's right.
What followed instead was a series of battles in burning up troops as at Malvern Hill, during which General Johnston was wounded, replaced by an incompetent General Summer who "would not use his troops" and in this series of failures, General Robert E. Lee replaced Summer and the war edged again toward Bull Run as the armies of the Potomac and Northern Virginia maneuvered across a battlefield which now had General Pope in scorched earth in charge of the coming campaign.
It was in this period of maneuver that General Longstreet approached General Lee again with is plan to crush the Union forces of Pope, by bringing General Jackson from the Shenandoah Valley. Lee informed Longstreet that the order had already been given and discussions and coordination would follow.
The entire order of battle which General Lee was coordinating was Pope's forces were on uneven ground and their lines not secure. Jackson was to smash into Pope's right as Lee and Longstreet smashed into the Union front. The combined forces would be overwhelming and shatter the Union army. Literally the South would have followed the retreating Union forces to Alexandria Virginia before the 20th of August before Federal reinforcements appear and as quickly wheel on Washington City and occupy it before 25th of August. It all relied on the order of battle to begin August 17th, 1862 in the year of our Lord.
Jackson reported he could be on ground by the 15th. For coordination purposes he was given to the 16th. He was on the field ready for the 17th start.
General Jeb Stuart, was to arrive on Jackson's flank with the Confederacy's Cavalry of 1400 strong to assist on the 18th. He embarked on a train on the 17th to receive orders from General Lee at headquarters and left specific instructions that his subordinate General Fitzhugh Lee was to march the Cavalry to the plank road at the Raccoon Crossing on the Rappadan River for direct assistance for the coming crushing blow.
This is where the problems began, for Fitzhugh Lee, with the South hanging in the balance, decided to move his troops by the scenic route as he desired to enjoy the country. The end result was Stuart's horses were used up by the time they reached the plank road and were absolutely unfit for combat.
The next problem arose in General Stuarts aide was captured with the battle plans and taken to General Porter's command and General Pope immediately began moving his forces to safer ground for defense.
This then produced a series of delays in which battle was not given for almost another week, as Jackson lay in seclusion with the Union losing that column, and two of Longstreet's flankers somehow went for a walk in the woods and did not appear for the battle of the 27th.
There is at this juncture in revisionism Jubal Early blaming Longstreet for not joining the battle as he arrived on the scene as Jackson was engaged in hot combat, and requesting reinforcements from Robert E. Lee. Longstreet appear on the Jackson right flank noted on his high ground that the reinforcements would not appear for over an hour and Jackson would be driven off. Longstreet as a field general noted his high ground was splendid for his cannon to enfilade the Union lines of General Porter. Enfilade means that a Porter's Soldiers were spaced out in a line, Longstreet standing on the end of that line could fire down it and kill numbers of Soldiers easily. This is what is meant by "outflanking" your enemy, in a column positions itself on the flank of your forces, and then begins strafing it. Longstreet's artillery shredded Porter's forces for which he was rightly furious as he was aware of such a situation when deployed and blamed General Pope for the slaughter of his command.
Pope would later court martial Porter to cover this up, and Porter would invest twenty years of his life fighting for his reputation and win it back.
The result of Longsteet's cannon fire was shredding the Union line, the Union regrouped was shredded again, regrouped again and was shredded again for their defeat.
This brought about the retreat of Pope's army, and brings into play the lost brigades of Longstreet, for if they had appeared as reinforcements, Longstreet would have driven the Union off a plateau covering the retreat and discomfited the Union even greater. Instead there was an orderly withdrawal, and the great advantage was completely lost in over running Pope's defeated forces, because the Union reinforcements had already appeared in Alexandria.
Those are the facts. The South was equal to the North in fighting ability early in the war. It was akin to Japan in World War II striking America, but not gaining the advantage which allowed American industry to begin churning out the war machine.
The fact is the South had opportunity in the early two years of the war. If Jackson had coordinated with Longstreet after the first Battle of Bull Run, this would have put absolute pressure on Washington City and McClelland's defeated army, so that the invasion of Richmond would not have come about.
This then would have not brought on Bull Run II, which if the parties had attacked when they were supposed to and not embarked on a scenic ride through the country, the Confederates would have smashed Pope's army and driven to capture Washington DC by the 25th of August, as nothing lay between the Confederates and Washington City.
So there was not any Lost Cause, what instead was a small group of inopportune generals who failed orders and then attempted to scapegoat other leaders. The South could have easily won the Civil War and Antietam and Gettysburg should never have happened, as Antietam should have been fought outside Washington City in a route, and Abe Lincoln would have been hung or signed a peace treaty from Confederate prison.
If allowed by time, I will continue to examine this war as it's effects are vital upon the modern Trump landscape and global war issue of the necessity of the Lord of Battle, and the maxims never change in bringing the greatest force to bear with speed on the battlefield of best position, with no delays, and that army wins that field and often the entire war.
The Confederacy was never a lost cause, because even after Bull Run II, there were opportunities which will be examined. In every case though the Southern Command would not resort to the Lincoln scorched earth or meat grinding slaughter of General Grant in using Soldiers like hard tack rations.
Nuff Said
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