Winter Lecture 2022 - “If Practicable” at Gettysburg
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- Опубліковано 24 сер 2024
- The order "if practicable" was given by both General Meade and Lee several times during the Gettysburg Campaign, each time leading to profound outcomes, involving actions or inactions at Cemetery Hill, Little Round Top, and more. It is amazing how the power of words can change the course of history. Join Ranger Harman for an intriguing discussion on how generals interpreted the same words differently to adapt to their situation.
No one better than Troy...a true gem
OMG TROY I LOVE LOVE THE WAY HE talks he has a amazing way of talking
A Most Fearful Sacrifice is en-route off Kickstarter - should be a definitive game on the battle.
Have learned so much from this UA-cam Channel !!!
Excellent. I find these lectures to be paramount in my understanding of Gettysburg
Troy, I just ran across this a few days ago, and I have watched it several times. Thank you for such in-depth analysis. Your other videos are equally satisfying to me. I hope you'll be making many more on your own. This material is incredible! Thank you.
I showed my roommate the movie Gettysburg, and when he heard that iconic line, "Take that hill if practicable." and my roommate's immediate response was. "What kind of order is that?!"
Excellent, excellent work; thanks for conceptualizing and delivering something new under the sun!
The Confederate soldiers were tired just trying to get to Gettysburg. They suffered many casualties during the first day. There were units that got mixed and the order of battle needed to be put in place.
Lots of confusion in town. Ewell had to reorganize his men. And they needed rest very badly. Neither side had solid intelligence as to what size of units they would be facing.
So not practicable would be the right answer.
History has shown what Jackson had done with tired troops before. So in some ways it's presumptuous to say Jackson would have taken that hill. It's also tempting when you look back at the significance of it with hindsight that we have now. And thrust blame at ewell for not being more aggressive now that we know how significant that hill was.
I recall a lecture from Dr. Mark DePue about Chancellorsville. He quoted Lee as using "if practicable" to Jackson before the flanking movement. Mr. Marman, if you're around the comment section. Can you comment on that? I had the same shocked reaction when I first heard DePue say that and have always wondered how common the phrase was. Thanks for your work!
Well... I can tell you that it was very common. It shows up in action reports and orders all the time. Meade used it in an order on July 2nd.
An excellent (con)textual/historical analysis. I’d love to see/read the journal article version of this. I’m afraid I can’t quite hold the thread with all the tangents into the particulars of other battles, as good as they are.
I am very grateful for your extremely useful presentation in period meaning and linguistics. As excellent as Jackson was he fought mainly against less than superb Union generals and was not Superman as his appearance at Glendale illustrates no one can be, I don’t think any less of him. I would very much want to hear more of general Slocum he is almost a blank on the Internet and one of the most active and successful Union generals. Thank you I greatly appreciate some insight into how these people thought
That's a lot of words for describing somebody saying "Use your best judgement."
Thank you…excellent presentation
The controlling part of Lee's order was not "if practicable," it was if Ewell could do it without bringing on a general engagement. That means Ewell had to conduct the attack with just the units under his immediate command. At 2pm Ewell had Rodes' and Early's divisions on the field. Early had Gordon and Smith out on the York Pike guarding the flank against phantom federals. Hays was policing the field north of town and guarding prisoners. Rodes was in the town, combat blown and disorganized by the Gettysburg street grid. To attack Rodes would have to march in column out of the town and deploy into line of battle under the federal guns massed on Cemetery Hill. That left Ewell with Avery's small brigade to attack. Ewell told Lee that he would attack if Hill could cooperate on the right. Hill demurred as Heth had shot his bolt and Pender's Division had suffered terribly in their frontal assault on Seminary Ridge. Anderson's Division had arrived on the field but Lee kept it as his reserve and would not commit it to battle. So the big question becomes where was Johnson's Division? If Ewell had Johnson on the field at 4pm he surely would have launched an attack. But Johnson did not arrive until 7pm. Ewell couldn't attack before then with the troops he had on the field without Hill's cooperation. Why Johnson took the long way to get there is the blunder that caused the failure to attack the Cemetery Hill position on the first day and the record is not clear why he went that way.
Thanks 😊
... looks like I will not visit you soon. But one day, for sure!
"...but to avoid a general engagement."
Great!
He is the best tour guide i have ever seen.
Does anyone know how hard it is to work for Park Service at Gettysburgh
I'm not sure what process Rangers have to go through. The Licensed Battlefield Guides must take an exam. Those who score above 96% are considered for an interview. If the applicants pass that they have to do a Oral Exam. They must take the test with the lead Ranger and a LBG in a vehicle. The applicant has to observe local traffic laws as well. A buddy of mine took the exam and got into the Oral test.
He went through a traffic light and the Ranger told him to turn off the car and hand the keys over.
It's tough to get the blue shirt.
I'm sure Rangers must have an equal test or exam to be a presenter.