As winter approaches, we witness a remarkable period of college sports in the United States, with the appearance of basketball and conference championships in American football. I typically write these posts a day or two before Saturday morning, so I can only hope for a Liberty football victory in the Conference USA Championship. Therefore, I can only hope I am waking up to a Liberty victory this morning.
In his third volume of Lincoln Finds a General, Kenneth P. Williams quoted Colonel George Henderson in his third volume when he said, "Grant, like Moltke, was always ready to try conclusions." This no better defines the battle of Belmont. Williams correctly asserts that we can learn as much from Grant's mistakes at Belmont as we can about why he was a great natural commander. Grant already proved some operational brilliance in the trans-Mississippi theater by shifting forces across the state, stemming the Confederate tide across Missouri.
Winston Churchill's biography about John Churchill was quite insightful. I knew little of how the "Captain-General" managed to work with the stubborn Dutch forces to defeat Louis XIV's imperial forces. Even after the bloody victory at Malplaquet, the Duke of Marlborough managed to keep his position and put the British in a superior position over their French counterpart in the Netherlands.
Finally, I am working back through the battle of Shiloh and utilizing more primary source material. I also decided to add more material to my dissertation covering the Battle of Cold Harbor. I might add more material on the battle of Piedmont as it did influence Lee's decision-making after 5 June.
Question of the Week: What history book or books are you currently reading?
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