Phil Andrade
London
UK
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Posts: 6383
Joined: 2004
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7-6-1863
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Larry,
It’s great to see you back on parade with these articles.
This one gives a mixture of hyperbole and retains a deal of accuracy in other respects.
The headline estimate of 20,OOO Union and 30,000 confederate casualties by end of Day Two caught my eye : as you know, I have a profound interest in the casualty statistics, and my best reckoning is that Union casualties - killed, wounded and captured - were indeed very close to twenty thousand by the end of the second day, and that thousands more were temporarily missing as the shock of battle had driven men away from the ranks . As for the confederate loss, the article roughly doubles the actual figure : probably a total of fourteen thousand rebels had been killed, wounded or taken prisoner at that point. Note that in proportional terms this means that Meade’s army was the more damaged of the two : that needs to be cited to counter the oft repeated trope that the AoP could better endure the exchange rate. Not so at that juncture: things for the North were pretty grim in the arithmetic after those two frightening days.
Presumably, reports of Longstreet’s death were attributable to the mortal wounding of Barksdale, who resembled his Corps commander in terms of his burly physique.
Regards, Phil
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"Egad, sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox!"
"That will depend, my Lord, on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."
Earl of Sandwich and John Wilkes
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