I completely agree with your observations on battle strategy; it never did make much sense to me to present such a target. And that one soldier on the left end in #3 seems awfully young and slight to be involved in warfare. Wonderful continuation of the battle, Harry!

A new and beautiful series of episodes on the recovery of war SESEssion! Splendid photographs!

how the would would have been if the South had won

19 already and I still see new things with every posting. A mini education on CW uniforms and weapons. Job well done Harry. Dana

you right about them walking in line like that. i never understood it also. very good shots

Super Harry...All unique and quite interesting to look at...keep them coming...I think I am caught up now in my comments...so sorry I got behind. Look forward to seeing more of your fantastic shots!!

Unlike Rosy, I am way behind! Sorry, my friend.. I will get there.. lol This is another great image and as you say, remarkable recovery from the young lad! The detail you captured in these shots is wonderful, well done.. Rob

Dear Harry escellent capture & collage :)

The reason for the block and line formations of troops was determined by the guns used. Most of the rifles used in the War of Northern Aggression weren't much different than those used 50 years before in the Napleonic wars. The range was about 50 yards or so. Also by moving in a line which is what the English used rather than the block formations that the French used, you could present more rifles to the foe. In the War of Northern Aggression, The Both sides used the line formations to get more firepower on their foes. But the South tried to get into this kind of battle since the Yankees had more soldiers than the South did. A lot more. The Yankees could afford to spend troops and the South couldn't. Also the rifles were muzzle loading weapons that usually could be fired once or maybe twice before the side too close and the rifles became basically a pike. Repeating rifles were just a few years away, and by the end of the war some repeating rifles were finding their way into battle. Gatling guns make their first appearence and the age of machine guns begin. The American Civil War is often called the first modern war, or the between war. It was the the war that bridged the gap between modern warefare and the way wars had been fought sinc basically the Romans.

Thanks, Butch, for the information and rationale on why the troops fought in block and line formations during the Civil War. It is appreciated, but, as far I'm concerned, modern warfare really came into effect in World War I, with the advent of the machine gun, which really put an end to the suicidal strategy such as shown in my Civil War images.

First, a fine collage Harry!!! Can't really agree completely with our southern friend above. Let's begin with altering the name to the War of the Rebellion:) And let's think tactics. Here's a little info borrowed from a wiki... At the beginning of the Civil War most existing military doctrine was based around the smoothbore musket. Since the 17th century, infantry normally fought in a tight shoulder-to-shoulder line and fired volleys at each other. When one side gained the upper hand, they would finish off the attack with a bayonet charge. These tactics developed because smoothbore muskets were only accurate at short ranges. Rifles made this type of fighting obsolete because of their much greater range. In Civil War battles, infantry typically fought in a widely-spread out line, with the men using trees, rocks, buildings, etc. for cover. Linear formations were thus rarely seen any more (although it did occur in the Battle of Brawner's Farm the evening before Second Bull Run). However, most American army officers in 1861 had been schooled in obsolete Napoleonic tactics, especially since many of them had served in the Mexican War, which was still fought in the old way with smoothbore muskets and linear formations. As such, officers typically failed to realize the power of rifles and continued to launch massed attacks against fortified enemies, which invariably resulted in heavy losses. For years, one of the standard manuals used in the US Army had been an 1835 translation by General Winfield Scott of a French work. Shortly before the Civil War, William J. Hardee (later to become a Confederate lieutenant general) updated it to include information on rifles, but he still assumed the use of linear formations in the book. Nonetheless, Hardee's book was produced in a huge variety of editions during the war, often for different types of infantry. For instance, one was produced specially for African-American troops, and another for Zouave units. There were many Southern editions, and at least one Northern edition that omitted Hardee's name from the title page. Your reenactors are using the old linear tactics because it probably makes for better theater today. But Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia lost the final battle at Gettysburg because of these old Napoleonic War tactics...Union forces holding the high ground gunned them down with long range artillery, then grape shot, then carefully aimed rifle fire...all from protected positions.

These are some really cool captures, and something I would love to see in person