Civil War

[snazzlefrag]

I have a few questions for all the Civil War Veterans (at least Civil War "exam" Veterans),

Is it enough to know who the primary generals involved in each battle were, or will I also need to know the names of the numerous subordinate generals, colonels, captains, and individual Batallions/Companies etc.?

Are there any MAP questions on the exam (ie, identify where Vicksburg is)?

For the generals, do I need to remember who went to West Point, who was born in Ohio, who was born in Virginia etc.?

I know I need to know HOW the key battles were won. But I am wondering how specific the exam questions will be:

Do I need to know that 300 Union soldiers attacked from the right flank at 7:30am whilst 200 attacked from the rear at 8:15am. Or is it enough to know that 500 Union soldiers overcame 800 Confederate soldiers on the second day of battle and General X made a hasty retreat?

Not sure how deep the questions will go!

Can anyone help me out?

Thanks,
Snazzlefrag

[cederic824]

Is it enough to know who the primary generals involved in each battle were, or will I also need to know the names of the numerous subordinate generals, colonels, captains, and individual Batallions/Companies etc.?

-Opposing Generals for each battle is usually good enough.

Are there any MAP questions on the exam (ie, identify where Vicksburg is)?

-No, but you should be able to distinguish between battles in the eastern theater, and western theater. The dividing line is roughly the appalachian mtns.

Do I need to know that 300 Union soldiers attacked from the right flank at 7:30am whilst 200 attacked from the rear at 8:15am. Or is it enough to know that 500 Union soldiers overcame 800 Confederate soldiers on the second day of battle and General X made a hasty retreat?

- Just know which side won, and how they won, (I.E. through utter defeat, withdrawal, a seige, etc. )

[Urbannaja]

Originally Posted by snazzlefrag

Hi All,


..and what's the deal with McClellan? Why on earth would Lincoln keep re-appointing such an obviously yellow-bellied, lilly-livered, chicken-headed, wuss?

In my mind, the very first time a GENERAL retreats yelling "Run Awaaaay! Run Awaaaaay!" AFTER WINNING a victory, he should be shipped off to run a Hot Dog stand in the heart of Indian Territory.


Eesh!

Alright, my breaks over...back to studying!

He was a cautious guy who was all about saving his soldier's lives and didn't realize the strength of his enemy. In this case, hindsight is 20/20 but at the time, all he knew was that he was facing Lincoln's first pick for commander of all the NORTH's armies (Lee) with an unknown amount of soldiers at his command, who were already dug-in. It probably seemed like suicide for him to go in without knowing. Intelligence wins wars, and McLellan didn't feel he had enough.

[snazzlefrag]

Originally Posted by Urbannaja

He was a cautious guy who was all about saving his soldier's lives and didn't realize the strength of his enemy. In this case, hindsight is 20/20 but at the time, all he knew was that he was facing Lincoln's first pick for commander of all the NORTH's armies (Lee) with an unknown amount of soldiers at his command, who were already dug-in. It probably seemed like suicide for him to go in without knowing. Intelligence wins wars, and McLellan didn't feel he had enough.

You are right of course,

By all accounts, his men loved him. In a time when human life seemed so cheap and expendable, it is no wonder that his consideration for the well-being of his men earned him the respect of his soldiers.

It also appears that McClellan held on to the hope that the South would somehow 'come to its senses' if the North could just give them a bloody nose, without the need to utterly destroy them. Hence his reluctance to fully engage the enemy, even when he obviously had the upper hand.

However, his tendency to be overcautious, to 'play it safe', to be underambitious, to overestimate the enemy, and to disbelieve the facts laid before him, undoubtedly caused the war to be prolonged. Thus, he may have inadvertantly contributed to a much greater loss of life and limb on both sides.

He had the military genius, the support of his men, the equipment, the supplies, and the manpower necessary to possibly hasten an earlier end to the bloody war. But he chose not to take advantage of his upper hand, at great cost!

For his compassion and concern for human life, he is to be commended. For his repeated tactical and strategic failures as a military general, he was undoubtedly a liability and, therefore, should probably have been relieved of his command much earlier than he actually was.

Had I been Lincoln, I don't know what I would have done with McClellan.

[snazzlefrag]

Originally Posted by cederic824

Is it enough to know who the primary generals involved in each battle were, or will I also need to know the names of the numerous subordinate generals, colonels, captains, and individual Batallions/Companies etc.?

-Opposing Generals for each battle is usually good enough.

Are there any MAP questions on the exam (ie, identify where Vicksburg is)?

-No, but you should be able to distinguish between battles in the eastern theater, and western theater. The dividing line is roughly the appalachian mtns.

Do I need to know that 300 Union soldiers attacked from the right flank at 7:30am whilst 200 attacked from the rear at 8:15am. Or is it enough to know that 500 Union soldiers overcame 800 Confederate soldiers on the second day of battle and General X made a hasty retreat?

- Just know which side won, and how they won, (I.E. through utter defeat, withdrawal, a seige, etc. )

Thank you very much Cederic,

Once again, your feedback is much appreciated.

[Timcoinc]

Snazzlefrag,

I'm sure you will pass Civil War on Tues. I am going to take it this week also, my 2nd Dantes.

What have you studied for this test? I have used IC and sparknotes.

Good luck, Rob on Tues.


Tim

[snazzlefrag]

Originally Posted by Timcoinc

Snazzlefrag,

I'm sure you will pass Civil War on Tues. I am going to take it this week also, my 2nd Dantes.

What have you studied for this test? I have used IC and sparknotes.

Good luck, Rob on Tues.

Tim

Hi Tim,

I forgot about Sparknotes. Thanks for the reminder.

I have been using Instancert.com, wikipedia.com, and spartacus. Wikipedia is excellent for history subjects because you can read an overview, and then click on the various hotlinks to go as deep as you want in your studies. Eg, you read about the war, and can click on a hotlink for one specific battle. Once there, you can click on a hotlink for one particular general...and so on.

I also watched the free lerner.org videos I mentioned in my earlier post. I really enjoyed those. I actually ended up watching Videos 8-13.

I will definitely also read through Sparknotes before Tuesday. Their notes are usually very good.

I think you should do well with Instantcert and Sparknotes as your sources. If you want to look up anything in more detail, you can do a search for it on Wikipedia.com.

The factsheet for Civil War says that this exam is "100% Knowledge of Basic Facts and Terms". So the more information you are exposed to, the better you should do on this one.

Please let us know how you go on next week.

Good luck,
Snazzlefrag

[snazzlefrag]

The Civil War certainly covers a LOT of information.

Here's another question for you guys...

Does the exam adhere STRICTLY to the exam fact sheet? I notice that it specifically mentions certain "Major Battles" for each year. Does that mean that other battles not mentioned on the fact sheet are NOT covered on this exam?

I have studied almost every battle fought, but am just wondering if I need to remember the details of all the minor battles too (even if not specifically mentioned on the fact sheet).

Any thoughts?

[Cold_navy]

Snazz,

IC covers all the battles you need to know. What you need to do is:
Know the order in which each MAJOR battle occured (i.e. a timeline)
Who the Generals where at each battle and who won or lost.

You need to know information like:

What General died during the battle of .... ?

What was considard to be the bloodest battle of the Civil War?

What battle gave Grant the name "Butcher Grant"?

Know the lengths of time for the seige of Vicksburg and Richmond.

IC covers this test really well I thought.

Best of luck,
Scott

[snazzlefrag]

Thanks Scott,

That's just the kind of feedback I needed.