Steve Knott, Army War College, discusses how and why Confederate Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart ended up in Carlisle while the rest of the Confederates were converging on Gettysburg.
I knew a guy whos name was JB Stuart. On his driver's license application he wrote his name as "J" only "B" only Stuart but when he got his license it said Jonly Bonly Stuart.
I really love this lecture. I'd like to hear more from Capt Steven W Knott, but I can only find lectures by Dr Steven F Knott, a different historian. Anyone know where I can find more?
Those little details - the inter-personal relationships and jealousies - although insignificant footnotes, they played a BIG role in the outcome of one of the most important battles of the war. I love the details!!! I often wonder about this in the ranks of the Wehrmacht in WWII how many battles went awry because of similar circumstances.
Custer & additional Union Cav units prevented Confederate Cav units to assist Pickett's Charge thus preventing the Confederates from winning at Gettysburg
I have heard several lectures on the Gettysburg Campaign. This is the best and most pragmatic assessment of the events leading up to the Battle of Gettysburg I have heard. Very insightful, I wish I could heard the full presentation. As a student of history, This man knows what he is talking about.
*HEADS UP CIVIL WAR HISTORIANS!* As of this notification, see what *WIKIPEDIA* has posted as a Confederate Flag!!! It's an SJW nightmare, and you have reason to hound them, big-time! For those of us who hold the lives and the reasons the war was fought as sacred or worthy of respect, this is proof that WIKIPEDIA is a biased, unreliable, history-bending pile of shit. *Rally, men and sisters of the cause!* A wrong needs righting!!!
@Andrew Layton The kind of person that calls experts " clueless dweebs " is generally sufferng from the Dunning-kruger effect wherein those who have less knowledge of a subject tend to have the loudest and more arrogant opinions regarding the topic.
He called Lee personally a terrorist and said Lee set the war strategy for the south, same as modern day terrorists? Why would you smooch this guy? He smooched you with that southern accent line and sorry, I hear no southern accent; What an easy crowd most of you are to smooch that guy -- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VCQYwxIcxiI.html
As a U.S. military officer he was 100% correct about officer putting their rivarly above the greater good. Hell, I've done it myself without even noticing it but that's how people are and officers are no different.
What a fantastic presentation! I have been a civil war buff my entire life and did not understand the real reason for Stuart's actions in this campaign. I want to hear this guy speak more!
Who he left with Lee was irrelevant since he thought Mosby, Stringfellow or Conrad was available to contact the spies in Union HQ, This information had been vital in all previous campaigns. Lee needed Stuart in his role as espionage Chief, not cavalryman. If you miss that, you miss everything.
"Who he left with Lee is irrelevant"...That is a ridiculous statement. Assigning 2 corp of inexperienced cavalry on an invasion of enemy territory and leaving your experienced corps behind to guard supplies is simply bad strategy no matter who you are. "He thought..." That's sloppy planning on Stuart's part (assuming your point is correct)) to let his plan depend on "He thought..."
Stephen Troup they were not inexperienced at all, they were very battle hardened veterans, just militia, border guards like Mosby and Niel, you are the inexperienced one, read a few books on CSA Cav. before playing in the big league.
I just blundered into this presentation. Magnificent! An animated, enthusiastic, and well-written class. This presentation needs to be seen by every high school student studying (If they still are studying American History) the American Civil War. I do agree with Blaze Callahan. Would have been nice to see the map. Thank you for posting.
First of all, I am infatuated with the civil war; this guy is fantastic and as I read a moment ago from another comment, he knows how to tell a story. I already knew the economic factors and lack of materials and men that plagued the South. Steve Knott really explained in great detail what happened in Gettysburg; I would absolutely love to sit down and talk to this guy, and could listen to him every day and never tire.GREAT JOB STEVE!! I hope they pay you fantastic money there, it is well deserved.
Steve would have the same passion for this subject on a street corner or anywhere that you spoke with him. This is the right person for The War College.
Awesome video and starts off good right away. The way he is presenting information makes the history interesting and puts things into context. I remember when the History Channel used to be like that. This presentation would make a great program there!
Just so. The camera followed Capt. Knott (USN) so carefully keeping centered on him while ignoring what Knott was trying to show on the map. It's like the cameraman was told "follow the speaker no matter what," to which he dutifully obeyed -- with his actions completely devoid of judgment and personal initiative.
*HEADS UP CIVIL WAR HISTORIANS!* As of this notification, see what *WIKIPEDIA* has posted as a Confederate Flag!!! It's an SJW nightmare, and you have reason to hound them, big-time! For those of us who hold the lives and the reasons the war was fought as sacred or worthy of respect, this is proof that WIKIPEDIA is a biased, unreliable, history-bending pile of shit. *Rally, men and sisters of the cause!* A wrong needs righting!!!
Don W, of course it is generally known that Wikipedia is just a do-it-yourself encyclopaedia. It is representative only of the last wise and learned expert -- or obnoxious & ignorant buffoon, to touch it. Wikipedia articles are sometimes superb. Sometimes they are just a pile of worthless detritus.
Given some of the silliness that was going on in some of the units I was in during the final years of the Cold War, I am profoundly thankful that we didn't go to war with that leadership roster. A fascinating presentation.
The contradiction of "They weren't after shoes.", and Stuart slowed his column with a captured mule trail of wagons, is troubling. They were after supplies. They were attempting to capture whatever materials of war and provisions whenever and wherever possible. Secondly, the "second largest city of the Confederacy" was marching, and marching a couple hundred miles on dirt and thru water and mud ruins shoes. So, yes, one of the reasons they chose Gettysburg was because of a chance to seize supplies there and one of the chief supplies of the city at that time, was shoes. The cargo of the mule train isn't mentioned, but it was significant enough that a senior commander slowed his march to keep it, and deliver it to the Confederate Army. The interpersonal relationships angle of the lecture is well done and valid. That has been well documented in the Union army, how favoritism adversely affected the progress of the war for the North.
One of Sun Tzu’s first teachings is exactly what the professor started off with. 👍🏽 love this professor Ive learned so much. This is my favorite channel. i enjoy comparing the professors lectures to Sun Tzu’s teachings. One of My questions on today’s lecture is for the professor. Gen Longstreet “Lee’s old war horse” suggested to Lee several times that they regroup so to gain better ground also Stuart “the eyes of the confederate army” had finally arrived that being said why did Lee one of the greatest most beloved generals decide to attack the center? Do you think he really believed his army was invincible? Love your lectures keep posting thank you sir. Hampton Y
Tremendous lecture. The opening on Lee's war aims helps explain why he was so headstrong about giving battle at Gettyburg instead of threatening Washington as Longstreet recommended. Similarly why he committed to Pickett's attack - all due to his obsession with obliterating the Army of the Potomac. This presentation is a nice adjunct to Chernow's excellent new biography on Grant. Well done, Mr Knott.
I do like the way he talks about the war, as he keeps it interesting and engaging; however, I would like to see the camera focus on the projector screen when he uses his laser pointer on points on the screen. I can't see what he's pointing at when he uses his pointer.
I stand corrected. It was Buford and his Union cavalry that was first arriving at Gettysburg. Yes, they had repeating rifles. And Longstreet's infantry had a hard march on the way to the battlefield and his forces were probably exhausted from the march. So it was Buford's forces that were holding back the Confederate forces at Gettysburg on the first day of the battle.
That Buford was able to go toe-to-toe with an infantry brigade long enough for Reynold’s to come up was something that would have been unthinkable a year earlier. The Union cavalry had good weapons but obviously they were now the equal to Confederate cavalry.
Buford’s troopers did not have repeaters. They had a variety of single shot breech loaders which gave them an advantage, but not as big an advantage as the repeaters would have. Only a couple companies of Custer’s Wolverines carried repeaters at the time - perhaps some units of Berdan’s sharpshooters.
Both responses are correct. Actually Buford fought a marvelous delaying action as Judy says, lasted long enough to allow Reynold's to bring up his two leading brigades, those of Cutler and Meredith (the fabulous Iron Brigade) which were reinforced during the rest of the morning and early afternoon by the remainder of the 1st Corp and the 11th Corp. Hooker's reorganization of the Union cavalry turned it into the elite organization that stood toe-to-toe against Heth's division and Stuart and later to dominate the worn-out Confederate cavalry.
The breech loading Sharps carbines gave the Federal troopers superior fire power and their mobility allowed them to defend the NWest and Northern approaches to the town. If Reynolds had taken longer to arrive, Buford would have exhausted his ammo and have to pull back.
Having watched a documentary about the war between Prussia and Austria in 1866, I can tell you that the major advantage of a breechloading rifle is that you can remain in cover or very close to the ground. A musketman can only reload with efficiency if he remains standing up, easily targeted and hit by the opposing infantry.
@Phillip Hiller The South had only one chance to win the war and that was to exhaust the North, which, as this presentation notes, was possible, however, they had very little margin for error. The personality issues in the Western Confederate armies were even worse. The Confederate generals hated each other and, most of all, hated Braxton Bragg, the commander of the Army of the Tennessee. That Army's disarray did much to ensure defeat in the West for the Confederacy. That along with Grant's brilliant Vicksburg Campaign, of course.
Went to school on this one. Very informative. Would never read in the history books that Jeb had interpersonal relationship deficits that cost the south the war!
Excellent presentation. I love the highlighting of the interpersonal conflicts in the Confederate leadership and the effects it had on the tactics. This is something seen later with the rivalry of Patton and Montgomery in WW2. I would really like to see a production of Steve Knott in a more detailed analysis of the battle as narrator in a more graphics intensive video.
Can you say Arnhem or a Bridge to Far. It was a direct result of Monty's need to outshine Patton. So unlike his other battles. Monty was excellent but not usually daring. Lots of courage in the battles but lives could have been spent elsewhere for greater advantage
ive listenned to this 3 or 4 times.. this gentleman is brilliant.. not all his conclusions are correct..but he knows his business.. hes about 95% correct here on lee and 100% correct on human nature
I thoroughly enjoyed this tutorial, the lecturer was very enthuasiatic, excellent eye contact with his audiece and possess excellent volume of speech and he thorough knows his stuff, but just a small note is that the camera should have been directed at the overhead project or the presentation. Part from that, its an extremely interesting lecture :)
Excellent talk...please have camera pan to maps the next time. Perhaps a college student might edit video to add maps and markers to your audio. Will look for more of your CW talks. Thanks
Excellent lecture. I wish I could have seen this before watching the mini-series "Gettysburg", it would have explained a lot. For instance, why Lee was so insistent on fighting the Union army "here and now".
And I loved the way that movie showed the interaction between Longstreet, Lee and Harrison at the beginning. And the use of re-enactors for the period extras.
Interesting presentation. It also may provide insight upon why Pickett's charge was ordered. As I stood at the spot where Pickett began his advance, my dad said "what was he thinking"? To look across that unobstructed field of fire was sobering. I know it was normal to advance upon your enemy in the open. I also know there had been a massive artillery bombardment of the union lines (which unknown to tje confederates had fallen too deep behind union lines). However,if Lee had the mindset that he had to destroy his opponent, not just win a battle, perhaps that led him to order the advance that none of his subordinates agreed with.
Credit to Joseph Hooker for the reforms he made while in command. The most important one was he took cavalry that was attached to various regiments, and consolidated them into their own force. Yankee cavalry was starting to feel it's strength by the time of Gettysburg. Hooker was also responsible for the positioning of the various pieces of the Army of the Potomac that he screened Lee with and they were positioned superbly. They were able to keep an eye on Lee and concentrate fairly quickly when contact was made. All the pieces were in place when Meade took over.
I knew J.E.B. messed up, but didn't know the details. Great lecture. In truth, Lee should have known to take cavalry he trusted. Why take cavalry you were not going to use?
This is a most excellent teaching. As a complete aside: did anyone else notice his consistent substitution of "calvary" for "cavalry"? I find it interesting. Perhaps it's a Freudian slip.
Excellent presentation! The lead up to Gettysburg is as amazing as the battle itself, and great explanation of Stuart's actions beyond he was just showboating and goofing around, but how his ego really screwed things up. Also good to see Bernie Sanders front and center in case he actually becomes POTUS and has to deal with such a situation.
This fellow is is an awesome lecturer! He really draws you into the story... and it can be about anything.. Steve Knott weaves the story and basically brings in the real reason why JEB Stuart failed Lee. In the end we know that intelligence is absolutely crucial for the success of an army, and without the Cavalry (back then) as its eyes and ears Lee was blind. Lessons learned, Cavalry must be act as the whiskers of the main force and be in constant communication to the main force.. Stuart failed in this in colossal way by being completely out of touch with Lee for several crucial days. Had the Calvary been deployed more effectively, Gettysburg may not have happened or if it had happened it would have been on Lee's terms. The irony was that it was during this engagement that the Union Cavalry was most effective in their role. Buford's Cavalry provided the Army of the Potomac with advanced intelligence so vitally needed and was able to screen Lee's advanced elements until the main body was able to consolidate the high ground.
In fact, what was missing was Stuart, not cavalry. Lee still had three brigades of cavalry with him, but not an overall leader to use them efficiently. One brigade was sent to the northwest, into the mountains where they did some damage to the railroads, and may have scarfed up enough supplies from scattered farms to support themselves, but contributed nothing to intelligence and did not participate in the battle. What a brigade did could have been done by detaching a regiment. The rest of the cavalry seems to have been used to clear the way to Harrisburg before being recalled. Some of that force could have been better used scouting east of the Mountains. When Early headed toward the Susquehanna, some of that cavalry should have established a screen south of the Maryland border to watch his flank. That would also more likely have allowed an earlier hookup with Stuart. Lee had cavalry. He did not use it properly.
The real reason Stuart failed Lee is because of his ego. The Flora Cook saga, combined with the Battle Of Brandy Station. Where the Union Calvary fought the Confederate Calvary in a pitched day long battle. The Union withdrew but not in headlong flight as it had in the past. Stuart was angered that they dared to challenge his men. As a result, he felt he had to regain his "honor" and humiliate the North again. Thus the ride around the Army of the Potomac.
