Turner Ashby: Mythic General of the Civil War
The Civil War represents a dramatic time in history.
It tested the mettle of heroic fighters, producing some of the finest tacticians and officers in United States military history.
Some of these are well-known to all, such as Ulysses Grant or Stonewall Jackson, while others have been given a smaller niche in the history books.
Unprepared But Undaunted Neither the Union nor Confederacy was prepared for fighting, as neither anticipated the number of men and materials that would be necessary.
While the North had a regular army, it consisted of scarcely 16,000 men.
Recruiting offices were hastily built, and 90-day volunteers were left with the Herculean task of organizing not only the men signing up to serve, but the manufacturing of weapons and uniforms.
Still, they fared better than their enemy, as the manufacturing centers for the nation rested in urban areas like Philadelphia, Boston and New York.
The South secured a rush of volunteers to join, and from all walks of life.
Backwoodsmen, small farmers and well-educated aristocrats all answered the call.
A large percentage of West Point graduates with homes below the Mason-Dixon line resigned their regular military posts, taking some of the most able officers in the nation to the Confederate's side.
Although they had plenty of spirit, the South suffered much more from lack of materials, as their arsenals consisted of only what fell into their hands when war broke out, much of it outdated.
An Often Unsung Hero One of the most interesting military commanders of the Civil War was Gen.
Turner Ashby.
A man without formal military training, his introduction to martial leadership was serving as the captain of a volunteer cavalry troop.
He gained some fame for his role in secession raids along Harper's Ferry during the outbreak of fighting, gaining much-needed supplies for the Southern cause by raiding federal arsenals, and was quickly raised to the rank of lieutenant colonel, then colonel and commander.
Tales of Turner Ashby's exploits caused young and idealistic men to flock to his standard, seeing in him the "Knight of The Valley" and "Black Knight of the Confederacy," a man set on defending his home and the Confederacy along the Maryland border and the broken lines falling south to Prince George, Turner Ashby undoubtedly was a larger-than-life presence in spite of - or because of - his eccentricities, such as immortalizing his fallen horses.
He was often at odds with Jackson, who found Ashby and his men disorganized.
He was promoted to brigadier general against Jackson's objections.
When Jackson tried to remove him from command, he responded by challenging him to a duel.
This occurred shortly before his death in1862, at the tail end of the Shenandoah campaign.
It tested the mettle of heroic fighters, producing some of the finest tacticians and officers in United States military history.
Some of these are well-known to all, such as Ulysses Grant or Stonewall Jackson, while others have been given a smaller niche in the history books.
Unprepared But Undaunted Neither the Union nor Confederacy was prepared for fighting, as neither anticipated the number of men and materials that would be necessary.
While the North had a regular army, it consisted of scarcely 16,000 men.
Recruiting offices were hastily built, and 90-day volunteers were left with the Herculean task of organizing not only the men signing up to serve, but the manufacturing of weapons and uniforms.
Still, they fared better than their enemy, as the manufacturing centers for the nation rested in urban areas like Philadelphia, Boston and New York.
The South secured a rush of volunteers to join, and from all walks of life.
Backwoodsmen, small farmers and well-educated aristocrats all answered the call.
A large percentage of West Point graduates with homes below the Mason-Dixon line resigned their regular military posts, taking some of the most able officers in the nation to the Confederate's side.
Although they had plenty of spirit, the South suffered much more from lack of materials, as their arsenals consisted of only what fell into their hands when war broke out, much of it outdated.
An Often Unsung Hero One of the most interesting military commanders of the Civil War was Gen.
Turner Ashby.
A man without formal military training, his introduction to martial leadership was serving as the captain of a volunteer cavalry troop.
He gained some fame for his role in secession raids along Harper's Ferry during the outbreak of fighting, gaining much-needed supplies for the Southern cause by raiding federal arsenals, and was quickly raised to the rank of lieutenant colonel, then colonel and commander.
Tales of Turner Ashby's exploits caused young and idealistic men to flock to his standard, seeing in him the "Knight of The Valley" and "Black Knight of the Confederacy," a man set on defending his home and the Confederacy along the Maryland border and the broken lines falling south to Prince George, Turner Ashby undoubtedly was a larger-than-life presence in spite of - or because of - his eccentricities, such as immortalizing his fallen horses.
He was often at odds with Jackson, who found Ashby and his men disorganized.
He was promoted to brigadier general against Jackson's objections.
When Jackson tried to remove him from command, he responded by challenging him to a duel.
This occurred shortly before his death in1862, at the tail end of the Shenandoah campaign.
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