Comments on: Why McDowell?

By: Elsewhere in Blogsville « Bull Runnings

Elsewhere in Blogsville « Bull Runnings — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 20:56:53 +0000

[...] interesting series of posts over at Civil War Bookshelf. I’ve discussed before (see here and here, for example) the murky origins of Irvin McDowell’s (left) rise to power in 1861. Dmitri [...]

By: Irvin McDowell in America’s Civil War Magazine « Bull Runnings

Irvin McDowell in America’s Civil War Magazine « Bull Runnings — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:53:54 +0000

[...] implies that Scott’s objection was born strictly of preference. As I pointed out here, rank and seniority weren’t the most important things in the antebellum army – they [...]

By: Harry Smeltzer

Harry Smeltzer — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:44:22 +0000

Well, I think either you or Vidal have confused McDowell with Scott. The plan was in fact McDowell’s plan, drawn up at the command of the administration over Scott’s objections. And I would not say that the green-ness of the Union army was the reason for the loss, but rather the advantages of terrain and defense enjoyed by the Confederates.

By: JKTarr M.A.

JKTarr M.A. — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:29:18 +0000

Gore Vidal, in his book LINCOLN, states that McDowell was absolutely opposed to the Union plan of attack at Bull Run Creek, and further, that the army was simply not prepared. He would never have done it if he had not been ordered to by the Comm-in-Chief. We’re all aware of Lincoln’s reasoning, but weak or strong, the only way to find out who was correct, Lincoln or McDowell, was to make the attack. Vidal, at least, feels that McDowell was done some injustice in getting the “loss” because his objections about the “green army” proved to be exactly what lost the first Manassas.

By: Second Chance « Bull Runnings

Second Chance « Bull Runnings — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 07:01:57 +0000

[...] Why McDowell? [...]

By: He Hates Thursday! Stay Away from Thursday! « Bull Runnings

He Hates Thursday! Stay Away from Thursday! « Bull Runnings — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 06:35:35 +0000

[...] I’m testing a theory here. Civil War Interactive reviews Civil War blogs every Wednesday and Thursday; you can read them by clicking here. There are quite a few Civil War blogs out there, and this is a big and pretty much thankless job, so I don’t want to sound critical. The last few reviews of my site seem to imply that I’m hardly posting at all, and I admit that there have been other things going on during the past month that have slowed me down. But I posted three articles in November that were not mentioned at all in the reviews, and two of them are among my favorites (the three posts are The House of Meade, Governor Sprague’s Arm Candy and Why McDowell?). [...]