I’m with you though, I thought once there were only two kinds of trees – dead ones and live ones. Then the wife explained about that third sort – Christmas Trees….

The day that I met Jim Burgess at the park, we had a short conversation about the then present condition of Matthew’s Hill, including the location of the oak thicket that the 4th South Carolina occupied . Jim told me that he had conducted a study, based in part upon maps drawn during the war, that showed the original location and configuration of the oak thicket. Over the years and through the mismanagement of prior NPS personnel, pines were planted around what was left of the oak thicket. These pines grew and spread out to such a point that they developed into a forest of their own which took over an area in front of and to the west of the oak thicket which wasn’t wooded at the time of the battle. Those pines and some other wooded areas around the battlefield which weren’t present at the time of both battles were removed as a result of Jim’s study. Anyways, Jim gave me a copy of the study he did regarding the oak thicket and Buck Hill which include copies of the maps he used to reach his conclusions. It is a fascinating and detailed study and Jim deserves all the thanks we can give him for trying to return the battlefield to its war time state.

Sadly though, most of Matthew’s Hill remains densely wooded. And what does this have to do with the questions poised above? Not much except that until Matthew’s Hill is returned to its original state, we are never going to be able to see this very important part of the battlefield with the prespective it deserves. You can’t stand at Imboden’s position on Henry Hill and see the field as he saw it. It’s near impossible to truly ascertain the position the 8th Georgia took when they drew up in line in “that awful place of death” to do battle near the Matthew’s farm. You have to really use your imagination to advance with the 4th Alabama up Matthew’s Hill because most of the position their right flank occupied is so densely wooded that you can’t see more than twenty feet in front of you. By leaving this part of the battlefield like this the whole battlefield suffers.

For reasons I won’t specify, the park is unable at this time to provide an image of the map. The map has been on loan to the NPS, and an estate needs to settle ownership. These things take time.

Harry

I’ve made the request, and will post the image if Jim is able to send it.

Harry

You know, when you mentioned Johnston just now, you just reminded me of something. I think I have something in my files about some Virginia militia units from the Valley being closer to the battle than originally believed. I’ll have to see if I can find it.

I defer to your judgment vis photo POV.

Robert,

I’ll be writing another post today, but I received a scan of this newspaper from Jim Burgess at the park. The overestimates are typical of Confederate reports, and typical of Union reports, for all actions throughout the war by everybody. Oh yes, even by folks like Grant. The fact of the matter is, both sides at BR had about the same number engaged (around 16-17,000), and about the same number available (33-36,000). We don’t include Runyon because he was held so far in reserve, just like we don’t count Johnston’s men left behind in the Valley.