O Shenandoah

Thu, 05/28/2009 - 12:18pm

I am in the Shenandoah Valley on staff ride for the next two days, so may not blog much.

More to come on Jackson in the Valley, skeptical Ewell on his flank, and such. I also will file an alert if I see Carla Bruni skinny-dipping. 

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Thomas E. Ricks | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
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Enjoy yourself Tom, and keep

by Tyrtaios on Fri, 06/05/2009 - 9:47am

Enjoy yourself Tom, and keep in the back of your mind that Jackson tied-up 100,000 Yankees for three months during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Further, Morse Robert was at his best later, with LtGen. Thomas Jackson. Upon the Stonewalls death, Gen. Lee never won another major engagement. : - )

Beautiful!

by Charlieford on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 2:09pm

Do you know Dave Alvin's version of the song (which he says is his favorite song of all time)? It's on his cd, "Public Domain," though his live versions are to cry for.

Good old Dave Alvin

by tom ricks on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 7:02pm

I am a big fan of Dave Alvin, of the song, and of his version of it. I also really like Bill Frisell's version. And even one that Jerry Garcia and David Grisman did, despite Garcia's voice--I just imagine to myself that this is what a typical cowpoke might have sounded like, sitting round the campfire.

I figured as much (on Alvin) . . . also,

by Charlieford on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 9:04pm

Bob Dylan has what I think is a very nice version of Shenandoah on the universally reviled "Down In the Groove" album.

Btw what did Jackson have going for him as a general other than aggressiveness, fearlessness, and an intimidating reputation? Those first two, especially, are no mean qualities, I suppose, but . . . am I missing anything.

Oh, and speaking of Dylan and Jackson, do you know "'Cross the Green Mountain" [the BEST Civil War song (in the "rock" genre) from the execrable film, "Gods & Generals"]?

The best version is of course Paul Robeson's

by Kenneth Sorensen on Sat, 05/30/2009 - 3:37am

Paul Robeson: Shenandoah

Every time you hear his impressive bass voice, you can hear the sufferings and the hardships of the black people. I always think of other oppressed people when I listen to him -- as I am confident that he was/would be on the side of the Palestinians in today's conflict.

And I hope that PresidentObama will cut himself out of the loop he is in, and invest all the credibility he has left, in restoring the dignity of the Palestinian people. And that means degrading and cutting back Israels right to decide its own affairs, just like we dealt with White South Africa. No one talks about throwing them into the Sea; rather many of them will have to go to The United States, when we shortly introduce Arab Majority rule in all of Palestine between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean.

Any where near Grey Ghost

by Dave-T on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 5:28pm

Any where near Grey Ghost territory? The Union torched the Shenandoah looking for him and punishing supporters.... Would COIN have worked?

Ha! Have a good trip and enjoy the mountains....

Any where near Grey Ghost

by J Thomas on Fri, 05/29/2009 - 9:03am

Any where near Grey Ghost territory?

Mosby was mostly to the east. His men quartered with volunteer civilians, which made them harder to find. The Union did burn farms that they suspected harbored Mosby's men, but they didn't go overboard with it and tended to get people who actually did the offense. It's probably about as good as they could hope to do for COIN since the people in those areas were pretty strongly confederate. They got some informers and used the info to burn farms, but couldn't do a lot more.

Some southern generals argued that the men assigned behind union lines would be better used at the front. Mosby was the most prestigious of them, capturing multiple Union officers. (The central problem was Union officers who slept in houses in Confederate areas. When the word got to partisans they might try a snatch in the night.) Apart from that they couldn't do a whole lot. They mostly weren't strong enough to raid Union supply lines because the supply convoys were too well defended. They did raid private suppliers who sold stuff to Union troops. Did the Union lose more by defending supply lines than the south did by being ready to attack them? I don't know.

Lucky dog...

by ian.d.smith on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 10:44pm

I miss my home in Shenandoah Valley. West Texas desert doesn't quite do it for me as much as northern Virginia. Enjoy it, Tom.

Ian Smith