Saturday, April 7, 2012

A Discussion Question (Don’t Worry, It Won’t Be Graded)


Traditional histories of the American Civil War tend to state that the Union success that cemented the re-election of Abraham Lincoln was the capture of Atlanta at the beginning of September, 1864. However, if one is to believe Dr. Gary Gallagher’s thesis that citizens of both the Union and Confederacy always had their eyes glued on what was happening in the eastern theater and gave it more importance than what was happening in the western theater, what impact – if any – would the Union successes gained during the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm (including New Market Heights), fought September 29-30, 1864, have had on Northern morale and the re-election possibilities for the President?

Discuss.