Missing Man Formation

During the battle of Berthierville (which has still not been entirely explored) we have several descriptions of the number of troops present at various smaller engagements. We also have a description of the number of troops present for the whole battle.

However, when this is more closely examined, it transpires that there is something important missing.

Caught One Handed

One Hand Behind The Back


TFSmith is fond of the idea that the Union fought the Civil War with "one hand behind its back", a phrase coined by Shelby Foote and repeated by TFSmith something in the vicinity of thirty times in the marginalia.

Examining what Shelby Foote actually meant, however, makes it clear that TFSmith does not understand what was meant - certainly not in the context of the Trent War.

Diplomatic Maneuvering

In the marginila of the TL the author lays out his reasoning on how America "Benefits" the European powers in the era. Saying So, all in all, there would have been reasons for the French, Spanish, Prussians, and the Russians to remain "correctly" neutral in an Anglo-American war in 1862; they all had opportunities that are far more likely the longer the British, especially, are involved in North America. Notice of course how they are stated as remaining "correctly" neutral.

The author has laid out each point numerically, so we shall address them as such.

Block Aid

Or, A Sample of Blockade Actions



We can garner some impression of how TFSmith thinks blockades work from his description of actions around New York.

Niagara Fails

It is sometimes impressive for a knowledgeable reader of Burnished Rows of Steel how many mistakes can be put into a single ship's description. Today, as the title might suggest, we are looking into the US frigate Niagara.

Lakes a-Mercy! (3)

At last - humans!

Lakes a-Mercy! (2)

The purpose of this post was to deal with the human factors of the Lakes war. Unfortunately, in researching it I detected another issue with the material factors which I felt I should pick up on. Rest assured, we'll get to the people in just a moment.