-- Abraham Lincoln
Southern States Secede
Secession
fever hit the South after Abraham Lincoln was elected president. The
South considered Lincoln's Republican party victory in the 1860
presidential election as a sign that the North was now going to end the
"peculiar institution" of slavery. For the South, the time of talk and
compromise had ended. In December, 1860 South Carolina became the first
state to secede from the Union. Secession of the rest of the states that
would make up the Confederate States of America occurred in two waves.
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Acoustic Shadow
Acoustic Shadow (sometimes called Silent Battle) is a strange thing. It is a phenomenon where sound is unheard close to the cause of the sound, but the same sound is heard a far distance away from its source. With a unique combination of factors such as wind, weather, temperature, land topography, forest or other vegetation, and elevation, battle sounds are not heard at a distance they normally would clearly be heard.
Barnes&Noble: Civil War Acoustic Shadows Civil War Acoustic Shadows |
The distance the sound is heard may be great, even hundreds of miles, yet nearby (sometimes mere miles away), the sounds are not heard. Battles where the Acoustic Shadow phenomenon occurred in the Civil War are Gettysburg, Seven Pines, Iuka, Fort Donelson, Five Forks, Perryville, and Chancellorsville. Acoustic Shadow could have a profound effect on a battle. During the Civil War, it was common for armies to be spread out over large distances and timely communication between the split parts of an army was crucial to battlefield success. Army commanders must make decisions based on current knowledge of the situation before them. The sound of a battle would be a form of communication, signaling to a Civil War commander and his staff where a battle is taking place, and what troops (including enemy) may be involved. If Acoustic Shadow hides battle action from being heard by a commander, then communication has been lost and dire consequences may follow as the commander does not respond as needed to the battlefield situation. |
Examples of Acoustic Shadow During Civil War Battles:
- Battle of Gaines’s Mill – More than 91,000 men were engaged in battle at Gaines’s Mill, Virginia on June 27, 1862. Confederate commanders and troops were less than two miles from the battlefield and could plainly see the smoke and flashes from the guns and artillery, but not a sound could be heard of the battle for two hours. Strangely, the battle sounds from the Battle of Gaines’s Mill were easily heard in Staunton, Virginia over one hundred miles away.
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Barnes&Noble: Cannon Blasts: Civil War Artillery in the Eastern Armies  Canon Blasts: Civil War Artillery in the Eastern Armies |
- The Battle of Gettysburg – The battle sounds from Gettysburg fought on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863 could be heard over one hundred miles away in Pittsburgh, but were not heard only ten miles from the battlefield.
Suggested Posts to Learn More...
- Civil War Casualties
- Seeing the Elephant
- Civil War Veterans
- Artillery
- General John Buford’s Spencer Carbine Rifles
- Civil War Speech
- Slavery
- West Virginia Becomes a State
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