The Civil War Institute holds classes at Manor College in Elkins Park that cover topics from Prisons of the Civil War to the Lincoln Assassination, and everything in between. This winter I've been taking a 6 part class on the Events of 1865 that has covered some of the less well known episodes of the war. We have learned about naval history-the last Confederate ship that was travelling around the globe well into June 1865 unaware that the war was over! A fascinating talk about Sherman's march after his march to the sea where he tried to negotiate a surrender from Gen. Johnston 2 weeks after the events at Appomattox. One week we learned about the 2 attacks on Fort Rich, the first badly planned and executed because of weather, incompetency and ego (sounds so familiar).
The two most disturbing weeks were about the explosion of the Sultana and the dreaded prison Andersonville
In this class I connected with someone from the Virginia trip, and have been talking more with some of the woman who like me, are just taking these classes because they are so interesting. It is good to hear them talk about 'not knowing anything' when they started, and now having some sense of satisfaction when they recognize names and which side they fought on.
I'd like to do a chart that has battles on top and elements that affected their outcome: weather, stragty, ego, competence level, dumb luck, timing, bad luck, rivalry, ambition, extreme bravery. There are probably other categories, but these seem to be the ones that come up again and again (especially egos, rivalry and dumb luck).
