ACWGC Forums

There was a very interesting documentary on the History channel last night, which focused on the shortcomings of the Union Officer corps. One of the unusual interesting facts brought to light by Civil War researchers was the strong correlation between union officer height and battlefield performance. What they found was that officers of short stature, had a poor command record verse those who were taller. Where as in the Confederate Officer corps physical height made no difference to command performance. Another fact they found which influenced Union Officer performance was weight, which had a strong negative correlation i.e the more rotund the poorer the command performance. So, officers that were short and round were never any good. But officers like Bull Nelson who were very tall and overweight were of average performance until they got shot by another Union officer and then they were not much good. The final factor brought to light was the relationship between moustache size and the performance of Cavalry Officers of both sides. This is why later in the war Confederate cavalry performance started to wane due to the severe shortage of moustache wax in the Confederacy. The History Channel is a damn fine place to get your history knowledge.

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General Cam McOmish

Army Commander
Confederate Army of Tennessee
CSA

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General Nick Kunz

Commandant,
Vicksburg Military Institute

You've outdone yourself, Cam!

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General Jos. C. Meyer, ACWGC
Union Army Chief of Staff
Commander, Army of the Shenandoah
Commander, Army of the Tennessee
(2011-2014 UA CoA/GinC)

Indeed Gen. McOmish!

Look at that poor excuse for facial hair on Gen. Pleasanton, not mention clean shaven "killcavalry" Kilpatrick. Yes I do believe you are on to something Sir! Custer's golden locks be d----d. Height? Why it is common knowledge in battlefield studies of the war that the high casualty rate among Confederate officers could probably be attributed to their additional height making them perfect targets for minie balls and bayonets. Bedford Forrest alone stated his personal kill total would have been higher except for the fact that he forgot to swing lower with his sword and kept missing the yankees he was trying to behead!!

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Brig. Gen. LG Mills
Mahones Division ANV III
Confederate States of America

You are right Larry, I checked on Wikipedia and it states that CSA officers were on average tall, both General Lee and General Jackson were over 6 feet tall, I also am very tall at 5 feet 14 inches, with a very large moustache. Although this has not directly translated into battlefield performance as yet.

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General Cam McOmish

Army Commander
Confederate Army of Tennessee
CSA

Then you have Sheridan described as:

Fully grown, he reached only 165 cm (5 feet 5 inches) tall, a stature that led to the nickname, "Little Phil." Abraham Lincoln described his appearance in a famous anecdote: "A brown, chunky little chap, with a long body, short legs, not enough neck to hang him, and such long arms that if his ankles itch he can scratch them without stooping.

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General Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
AoT II/1/3 (CSA)

My point exactly General Whitehead!

Why I once heard that 7' 6" his excellency Patrick Cleburne had to walk along with his soldiers the first three years of the war until they could breed a mount large enough to carry him in to battle! Now I will admit I heard that in an Irish Pub and the origin of that little tib-bit was on his second bottle of Jameson. However, I will bet the remainder of my sullied reputation and damaged southern pride on its validity and his voracity. Sheamus McDougall was the fellow's name. Surely you've heard of him!

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Brig. Gen. LG Mills
Mahones Division ANV III
Confederate States of America

Might have mistaken this fellow for General Cleburne:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/martin ... nt.102291/

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MG Mike Mihalik
Forrest's Cavalry Corps
AoWest/CSA

Y'all know it's a damn lie. There hasn't been any history on the History Channel in years. Now if you had said you saw something about the value of Confederate relics versus Union relics in lawn shops the. I would have believed it.

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General Mark Nelms

6/2/XIV/AoC "Blackhawk Brigade"

Union Military Academy Instructor

Why General Nelms are you inferring the fine palace of historic knowledge that is the History Channel is not worthy of its great reputation. Its great shows of historic importance like “Did Hitler wear underwear “ and “Nero the inventor of the modern fire extinguisher” are masterpieces. Now if you are looking for Union and Confederate relics look no further you have come to the right place

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General Cam McOmish

Army Commander
Confederate Army of Tennessee
CSA

General McOmish!

If you are suggesting that a half hour spent discussing the fact that a confederate soldier with the last name Culp fought on the hill bearing his family's name was not the single most important event at the battle of Gettysburg, I take umbridge sir!

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Brig. Gen. LG Mills
Mahones Division ANV III
Confederate States of America

I am not sure Colonel that my last post had inferred such a thing, but it may have. However since the issue is now in the public domain I can only but man up and challenge your assertion that the Culp episode was of such vital historical significance. The most outstanding piece of history channel work was their fine series “Alien Civilisations at the Battle of Gettysburg “ I can only but agree that Aliens had a direct hand in the defeat of the Confederacy. Why even now they are interfering in my current battles.

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General Cam McOmish

Army Commander
Confederate Army of Tennessee
CSA

Ahh, Gen. McOmish, you must be reading one of Col. Mills subordinates battle reports. It's been said that his Texan boys turn&run at the terrifying "Blue" glow they've seen on the battle field. Us Yanks refer to his boys as Texan White Tails for their quick retreat and surrender they do at the sight of the so-called alien "BLUE" images they've seen on the battlefield.

I'm waiting for the History Channel to do an alien series, based on letters home from his troops, to come out. Should be quit interesting.

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Union War Dog!
MG. Derek Hampel
Cmdr. Second Div., XV Corps
Army of the Tennessee

Cam, if you would like to watch another good show being aired, watch the series where the Houston Dailey reported his troops saw UFOs when we had sent up a couple of observation balloons near the battlefield. Our Engineers thought it was an earthquake or stamped as his Rebs ran from the field.

There are actual live interviews with his troops swearing they saw an alien UFO that day. They even show drawings from the interviewees describing it's strange shape and how it was floating in mid air.

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Union War Dog!
MG. Derek Hampel
Cmdr. Second Div., XV Corps
Army of the Tennessee

Just remember General, a lot of phenomena reported on the battlefield can be directly attributed to the imbibing of certain brands of liquid white lightning. I know from personal experience that when roaring drunk weird things can appear, but these are tales best not elaborated upon in this forum, especially with young officers present .

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General Cam McOmish

Army Commander
Confederate Army of Tennessee
CSA