Watch it on Academic Earth
This week, for my first multimedia source, I chose to watch an online lecture. I selected "Never Call Retreat: Military and Political Turning Points in 1863", a full class lecture by Yale professor David Blight. Professor Blight teaches a class on the Civil War and Reconstruction Eras, and this was one of the middle installments in his series of classes. (*Note: The lecture was almost an hour long, so bear with me.)
To begin his lecture, Blight starts off with a short reading from one of Bruce Catton's (Civil War narrative author whom Blight proclaims as one of his favorites) books. He uses the short excerpt to explain the tricky situation that America found herself in in 1862. This helps Blight introduce several themes and concerns that he will discuss in the rest of the lecture, and then he starts right into the war happenings, beginning with the War in the West. He explains why Tennessee became so important in the second year of the war, and why rivers, such as the Tennessee and Cumberland, were significant targets of the Union army. He talks of the battles at Ft. Henry and Ft. Donelson (both on the TN River) and why they were important to the movement in TN. Blight gives a brief background on Ulysses Grant, who rode his first rodeo at the forts. He then moves onto the battle of Shiloh. He explains the strategic value of the Union win at Shiloh and also the influence it had on the direction of the whole war. It was a great fight, and Blight sees it as a turning point of sorts in 1862. On to the War in the East... Professor Blight starts off by giving some background information on George McClellen, the Union general of the Army of the Potomac, and the challenges he (and his army) faced. They began the Peninsula Campaign (the attempted conquest of Virginia) in early 1862. The Campaign culminated in the Seven Days battle. Blight gives several reasons why the Peninsula Campaign and ensuing battles were significant; they matured the Union army, introduced new Southern leadership and power to the fight, and were chances for the Confederates to defend their capital (Richmond, VA). He also claims that they showed the incompetence of General McClellen, who was soon fired from his post. Blight ends his lecture with some outlooks for the conflicts to come in 1863 and his final thoughts on the aftermath of the activities of 1862. Blight basically claims 1862 as the period in the Civil War where most of the strategy for the whole game was finalized (for the Union and Confederacy), and also the time which the country needed to decide what this war meant and what it needed to accomplish.
I enjoyed listening to this lecture. I'm sure there are many people whom it would bore extensively, but I found it interesting. I felt like Blight was very knowledgeable (obviously, he teaches at Yale!) and easy to listen to. He got his points across and laid the facts out there, but he also added in some interesting stories. The direction of the lecture kind of threw me off a few times (like how he randomly talked about McClellen at the very beginning and didn't pick back up with him until thirty minutes into the lesson), but it made sense overall. As for the name of this lecture ("Never Call Retreat: Military and Political Turning Points in 1863"), that did not make sense. The "Never Call Retreat" part did; it was a line from the Catton book he read at the beginning and had to do with the new attitude of the war. Unfortunately nothing he spoke of in the lecture happened in 1863. Blight also didn't take as much time explaining how the events listed were "turning points" as I had expected. He did, however, lay out some important ideas that energized the progression of the lecture. I liked how he focused on several main people and then several main periods that were really important in 1862. It was easy to see how a few singular things changed and guided the direction for the country and the war. I learned a lot about the momentum shifts in 1862, and the changes in attitude of the people in charge. When speaking of Confederate leaders Lee and Davis, Blight says, "The theory here was to take the war to the North". This was probably the most significant choice made in late 1862, and definitely showed the change in attitude. In 1862, the reasons for the war were altered, as were the goals of it. Blight's perspective on the events were interesting and definitely showed me a new way to look at the sometimes overlooked details. It was a great explanation of how the early part of the Civil War was vital to the development and planning of the continuation of the war. Great lecture!
Source: Blight, David W. "Never Call Retreat: Military and Political Turning Points in 1863:. Lecture. Academic Earth. Open Yale Courses. Web. 6 Apr. 2010.
http://http//academicearth.org/lectures/military-and-political-turning-points-in-1863
Lowery McNeal
Awesome Good work! 50/50
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