(December 5, 2006)
Battle of Coffeeville, Union ground level 2
Another ground level shot, coming up to the Ravine, and just ahead, Ambush
Hill. Even this close, they could not have seen the CS forces in the
shadowed woods |
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(December 5, 2006)
Battle of Coffeeville, The Ravine
Looking west to east. The Ravine Fletcher Pomeroy (7th Kansas) mentions.
Fletcher must have been close to see it. I�ve walked that field a lot, and
you have to be close to see it. Or, maybe someone described it to him later,
maybe his brother Emerson, who was nearby when Hinsdale was shot near the
Ravine. US troops were crossing here when Captain Alcide Bounchaud
(Bone-Shaw) of the Louisiana Pointe Coupee four gun battery opened with,
most likely, grape and canister
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(December 5, 2006)
Battle of Coffeeville, Hindsdale path
This is the area of the field that fits the description of the main
position of the 7th Kansas Cavalry. Hinsdale was killed in this area, I
believe. Look as close as you will, but the Ravine is not visible from
ground level at this point. You have to almost be right on it to know it�s
there. Anyone who mentions the Ravine must have been close |
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(December 5, 2006)
Battle of Coffeeville, Union blinded view 2
Shot taken a few feet from the Ravine, at the edge of Ambush Hill. Could you
have seen the Rebel ambush waiting in the woods just 100 feet ahead? The US
troops here were right up on it, and still couldn�t see it. If the sun was
indeed out on this day, this is what the US troops saw. Nothing but sun.
This picture is very key in understanding why the Federal soldiers just
walked right into it. Point blank. Until I knew the lighting, I could NOT
understand how they could get THAT close to the ambush point and not see it.
After pictures like this, and being out there on the anniversary with the
sun as it is positioned on that day, at the time of the battle, now I know
why. There is no place, from the Brow of the Rise, a quarter mile back, all
the way to the Ravine that you can see inside the woods of Ambush Hill from
2 pm till after 3:30 pm on December 5, when the sun is out. It�s just not
possible. And I�ve walked it all countless times, right into that winter
sun, many more times than the soldiers who actually fought it did. But�go to
the Ravine and sit there a little longer around 3:30, let the sun sink just
a little more, and the woods can be seen. It falls behind the trees, which
shield it like a sun screen. However, no one knows just how tall the woods
were on that day. They talk a lot about the woods, so I can only believe
that there tree conditions were, at least somewhat, like they are today. The
trees will shield the sun around 3:30 from the Ravine position. I watched
that clearly yesterday. You can�t imagine how much difference 30 minutes
makes |
(December 5, 2006)
Battle of Coffeeville
A few minutes later, with the sun behind the trees, this is what you can
see. Perfectly clear. The ambush woods that could not be seen at 2:30. Of
course, this picture was taken around 3:30, when the battle had moved up
the hill. I just attach it for a comparison of the lighting, depending on
the position of the sun as the afternoon fades. Regardless, the whole
battle was fought with the sun in the faces of the US forces, blinding
them from the Rebels, and the Rebels had the US forces illuminated for
easy shooting. Simple as that. Sounds harsh, but that�s the way it was,
based on the information I have |
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(March 2003) Sterling Price's campsite after the Battle
of Coffeeville |