"Most forgotten/overlooked battle of the Civil War?" Topic

For me it's definitely Stones River. I have just never understood why it doesn't garner the same attention as Shiloh, Antietam, 1st and 2nd Manassas, Chancellorsville, etc. 24,645 casualties out of 79,139 for a casualty rate of 31%, which is the second highest casualty rate of the Civil War for major battles next to Gettysburg)!

Glorieta Pass NM. Overlooked by many due to the number of troops involved. Saved the Colorado gold fields and the west
in general for the union.

Go to Amazon.com and look for books on Glorieta Pass. Then look for books on Stones River. You'll be shocked…currently four histories out on Glorieta Pass, but only two on Stones River, and only one written in the past 20 years!!.

And if we're discussing "smaller" battles, then Allatoona Pass, Georgia, definitely gets my vote.

Agree about Stones River. For another look at Monocacy, Lew Wallace delays Early and saves Washington. Also Interesting as one of the few battles where the Union is outnumbered. And a nice battlefield park to visit also.

Big Bethel.

Well, in my humble view

Stones River – important part of the series of events leading to the loss of the war in the West by the Confederates (leading to the loss of the whole thing)

Champion Hill – the last chance the Rebs had to spot Grant

Glorieta Pass – high water mark of the Confederates's ambitions in the far West

There is also Iuka, which actually is of very little consequence but my great grand-dad and great grand-uncle were both there (4th Minnesota)

Most of the smaller battles out west.

Red River Campaign too.

Winchester Battlefields
Fairfax Court House

I cant understand why the battles in my hobby room are not in the history books,lee and grant have been battling it out for years and it looks to continue as long as i can paint figures

Pea Ridge and Wilson's Creek

Gainesville, also, I think, one of the few battles fought downtown during the ACW.

Palmito Ranch Texas…a senseless and needless fight started only because of a Union officer itching for a piece of the fleeing glory, and wanting to make a name for himself, and ended up getting 30 men killed for no good reason…

Two web sites with great listings of well known as well as little known sites.

link

civilwarvirtualtours.com

Robert Henry

I think that most of the "overlooked" battles would be in the western theatre.

Perryville, KY – stopped Bragg's invasion in 1862

Stones River, TN (especially the second day) – Rosecrans' army survived. Imagine what might have happened had the army skedaddled back to Nashville.

Champion Hill – the battle that sealed Vicksburg's fate

I totally agree that Perryville is overlooked. But I might be a bit bias…

Mobile – the 1865 land battle. Fought by the least known successful general, Canby.

Austin

The Battle of Ringgold Gap, where Cleburn held up the Union army long enough for the Confederates to escape after the Chattanooga campaign. Over last summer there was a monument and statue built to honor Cleburn along side US 41 in the Gap.

Ball's Bluff. The fiasco led to the creastion of the standing Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War, which looked into every detail of how the war was being run. Congress today ain't got nothing on those guys!

Remember who Cleburne was up against at Ringgold Gap. Joe Hooker!! Not the best matchup for the USA!!

Perryville in the West for sure! Also becoming one of the better restored and saved ACW Parks thank goodness, hope it continues!!

Carnifax Ferry. It stopped a Confederate army from marching up the Kanawha valley into Ohio.

The ones that even I have forgotten/overlooked and so cannot name.

The best ACW scenario I ever played was a refight of little-known Cloyd's Mountain (1864). We played it with Piquet, and it's a nasty little fight.

I might also toss a mention toward Olustee. Terrific scenario. I ran this with Piquet one afternoon, and the players finished the scenario, then restarted the game TWICE. Lots of fun.

It is not just one or two battles but two entire campaigns that have been largely ignored. Apart from several recent books on the Battle of the Crater, John Horn's The Destruction of the Weldon Railroad , Richard Sommers' Richmond Redeemed and several studies of the closing battles in the spring of 1865, almost nothing of the nine month long Petersburg Campaign has been written. Earl Hess' In the Trenches at Petersburg gives a good overview of the campaign, but his main emphasis is the evolution of the use of trenches.

The comment in his preface is telling. To date, [2009] there is no general history of Petersburg that combines all desirable qualities – thorough research, full and detailed coverage of grand tactics as well as strategy, and new interpretations of the events associated with the campaign. And the irony is that up until this campaign the operations in the East have been examined again and again.

The other campaign which has been ignored is the 1863/1864 campaign in East Tennessee. Thus the Battles of Blountsville, Blue Springs (which thus far has not even been accurately located), Campbell's Station, Knoxville, Bean's Station, Mossy Creek, Dandridge and Fair Garden have yet to have their history chronicled.

If they are so forgotten and overlooked, how come you guys heard of them?

Battle of Saltville

Battle of Monocacy, Jubal Early's small foray in to Maryland actually turned into a serious threat to the Capitol.
Also Drewry's Bluff. If Ben "The Beast" Butler had not been such a complete buffoon, it is arguable that the war could have ended almost a year earlier.

The one outside my house. A train carrying Union General "Bull" Nelson had the engineers throw the throttle to the wall as the train crested the nearby gap. Nelsons command was being recalled from North Alabama to counter Braggs invasion into Kentucky. The engineers jumped off the train and when it reached a curve in the tracks the engine and cars came off the tracks and soldiers were killed and injured. Nelson became enraged and rounded up all the locals he could and was planning to execute all of them as bushwacker supporters. Locals were saved by the timely arrival of a train from Nashville. The troops were quickly loaded up onto the train and sent northward. Nelson would later be killed in Louisville by another Union officer.

Apart from several recent books on the Battle of the Crater, John Horn's The Destruction of the Weldon Railroad , Richard Sommers' Richmond Redeemed and several studies of the closing battles in the spring of 1865, almost nothing of the nine month long Petersburg Campaign has been written.

Three of my four books cover that, along with the rest of the war during that period. The other one covers the run-up: the Overland Campaign. They are out of print, but you can still find used copies:

link

New Orleans. Less overlooked than Forts Henry and Donelson, but these Union victories opened up much of the Confederate west to conquest in less than six months, including the south's largest city, two state capitals, several industrial sites, and key river systems that served as invasion routes.

Mark

The western theater seems to suffer most. Probably because of the absence of St Robert and St. Thomas of Virginia.

From the east: Early's valley campaign is one, and Brandy Station for another. Could it be because these were not triumphs for the South?

From the West: Stones River, Champions Hill and Perryville.

New Orleans was a massively importatnt battle and is overlooked because, I suspect, it was a naval action which consisted of running past two forts. It doesn't sound overly heroic to the popular imagination, but to the historian it is fascinating.

I found this list: civilwarhome.com/Battles.htm

Which of these is the least remembered? Probably Stone's River. After that, I'd say Spotsylvania.

If they are so forgotten and overlooked, how come you guys heard of them?

Obsession!

-Will

Stop it, John. You OFM!
I nominate Pea Ridge, Williamsburg, Pocotaligo, James Island and Fort Wagner. Of the SC battles (last three) a breach of the Charleston-Savannah line which followed the railroad would have brought the war to a close a year sooner in all probability. Just as Grant held an overwhelming advantage anywhere he chose to attack, the forces on Hilton Head also had the same advantage of numbers at any point they chose. Unfortunately for the Union, the advantage was not pressed until much later after a couple of long sieges.

Don, there are lots of your books for sale on abebooks.com, at a lot better prices than that Amazon one, for those that are interested.

flicking: Glad to hear it!

I think that the majority of the battles in the West are overlooked. This is exceedingly frustrating for me, because my ancestors fought in the western theater, and there is little to no information on the battles they fought in.
I also think that the Battles of Winchester are overlooked. There were four major battles at Winchester, not to mention all of the skirmishes.

Andy