Recent content by BilboBaggins

When people hear "secular" over there, they think of Al-Assad, Hussein, etc.

Notre Dame can be as good as Michigan or Purdue.

Trying to compared 1914-1918 with 1862-65? Seems a literal foolish. Honestly seems that you're defensive about the idea of USA not being #1 in the middle of the 19th century..

I'm more familiar with Gettysburg so I'll comment on that. The use of direct frontal assaults was one of the most common European criticisms of American tactics. The fact that Lee ordered and followed through with Pickett's Charge would probably *support* the European view that Americans were...

Plenty of European observers recognized the amateur aspect of the Union and Confederate armies. They were essentially militias, numbering over a million, and had very little marksmanship training. This is just a fact. The English guy depicted in Gettysburg, a real person, wrote about this. I...

At the start of the war, both sides were grabbing any weapon they could get their hands on. You don't just manufacture a million 1861 Springfield rifles overnight. There were definitely smoothbore muskets used in the Civil War.

This is a Civil War myth. The armies were largely untrained on using their rifles at distance. While there were sharpshooter units, the general infantry was not effective at anywhere near 500 yards. Most Civil War engagements were at less than 100 yards. This guy's channel is exceptional:

I dont agree with this. The North still had to bring the fight to the enemy. That takes political will. I am more of a western theater nerd, but the South successfully dragged the war on for years despite not winning many battles. 1861: war starts, Union recruits an army 1862: Shiloh is nearly...

I dont think the Union armies, Sherman's or Grant's, would stand much of a chance against a French or Prussian army if all other factors were equal. That of course means you plopped both armies in a 100x100 mile hypothetical battlefield.

I mean the Crimean War was just a few years before the Civil War. A group of American generals tried to go over and be observers, and failed to make it in time. McClellan was one of them IIRC.

My understanding is that Moltke also thought the Union/Confederate armies were basically just armed mobs. In his view, their tactics were outdated, the men were woefully untrained, and the armies were incomplete and incapable of delivering a knock out blow like a European army of its day. I...

Takes that long?

The football team inside of it, please.

I was unaware. /s They probably wouldn't agree to that setup in a megaconference, because they could get Oregon, USC, Penn State, etc. The level scheduling within megaconferences is a real problem.

I agree that is probably how it would play out. Michigan would probably object to having to play Notre Dame and Ohio State, plus the rest of the schedule, every year.