Battle of Fishers Hill in the American Civil War

Battle of Fishers Hill in the American Civil War Battle of Fishers Hill - Conflict Date: The Battle of Fishers Hill was fought September 21-22, 1864, during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Armies Commanders: Union Major General Philip H. Sheridan29,444 men Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early9,500 men Battle of Fishers Hill - Background: In June 1864, with his army besieged at Petersburg by Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, General Robert E. Lee detached Lieutenant General Jubal A. Early with orders to operate in the Shenandoah Valley.   The goal of this was to have Early reverse Confederate fortunes  in the region which had been sustained a blow due to Major General David Hunters victory at Piedmont  earlier in the month.   Additionally, Lee hoped that Earlys men would divert some Union forces away from Petersburg.   Arriving at Lynchburg, Early was able to force Hunter to withdraw into West Virginia and then drove down  (north) the valley.   Entering into Maryland, he pushed aside a scratch Union force at the Battle of Monocacy on July 9.  Ã‚  Responding  to this new threat, Grant ordered Major General Horatio G. Wrights VI Corps north from the siege lines to reinforce Washington, DC.   Though Early threatened the capital later in July, he lacked the forces to mount a meaningful assault on th e Union defenses.   With little other choice, he withdrew back to the Shenandoah. Battle of Fishers Hill - Sheridan Takes Command: Weary of Earlys activities, Grant created the Army of the Shenandoah on August 1 and appointed his cavalry chief, Major General Philip H. Sheridan, to lead it.   Composed of Wrights VI Corps, Brigadier General William Emorys XIX Corps, Major General George Crooks VIII Corps (Army of West Virginia), and three  divisions of cavalry under Major General Alfred Torbert,  this new formation received orders to eliminate Confederate forces in the Valley and render the  region worthless as a source of supplies for Lee.   Moving south from Harpers Ferry, Sheridan initially showed caution and probed to ascertain Earlys strength.   Leading four  infantry and two cavalry divisions, Early misinterpreted Sheridans early  tentativeness as  over-caution and permitted his command to be strung out between Martinsburg and Winchester. Battle of Fishers Hill - Gibraltar of the Shenandoah Valley: In mid-September, having gained an understanding of Earlys forces, Sheridan moved against the Confederates at Winchester.   In the Third Battle of Winchester (Opequon) his forces inflicted a severe defeat on the enemy and sent Early reeling south.   Seeking to recover, Early reformed his men along Fishers Hill just south of Strasburg.   A strong position, the hill was situated at a point where the valley narrowed with Little North Mountain to the west and Massanutten Mountain to the east.   Additionally, the north side of Fishers Hill possessed a steep slope and was fronted by a creek named Tumbling Run.   Known as the Gibraltar of the Shenandoah Valley, Earlys men occupied the heights and prepared to meet Sheridans advancing Union forces.    Though Fishers Hill offered a strong position, Early lacked sufficient forces to cover the four miles between the two mountains.   Anchoring his right on Massanutten, he deployed the divisions of Brigadier General Gabriel C. Wharton, Major General John B. Gordon, Brigadier General John Pegram, and Major General Stephen D. Ramseur in a line extending east to west.   To bridge the gap between Ramseurs left flank and Little North Mountain, he employed Major General Lunsford L. Lomaxs cavalry division in a dismounted role.   With the arrival of Sheridans army on September 20, Early began to realize the danger of his position and that his left was extremely weak.   As a result, he began making plans for a retreat further south to begin on the evening of September 22.      Battle of Fishers Hill - The Union Plan: Meeting with his corps commanders on September 20, Sheridan rejected mounting a frontal assault against Fishers Hill as it would cause heavy losses and had a questionable chance of success.   Subsequent discussions resulted in a plan to strike Earlys right near Massanutten.   While this was endorsed by Wright and Emory, Crook had reservations as any movement in that area would be visible to the Confederate signal station atop Massanutten.   Adjourning the meeting, Sheridan reconvened the group that evening to discuss a thrust against the Confederate left.   Crook, with support from one of his brigade commanders, future president Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes, argued in favor of this approach while Wright, who did not wish his men to be relegated to a secondary role, fought against it.   When Sheridan approved of the plan, Wright attempted to secure leading the flank attack for VI Corps.   This was blocked by Hayes who reminded the Union commander that VIII Corps had spent much of the war fighting in the mountains and was better equipped to traverse the difficult terrain of Little North Mountain than VI Corps.   Resolving to move forward with the plan, Sheridan directed Crook to begin quietly moving his men into position.   That night, VIII Corps formed in heavy woods north of Cedar Creek and out of sight of the enemy signal station (Map). Battle of Fishers Hill - Turning the Flank: On September 21, Sheridan advanced VI and XIX Corps towards Fishers Hill.   Nearing the enemy lines, VI Corps occupied a small hill and began deploying its artillery.   Having remained concealed all day, Crooks men commenced moving again that evening and arrived at another concealed position north of Hupps Hill.   On the morning of the 21st, they ascended the east face of Little North Mountain and marched southwest.   Around 3:00 PM, Brigadier General Bryan Grimes reported to Ramseur that enemy troops were on their left.   After initially dismissing Grimes claim, Ramseur then saw Crooks men approaching through his field glasses.   Despite this, he refused to send more forces to the left end of the line until he discussed it with Early. In position by 4:00 PM, Crooks two divisions, led by Hayes and Colonel Joseph Thoburn, commenced their attack on Lomaxs flank.   Driving in the Confederate pickets, they quickly routed Lomaxs men and pressed on towards Ramseurs division.   As VIII Corps began to engage Ramseurs men it was joined on its left by Brigadier General James B. Ricketts division from VI Corps.   Additionally, Sheridan directed the remainder of VI Corps and XIX Corps to pressure Earlys front.   In an attempt to rescue the situation, Ramseur directed Brigadier General Cullen A. Battles brigade on his left to refuse back to face Crooks men.   Though Battles men mounted a fierce resistance, they were soon overwhelmed.   Ramseur then sent Brigadier General  William R. Cox’s brigade to aid Battle.   This force became lost in the confusion of the fight and played little role in the engagement. Pressing forward, Crook and Ricketts next rolled Grimes brigade as enemy resistance faltered.   With his line shattered, Early began directing his men to withdraw south.   One of his staff officers, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Pendleton, attempted to mount a rearguard action on the Valley Turnpike but was mortally wounded.   As the Confederates retreated in confusion, Sheridan ordered a pursuit in the hopes of dealing Early a fatal blow.   Chasing the enemy south, the Union troops finally broke off their efforts near Woodstock. Battle of Fishers Hill - Aftermath: A stunning success for Sheridan, the Battle of Fishers Hill saw his troops capture nearly 1,000 of Earlys men while killing 31 and wounding around 200.   Union losses included 51 killed and around 400 wounded.   As Early escaped south, Sheridan commenced laying waste to the lower part of the Shenandoah Valley.   Reorganizing his command, Early attacked the Army of the Shenandoah on October 19 while Sheridan was away.   Though the fighting at the Battle of Cedar Creek initially favored the Confederates, Sheridans return later in the day led to a change in fortunes with Earlys men being driven from the field.   The defeat effectively gave control of the valley to the Union and eliminated Earlys army as an effective force.    Selected Sources Civil War Trust: Battle of Fishers HillShenandoah at War: Battle of Fishers HillHistoryNet: Battle of Fishers Hill

The Definition of Mother Tongue Plus the Worlds Top 20

The Definition of Mother Tongue Plus the World's Top 20 The term mother tongue refers to a persons native language - that is, a language learned from birth. Also called a  first language, dominant language, home language, and native tongue  (although these terms are not  necessarily  synonymous).   Contemporary linguists and educators commonly use the term L1 to refer to a first or native language (the mother tongue) and the term L2 to refer to a second language or a foreign language thats being studied. Use of the Term Mother Tongue [T]he general usage of the term mother tongue...denotes not only the language one learns from ones mother, but also the speakers dominant and home language; i.e., not only the first language according to the time of acquisition, but the first with regard to its importance and the speakers ability to master its linguistic and communicative aspects. For example, if a language school advertises that all its teachers are native speakers of English, we would most likely complain if we later learned that although the teachers do have some vague childhood memories of the time when they talked to their mothers in English, they, however, grew up in some non-English-speaking country and are fluent in a second language only. Similarly, in translation theory, the claim that one should translate only into ones mother tongue is in fact a claim that one should only translate into ones first and dominant language. The vagueness of this term has led some researchers to claim...that different connotative meanings of the term mother tongue vary according to the intended usage of the word and that differences in understanding the term can have far-reaching and often political consequences. (Pokorn, N. Challenging the Traditional Axioms: Translation Into a Non-Mother Tongue. John Benjamins, 2005.) Culture and Mother Tongue It is the language community of the mother tongue, the language spoken in a region, which enables the process of enculturation, the growing of an individual into a particular system of linguistic perception of the world and participation in the centuries-old history of linguistic production. (Tulasiewicz, W. and A. Adams, What Is Mother Tongue? Teaching the Mother Tongue in a Multilingual Europe. Continuum, 2005.) Cultural power can...backfire when the choices of those who embrace Americanness in language, accent, dress, or choice of entertainment stir resentment in those who do not. Every time an Indian adopts an American accent and curbs his mother tongue influence, as the call centers label it, hoping to land a job, it seems more deviant, and frustrating, to have only an Indian accent.(Giridharadas, Anand. America Sees Little Return From Knockoff Power. The New York Times, June 4, 2010.) Myth and Ideology The notion of mother tongue is thus a mixture of myth and ideology. The family is not necessarily the place where languages are transmitted, and sometimes we observe breaks in transmission, often translated by a change of language, with children acquiring as first language the one that dominates in the milieu. This phenomenon...concerns all multilingual situations and most of the situations of migration.(Calvet, Louis Jean. Towards an Ecology of World Languages. Polity Press, 2006.) Top 20 Mother Tongues The mother tongue of more than three billion people is one of 20: Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, Hindi, Arabic, Portuguese, Bengali, Russian, Japanese, Javanese, German, Wu Chinese, Korean, French, Telugu, Marathi, Turkish, Tamil, Vietnamese, and Urdu. English is the lingua franca of the digital age, and those who use it as a second language may outnumber its native speakers by hundreds of millions. On every continent, people are forsaking their ancestral tongues for the dominant language of their region’s majority. Assimilation confers inarguable benefits, especially as internet use proliferates and rural youth gravitate to cities. But the loss of languages passed down for millennia, along with their unique arts and cosmologies, may have consequences that won’t be understood until it is too late to reverse them.(Thurman, Judith. A Loss for Words. The New Yorker, March 30, 2015.) A Lighter Side of the Mother Tongue Gibs friend: Forget her, I hear she only likes intellectuals.Gib: So? Im intellectual and stuff.Gibs friend: Youre flunking English. Thats your mother tongue and stuff.(The Sure Thing, 1985)

The Yom Kippur War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Yom Kippur War - Essay Example The decision of Israel was to be handed over by the U.S, government to the Arab states. The U.S. was informed about the decision but not to hand it over to the Arabs. There was no evidence of receipt neither Egypt nor Syria, who in fact never received the offer. It was kept closely guarded within the government of Israel, which was withdrawn in October 1967. Like anyone who lost a property, Egypt and Syria craved to regain the land they lost during the Six-Day War. Nevertheless, a summit issued the â€Å"three no’s† resolving there will be â€Å"NO peace, NO recognition and NO negotiation with Israel.† This is the Khartoum Arab Summit. (2) Convincing allies and non-allies to join you in war is not an easy thing to do not to mention the consequences these entail. The Iraqis turned down the idea of joining the preliminary attack. Syria had a tensed relationship with Iraq, so getting Iraq’s aid was unsuccessful. Lebanon was not expected to join the war since they share a border with Israel, not to mention the small army they had. (3) But nevertheless, Sadat did not lose hopes in getting aid from other countries. A few months before the war, Sadat was engaged in a tactful, diplomatic, and suave offensive to try to win support for war. He claimed the support of more than a hundred states. These countries were mostly of the Arab League, Non-Aligned Movement, and Organization of African Unity. He also got the support of Europe and for the first time, Britain and France sided with the Arabs against Israel on the UN Security Council. II. Pre-Event Actions The suave offensive of Sadat, which won the aid of other countries, materialized. Long before the war broke out, the Iraqis transferred a squadron of hunter jets to Egypt. A division of 18,000 men and hundreds of tanks were deployed in the central Golan. Their MiGs began operating on the third day of the war. (4) Kuwait and Saudi Arabia committed their men to battle aside from serving as financial underwriters. A brigade from Saudi of approximately 3000 troops was sent off to Syria where it engaged in fighting to Damascus. Libya sent Egypt a number of Mirage fighters and from 1971-1973, President Muammar Qadaffi gave Cairo more than $1 billion to support their thirst for regaining Egypt and for payment to the weapons delivered by the Soviets. (5) Support came so overwhelmingly. North African countries responded to the thirst of Egypt. Soviet commanded an aid for the frontline states. An armored brigade and 150 tanks were sent by Algeria together with three aircraft squadrons of bombers and fighters. Almost 2000 Tunisian soldiers were deployed along the Nile Delta, 3500 troops from Sudan in southern Egypt and 3 brigades to the front lines from Morocco including 2500 men to Syria. III. The Event On the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria opened a coordinated surprise attack against Israel, which was named "The Yom Kippur War." The warships at par with those of NATO's in Europe were mobilized on the borders of Israel. Israel with approximately 180 tanks surprisingly faced an onslaught of 1400 tanks from Syria and their almost 500 defenders were attacked by 80,000 Egyptians. (6) The Israeli Intelligence, known as one of the most aggressive and successful intelligence networks in history seemed to fail this time. The Arabs had more time in planning the war against Israel. They incorporated a fine use of deception and disinformation to disguise their furiously deadly intent. On the other hand, Israel had been

Recruitment and selection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Recruitment and selection - Essay Example is mandated to ensuring that the organisation acquires quality workforce to enable the organization achieve some of its primary objectives and the company’s vision. However, getting the right people for the job has always been a major challenge for most organisations. This explains why most of the organisations have invested heavily in human resource. McDonalds began operations in the early 1954 and subsequently grew to become the world’s leading food retailer with over 30,000 food outlets in over 199 countries. It is estimated that McDonalds serves approximately 47 million customers on a daily basis. In addition to its retail success, McDonalds has become a global brand a situation that is evidenced by the increasing share capital of the firm. According to McDonalds & Hite, (2005, p.437), the department of human resource in any company is accountable for the management of the workforce to ensure that employees work effectively to achieve the company’s mission and vision. In view of this, the HRM department plays a key role in the management process of an organisation. Some of the responsibilities that the HRM department is charged with include; recruitment, selection, performance management, employee training and administration. The HR process of any organisation aims at recruiting skilled labour to help an organisation achieve competitive advantage particularly in competitive sectors. The process of recruiting new employees at McDonalds runs through the entire year. The process is often both internal and external. However, most of the management team at McDonalds is picked internally which implies that there is employee appraisal. By picking the management team internally, the management team ensures that those selected to the organisation are knowledgeable of the restaurant’s operations in the food industry and also maintain the organisational culture. The recruitment process at McDonalds is broken down into smaller and manageable departmental

Food, Inc Essay Example for Free

Food, Inc Essay In America, whoever has the big bucks dictates how things are run. With money, there is no limit to what can be done in America. The documentary â€Å"Food Inc. produced by Robert Kenner and Eric Schlosser, takes an in depth look at America’s food industry and the terrible but completely legal way our food is genetically engineered. The narrator makes the argument that profit is put before the consumer’s well being,. The vision of the American farmer, workers safety, and our precious environment is far from the correct vision of the many major corporations that are producing our food. I firmly believe that these corporations have put aside and have deliberately tried to hide the truth about how unhealthy the food they produce truly is for the American public. The purpose of this video is to shock the American public with clever filmography and facts about the food Americans consume every day. The food industry is full of misconceptions. â€Å"Food Inc. † declares that the food industry is using deceiving images of American farmlands to sell their product. Images of lush green fields, picket fences, and 1930’s farmhouses is only a â€Å"spinning of a pastoral fantasy†. In reality the food being consumed is coming from mistreated animals and large factories all over the country. As the video continues, images of your typical everyday supermarket are cleverly displayed giving the audience something they can relate too. â€Å"There are no seasons in the American supermarket†. (Food Inc. ) The narrator gives details on how we as consumers get to enjoy ‘tomatoes’ all year round. He states that they were â€Å"grown half way around the world, picked when it was green and ripened with ethylene gas† (Food Inc. ). This is meant to inform the audience that what they are eating isn’t what it seems. It definitely makes viewers stop and think next time they are buying a tomato in winter. There has been little understanding and awareness of food in America until the film Food Inc. , which helped show the basis of how food is produced, packaged and sold locally in our grocery stores. We have been made to believe that local stores carry a wide variety of foods in all areas, including meats, dairy and especially in the fast food industry. A typical grocery store has on average 47,000 products and has made us to believe that there is a wide variety of choices inside the grocery store (Food, Inc. ). In today’s food industry most of the products are produced by only a few main companies which allow for cheaper foods in the stores. The current raw food production method has made a huge increase in our fast food companies since the 1950’s (Food, Inc. ). In fact, the production of our food has changed so much since the 1950’s, than the thousand years prior. The food industry which is controlled by only a few companies has turned the industry from the ordinary farmer, to the production of large quantities of food, feeding the nation at low costs which results in enormous profits for the producers. Because of this, health and safety of the food itself, how the animals are raised, the current method of workers being on assembly lines, and the consumer eating the food are now being overlooked by the companies and government; to provide cheap food regardless of the negative consequences. The reason for this innovation has been based on the advancement in science and technology which is a main reason for the negative side effects. With the addition of Carl’s Law, companies now come up with ways to throw more science at the problem to help eliminate the issues and not the root causes for the matter. I believe the message of Food Inc. s that most of what Americans now eat is being produced by a handful of huge corporations which is more detrimental to health, our environment and even our own human race. The horrible known facts about animal mistreatment and food contamination are being covered up by the secretive industry, by not talking to the filmmakers or let the insides of their companies be shown to the world, which include the enormous chicken farms, cattle ranches, slaughterhouses and the meatpacking plants. This film also said that â€Å"exploitation and malpractice in the meat industry were exposed as far back as Upton Sinclairs 1906 muckraking book, The Jungle. † Food Inc. , is a movie that address’s the voices of advocates, farmers, and journalists, to show what’s wrong with the food and what we can do about it. There are many factors that lead to the killing of the environment. There is a scene in the movie that shows cattle standing in about of a foot of its own feces. The feces that the cattle is standing in is full of harmful chemicals. Not only do the cattle have this bacteria in its body, but it is also spreading the bacteria in the ground, rivers, streams, etc. When it rains, the run off from these â€Å"farms† are affecting the health of the animals in the surrounding areas and further. The factories are polluting the air and killing more of the ozone layer due to the harmful chemicals that the factory is pushing out. It is sad to see how companies can allow cattle that will be slaughtered to stand in a foot of its bacteria infested feces, but worse to then see the cow be slaughtered and eventually be put on the shelves of grocery stores. There is no empathy on how the food is processed from beginning to end. Animals are treated horribly, known bacteria that they oversee and more important the health of the people consuming the products is not in any of the company’s top interest. All in all, this movie has shown me how brutal Americans can be to animals and how our own US Government seems not to care about its citizens health. I have learned to eat organic foods and to shop for produce only in season. The one question that kept arising in my mind during the movies was, I wonder where the food that the white house serves comes from. Is the president eating the same steroid injected chicken her is letting his country eat? It was a great movie and should, by law be shown in schools around the United States.

History of Cloning and the Future Prospect of Cloning Humans :: Argumentative Persuasive Argument Essays

History of Cloning and the Future Prospect of Cloning Humans In the first article, the author describes cloning as the process of creating a cell, tissue line or even a complete organism from a single cell. He says that the concept of cloning was introduced in 1903 and plants were the first living organisms to be cloned. He gives examples such as trees sending up runners, worms dividing into smaller worms and says that all these are clones. He then explains the various threads and experiments used over the years and how they have contributed to the field of cloning. The author states that the first research thread leading to experimental cloning involved laboratory stimulation of development through artificial fertilization. This was proven when artificial parthenogenesis of sea urchin eggs showed that fertilization was not necessary to make larval urchins. Transplantation was the second experimental manipulation of development. Nuclear transplantation was used to produce a clone from embryonic or adult cells. The third line of development was cell line and gene cloning. In this process, the scientists recombine the genetic material. Using nuclear transplantation, the first frog was cloned. After nuclear transplantation came recombinant DNA. This revolutionized the field of genetics presenting new techniques for cloning. Recombinant DNA showed that pieces of DNA could be transplanted from animals into bacteria. And after all this came the major breakthrough in the field of genetics and cloning. That was the cloning of the firs t sheep, Dolly. Dolly was a result of reproductive technology. It is a fact that living wombs are required as incubators and they are available because of advances in reproductive technologies and agriculture. Implantation techniques were not new in Dolly, but this step is essential for the process to work. Ian Wilmut and his team used these various established research threads to produce Dolly. There was one detail new in Dolly in a technical fact. That the nucleus came from an adult somatic rather than embryonic cell was not sufficiently radical scientifically that it should have evoked such strong reactions. The production of Dolly has raised mixed reactions all over the world.

Emotional Intelligence Quotient

The concept of Emotional Intelligence (EIQ) may seem foreign to some. However, its lack of popularity does not mean that it is significant. Emotional Intelligence provides individuals with an insight into their personality. It helps people to identify the areas of their behavior that they may need to improve. Just like the IQ, the EIQ serves as a valuable measure by which people can learn about their weaknesses and strengths. There are various free EQ surveys available online. One of the websites that provide a free EIQ test is Discovery Health. The test I took was composed of a series of questions that required me to rate myself based on how much I feel the given statement applies to me. While I was taking the test, I remembered the multitude of personality tests that were administered in high school. The statements I was answering were very similar in nature to those I used to answer in school. As I responded to each question, I tried to look back on situations where the given statements applied. For each statement, I tried to remember the number of instances where I did as the statement said. At the end of the test, I found out that I scored average. Quite frankly, I was relieved to find out that I was the same as most people. However, the results also enlightened me to the fact that there is room for improvement in my life. There is so much that I can do to make myself a better person most especially in the way I relate to people and on how I maximize my talents and abilities. As the website’s explanation said, â€Å"You are not taking full advantage of your potential.† Basically, my results suggest that I should constantly seek for improvement in how I deal with others and in how I utilize my skills. As earlier mentioned, my results suggest that there is still room for improvement. I can still change and become a better person. There is still a chance for me to increase my EIQ. The website suggested that one way by which I can improve my score is by learning new skills and honing the skills that I have already acquired. Also, it was suggested that I learn new ways by which I deal with people. Indeed, these are the two primary ways by which I can develop myself. New skills will be greatly beneficial for it will make me more competent and capable of handling a wider range of tasks. However, learning new skills is not enough. In order to become a better person, I should be able to develop the ability to fully utilize such skills and to discern which ones will be needed for certain situations. Better decision making is key in enhancing one’s EIQ. In terms of improving the way I deal with people, I know that I must develop better communication skills. Relationships with others rely heavily on communication. Logically, better communication will mean better relationships. As such, it is evident that improving my communication skills is a key element in the development of my personality and in the enhancement of my emotional intelligence. Tests such as the one I took should not be taken as a complete assessment of an individual. It must be considered merely as a possible indication of how a person behaves. Having said such, I believe that every person has always room to grow and develop. There is always something new to learn or something to improve. Learning and developing has no end. They are constant processes that are a part of life.