Battle of Brandy Station in the Civil War

Battle of Brandy Station in the Civil War Battle of Brandy Station - Conflict Date: The Battle of Brandy Station was fought June 9, 1863, during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Armies Commanders Union Major General Alfred Pleasonton11,000 men Confederate Major General J.E.B. Stuart9,500 men Battle of Brandy Station - Background: In the wake of his stunning victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate General Robert E. Lee began making preparations to invade the North. Prior to embarking on this operation, he moved to consolidate his army near Culpeper, VA. Early June 1863, the corps of Lieutenant General James Longstreet and Richard Ewell had arrived while the Confederate cavalry, led by Major General J.E.B. Stuart screened to the east. Moving his five brigades into camp around Brandy Station, the dashing Stuart requested a full field review of his troops by Lee. Scheduled for June 5, this saw Stuarts men move through a simulated battle near Inlet Station. As Lee proved unable to attend on June 5, this review was re-staged in his presence three days later, though without the mock battle. While impressive to behold, many criticized Stuart for needlessly tiring his men and horses. With the conclusion of these activities, Lee issued orders for Stuart to cross the Rappahannock River the next day and raid advanced Union positions. Understanding that Lee intended to begin his offensive shortly, Stuart moved his men back into camp to prepare for the next day. Battle of Brandy Station - Pleasontons Plan: Across the Rappahannock, the commander of the Army of the Potomac, Major General Joseph Hooker, sought to ascertain Lees intentions. Believing that the Confederate concentration at Culpeper signaled a threat to his supply lines, he summoned his cavalry chief, Major General Alfred Pleasonton, and ordered him to conduct a spoiling attack to disperse the Confederates at Brandy Station. To assist with the operation, Pleasonton was given two select brigades of infantry led by Brigadier Generals Adelbert Ames and David A. Russell. Though the Union cavalry had performed poorly to date, Pleasonton devised a daring plan which called for dividing his command into two wings. The Right Wing, consisting of Brigadier General John Bufords 1st Cavalry Division, a Reserve Brigade led by Major Charles J. Whiting, and Ames men, was to cross the Rappahannock at Beverlys Ford and advance south toward Brandy Station. The Left Wing, led by Brigadier General David McM. Gregg, was to cross to the east at Kellys Ford and attack from the east and south to catch the Confederates in a double envelopment. Battle of Brandy Station - Stuart Surprised: Around 4:30 AM on June 9, Bufords men, accompanied by Pleasonton, began crossing the river in a thick fog. Quickly overwhelming the Confederate pickets at Beverlys Ford, the pushed south. Alerted to the threat by this engagement, the stunned men of Brigadier General William E. Grumble Jones brigade rushed to the scene. Barely prepared for battle, they succeeded in briefly holding up Bufords advance. This allowed Stuarts Horse Artillery, which had nearly been taken unawares, to escape south and establish a position on two knolls flanking the Beverlys Ford Road (Map). While Jones men fell back to a position on the right of the road, Brigadier General Wade Hamptons brigade formed on the left. As the fighting escalated, the 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry unsuccessfully charged forward in an attempt to take the Confederate guns near St. James Church. As his men fought around the church, Buford began probing for a way around the Confederate left. These endeavors led him to encounter Brigadier General W.H.F. Rooney Lees brigade which had assumed a position behind a stone wall in front of Yew Ridge. In heavy fighting, Bufords men succeeded in driving Lee back and taking the position. Battle of Brandy Station - A Second Surprise: As Buford advanced against Lee, Union troopers engaging the St. James Church line were stunned to see Jones and Hamptons men retreating. This movement was in reaction to the arrival of Greggs column from Kellys Ford. Having crossed early that morning with his 3rd Cavalry Division, Colonel Alfred Duffià ©s small 2nd Cavalry Division, and Russells brigade, Gregg had been blocked from advancing directly on Brandy Station by Brigadier General Beverly H. Robertsons brigade which had taken a position on the Kellys Ford Road. Shifting south, he succeeded in finding an unguarded road which led into Stuarts rear. Advancing, Colonel Percy Wyndhams brigade led Greggs force into Brandy Station around 11:00 AM. Gregg was separated from Bufords fight by a large rise to the north known as Fleetwood Hill. The site of Stuarts headquarters before the battle, the hill was largely unoccupied except for a lone Confederate howitzer. Opening fire, it caused the Union troops to pause briefly. This permitted a messenger to reach Stuart and inform him of the new threat. As Wyndhams men began their attack up the hill, they were met by Jones troops riding in from St. James. Church (Map). Moving to join the battle, the Colonel Judson Kilpatricks brigade moved east and assaulted the south slope of Fleetwood. This attack was met by Hamptons arriving men. The battle soon deteriorated into a series of bloody charges and countercharges as both sides sought control of Fleetwood Hill. The fighting ended with Stuarts men in possession. Having been engaged by Confederate troops near Stevensburg, Duffià ©s men arrived too late to alter the outcome on the hill. To the north, Buford maintained pressure on Lee, forcing him to retreat to the hills northern slopes. Reinforced late in the day, Lee counterattacked Buford but found that the Union troops were already departing as Pleasonton had ordered a general withdrawal near sunset. Battle of Brandy Station - Aftermath: Union casualties in the fighting numbered 907 while the Confederates sustained 523. Among the wounded was Rooney Lee who was later captured on June 26. Though the fighting was largely inconclusive, it marked a turning point for the much-maligned Union cavalry. For the first time during the war, they matched their Confederate counterparts skill on the battlefield. In the wake of the battle, Pleasonton was criticized by some for not pressing home his attacks to destroy Stuarts command. He defended himself by stating that his orders had been for a reconnaissance in force toward Culpeper. Following the battle, an embarrassed Stuart attempted to claim victory on the grounds that the enemy had departed the field. This did little to hide the fact that he had been badly surprised and caught unawares by the Union attack. Chastised in the Southern press, his performance continued to suffer as he made key mistakes during the upcoming Gettysburg Campaign. The Battle of Brandy Station was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the war as well as the largest fought on American soil. Selected Sources National Park Service: Battle of Brandy Station CWPT: Battle of Brandy Station

Best Writing Apps and Tools of 2018 - Freewrite Store

Best Writing Apps and Tools of 2018 - Freewrite Store Writing Software that Will Blow Your Mind Today’s guest post is by  Matt Grant.  Matt is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor.  His  work has appeared in  Literary Hub,  Book Riot,  HuffPost, and  BookBrowse.  Find Matt  online, or follow him on  Twitter  and  Facebook. Writing Software that Will Blow Your Mind As writers, we know that our craft takes time and energy. The last thing we need is to get bogged down in the process itself. Beyond the basic story, we’re often also struggling to keep track of character details, side plots, and random flashes of inspiration for parts of the story we’re not even working on yet. We need a solid place to keep all of this information in one, easily accessible place. Thankfully, gone are the days where you sat down at a typewriter and wrote everything in one long document. Yet one of the most frustrating things in our technological age is to be plugging away on a work in progress, only to get sidelined by bad or sluggish software. Below is a list of some of the best planning, writing and editing software available today with amazing features you didn’t know you needed. And the best part is, many of them are free. Planning: Scapple Scapple, by the folks at Literature and Latte, is a basic mind-mapping tool. It’s super simple and easy to use. All you do is make notes and connect them to one another by dragging and dropping them onto one another. Notes can be customized by color and size, although these options are limited. This can actually be a good thing, though, since you can’t waste too much time worrying about making your map look pretty. Scapple makes brainstorming not only easy, but fun. It’s like having an endless amount of paper at your disposal. Running out of room? No problem, you can easily zoom out of your working area and start a new map or connection in another area. yWriter – FREE! (Windows Only) yWriter is a free word processor for Windows PCs. Built by a writer for writers, the program breaks up your novel into scenes or chapters, making it easier for you to keep track of what goes where. You can create character cards and tags, and add a lot of helpful customizable notes to your scenes, such as the time of day it takes place and how long the scene is supposed to last. Due to its simplicity, I wouldn’t recommend yWriter for writing a full novel, although it has been done. There are much more advanced programs for that. yWriter is better for planning out your story scene by scene. But if you’re on a budget, yWriter will get the job done! Writing: Scrivener I’ve been using Scrivener for several years now, and it’s hands-down the best thing that could have happened to my writing. Scrivener is one of most popular writing tools available today. It’s so much more than just a word processor – it’s a novel-generating machine. Similar to yWriter, Scrivener allows you to break up your project into different parts, but it’s not just confined to chapters or scenes. You can have a flashback, a brief exchange between characters, or an entire short story in one document. These can be edited separately, allowing you to focus on just one small part of your work, or in â€Å"Scrivenings Mode,† which links together a series of scenes, like a whole first act. There are tons of easy-to-use, customizable features like split-screen, a digital note card outliner, a binder, and my personal favorite, compose mode.    If it all seems overwhelming, you don’t have to use all of the features. With Scrivener, you can find what works for you. It’s also cheap – at less than $50, Scrivener is an absolute steal. Sprinter – FREE! If you like â€Å"word sprints† – quick, 15-minute bursts of writing – consider giving Sprinter a try. Sprinter is an uncomplicated, distraction-free web-based writing program with a timer. You simply start writing, and the timer on the right side of the page begins its countdown. Need more than 15 minutes? No problem, set the timer for as long as you wish. You can also make a word count goal. Sprinter is great for brainstorming, flash fiction, writing prompts, and more. If you need to save your work for later, create a Postbox account and sync to Dropbox, Google Drive, and Evernote. Ulysses (Mac only) Similar to Scrivener, Ulysses is a customizable writing tool with lots of great features. You can organize your writing by project or subject, attach files, set writing goals, and add links and images to your text with ease. Ulysses utilizes a clear, clean, and beautiful interface. The editor allows you to choose your own colors, outlines, and more.  Ã‚   One of the greatest benefits of Ulysses is its synchronization capabilities. The program syncs seamlessly with iCloud and works on iOS as well, so you can write anywhere you are, on any device. It also integrates with Dropbox, making it easy to collaborate with others. iaWriter (Mac and Android only – FREE on Android!) iaWriter earns its place on this list because it’s a clear and clean plain-text editor with some of the most important features of the others, but at a much lower price. iaWriter might not be as versatile as Ulysses and Scrivener, but it works on the same principles. One of the coolest features that set iaWriter apart is Focus Mode, which dims everything except the current sentence you’re working on. You’re sure to have better and stronger sentences after using it. Syntax Control makes Focus Mode even better by highlighting your sentence’s grammatical structure. With the latest version of iaWriter, you can even add pictures and tables to content blocks, in case you’re working on something other than a straightforward novel. Editing: Hemingway Editor – FREE! If you haven’t been using this free online editing software that highlights your sentence structure and syntax, you’ve been missing out. Simply copy and paste your text into the Hemingway Editor’s interface, and it will show you what needs to be fixed. Things like overly complex structures, use of passive voice, and readability all become instantly highlighted and color-coded, allowing you to see all problems at a glance. You can even format your text into headings, subheadings, and add quotes and links. There’s a paid desktop version that works offline as well. Grammarly – FREE! Grammarly is a neat little browser extension that does essentially the same thing the Hemingway Editor does, but in real time. It will highlight spelling and grammar errors and suggest fixes. Grammarly also sends weekly emails summarizing your editing stats. You can opt out of if this feature if you wish. The greatest thing about this free plugin is that it works on most websites and text boxes, including Gmail and social media sites. Use it, and you’ll never accidentally send an unedited tweet again! When it comes to your writing projects, don’t settle for just a straightforward word processor anymore. With so much technology at your fingertips, there are thousands of writing tools and apps available that can make your writing time more productive and enjoyable than ever. Yet each program is as unique and different as every writer. Remember that not every program is going to fit your particular needs and style. If you’re spending money, take time to choose a program that will work for you. Most of these programs offer trial versions, so spend time learning them and working out their features before you pay. Just don’t take too long – your work in progress still needs your attention as well! What writing software do you swear by? Do you have any programs that you love and would recommend to others? Let us know in the comments!    Matt Grant  loves to write about writing, business, and all forms of popular  culture – books, film, and television. Matt started writing DVD reviews for  Pop Matters  in 2012, and in 2016, he followed through on a life-long dream by launching a part-time writing business at  www.mattgrantwriter.com. Since then, Matt’s work has appeared in  Literary Hub,  Book Riot,  HuffPost, and  BookBrowse,  and he has several ongoing clients.  His first personal essay,  Swimming Lessons,  is being published in LongReads at the end of August. Matt is also currently hard at work on his first novel, a comedic take on fantasy tropes for young adults. When not writing or reading, Matt works in youth development as an after-school program director  for one of the largest middle schools in Manhattan. Matt lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Katelyn. You can find him online at  www.mattgrantwriter.com, on  Twitter  @mattgrantwriter, and on Facebook  @mattgra ntwriter. Best Writing Apps and Tools of 2018 - Freewrite Store Writing Software that Will Blow Your Mind Today’s guest post is by  Matt Grant.  Matt is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor.  His  work has appeared in  Literary Hub,  Book Riot,  HuffPost, and  BookBrowse.  Find Matt  online, or follow him on  Twitter  and  Facebook. Writing Software that Will Blow Your Mind As writers, we know that our craft takes time and energy. The last thing we need is to get bogged down in the process itself. Beyond the basic story, we’re often also struggling to keep track of character details, side plots, and random flashes of inspiration for parts of the story we’re not even working on yet. We need a solid place to keep all of this information in one, easily accessible place. Thankfully, gone are the days where you sat down at a typewriter and wrote everything in one long document. Yet one of the most frustrating things in our technological age is to be plugging away on a work in progress, only to get sidelined by bad or sluggish software. Below is a list of some of the best planning, writing and editing software available today with amazing features you didn’t know you needed. And the best part is, many of them are free. Planning: Scapple Scapple, by the folks at Literature and Latte, is a basic mind-mapping tool. It’s super simple and easy to use. All you do is make notes and connect them to one another by dragging and dropping them onto one another. Notes can be customized by color and size, although these options are limited. This can actually be a good thing, though, since you can’t waste too much time worrying about making your map look pretty. Scapple makes brainstorming not only easy, but fun. It’s like having an endless amount of paper at your disposal. Running out of room? No problem, you can easily zoom out of your working area and start a new map or connection in another area. yWriter – FREE! (Windows Only) yWriter is a free word processor for Windows PCs. Built by a writer for writers, the program breaks up your novel into scenes or chapters, making it easier for you to keep track of what goes where. You can create character cards and tags, and add a lot of helpful customizable notes to your scenes, such as the time of day it takes place and how long the scene is supposed to last. Due to its simplicity, I wouldn’t recommend yWriter for writing a full novel, although it has been done. There are much more advanced programs for that. yWriter is better for planning out your story scene by scene. But if you’re on a budget, yWriter will get the job done! Writing: Scrivener I’ve been using Scrivener for several years now, and it’s hands-down the best thing that could have happened to my writing. Scrivener is one of most popular writing tools available today. It’s so much more than just a word processor – it’s a novel-generating machine. Similar to yWriter, Scrivener allows you to break up your project into different parts, but it’s not just confined to chapters or scenes. You can have a flashback, a brief exchange between characters, or an entire short story in one document. These can be edited separately, allowing you to focus on just one small part of your work, or in â€Å"Scrivenings Mode,† which links together a series of scenes, like a whole first act. There are tons of easy-to-use, customizable features like split-screen, a digital note card outliner, a binder, and my personal favorite, compose mode.    If it all seems overwhelming, you don’t have to use all of the features. With Scrivener, you can find what works for you. It’s also cheap – at less than $50, Scrivener is an absolute steal. Sprinter – FREE! If you like â€Å"word sprints† – quick, 15-minute bursts of writing – consider giving Sprinter a try. Sprinter is an uncomplicated, distraction-free web-based writing program with a timer. You simply start writing, and the timer on the right side of the page begins its countdown. Need more than 15 minutes? No problem, set the timer for as long as you wish. You can also make a word count goal. Sprinter is great for brainstorming, flash fiction, writing prompts, and more. If you need to save your work for later, create a Postbox account and sync to Dropbox, Google Drive, and Evernote. Ulysses (Mac only) Similar to Scrivener, Ulysses is a customizable writing tool with lots of great features. You can organize your writing by project or subject, attach files, set writing goals, and add links and images to your text with ease. Ulysses utilizes a clear, clean, and beautiful interface. The editor allows you to choose your own colors, outlines, and more.  Ã‚   One of the greatest benefits of Ulysses is its synchronization capabilities. The program syncs seamlessly with iCloud and works on iOS as well, so you can write anywhere you are, on any device. It also integrates with Dropbox, making it easy to collaborate with others. iaWriter (Mac and Android only – FREE on Android!) iaWriter earns its place on this list because it’s a clear and clean plain-text editor with some of the most important features of the others, but at a much lower price. iaWriter might not be as versatile as Ulysses and Scrivener, but it works on the same principles. One of the coolest features that set iaWriter apart is Focus Mode, which dims everything except the current sentence you’re working on. You’re sure to have better and stronger sentences after using it. Syntax Control makes Focus Mode even better by highlighting your sentence’s grammatical structure. With the latest version of iaWriter, you can even add pictures and tables to content blocks, in case you’re working on something other than a straightforward novel. Editing: Hemingway Editor – FREE! If you haven’t been using this free online editing software that highlights your sentence structure and syntax, you’ve been missing out. Simply copy and paste your text into the Hemingway Editor’s interface, and it will show you what needs to be fixed. Things like overly complex structures, use of passive voice, and readability all become instantly highlighted and color-coded, allowing you to see all problems at a glance. You can even format your text into headings, subheadings, and add quotes and links. There’s a paid desktop version that works offline as well. Grammarly – FREE! Grammarly is a neat little browser extension that does essentially the same thing the Hemingway Editor does, but in real time. It will highlight spelling and grammar errors and suggest fixes. Grammarly also sends weekly emails summarizing your editing stats. You can opt out of if this feature if you wish. The greatest thing about this free plugin is that it works on most websites and text boxes, including Gmail and social media sites. Use it, and you’ll never accidentally send an unedited tweet again! When it comes to your writing projects, don’t settle for just a straightforward word processor anymore. With so much technology at your fingertips, there are thousands of writing tools and apps available that can make your writing time more productive and enjoyable than ever. Yet each program is as unique and different as every writer. Remember that not every program is going to fit your particular needs and style. If you’re spending money, take time to choose a program that will work for you. Most of these programs offer trial versions, so spend time learning them and working out their features before you pay. Just don’t take too long – your work in progress still needs your attention as well! What writing software do you swear by? Do you have any programs that you love and would recommend to others? Let us know in the comments!    Matt Grant  loves to write about writing, business, and all forms of popular  culture – books, film, and television. Matt started writing DVD reviews for  Pop Matters  in 2012, and in 2016, he followed through on a life-long dream by launching a part-time writing business at  www.mattgrantwriter.com. Since then, Matt’s work has appeared in  Literary Hub,  Book Riot,  HuffPost, and  BookBrowse,  and he has several ongoing clients.  His first personal essay,  Swimming Lessons,  is being published in LongReads at the end of August. Matt is also currently hard at work on his first novel, a comedic take on fantasy tropes for young adults. When not writing or reading, Matt works in youth development as an after-school program director  for one of the largest middle schools in Manhattan. Matt lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Katelyn. You can find him online at  www.mattgrantwriter.com, on  Twitter  @mattgrantwriter, and on Facebook  @mattgra ntwriter.