How We Know What We Know · Official Reports

How We Know What We Know · Official Reports. Honey Springs Battlefield. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies is a series of books edited by former Union and Confederate officers. It consists of 128 thick volumes, published by the US Government Printing Office between 1888 and 1901. Though not all of the official reports to superior officers written during the war are contained in these volumes, there are enough records to give an overview of most of the more than 10,000 battles and actions of the Civil War., The First Kansas particularly distinguished itself; they fought like veterans, and preserved their line unbroken throughout the engagement. Their coolness and bravery I have never seen surpassed; they were in the hottest of the fight, and opposed to Texas troops twice their number, whom they completely routed. , From the Official Report of Maj. Gen. Blunt, USA, I feel confident that we could have made good the defense of the position at Elk Creek but for the worthlessness of our ammunition. The Choctaws, who had skirmished with the enemy on the morning of the 17th, returned wet and disheartened by finding their guns almost useless, and there was a general feeling among the troops that with such ammunition it was useless to contend with a foe doubly superior in numbers, arms, and munitions, with artillery ten times superior to ours, weight of metal considered. Notwith-standing all these untoward circumstances, the men of Colonel Bass' regiment stood calmly and fearlessly to their posts in support of Lee's battery until the conflict became a hand-to-hand one, even clubbing with their muskets and never giving way until the battery had been withdrawn; and, even when defeated and in full retreat, the officers and men of different commands readily obeyed orders, formed, falling back and reforming at several different positions, as ordered, deliberately and coolly. , From the Official Report of Brig. Gen. Cooper, CSA