{"product_id":"2940013964556","title":"Battle of Ball's Bluff: Staff Ride Guide","description":"The Battle of Ball's Bluff provides important lessons in small unit actions, leadership, tactical planning, and the role of courage and military professionalism under fire. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the night of 20 October 1861, Union Brig. Gen. Charles P. Stone set out to attack what had been reported as a small, unguarded Confederate camp near  Leesburg, Virginia. Later, after Stone learned there was no camp, he allowed the operation to continue, now modified to capture Leesburg itself. But a lack of adequate communication, problems with logistics, and violations of the principles of war hampered the operation. What was originally meant to be a small raid turned into a military disaster.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe action resulted in the death of a popular U.S. senator and long-time friend of President Abraham Lincoln, the arrest and imprisonment of General Stone, and the creation of a congressional oversight committee that would keep senior Union commanders looking over their shoulders for the remainder of the war. For such a small and relatively insignificant military action, Ball's Bluff would cast a long shadow. \u003cbr\u003eThe purpose of this Ball's Bluff staff ride is to learn from the past by analyzing the battle through the eyes of the men who were there, both leaders and rank-and-file soldiers. The battle contains many lessons in command and control, communications, intelligence, weapons technology versus tactics, and the ever-present confusion, or \"fog,\" of battle. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis account is drawn principally from contemporary after action reports and from the sworn testimony of participants before the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War, a congressional entity created to investigate the Union defeats at First Bull Run and Ball's Bluff.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe U.S. Army has long used the staff ride as a tool for professional development, conveying the lessons of the past to contemporary soldiers. To support the Army's initiatives, the Center is publishing staff ride guides such as this one on the Battle of Ball's Bluff, Virginia. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNewly reformatted for the Kindle, this edition is packed with photographs and maps, setting the stage of the battle with visual impact, and bringing the characters to life. (As with the print edition, all images except the cover art are in black and white.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAuthor Ted Ballard has been a historian with the U.S. Army Center of Military History since 1980 and a part of the Center's staff ride program since 1986. Battle of Ball's Bluff joins his other battlefield guides to First and Second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Wilderness\/Spotsylvania. In addition to being the author of numerous articles on military history, he was a contributor to the Center's publication, The Story of the Noncommissioned Officer Cops; the author of Rhineland, a brochure in the Center's series commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of World War II; and a contributor to the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command publication, American Military Heritage, and to the Virginia Army National Guard publication, The Tradition Continues: A History of the Virginia National Guard, 160 7-1985.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTable of Contents:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eForeward\u003cbr\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003eBall's Bluff: An Overview\u003cbr\u003ePrelude to Battle\u003cbr\u003eThe Battle\u003cbr\u003eSummary\u003cbr\u003eFurther Readings\u003cbr\u003eChronology\u003cbr\u003eOrder of Battle, October 1861\u003cbr\u003eCasualties\u003cbr\u003eOrganization\u003cbr\u003eTactics\u003cbr\u003eSmall Arms\u003cbr\u003eArtillery\u003cbr\u003eLogistics\u003cbr\u003eTactics\u003cbr\u003eSelected Biographical Sketches\u003cbr\u003eAbout the Author","brand":"Estonishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152736141552,"sku":"2940013964556","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013964556_p0.jpg?v=1763597988","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013964556","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}