{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"54158506","dateCreated":"1337086597","smartDate":"May 15, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"smeted31","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/smeted31","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812869\/smeted31-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/civilwar2012.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/54158506"},"dateDigested":1532390094,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Western front ","description":"I beleive that the western front was almost unimportant towards the end of the war. in fact, I would go as far to say that Sherman's March was unecessary. it was just a exercise of power by the Union. What do you think?","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"54236252","body":"I respectfully disagree with my colleague the Hammer, I believe that had the Sout been successful in its western theater the focus of the Union would have had to be split between both the west and the east. I also think that without Sherman's march to the sea the south, particularly Lee, would have been able to roam around the south constantly being reinforced by the cities of Atlanta, Savannah, and Colombia.","dateCreated":"1337228825","smartDate":"May 16, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"Misiej02","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Misiej02","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812629\/Misiej02-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"54080700","dateCreated":"1336877419","smartDate":"May 12, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"firerc29","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/firerc29","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/civilwar2012.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/54080700"},"dateDigested":1532390094,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"4\/30\/12 Alex Idarraga - Reply","description":"I think Alex raises an interesting point in this post. In almost everything we've studied there is a significant decrease in Western Theater action after the arrival of Grant in the East. Is this just because there are less battles, or is it because the battles in the East are more important?","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"54107636","body":"I think that the battles in the east have just become increasingly important and thats were historians want to focus on where the war was won in the overland campaign. The western theatre however seems to just be Sherman marching over everthing in his way and there is no real battles to talk about just complete domination. I do however believe it is very important, but for some reason it just gets overlooked.","dateCreated":"1336970471","smartDate":"May 13, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"Roll.Tide.3","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Roll.Tide.3","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328811635\/Roll.Tide.3-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54133494","body":"I believe that Sherman's March is not overlooked but rather it is glorified to the point that we think it was an nice stroll through the backwoods of the Confederacy when in fact, Sherman's men were really tired and they pillaged the towns the came into. They also had to deal with the extra baggage with the slaves they freed on thier march.","dateCreated":"1337022018","smartDate":"May 14, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"smeted31","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/smeted31","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812869\/smeted31-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54141264","body":"I agree with Roll TIde. Most of the attention is focused in the East because this is where all of the deciding battles such as Gettysburg take place. The battles in the west were important; however, not to the extent to which the battles in the east were.","dateCreated":"1337035696","smartDate":"May 14, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"nelsoc25","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/nelsoc25","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54145712","body":"I am not going to say that the west was not important, but i do believe that the east was the deciding factor for the war. Therefore, more attention should be focused on the east.","dateCreated":"1337045534","smartDate":"May 14, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"meyerm07","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/meyerm07","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812219\/meyerm07-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54145966","body":"The battles in the east are the most important becase they took place so close to importants cities, landmasses, and ports. Also, there is a big focus on the center of the war between Richmond and DC for a good reason. They were possibly the most important places for both sides.","dateCreated":"1337046104","smartDate":"May 14, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"Fighting69thInfantry","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Fighting69thInfantry","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812722\/Fighting69thInfantry-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54147116","body":"I agree that the fighting in the west was still important, but the fighting in the east was more important just because the confederate major cities were stationed there. However if Grant did not cut off the Mississippi river in the West the south would had been able to fight longer because they would had been able to funnel in more supplies.","dateCreated":"1337048353","smartDate":"May 14, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"Durst27","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Durst27","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54148126","body":"Pat Bassi Comment: I think that the fighting in the east was with out a doubt more important. Thats kind of where everything was at, and the east is where the decisive battles were held. Sure, the west was obviously important, but warfare in the east was the "make it or break it" point for the armies.","dateCreated":"1337050729","smartDate":"May 14, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"starsandbars","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/starsandbars","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1331506979\/starsandbars-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54151178","body":"The emphasis on the eastern theater was simply because the western theater ceased to exist after a certain point in the war. As Sherman marched towards the sea, the western and eastern theaters combined. This is evident in the documentary, when Burns speaks about the two generals as if they are fighting in the same geographic area.","dateCreated":"1337059796","smartDate":"May 14, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"pucka27","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/pucka27","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812351\/pucka27-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54151870","body":"Nick Stephan: I would have to agree with everyone that the fighting in the east is much more pronounced, mostly because it affected a larger amount of people due to the close proximity to major cities. Also Sherman's march to the sea was the last well-known western event that ended up merging in the east, driving all of the attention in that direction.","dateCreated":"1337063817","smartDate":"May 14, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"rebelyell17","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/rebelyell17","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54179684","body":"The east was much more densly populated at the time, and it was also more developed. This enabled the ability for the North to command control over known territory, and also provided easier travel.","dateCreated":"1337116279","smartDate":"May 15, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"lawtos05","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/lawtos05","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328811951\/lawtos05-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54184014","body":"I believe it was because the events in the East were closer to major cities, and were also just overall larger events. Similar to WWII, people seem to remember more events that happened in Europe, rather then the Western Theater of war.","dateCreated":"1337124474","smartDate":"May 15, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"hippm29","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/hippm29","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"53975858","dateCreated":"1336616156","smartDate":"May 9, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"muhs32","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/muhs32","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/civilwar2012.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/53975858"},"dateDigested":1532390094,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"4\/30\/12 Alex","description":"This is a comment on Alex's post. I would agree that the truly western theater was ended but I would say it was replaced by Sherman's march. So while it is not truly the western side of the war I would still say that the western part of the war was still looked at. Plus let's face it with the Mississippi under control the western theater was pretty much over.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"54040830","body":"Matt Donohue comment- In the last five episodes, Burns does focus more on the Eastern Theater of the war, but this is because almost all of the major and important battles were happening in the East. The only two Western battles Burns talks about is Chickamauga and Chattanooga.","dateCreated":"1336745552","smartDate":"May 11, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"donohm29","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donohm29","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812880\/donohm29-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54054352","body":"I agree with Mark. Once Vicksburg was taken there wasn't much to discuss. Near the end of the war there wasn't much action in the west but Burns' discussion of Sherman's march made up for it.","dateCreated":"1336760402","smartDate":"May 11, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"mclaur29","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/mclaur29","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54080824","body":"I believe the West theater was ended with Grant's Siege, and then was replaced with Sherman's March. But even that became divided. I think it would be a Northern and Southern theater.","dateCreated":"1336878118","smartDate":"May 12, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"freunn10","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/freunn10","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1329864569\/freunn10-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54091594","body":"I agree with donohm29, it's not that Ken Burns didn'w ant to discuss the Western Theatre of war, it is that there was hardly anything to discuss about the Western Theatre of war. A majority of the major battles occured in the Eastern Theatre of war and there is nothing Ken Burns can do to change that, obviously.","dateCreated":"1336930449","smartDate":"May 13, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"powerk19","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/powerk19","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1332202074\/powerk19-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54130354","body":"I also agree with Mark, the western theater was pretty much on lockdown, and the rest of the series is pretty much a slow zeroing in on Richmond and Petersburg from there on.","dateCreated":"1337017394","smartDate":"May 14, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"16ButtonsOfJustice","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/16ButtonsOfJustice","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812296\/16ButtonsOfJustice-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54193196","body":"I also agree with Mark that the Western theater did not play a significant role towards the end of the war, but rather the eastern theater is where the war was won. The war's focus was shifted away from the West with the placement of Grant at the head of the army of the Potomac and his moving eastward. The fighting between the two main men, Lee and Grant, became focused around the Richmond, Virginia area with Cold Harbor, the Wilderness and Petersburg, with Lee finally falling at Appomattox Courthouse.","dateCreated":"1337145654","smartDate":"May 15, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"buffoa07","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/buffoa07","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"54236170","body":"The only reason that Grant was able to move to the east was because of his success in the west. Along with that the victories at Chickamauga and Chattanooga set up the march to the sea which effectively ended the war.","dateCreated":"1337228548","smartDate":"May 16, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"Misiej02","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Misiej02","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812629\/Misiej02-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"51579478","dateCreated":"1331509565","smartDate":"Mar 11, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"mclaur29","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/mclaur29","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/civilwar2012.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/51579478"},"dateDigested":1532390094,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"Dan's post involving bleeding kansas","description":"Dan brings up a really good point that Burns really bypasses this issue. It was one of the main causes to the war and it wasn't just a political issue, there was also fighting involved. Burn's really could have used this to his advantage to enhance his western theatre of war.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"51581022","body":"I would have to agree with this post and Dan's statement. Bleeding Kansas was almost brushed over in a list of causes. It was kinda like somebody gave me a bullet pointed list of causes and one point was bleeding Kansas. He could have gone into details about these stories and scuffles as kind of a prelude to the battles of the civil war.","dateCreated":"1331512116","smartDate":"Mar 11, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"muhs32","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/muhs32","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]},{"id":"51576572","dateCreated":"1331505769","smartDate":"Mar 11, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"Durst27","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Durst27","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/civilwar2012.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/51576572"},"dateDigested":1532390094,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"3\/10\/12 Dan Smetek","description":"I agree with Dan here that the war\/battles in the east are represented far mor than what happened in the west. Like Dan said the major turning point battles all happened in the east because that is where all of the major cities of both the north and the south are.","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"51584752","body":"The Eastern theater was clearly represented more, but understandably so. Both Richmond and Washington were located near the Eastern theater, and the capture of either of those would have a drastic effect on the morale of the people. The capture of Lincoln or Davis would have had untold influences on the generals and armies as well. The Western theater truly pales in comparison; were it not for the Mississippi River nearly nothing would be of significance in the West.","dateCreated":"1331517121","smartDate":"Mar 11, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"pucka27","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/pucka27","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812351\/pucka27-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51585374","body":"In response to Durst, I think the reason that the battles in the East are represented more than the West is because the East was more populated and therefore, the battles recieved more attention from the press. Also, the West was underdeveloped and newer. Additionally, the armies in the West had to cover more ground just to engage in fights, and supplies were more limited, so there weren't as many battles in the West even though, geographically, it covered more land.","dateCreated":"1331517961","smartDate":"Mar 11, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"firerc29","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/firerc29","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51586742","body":"I believe that both the east and the west were represented equally in this documentary. The theater in the west was composed of conflicts near the Mississippi river and we certainly saw an emphasis on these in the movie- in no way did i feel that they were delittled. On the other hand, The eastern campaigns were represented well, as they should have been due to their importance and proximity to the capitols.","dateCreated":"1331520058","smartDate":"Mar 11, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"Fighting69thInfantry","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Fighting69thInfantry","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812722\/Fighting69thInfantry-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51587162","body":"I would agree that the east is represented more just due to the number of important battles that occurred. The magnitude of these battles tended to be larger, and therefore get more attention now. I would also take Rob;s point that in the east they tended to be near larger cities like the capitols of the Union and the Confederacy.","dateCreated":"1331520691","smartDate":"Mar 11, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"rebelyell17","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/rebelyell17","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51587982","body":"I would agree with Dan in the respect that the largest cities are in the east, on both sides, but the city that came up as the key to union victory and Confederate defeat was Vicksburg. It was heavily defended and after several failed attempts to siege it, Grant finally did after his trudge through the swamp around it. of course this was not the end of the War, but it forced Robert E. Lee to move east and also into northern territory toward Pennsylvania and later toward Washington. However, there were several other battles mentioned in the video, large battles, that took place on the western front. Shiloh which was fought in Tennessee ended in 23,000 casualties. There were also many battles fought west of the Mississippi that were not mentioned in the Video, but the western front is usually referred to western territory which lies east of the Mississippi.","dateCreated":"1331522363","smartDate":"Mar 11, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"ppppierson","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/ppppierson","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812656\/ppppierson-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51618996","body":"I would have to agree that a lot of important battles took place on the eastern front, mainly because of major ports and their cities were extremely valuable in keeping troops supplied further away from the areas that the supplies are shipped from.","dateCreated":"1331583087","smartDate":"Mar 12, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"16ButtonsOfJustice","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/16ButtonsOfJustice","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812296\/16ButtonsOfJustice-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51627592","body":"I beleive that Sherman's march to the see was the dagger to the souths chances. Like Dan says it not only shows the power of the north being able to cut through the south like a hot knife through butter. it also deplets the south of its resources.","dateCreated":"1331595428","smartDate":"Mar 12, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"Roll.Tide.3","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Roll.Tide.3","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328811635\/Roll.Tide.3-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51629064","body":"I feel the east had way more opportunity to be in the spot light because the population of the country was focused to the east. This does not make the wars in west less important but they were much more far and few between to make a powerful impact.","dateCreated":"1331597587","smartDate":"Mar 12, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"donohm29","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/donohm29","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812880\/donohm29-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51633932","body":"The Eastern Theater clearly was more influential in both war and the documentary. It included the campaigns that are generally most famous in the history of the war, if not for their strategic significance, then for their proximity to the large population centers, the major newspapers, and the capital cities of the opposing parties","dateCreated":"1331604472","smartDate":"Mar 12, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"white_lightning1860","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/white_lightning1860","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328840992\/white_lightning1860-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51636910","body":"I agree mostly with what dan said but while the east was more portrayed I think the west deserves more credit for the role it played as part of the Union Victory.","dateCreated":"1331610534","smartDate":"Mar 12, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"Misiej02","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Misiej02","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812629\/Misiej02-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51705296","body":"Like most of you guys i would agree that the war was concentrated mainly in the east. it makes sense because this is where DC and Richmond were. And like Matt D. said, it does not lessen the western war experiences.","dateCreated":"1331740430","smartDate":"Mar 14, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"starsandbars","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/starsandbars","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1331506979\/starsandbars-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"51899110","body":"I would agree with Dan. The Eastern Theatre was more largely potrayed but something some of you forget to mention is that the Western Theatre really doesn't become really important till later in the war.
\nhere is a website with the lists of the battles in the Western Theatre, although some do occur in 1861 and early 1862 most of the more important battles occur later.
\nhttp:\/\/www.nps.gov\/hps\/abpp\/battles\/bycampgn.htm<\/a>","dateCreated":"1332201520","smartDate":"Mar 19, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"powerk19","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/powerk19","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1332202074\/powerk19-lg.jpg"}}],"more":3}]},{"id":"51553666","dateCreated":"1331419438","smartDate":"Mar 10, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"freunn10","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/freunn10","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1329864569\/freunn10-lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/civilwar2012.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/51553666"},"dateDigested":1532390095,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"RE: 2\/27\/12 Alex Idarraga","description":"Going along with Alex's point, I also believe that the Battle of Shiloh was the worst battle of the Civil War Theater. From my lens , I think it was deserving of the title 'A Very Bloody Affair.'","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"51636970","body":"While the Battle of Shiloh may have been a very bad battle it's importance in the dynamic of the civil war cannot and should not be overlooked.
\n But, to go along with the comment I found it very Ironic that the worst battle of the Civil War is named after the Hebrew word for peace","dateCreated":"1331610700","smartDate":"Mar 12, 2012","userCreated":{"username":"Misiej02","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/Misiej02","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1328812629\/Misiej02-lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]}],"more":false},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}