The Importance of Numbers

[L Verge]

(07-21-2018 08:01 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(07-21-2018 06:49 AM)David Lockmiller Wrote:  Do you happen to know the general rules for the naming of battles by both the Union forces and the Confederate forces for the same battles?

David, I do not know. I checked Wikipedia, and here is what it says:

"There is a disparity between the sides in naming some of the battles of the war. The Union forces frequently named battles for bodies of water or other natural features that were prominent on or near the battlefield; Confederates most often used the name of the nearest town or man-made landmark. Because of this, many battles actually have two widely used names. However, not all of the disparities are based on these naming conventions. Many modern accounts of Civil War battles use the names established by the North. However, for some battles, the Southern name has become the standard. The National Park Service occasionally uses the Southern names for their battlefield parks located in the South, such as Manassas and Shiloh. In general, naming conventions were determined by the victor of the battle."

The Wikipedia explanation above used to be one of the first factoids in studying Civil War battles. I hope it hasn't changed.