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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1361 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 20, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Highly recommend Gallagher's Union War and Confederate War on this question.

Seconding this. Great books.

American literature over-indexes on the fighting in the East. The truth is that the Western campaign was arguably the most decisive.

I've always thought that Vicksburg was probably the most important fight of the war. What's your take?

I'm not sure. I did a course in it, not an entire degree, and to the extent I focused on anything it was actually the naval war, so I don't have a strong opinion on the single most important battle. But Vicksburg, if memory serves, was what really allowed the North to implement Scott's Anaconda strategy on the Southern interior.

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