Firefight range at Gettysburg

A survey of the OR for yards, paces and rods has yielded the following firefight ranges (identified opening fire range):



The mean is 95 yards and the mode 100 yards, but three distinct peaks are visible. It seems the average open field range of 100 yards is reasonable, with the lower ranges being in restricted terrain.

During Pickett's charge 2 Union regiments (7th MI and 20th MA) opened fire at 200 yards, the rest at 80-100 yards except the 12th NJ who reserved fire to 20 yards. The attacking Confederates stopped to fire around 80 yards and stopped moving forward well clear of the fence.

The end of my absence

I've not posted for a while, as I've been knee deep in my MPhil to PhD upgrade exam. This is an examination taken about half way though a PhD programme at a British university as a check that you're of sufficient standard to stand a chance of passing a PhD viva. I passed. If you have a choice, don't do your PhD at Imperial College, even if it is one of the best in the world. It's much more stressful than Oxford, King's or UCL.

Whilst busy with my day job (making poly(oxazolines)) I'm preparing my next post. I've located a copy of the map of the Confederate gravesites at Gettysburg. Once I've deconflicted the casualties of Anderson's division on the 2nd and Longstreet's on the 3rd I'll post on where the bodies fell during the Longstreet/ Pickett etc. charge, and the implications of this data.

A google found a short video clip of the same map being used in a TV program (ref). Unfortunately the related clips from the same program talks of 12,000 CS dead in "Pickett's charge", against "General Grant". Oh dear...

Oh, and Foyles bookshop, one of the few UK bookshops to stock a reasonable range of ACW material, have majorly increased their prices, to the point where they're 50%(+) more expensive than amazon even after the delivery costs. I can wait for 5 days to save £11 ($18), thanks.

Expect a proper post in around a week.