Van Dorn was not prepared. He had long ignored the physical needs of his men, and he was about to pay a heavy price. Trudging through the mud and snow, his men were short on warm clothes and rations. Deprived of weapons and sufficient ammunition, hundreds of his soldiers went into battle armed with squirrel rifles and shotguns. Many in his three brigades of Native Americans opted for more dependable bows and hatchets. Cold, hungry, outgunned, his troops were easily routed in what historian James McPherson called “the most one-sided victory won by an outnumbered Union army during the war”.
(from The History
Buff’s Guide to the Civil War by Thomas R.
Flagel)
7½*/10. The complete review is here.
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