Battle of Port Hudson - Civil War Battle of Port Hudson

Battle of Port Hudson - Civil War Battle of Port Hudson The Battle of Port Hudson lasted from May 22 to July 9, 1863, during the American Civil War (1861-1865) and saw Union troops final take control of the entirety of the Mississippi River. Having captured New Orleans and Memphis in early 1862, Union forces sought to open the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two. In an effort to prevent this from occurring, Confederate troops fortified key locations at Vicksburg, MS and Port Hudson, LA. The capture of Vicksburg was tasked to Major General Ulysses S. Grant. Having already won victories at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, and Shiloh, he began operations against Vicksburg in late 1862. A New Commander As Grant commenced his campaign against Vicksburg, the capture of Port Hudson was assigned to Major General Nathaniel Banks. The commander of the Department of the Gulf, Banks had taken command at New Orleans in December 1862 when he relieved Major General Benjamin Butler. Advancing in May 1863 in support of Grants effort, his principal command was the large Union XIX Corps. This was comprised of four divisions led by Brigadier General Cuvier Grover, Brigadier General W. H. Emory, Major General C. C. Augur, and Brigadier General Thomas W. Sherman. Port Hudson Prepares The idea for fortifying Port Hudson came from General P.G.T. Beauregard in early 1862. Assessing defenses along the Mississippi, he felt that the towns commanding heights which overlooked a hairpin turn in the river provided the ideal location for batteries. Additionally, the broken terrain outside of Port Hudson, which contained ravines, swamps, and woods, helped make the town extremely defensible. Design of Port Hudsons defenses was overseen by  Captain James Nocquet who served on the staff of Major General John C. Breckinridge. Construction was initially directed by Brigadier General Daniel Ruggles and continued by Brigadier General William Nelson Rector Beall. Work pressed on through the year though delays ensued as Port Hudson had no rail access. On December 27, Major General Franklin Gardner arrived to take command of the garrison. He quickly worked to enhance the fortifications and constructed roads to facilitate troop movement. Gardners efforts first paid dividends in March 1863 when the majority of Rear Admiral David G. Farraguts squadron was prevented from passing Port Hudson. In the fighting, USS Mississippi (10 guns) was lost.   Armies Commanders Union Major General Nathaniel Banks30,000 to 40,000 men Confederate Major General Franklin Gardneraround 7,500 men Initial Moves In approaching Port Hudson, Banks dispatched three divisions west with the goal of descending the Red River and cutting off the garrison from the north. To support this effort, two additional divisions would approach from the south and east. Landing at Bayou Sara on May 21, Augur advanced toward the junction of the Plains Store and Bayou Sara Roads. Encountering Confederate forces under Colonels Frank W. Powers and William R. Miles, Augur and Union cavalry led by Brigadier General Benjamin Grierson engaged. In the resulting Battle of Plains Store, Union troops succeeded in driving the enemy back to Port Hudson. Banks Attacks Landing on May 22, Banks and other elements from his command quickly advanced against Port Hudson and effectively had surrounded the town by that evening. Opposing Banks Army of the Gulf were around 7,500 men led by Major General Franklin Gardner. These were deployed in the extensive set of fortifications that ran for four and half miles around Port Hudson. On the night of May 26, Banks held a council of war to discuss an attack for the following day. Moving forward the next day, Union forces advanced over difficult terrain towards the Confederate lines. Beginning around dawn, Union guns opened on Gardners lines with additional fire coming from US Navy warships in the river. Through the day, Banks men conducted a series of uncoordinated assaults against the Confederate perimeter. These failed and his command sustained heavy losses. The fighting on May 27 saw the first combat for several African-American regiments in Banks army. Among those killed was Captain Andre Cailloux, a freed slave, who was serving with the 1st Louisiana Native Guards. Fighting continued until nightfall when efforts were made to retrieve the wounded. A Second Attempt The Confederate guns briefly opened fire the next morning until Banks raised a flag of truce and asked permission to remove his wounded from the field. This was granted and fighting resumed around 7:00 PM. Convinced that Port Hudson could only be taken by siege, Banks began constructing works around the Confederate lines. Digging through the first two weeks of June, his men slowly pushed their lines closer to the enemy tightening the ring around the city. Emplacing heavy guns, Union forces began a systematic bombardment of Gardners position. Seeking to end the siege, Banks began planning for another assault. On June 13, the Union guns opened with a heavy bombardment which was supported by Farraguts ships in the river. The next day, after Gardner refused a demand to surrender, Banks ordered his men forward. The Union plan called for troops under Grover to attack on the right, while Brigadier General William Dwight assaulted on the left. In both cases, the Union advance was repulsed with heavy losses. Two days later, Banks called for volunteers for a third assault, but was unable to obtain sufficient numbers. The Siege Continues After June 16, fighting around Port Hudson quieted as both sides worked to improve their lines and informal truces occurred between the opposing enlisted men. As time passed, Gardners supply situation became increasingly desperate. Union forces continued to slowly move their lines forward and sharpshooters fired on the unwary. In an effort to break the deadlock, Dwights engineering officer, Captain Joseph Bailey, oversaw the construction of a mine under a hill known as the Citadel. Another was begun on Grovers front extending under Priest Cap. The latter mine was completed on July 7 and it was filled with 1,200 pounds of black powder. With construction of the mines finished, it was Banks intention to detonate them on July 9. With the Confederate lines in a shambles, his men were to make another assault. This proved unnecessary as news reached his headquarters on July 7 that Vicksburg had surrendered three days earlier. With this change in the strategic situation, as well as with his supplies nearly exhausted and no hope of relief, Gardner dispatched a delegation to discuss Port Hudsons surrender the next day. An agreement was reached that afternoon and the garrison formally surrendered on July 9. Aftermath During the Siege of Port Hudson, Banks suffered around 5,000 killed and wounded while Gardners command incurred 7,208 (approx. 6,500 captured). The victory at Port Hudson opened the entire length of the Mississippi River to Union traffic and severed the western states of the Confederacy. With the capture of the Mississippi complete, Grant turned his focus east later that year to deal with the fallout from the defeat at Chickamauga. Arriving at Chattanooga, he succeeded in driving off Confederate forces that November at the Battle of Chattanooga.

Energy Definition and Examples

Energy Definition and Examples Energy is defined as the capacity of a physical system to perform work. However, its important to keep in mind that just because energy exists, that doesnt mean  its necessarily available to do work. Forms of Energy Energy exists in several forms such as heat, kinetic or mechanical energy, light, potential energy, and electrical energy. Heat s are energy released by fission and fusion. Other forms of energy may include geothermal energy and classification of energy as renewable or nonrenewable. There may be overlap between forms of energy and an object invariably possesses more than one type at a time. For example, a swinging pendulum has both kinetic and potential energy, thermal energy, and (depending on its composition) may have electrical and magnetic energy. Law of Conservation of Energy According to the law of conservation of energy, the total energy of a system remains constant, though energy may transform into another form. Two billiard balls colliding, for example, may come to rest, with the resulting energy becoming sound and perhaps a bit of heat at the point of collision. When the balls are in motion, they have kinetic energy. Whether they are in motion or stationary, they also have potential energy because they are on a table above the ground. Energy cannot be created, nor destroyed, but it can change forms and is also related to mass. The mass-energy equivalence theory states an object at rest in a frame of reference has a rest energy. If additional energy is supplied to the object, it actually increases that objects mass. For example, if you heat a steel bearing (adding thermal energy), you very slightly increase its mass. Units of Energy The SI unit of energy is the joule (J) or newton-meter (N * m). The joule is also the SI unit of work.

Coca Cola's Logistics System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Coca Cola's Logistics System - Essay Example However, as the number of products increased, it was not possible to load one stock keeping unit with one product. With the increase in the number of stock keeping units and retail stores, the traditional system could not be continued (Banker, 2010). The trucks carrying the Coca Cola’s products go through the various retail stores and unload. The products are delivered on the basis of order. Hence, the truck drivers work as order takers. The warehouses are stocked with exactly the amount of delivery orders. For better delivery of the products to the retailers, Coca Cola brought trucks with special facilities. The company has succeeded in having an efficient supply chain and it helps to lower its cost of distribution. It knows from experience the kind of trucks needed for its fleet, hires experienced drivers and ensures that they are extremely productive. The logistics requirements of no two businesses are similar. Therefore, logistics, which is a key component of strategy and an important ingredient of marketing, can be tailored to suit the requirements of business and by implication the customers (Fuller & Et. Al., 1993). Logistics can be an important service differentiator. Coca Cola has segmented its customers in Japan based on their logistics requirements. The segmentation is done based on the store needs and the vending machines as the customers are comfortable with. The delivery drivers deliver the products based on the store type. The company is attempting to segment the customer to save the logistics cost. However, accurate segmentation of the customer is not always possible. Some stores want accurate delivery. Coca Cola has opened a new warehouse that is operated automatically. The reason behind opening it is to save on operational cost and better management of inventory. The benefits that this warehouse provides are that it provides better on-site facilities

Satirical Shows and Internet Bloggers are the Fifth Estate Thesis

Satirical Shows and Internet Bloggers are the Fifth Estate - Thesis Example In the end, there were no death panels, but people still believe that there are. Witness also the issue of the Obama citizenship. Internet bloggers will not leave the issue alone, which has made problems for the President, even though there is no basis for claiming that Obama is not a citizen. Inaccurate information can spread very quickly, even more quickly than in the mainstream press, so one viral rumor can cause a lot of damage very quickly. That said, there is value to this type of information spread, and the pros and cons are what this paper will be concentrated upon. Discussion According to Arthur Hayes (2008), citizen press critics, which are the citizens who blog, are to be defended as an effective democratic rabble that keeps the mainstream press in check. ... Dismissing the blogosphere as â€Å"some guy in his pajamas,† Jonathan Klein, the vice-president of the CBS News, stated â€Å"you couldn’t have a starker contrast between checks and balances and some guy in his pajamas in his living room stating what he thinks† (Dasselaar, 2006, p. 11). The press before these checks and balances was arrogant and dismissive of those with whom they disagreed. The press felt that their only checks and balances were the free market, and individuals were free to watch them or not, buy their newspapers and magazines or not. Monitors on what they reported were considered a violation of free speech (Hayes, 2008, p. 2). Even now, according to Hayes, these professional press critics, who are those that work for the mainstream press, are arrogant and dismissive of the citizen critics, who are the bloggers, stating that these bloggers are driven by ideology and threaten press freedom and democracy (Hayes, 2008, p. 2). Hayes essentially accu ses the professional press critics of democratic elitism. Democratic elitism means that the people are not to have a voice, even if they do play a role in the democracy. This is because the people – unsophisticated, irrational, and shortsighted – cannot be trusted to support democratic rights (Hayes, 2008, p. 2). Extrapolating this, the democratic elites believe that ordinary citizens do not have the right to press criticism, due to their lack of sophistication, education or training. Therefore, they are a threat to a stable democracy and the free press (Hayes, 2008, p. 2). Hayes believes just the opposite – these individuals are the backbone of democracy, and they are strengthening democracy by criticizing the institutions that affect us all and the officials who govern us. Moreover, they

Summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

Summary - Assignment Example In their analysis they try to define different concept including taint management, development of self-identity and how differences in gender are dealt with within the professions that were explored. The researchers analyzed and interpreted that in order to manage taint in two different professions including firefighting and law enforcement, the professionals and the management should rely on the open communication of work identity in terms of gender. Both the professions of firefighting as well as correction contain various tasks that can be categorized as dirty work. These professions comprises of several forms of taints including psychical, status, moral and social taints. Taints in firefighting include running into buildings that are on fire and they deal with clients that may be calling the firefighters just to benefit from the social welfare provided by the government. There is a huge difference in how firefighters refer to different parts of their jobs as dirty work. Some of the work that may not be really dirty may be referred to as severely dirty by the fire fighters such as taking an addict to a hospital. On the other hand a task that is severely dirty may not be categorized as dirty by the firefighters such as the task of breaking into burning structures of building. In case of police officers their dirty work includes similar jobs that are conducted by firefighters. The researchers identified that the physical as well as social taints that existed in correctional work included chaperoning prisoners to bathroom which was mostly done by males and caring for inmates which is mostly done by females (Tracy, 2006, p.15). In case of ethical and status taints, the work of law enforcement officers is considered as deviant. In the case of correction officers even easier jobs such as providing toilet paper to the inmates is considered as severely dirty. There are various reasons that help in explaining why

Investigating the Accuracy of the Air-column Length

Investigating the Accuracy of the Air-column Length 1.0 Introduction (max 500 words) Sound is a vibration that transmits as a typically audible mechanical wave of displacement and pressure through a medium such as water or air (Wikipedia, 2015). A pressure disturbance that travels through a medium (particle to particle interaction) is called a sound wave. Particles become disturbed, causing one to exert a force to the adjacent particle; hence particles are disturbed from rest resulting in energy being transported through the medium (The Physics Classroom, 1996-2015). The displacement of a medium’s particles is parallel to the wave propagation direction, which characterises longitudinal wave (A.Russell D, 1998). Particles do not travel down the tube; they vibrate back and forth between their individual equilibrium. Due to the longitudinal waves, there are particles in the air that are compressed, whereas others are dispersed, which are called compression and rarefaction (Figure 1). The longitudinal wave does not have peaks, so the wavelength is usually measured using the distance between the compressions or the rarefactions. Figure 1 – Compression and rarefaction (Geeks Unite, 2013) The speed of sound is dependent on the temperature, which can be generated from, where v is the speed of sound and T is the temperature. However, in the experiment the velocity of sound waves is found by multiplying the wavelength and the known frequency of tuning forks. Wavelength is described as the length of one cycle of the wave. When a system is driven by the natural frequency, a resonance frequency occurs. However, the amount of wavelength sections can determine several natural frequencies through a column of air in a tube ( in Figure 2). When a tuning fork is held above the tube (Figure 2) while vibrating, if the tuning fork’s frequency aligns with the air column, air particles will be pushed by the tuning fork’s vibrations at a frequency which causes the vibration in the air column (Ping E, 2011). Figure 2 – Example of the experiment’s setup (NASA, 2010) Figure 3 – Resonance tube with closed and open end (NASA, 2010) Although compressions and rarefactions are in opposite directions, when they are reflected at the end of the closed tube (closed end is water) into the converse direction; propagation of waves are produced. The wavelength is calculated through the air column, because a tube’s shortest resonance length is a quarter of the wavelength (Figure 3). Resonance occurs at the greatest amplitude of the sound waves, hence, wavelength can be calculated as (Walding R et al, 2004). The fundamental frequency (first harmonic) has a node (when displacement of the amplitude is zero) at the closed end of the air column and an antinode at the open end (Figure 3 left) (The Physics Classroom, 1996-2015). By adjusting the tube, the third harmonic will appear next as one vibrational node and two vibrational antinodes form the frequency of the harmonic (Figure 3 right). Even though the wavelength and frequency can be multiplied to find the velocity of sound, they are not factors that will affect the velocity, which indicates the changes in wavelength only results in an inverse impact of the frequency (The Physics Classroom, 1996-2015). 4.0 Discussion 4.1 Analysis By investigating the accuracy of the air-column length using resonance tubes in water, it was clear that the results were achieved with relatively high accuracy when compared with the calculated air-column length when the room temperature was measured and assumed to be constant at; hence the velocity of sound was. It was discovered that the resonance tube’s diameter had an indirect relationship with the length of air-column, which an increase in tube’s diameter results in a decrease in the air-column length. From Table 1, the air-column lengths for each tube at all frequency declined from 0.161m, 0.231m and 0.329m to 0.134m, 0.203m and 0.301m respectively as the diameter of tubes increased from 0.0164m to 0.0865m (same trend in Table 2). As Graph 1 showed more explicitly through the decreasing linear trendlines at different frequencies, the indirect relationship between air-column length and tube diameter was justified. Moreover, the gradients of the trendlines were the end correction that appeared to be between, which approximately corresponded with equations of the theoretical data and the formula of wavelength (), but for this experiment using end correction of 0.4 could be invalid as each set of data may have its specific end correction, possibly causing inaccuracies. The measured data seemed to contain relatively high accuracy (overlapped with the theoretical data) in contrast with the theoretical data (Table 2) in Graph 1. Therefore, the end correction and hypothesis were justified. As frequency is inversely proportional to wavelength, Graph 2 illustrated the inverse relationship between frequency and air-column length where all air-column lengths declined as the frequency grew. While the values were close to 1, the data plotted did not perfectly fit the trendlines, which indicated that some errors were in the data (see 4.2 Evaluation). Due to tube B and C having similar diameters (0.038m and 0.039m), and only three decimal places were kept when calculating the air-column lengths, the trends were not presented distinctly as the other three tubes. If the results were kept in more decimal places, tube C would have a shorter air-column length than tube B at constant velocity of sound and frequency. Anomalies were expected and four were identified (highlighted in Table 7). Standard deviation was used to distinguish between the raw data. Results were seen as anomalies if they were not in the range of two standard deviations and average air-column length (). The highlighted data were believed to be one-off values as they appeared randomly, hence disregarded when calculating the average air-column length. The anomalies may have occurred due to parallax when interpreting the measurements from the measuring tape, which can be avoided in further experiments. Another reason may also be mistaking overtones as resonance or missing points of resonance, and particles (e.g. PVC pipe’s debris/scraps) Overall, the data collected were relatively reliable and expected in the hypothesis, thus, justified the inverse relationships between air-column length and tube, as well as frequency and air-column. Therefore, the data proved that wavelength was inversely proportional to frequency (The P hysics Classroom, 1996-2015). 4.2 Evaluation The experiment was completed in one day with consistency. However, errors were found between measured data and theoretical data. Table 3 showed the percentage error between measured and calculated (theoretical) air-column length. All percentage errors were less than 1% (varied from 0.004% to 0.612%). Hence, the errors were insignificant and the measured results contained relatively high accuracy with precision. Theoretically, the velocity of sound should be the same at across all tubes at all frequencies as the temperature was kept constant; however, the data varied between a range of and (Table 4). Percentage errors were negligible (all under 1% with highest value of 0.397%) which were calculated to compare with the theoretical velocity at () (Table 5). Propagation error of velocity of sound was also investigated by considering the error of apparatus, which was compared with the theoretical velocity. Since this error was less than, the error was considered to be insignificant that the measured data contained comparatively high accuracy; thus, justified the experiment as a valid experiment. Graph 3 presented the average velocity calculated, the velocities of five pipes differed from each other. Theoretically, an increasing trend in variance should present in Graph 3, but pipe B and C seems to have extremely large variances (errors), hence disregarded. Thus, increasing trend only applies to pipe A, C and E. Evidently, pipe A had the smallest variance, which implied high precision; hence, pipe A was considered to have the highest accuracy. Furthermore, random errors were made as the tuning fork may have been held incorrectly as hands were moving up and down to adjust the air-column, or pipes were not held completely perpendicular to the ground. The anomalies can be improved by using an electronic ruler to collect air-column lengths to avoid parallax. When finding the harmonics, overtones which relates to the third and fifth frequencies should be avoided. In addition, room temperature may be measured when collecting each trial’s data to calculate the speed of sound to ensure higher accuracy of the air-column length. Due to the experiment being conducted in the classroom with all other experiments conducting at the same time, surrounding noise might be another reason for anomalies occurring; hence the experiment should be completed in a quiet room to avoid resonance interference by other sounds. Furthermore, the experiment can be extended by using AFO (Audio Frequency Oscillator) that generates frequency (at certa in level) and a speaker instead of tuning forks to alternate the frequency and water level to determine the air-column length (Gadani D.H, 2011). Resonance is used in real life applications, usually for music instruments. Flutes can be estimated as cylindrical tubes with two open ends, whereas a clarinet has a closed end which the air is blown from one end and resonance occurs (Walding R et al, 2004). Clarinets usually have frequency range between 125Hz to 2000Hz (Brown S, 1996-2012) with 15mm inner diameter (Fox S, 2000). Since clarinet’s frequency could be around 200Hz, theoretical equation (at 256Hz from Graph 1) was manipulated (Graph 4) to determine the air-column length of the clarinet. The fundamental harmonic is predicted to occur at 33cm; however, at the third harmonic the result (99cm) almost matches with the real clarinet length of 94cm (Nave R, 2015). The length of clarinet must be an exact wavelength in order for the resonance to occur. Therefore, with a percentage error of 6.38% the prediction seems reasonable and appropriate, which justifies that the experiment can be extrapolated to real life application in the future. 5.0 Conclusion When the velocity of sound was kept constant at a certain temperature, the resonance tubes’ inner diameters were measured with known frequencies written on tuning forks, the wavelength was calculated, hence the air-column length could be determined (). It was found that the air-column length had an indirect relationship with the frequency when velocity of sound was kept constant and an inverse relationship with the tubes’ diameters while both velocity of sound and frequency were maintained the same. This supported the hypothesis that frequencies would have similar impacts on the air-column as the decrease in frequency would lead to an increase in air-column length when diameter was unchanged.

Bowers V Hardwick Supreme Court Case Essay -- Michael Hardwick

Bowers v. Hardwick United States Supreme Court Opinion This case, Bowers v. Hardwick, originated when Michael Hardwick was targeted by a policer officer for harassment in Georgia. A houseguest of Hardwick's let the officer into his home, where Hardwick was found engaging in oral sex with his partner, who was another male. Michael Hardwick was arrested and charged of sodomy. After charges were later dropped, Hardwick brought his case to the Supreme Court to have the sodomy law declared unconstitutional. Justice White delivered the opinion of the Court. Justice Burger, Powell, Rehnquist, and O'Conner joined, filing concurring opinions. In Justice White's opinion, or while delivering it, he mentioned a lot of steps that were taken by Michael Hardwick to have his case at the Supreme Court. Justice White also mentioned and compared past court cases that might had relevance or helped make his opinion more valid. The key issue that was focused on by Justice White was whether or not the Federal Constitution grants a fundamental right upon homosexuals to engage in sodomy. There were still laws in many states that made sodomy illegal, and have been in place for a very long time. When making his way to presenting his opinion of the Supreme Court, Justice White went through prior cases such as Loving v. Virginia, Roe v. Wade, Eisenstadt v. Baird, and many more; because the Court of Appeals and Hardwick claimed that these cases construed the Constitution to grant a right of privacy that stretch forth to homosexual sodomy. After reviewing prior cases and accepting the decisions in those cases, Justice White thought none of the rights announced in the previous cases bears any relevance or relation to Hardwick's claim that it is a cons... ...t it refused to notice the fundamental interest all people have in controlling the nature of their sexual relationships. Due to the activity that was conducted in Hardwick's home, the Fourth Amendment played an important role. The Fourth Amendment was not defined by the Court as being a violation for breaking a person's door, a going through their belongings. It was defined as an invasion of his indefensible right of personal security, personal liberty and personal property. Neither Georgia's law nor Georgia's prosecutor provided insufficient evidence and validity to support the conclusion that homosexual sodomy is considered unacceptable behavior in the state of Georgia. In result of this Court of Opinion, the Court ordered the dismissal of Hardwick's complaint because Michael Hardwick had alleged a constitutional claim well enough to withstand a motion to dismiss.