Manassas Trails (5)

On the Confederate Line at First Manassas

This photo was taken from the Confederate line, looking west across the plateau of Henry Hill toward the Henry House. The house itself marks the position of the Federal line.

Manassas Trails (4)

Behind the Gun Line on Henry Hill

This area would have been crowded with caissons, limbers, and teams belonging to the artillery on the crest (just visible if you look closely). Infantry supports for the guns would be deployed here also.

Manassas Trails (3)

Line of Trees Just East of the Confederate Line on Henry Hill

Manassas Trails (2)

The Road is Less Steep and Less a "Sunken Road"

Closing on the eastern side of the Henry House plateau, the road is less steep. On the day of battle in 1861, it would no doubt have been crowded with soldiers going forward and wounded comng back. The shade was welcome as the heat, mixed with the smoke and dust, was oppressive.

Manassas Trails

Farm Road Ascending from the Valley of Holkum Branch

Yesterday I was at Manassas National Battlefield Park doing a terrain study for the cavalry battle on the Federal left and rear at Second Manassas. To get to that site from the Visitor Center, you have to hike from the Confederate line on Henry Hill (first battle) approximately southeast and then south to the site of Portici -- the manse that was Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's headquarters during the first battle and from which he directed reinforcements toward the fighting on Henry Hill. On the way back from Portici, I took a set of photographs to show the route followed by the Confederate reinforcements as it looks today. Actually, it's not much different from how it looked then (July 21, 1861). The old dirt farm road ascending toward the plateau where Jackson stood "like a stone wall" cannot be much changed.

  

The Black Bands of Giovanni

Above: From the book's cover - "The Death of Giovanni de' Medici" (Hendrik Goltzius, Antwerp, 1583)

Arfaioli, Maurizio. The Black Bands of Giovanni: Infantry and Diplomacy during the Italian Wars (1526-1528). Pisa: Edizioni Plus-Pisa University Press, 2005.

I seem to have spent rather more time recently reading about the Great Italian Wars of the renaissance than I perhaps should have. In part, this is due to the happy discovery of Maurizio Arfaioli's book, which although I obtained it to learn something of the famous condottiere and his career, is actually more about (almost entirely) his famous Black Bands. You see, as the author notes, Giovanni as we have come to know him "probably never existed."

The true value of this work is its explication of the place and role of the native Italian infantry in the complex, ever-shifting tactical landscape of the Italian Wars. In that sense, it is a truly valuable (and I daresay remarkable) work. If the subject interests you, I urge you to buy it and read it. It may well change your views of warfare in the period.

Stradiots and Jinetes

The stradiots, shown by the five figures left above, were modeled on the drawing on p. 28 (b) of Renaissance Armies. Stradiots could be found principally in Venetian service during the Italian Wars. The right-hand figure depicts the famous Spanish light cavalry, known as jinetes or genitors. It is based on Heath's sketch of a jinete on p. 51 (n) of Renaissance Armies. These are 15mm Mikes Models or early Essex.