"Jeb" Stuart's Letters

Mitchell, Adele H., ed. The Letters of Major General James E.B. Stuart. [S.l.]: Stuart-Mosby Historical Society, 1990.

As one who has studied General Stuart, his life, and his campaigns at length, I can say that it is impossible to know the man (however imperfectly at the remove of nearly a century-and-a-half) without having read and re-read this rare, important, and unique collection of his letters.

From the Introduction by Col. James Ewell Brown Stuart, IV (U.S. Army, Ret.):

“General Stuart was an outstanding military leader who brought the arm of Cavalry to a level that had not before been achieved. He used his position to serve as an inspiration for all of those who served with him, not only subordinates, but also contemporaries. The method he used to inspire his men against formidable odds can be best summarized with a statement he made: ‘The only way we can whip the enemy is through a greater spirit and desire to win—I must strive to inculcate in my men the spirit of the chase.’ General John Sedgwick of the Union Army was quoted as saying: ‘Stuart was the best Cavalry Officer ever foaled in America’.”

Snake-Rail Fence

Fine example of a snake-rail fence on Manassas Battlefield.

Park Service marker at the fence.

I'm dog-sitting today, and it being Inauguration Day, I headed in the opposite direction -- to Manassas Battlefield. Once there, I (we) hiked the trail on the Henry House Hill (or plateau, if you like). The day was cold and overcast, although not so dour as the media made it out to be. Of course, none of this matters to dogs, and MBNP is truly dog-friendly. Horse-friendly too. Toward the end of the circuit, we came upon this superb example of a snake-rail fence just at the point where the 33d Virginia Regiment jumped-off for its attack on the Federal batteries of Ricketts and Griffin in the First Battle of Manassas. The story is well-known: How the Virginians in their pre-war blue militia uniforms were mistaken for friendly troops and able to approach the Federal guns on their flank and loose a devastating volley at close range that swept the batteries and killed men and horses in such numbers that the guns were rendered combat ineffective.

The 125th Pa. Inf. Rgt. at Antietam

 Above: Monument to the 125th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment at Antietam

Above: Placard outlining the combat of the 125th Pa. in the West Woods at Antietam (the placard is visible to the right of the monument in the topmost photo)

At the Battle of Antietam, the 125th, a new regiment belonging to Brig. Gen. S. W. Crawford’s brigade, wandered away from its brigade and, improbably, crossed the Cornfield and entered the West Woods just west of the Dunker Church. There, it was joined by the 34th New York of Gorman’s Brigade, Sedgwick’s Division, which, equally improbably, had somehow entered the West Woods nearby, well ahead of its brigade. The two regiments were the first federal regiments to enter the West Woods. According to the 125^th’s regimental history, 76: “…it is sufficient to say here that the 125th Pennsylvania and the 34th New York had been in the West Woods and tried to hold them, before the main portion of Sedgwick’s Division reached them.”
 

For the 125th Pa., see Regimental Committee. History of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1906. This history gives the regiment as less than 700 in line and gives BC as 54 KIA/MW and 91 WIA (an unlikely ratio!), with 84 lightly wounded not reported (p. 85). See also Huyette, Miles C. (Pvt.) and Smith, John P. History of the Antietam Fight (account of Pvt. J. D. Hicks).

Rich:

Your HFC notes re: the 128th PA of Crawford’s 2d Bde, 1st Div, XII Corps list Ted Alexander’s book, but you give the title as the 126th PA, which would be in Tyler’s Bde of Humphrey’s Div (V Corps).  It looks to me like you slipped, but we can check and resolve the reference.

Gen. Phil Kearny (June 1, 1815-Sept. 1, 1862)

Kearny, Philip, and William B. Styple (ed.). Letters from the Peninsula: The Civil War Letters of General Philip Kearny. Kearny, N.J.: Belle Grove Pub. Co., 1988.

Phil Kearny was an American soldier who entered the U.S. Army from civilian life as a 2d lieutenant of the 1st Dragoons in 1837. A lawyer by profession, he had inherited fabulous wealth but yearned for nothing more than a soldier’s life and had obtained his commission through the influence of his uncle, Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny. In 1839, he was posted as a student to the French cavalry school (Saumur) to study tactics. He subsequently served as an observer with the Chasseurs d’Afrique during the French conquest of Algeria (1840) and in the U.S.-Mexican War (in which he lost his left arm in a cavalry charge at Churubusco). Resigning his commission, he traveled to France and served as a staff officer in the French army during the War of France and Piedmont-Sardinia with Austria (1859), participating heroically in the battles of Magenta and Solferino, for which he was awarded the Legion of Honor.

With the outbreak of Civil War, Kearny returned to the United States and his native state, New Jersey. His initial command was the 1st New Jersey Brigade, which he trained to a high level but never led in battle. During the Peninsula campaign, he commanded the 3d Division, III Army Corps (Heintzelman) and participated in the battles of Williamsburg (May 4-5, 1862), Seven Pines (May 31-June 1), and several of the Seven Days’ battles (June 25-July 1). He had the utmost contempt for army commander General McClellan and several of his compeers and was outspoken in his views. Nonetheless, he was promoted brigadier general, U.S.V. (May 17, 1862) and major general, U.S.V. (July 4). He led his division at Second Manassas (August 29-30) and at Chantilly (Sept. 1), where he was KIA when he rode into the Confederate ranks during a tremendous thunderstorm and refused a summons to surrender. He was mourned by many high-ranking officers of both armies, including Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Kearny’s life and character are much-illumined by the book shown at the head of this sketch. The late (and much-missed) Brian C. Pohanka wrote the foreword, which in measured and sympathetic terms perfectly captures the essence and allure of Kearny’s dashing, volatile personality. Editor and compiler Styple’s Introduction provides a concise biography of Kearny, whose life was flamboyant and at times even Flashman-esque. The bulk of the book contains Kearny’s wartime letters to his wife, Agnes, and his friend and political ally, Cortlandt Parker. In terms of back matter, there is a brief but wholly adequate bibliography. Unfortunately, there is no index, which would have added much to the book’s value as a resource.

Below is a list of other books that might be consulted for information about Kearny and the 1st New Jersey Brigade, “Kearny’s Own.”

Baquet, Camille. History of the First Brigade, New Jersey Volunteers, From 1861 to 1865. Trenton, N.J.: MacCrellish & Quigley, state printers, 1910.

De Peyster, John Watts. Personal and Military History of Philip Kearny, Major General United States Volunteers. New York: Palmer, 1870.

Gottfried, Bradley M. Kearny's Own: The History of the First New Jersey Brigade in the Civil War. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2005.

Kearny, Thomas. General Philip Kearny: Battle Soldier of Five Wars. New York: Putnam, 1937.

Werstein, Irving. Kearny the Magnificent: The Story of General Philip Kearny, 1815-1862. New York: The John Day Co., 1962.

1st Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia, 1861 (2)

Col. Ambrose E. Burnside was the regiment’s first commander. However, when the Federal Army of Northeastern Virginia, Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell, commanding, was organized just prior to the Battle of Bull Run, Burnside was given command of the 2d Brigade, 2d Division. Burnside’s brigade consisted of four infantry regiments and one artillery battery, as follows.

2d NH (Col Gilman Marston; Lt Col Frank S Fiske)

1st RI (Maj Joseph P Balch)

2d RI (Col John S Slocum; Lt Col Frank Wheaton)

71st NYSM (Col Henry P Martin)

2d RI Bty (Capt William H Reynolds)

At the Battle of Bull Run, Burnside’s Brigade led the flanking column that opened the action on Matthews’ Hill (the subject of A. R. Waud’s sketch, above). Rhode Island’s Governor Sprague accompanied the regiment as a volunteer and participated in the combat.

Sources

Uniform: See Military Collector & Historian, 7 (1955), 49-50.

Smith, George B. “Formation and Service of the First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia, April 17th‑Aug. 2nd, 1861.” Bulletin of the Newport Historical Society, No. 58 (July 1926), 14‑29.

Woodbury, Augustus. A Narrative of the Campaign of the First Rhode Island Regiment, in the Spring and Summer of 1861. Providence: Sidney S. Rider, 1862.

1st Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia, 1861

On Monday, April 15, 1861, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling for 75,000 militia to suppress the rebellion. Among the many units responding to the president’s call were those that made up the 1st Rhode Island Regement.

This regiment is interesting in many respects. With peculiar thoroughness, the state government had integrated a fine battery of rifled artillery, the 1st Rhode Island Light Artillery, into the regiment. The regiment also had a detachment of “carbineers” to act as skirmishers, and two men were designated as “aeronauts” to conduct aerial surveillance of Confederate positions. But for accidental damage to their balloons, they might actually have done so.

Uniform. The uniform of the 1st Rhode Island, which it shared with the 2d Rhode Island, was unique to those two regiments. The famous Civil War artist A. R. Waud made a sketch of the uniform, reproduced above. Waud’s own notation on the back of the original gives the following description: “This uniform is dark blue shirt, belted around waist, black felt hat and grey pants; the blanket is scarlet with black bar near edge….” To Waud’s description it is only necessary to add that the blouse is the famous “Burnside” or “Rhode Island blouse,” and to note that many of the men wore the kepi or forage cap with a white havelock. Augustus Woodbury, the regimental historian felt that the uniform “formed a good combination of the national colors.” The figures in the drawing represent, from left to right: Enlisted Man, Full Dress with blanket; Fatigue; Officer (Captain); Full Marching Order; and Enlisted Man with Burnside carbine.

Drayton's Brigade: Organization

Above: Excerpt from OR, 14:644 outlining the initial organization of the brigades of generals Nathan G. "Shanks" Evans and Thomas F. Drayton, when ordered north from the Confederate Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida by Gen. John C. Pemberton to reinforce the Army of Northern Virginia.

Of interest is the assignment of the 3d S.C. (Laurens or James) Bn. to Drayton's Brigade from its inception, although as we noted earlier, it disappears from the subsequent official record. At this time, the brigade's organization was as follows:

50th Ga. (Col. William R. Manning)

51st Ga. (Col. William Marion Slaughter)

15th S.C. (Col. William Davie DeSaussure)

3d S.C. (Laurens or James) Bn. (7 cos., A-G)(Lt. Col. George S. James)

Phillips’ (Ga.) Legion Inf. Bn. (9 cos.)(Lt. Col. Robert Thomas Cook)

The brigade numbered approximately 2,600 men at this time. Colonel Slaughter was MWIA at Chancellorsville, Colonel DeSaussure was KIA at Gettysburg, and Colonel James was MWIA at South Mountain. 

The 3d S.C. Inf. Bn. (2)

Table of Contents of Sam B. Davis’ history of the 3d S.C. Inf. Bn.

Thus far, I have read Sam B. Davis’ unit history of the 3d S.C. Inf. Bn. through the aftermath of the Battle of Antietam. To that point, the battalion had participated in three battles in the space of 21 days and had been reduced in strength from about 300 men to a remnant of perhaps 30 or so who retreated from Antietam. At South Mountain it had been practically annihilated in the fierce combat at Fox’s Gap – an epic fight that has been more or less obscure in the history books until revealed and explained by Mr. Davis and the small band of historians who together researched and analyzed the story of the Fox’s Gap fighting over many years and unselfishly shared their efforts and particular expertise among themselves.

The Table of Contents shown above will indicate the participation of the battalion in the Civil War and the scope of Mr. Davis’ work.

The 3d S.C. (Laurens or James) Battalion

Davis, Sam B. A History of the 3rd South Carolina Volunteer Infantry Battalion (James Battalion): 1861-1865. Wilmington, N.C.: Broadfoot Pub., 2009.

We have previously mentioned this infantry battalion as a unit belonging to Drayton’s Brigade during the Virginia and Maryland campaign of August-September 1862. And, we have mentioned that its presence with Drayton during that campaign is largely missing from the official record and subsequent histories. This inexplicable and mysterious lacuna has been filled most admirably by the unit history cited above.

The battalion was organized in the Laurens District of its home state beginning in late November 1862. Eventually, it consisted of seven companies (A-G), of which five were from the Laurens District and one each from Columbia and Fairfield. Originally assigned to defensive duty on the southeast South Carolina coast, it saw no real combat action until after it joined the Army of Northern Virginia for the Second Manassas campaign.

During the course of the war, 897 men served in the battalion, but it appears that it never numbered more than 400 men for duty in the field. It was also known as “the James Battalion” after Lt. Col. George Strother James, who was its commanding officer from Feb. 2, 1862, until his death at South Mountain on Sept. 14, 1862. A veteran of the Mexican War (Palmetto Rgt.) and pre-Civil War service as an officer in the U.S. Army, James was famous in his time as the man who had fired the signal gun for the bombardment of Fort Sumter.

Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), March 7-8, 1862

Shea, William L., and Earl J. Hess. Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992.

This superb book describes the intense fighting at the Battle of Pea Ridge (Elkhorn Tavern), Arkansas, in March 1862, that turned back an attempted Confederate invasion of Missouri from northwestern Arkansas. It was, until recently, the only comprehensive, scholarly modern history of the battle. Well-researched, competent, and complemented by 18 attractive, useful maps, it remains a classic of the genre.

Additional information on the Battle of Pea Ridge may be found in a tour guide to three major western battles located on the old Wire [Telegraph] Road that traversed the Ozark Plateau between Springfield, Missouri, and Fort Smith, Arkansas.

 

Hess, Earl J., and Christopher Lawrence Brest. Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove: A Battlefield Guide, with a Section on Wire Road. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006.

The Table of Contents of this book is listed below:

 

Part One - Wilson's Creek Introduction; One. Lyon's Attack and the Southern Response; Two. Sigel's Attack and the Southern Response; Three. Bloody Hill Part Two - Pea Ridge Introduction; Four. Leetown, March 7, 1862; Five. Elkhorn Tavern, March 7, 1862; Six. Victory and Defeat, March 8, 1862; Seven. Pea Ridge Campaign Driving Tour Part Three - Prairie Grove Introduction; Eight. The Battle for the Wooded Ridge; Nine. Prairie Grove Campaign Driving Tour Part Four - The Wire Road Introduction; Ten. Driving Tour from Springfield to Fort Smith Orders of Battle.

Tidball Trail (3)

This photo of the Middle Bridge over Antietam Creek was taken by Alexander Gardner on Sept. 22, 1862, five days after the Battle of Antietam. The view is to the west. The road in the center is the Boonsboro Turnpike (today, SR 34). To the left (south) is the Newcomer Barn. The house on the right-hand side of the road is the Newcomer Farmhouse. Sharpsburg itself is just over the horizon in the center, which was crowned by Confederate batteries along its length. It is remarkable how barren the landscape appears.

Tidball Trail (2)

Above: The Newcomer Farmhouse. The trailhead is to the right of the house in this view. There is parking to the left.

 

Above: The Newcomer Barn, across the Boonsboro Pike (Rte. 34) from the farmhouse. 

 

Above: Photo taken from the bend in the trail at the crest of the steep hill on which Tidball’s Battery, consisting of six 3-in. Ordnance RML, went into battery. The right-most section was probably in battery at this location. Tidball’s field of fire to the west is shown. Confederate guns crowned Cemetery Hill, the location of the National Cemetery and the Town Cemetery, neither of which were in existence on the day of battle. The turnpike bisected the hill. The farmroad running through a deep ravine northward toward Bloody Lane is indicated.  

Tidball Trail

On Sat., May 12, we hiked the new Tidball Trail at Antietam National Battlefield, near Sharpsburg, Md. The handout for the trail (above – front and back) explains the significance of the site. The trailhead is at the beautifully restored Newcomer Farmhouse, which is just west of the modern bridge erected on the site of the Middle Bridge that existed at the time of the battle. This trail is an important resource for anyone seeking to gain an understanding of the fighting in the much-neglected and heretofore somewhat inaccessible Middle Bridge sector of the battlefield. I’ll be posting photos of the vistas available in future.

Drayton's Brigade - Composition

Above: Statement of the composition of Drayton’s Brigade in the order of battle of the Army of Northern Virginia for the Second Manassas Campaign. Source: US War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Ser. I, Vol. XII, Part 2, Ser. No. 16. Operations in Northern Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland, March 17-September 2, 1862.  Washington, DC: USGPO, 1885.

Drayton’s Brigade had an ephemeral existence. It participated in the bookend Second Manassas and Maryland campaigns before being broken-up in November 1862. Its brief existence as a formation attached to the Army of Northern Virginia and the extraordinary casualties it incurred at South Mountain (Fox’s Gap), including the loss of many officers, resulted in a relatively sparse documentary record. This is indicated by statements of the brigade’s composition in the official records and in many, if not most, secondary works until recently. As illustrated above, the brigade appears to have consisted of four units – two regiments and one infantry battalion from Georgia and one regiment from South Carolina. This is how it is represented in the most detailed histories of the 19th century (e.g., Ezra A. Carman’s ms. History of the Antietam campaign, recently published) and the best recent works on the Second Manassas campaign and the Maryland campaign (e.g., Hennessy’s and Sears’, inter alia). In fact, the brigade consisted of five units, as shown below.

50th Ga.

51st Ga.

15th S.C.

3d S.C. Bn.

Phillips (Ga.) Legion Inf. Bn.

The (usually) missing unit is the 3d S.C. Inf. Bn., aka the James or Laurens Battalion. The fact of this unit’s attachment to the brigade I believe was uncovered by the research of local, unheralded historians studying the South Mountain battle and indeed the story of the 3d S.C. Bn. itself.

Brig. Gen. Thomas Fenwick Drayton

Much of my time lately has been taken up with research and analysis for a series of scenarios. The focus has been on various units and formations involved in the Second Manassas-Antietam campaign of 1862. As usual, my concerns have been strengths, casualties, characterization of leaders, and indices of combat effectiveness. I've returned to these questions time and again over the years. One of the formations that has intrigued me over time has been the brigade General Drayton, which, under the apparently feckless leadership of its commander (depicted above, with his brother, whom he faced in battle at Port Royal) was virtually destroyed in its sojourn of less than a month with the Army of Northern Virginia.

Brig. Gen. Thomas Fenwick Drayton (1808-1891) was a classmate of Confederate Pres. Jefferson Davis at West Point, and the two were friends. A South Carolinian, he had led Confederate land forces in the unsuccessful defense of Port Royal Sound (Nov. 7, 1861). His brother, Capt. Percival Drayton, commanded a gunboat in the attacking Union squadron. At the end of July 1862, Drayton’s Brigade, together with that of “Shanks” Evans, moved north from the Department of South Carolina and Georgia to reinforce Lee’s army in Virginia. In the Army of Northern Virginia, Drayton led his brigade at Second Manassas, South Mountain, and Antietam. The brigade found little employment in the Second Manassas campaign but was nearly wrecked at South Mountain. How much of this was Drayton’s fault is debatable. At Antietam, the remnants of the brigade resisted Burnside’s advance briefly before breaking for the rear. Documentation of Drayton’s command performance is scarce. It seems he was considered “inefficient” by superiors. In addition, he was criticized in press reports that originated among stringers in his brigade. Following the Antietam campaign, he was relieved, his brigade was broken-up, and he was shunted off to administrative duties and minor commands in backwater districts. In truth, he was probably better suited to desk work than field command.

The Gallant Pelham

Above: Marker at the site of Pelham's mortal wounding near Kelly's Ford, Va.

Maj. John Pelham's name was practically synonymous with the battalion of the Stuart Horse Artillery, Cavalry Division, Army of Northern Virginia, where he had won a reputation for fighting his guns well to the front, often in the very face of the enemy.

In reporting his death in the cavalry combat at Kelly's Ford (March 17, 1863), Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart stated, “The noble, the chivalric, the gallant Pelham is no more….His loss to the country is irreparable.”

Fort Moultrie, Charleston, S.C. (1860)

All things Fort Moultrie on the eve of the Civil War. A remarkable site presenting a great deal of information and some truly splendid graphics. Here: http://moultrie.battlefieldsinmotion.com/

Gettysburg Sources: The First Day

Above: Monument to the 7^th Wisconsin Infantry of the Union Iron Brigade on the northeast edge of Herbst Woods (Reynolds’ Grove) on the battlefield of the first day at Gettysburg (July 1, 1863).

Like all great battles, Gettysburg was an ensemble of battles, some large, some small, and many somewhere in between. It is impossible to understand, much less analyze, the battle without breaking it down into its constituent parts. Even to attempt that requires an analytical framework and, in addition, a body of knowledge that in itself requires years of study to acquire. Fortunately, many others have trod those paths and plowed those furrows and offered up the goodies for your edification.

One analytical construct is to examine each of the battle’s three days in book length. This poses certain very real problems with the second day, but seems to work quite well for the first day. Here are two readily available book-length treatments of the battle’s first day:

Martin, David G. Gettysburg July 1. Conshohocken, Pa.: Combined Books, 1995, 1996 (revised edition).

Pfanz, Harry W. Gettysburg--the First Day. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001.

Both of these are fine books, though in the case of Martin’s, I would suggest the “Completely Revised Edition,” since the first edition suffered from editorial defects.

New York State Military Museum

Above: Pvt. William Keane, 74th New York Infantry (2d Fire Zouaves)

This wonderful colorized photograph is a bit dark, but nonetheless worth a few moments of your time. It depicts a soldier belonging to the celebrated (or notorious) Gen. Daniel E. Sickles' Excelsior Brigade and is drawn from the website of the New York State Military Museum:  http://dmna.state.ny.us/historic/mil-hist.htm

As I continue with my research for scenarios of the Peninsular Campaign of 1862, I am of course having to characterize leaders, units, and formations. With respect to New York State, I've found the site referenced above not only an excellent point of departure but also an unparalleled resource. It covers NYS units from the Revolution through the Korean War.

Huger’s (and Lee’s) Presence at Oak Grove

Above: Part of a map showing the "Position of Troops, Morning of June 25, 1862." Huger’s Division’s position is shown at left center toward the top of the legend. This map was probably the principal source for Sears’ map of Oak Grove in To the Gates of Richmond. Source: Library of Congress. Geography & Map Division. Landers, Howard Lee, and Donald E. Windham. [Seven Days' Battles, Virginia, June 25-July 1, 1862]. S.l: s.n.], 1929.

Earlier I mentioned the fact that Lee had informed President Davis that Huger was not at his post when McClellan’s offensive of June 25, 1862, hit Huger’s Division along the axis of the Williamsburg Road. This attack was of the greatest concern to Lee, since McClellan hit hard at the weakest sector of the Confederate line just a day before Lee himself launched his great offensive against the weak Federal right flank (at Mechanicsville). McClellan, by dumb luck struck the Army of Northern Virginia where it was most vulnerable and threatened to derange all of Lee’s plans for his own offensive.

Huger’s absence at the outset of the Federal attack was unforgivable. The pertinent sequence of events is best followed not in the Official Records, nor in the secondary literature, but rather in the following source:

Lee, Robert E., and Clifford Dowdey. The Wartime Papers of R.E. Lee. Boston: Little, Brown, 1961.

Huger’s mission on the 25^th was outlined in Lee’s G.O. No. 75 (June 24), which was his mission order to his army for the first phase of the Seven Days’ offensive (doc. 210 in the above).

I have previously quoted from Lee’s Dispatches the evidence that Huger was not at his post. Lee’s actions subsequent to this discovery are outlined in a letter to Davis (doc. 211, which appears to be misdated June 24) and doc. 212, Lee to his wife, dtd. June 25.

In doc. 211, Lee states that he was “called to the Williamsburg road” by the fighting on Huger’s front and that the “affair on the whole was not well managed.” Nonetheless, he was determined to stick to his overall offensive plan. He states that he ordered Huger to hold his lines “at all hazards.” So, it is apparent that Huger did join his division during the fighting and that Lee firmly reiterated his orders and expectations to him.

In doc. 212, Lee gives the time of his arrival and other facts that indicate his preoccupation with events on Huger’s front.

Knowledge of the entirety of the documentation of events that day (such as it is) will definitely help to improve the Oak Grove scenario I’m designing for TCHAE. Also, the time spent in working through these events has rather tempered my sympathy for Huger for his shabby treatment by Longstreet and Johnston after Fair Oaks.