Rains after a battle.

[Admiral]

Ahem... "Battles, Rain"...

[semperpietas]

Originally Posted by Admiral

Ahem... "Battles, Rain"...

Is it possible that acoustic shadows and rain after a battle are related?

[Admiral]

Acoustics, possibly, Shadow likely being irrelevant to the theory, methinx.

Who really knows, I guess, would be the bigger question...

[john boland]

The Wilderness is one battle where heavy rain could have been the answer to one's prayers if he was in the midst of being burned to death by the overgrowth and brush fires. I have always thought burning to death such as at The Wilderness would be the worst way at least to for an individual to die in war.

[KICK]

the war was mostly fought in the warmer months

figure April thru August are wetter than the other times of year
so its probably fitting that rain coming after some battles is just normal for those times of year..

also worth noting the armies probably wouldn't make many moves if it was raining beforehand, just because the roads were crap in those days,,

I'd blame "the weather" for the fact it rained after some battles.

[hellboy30]

To paraphrase Pickett, I think the weather had something to do with it. Personally, I think it was coincidence that it rained afterwards.

[Zouave]

Originally Posted by semperpietas

Yet one can read of other battles like Waterloo, where miraculously appearing Prussians were summoned "by the sound of the guns" despite being quite a distance away. It is almost like Divine intervention.

Chase,

The Prussians were not "summoned by the sound of the guns".

Wellington wrote to Prussian Marshal Blücher confirming that he would give battle at Waterloo if Blücher could provide him with at least one Corps.

Blücher agreed with Wellington's plan and replied back promising to help the British. In the morning of 18 June, before the battle started, Wellington duly received a reply from Blücher, promising to support him with three Corps.

Prussian IV Corps, commanded by General Bülow, was on the march even before the battle started. Bülow's men were followed to Waterloo first by I Corps and then by II Corps.

Just getting the facts straight.

[semperpietas]

Originally Posted by Zouave

Chase,

The Prussians were not "summoned by the sound of the guns".

Wellington wrote to Prussian Marshal Blücher confirming that he would give battle at Waterloo if Blücher could provide him with at least one Corps.

Blücher agreed with Wellington's plan and replied back promising to help the British. In the morning of 18 June, before the battle started, Wellington duly received a reply from Blücher, promising to support him with three Corps.

Prussian IV Corps, commanded by General Bülow, was on the march even before the battle started. Bülow's men were followed to Waterloo first by I Corps and then by II Corps.

Just getting the facts straight.

I know Blücher and Wellington coordinated. I was referring to how the Prussians could hear cannon fire well away from the field. I think it even Blücher commented that Bülow should hasten to the sound of the guns.

Of course, my source is a bit dated and possibly unreliable.

[Zouave]

Originally Posted by semperpietas

I know Blücher and Wellington coordinated. I was referring to how the Prussians could hear cannon fire well away from the field. I think it even Blücher commented that Bülow should hasten to the sound of the guns.

Of course, my source is a bit dated and possibly unreliable.

I don't remember this...

Something similar happened with the French.

After the victory at Ligny, Napoleon moved the bulk of his army off in pursuit of Wellington, and sent Marshal Grouchy in pursuit of the retreating Prussians with the Right Wing of the Army of the North (L'Armée du Nord), a force consisting of 33,000 men and 80 guns.

Napoleon ordered Grouchy to follow up the retreating Prussians. A late start, uncertainty about the direction the Prussians had taken, and the vagueness of the orders given to him meant that Grouchy was too late to prevent the Prussian army reaching Wavre, from where it could march to support Wellington.

Despite hearing the cannon sound from nearby Waterloo, Grouchy decided to follow the Prussians along the route literally specified in his orders while the Prussian and Anglo-Allied armies united to crush Napoleon.

General Gerard, commander of the French IV Corps, urged Grouchy to march to the sound of the guns to aid Napoleon at Waterloo. Gerard urged Grouchy to leave a Corps of observation in front of the Prussians and march direct on Waterloo.

Grouchy, however, was determined to obey the strict letter of his instructions.

Following Napoleon's orders, Grouchy attacked the Prussian III Corps near the village of Wavre. Grouchy believed that he was engaging the rearguard of a still-retreating Prussian army. However, only one Corps remained... The other three Prussian Corps (I, II and the still fresh IV) had regrouped and were marching toward Waterloo. A blocking action, the Battle of Wavre kept 33,000 French soldiers from reaching the battle at Waterloo.

The Prussians held their ground long enough to allow Blücher's transfer of 72,000 troops to Wellington's aid at Waterloo (50,000 Prussians actually took part in the battle).

[Grunter]

Originally Posted by semperpietas

Pickett and Fitz Lee I believe. He (Pickett) was supposedly relieved of command for this (or Sayler's Creek. I cannot remember), but in the confusion of the abandonment of Richmond and Petersburg, never got the order (or refused to acknowledge it) and still hung around HQ, even after his division had ceased to exist as a fighting force.

Pickett, Fitz Lee & Rosser at Five Forks. Lee was said to have made the remark when seeing Pickett around Appomatox "What is that man still doing in this army?" Or words to that effect.

[KICK]

Originally Posted by Grunter

Pickett, Fitz Lee & Rosser at Five Forks. Lee was said to have made the remark when seeing Pickett around Appomatox "What is that man still doing in this army?" Or words to that effect.

that could mean anything

[broker]

Originally Posted by B7B Southern

It appears as if after 2-3 day battles there was always torrential type down pours of rain. It is hard to believe this was just an incidental type thing the way it always seems happened. It happened at-
Gettysburg
Manassas or Ox hill.
Fredericksburg.

Any others?

Anyone have any thoughts about this? Is there any scientific study about it?

Marshall

Interesting question but I believe it is called random phenomena.

[DARKPLACE]

Originally Posted by B7B Southern

It appears as if after 2-3 day battles there was always torrential type down pours of rain. It is hard to believe this was just an incidental type thing the way it always seems happened. It happened at-
Gettysburg
Manassas or Ox hill.
Fredericksburg.

Any others?

Anyone have any thoughts about this? Is there any scientific study about it?

Marshall

Re rain after battle.

I am not an expert on US weather conditions but in the UK you are seldom more than three days away from a rain storm. Maybe it might be worth examining the records to see if the post battle conditions Are normal.

[Snowygerry]

Originally Posted by DARKPLACE

Re rain after battle.

I am not an expert on US weather conditions but in the UK you are seldom more than three days away from a rain storm. Maybe it might be worth examining the records to see if the post battle conditions Are normal.

This.

If the battle happens to be in Belgium in spring, and lasts longer then a few hours, it will likely rain before, during and after

Still cool thread idea.

[DARKPLACE]

Originally Posted by Snowygerry

This.

If the battle happens to be in Belgium in spring, and lasts longer then a few hours, it will likely rain before, during and after

Still cool thread idea.

Its pretty much the same for all North Europe. LOL, although something had to be done with all that water so it explains the number of breweries.

It would be interesting though to see and there must be farmers almanacs covering the period so it should, in theory be fairly easy to prove or disprove?