On the 24th May 1864 Grant gifted Lee the kind of opportunity that rarely happens in a campaign: to wreck the other’s army.
After the bloodletting of May 5-12th, that cost Lee 22000 casualties and Grant 34000,'weakening both armies by 33% and 25% respectively, Grant again disengaged and moved South towards Richmond. Lee had followed and had been reinforced with 7 small Brigades from his capital.
Grant had inadvertentally straddled his large army across the North Anna river.
Lee saw the way to take advantage of his smaller numbers and punish the Federal II Corps, Grant’s best. He could throw 30000 men at the 24000 that were over the V in the river separating Grant’s two halves of his army. Hancock’s 24000 could not be reinforced, because of the V of the river, so he readied his assault.
On the afternoon of the 24th Lee fell violently sick with diarrhoea. He lay helplessly for hours while the opportunity to assault, before the Union commanders realised the sure situation were in.
The reason Lee’s defensive strike could not be undertaken was simple: the attrition of the last 19 days had robbed him of a subordinate able to manage it.
Time and opportunity passed. Grant and Hancock’s isolated Corps were extremely lucky.
We all know the loss of a quarter of Grant’s force would never have changed his resolve to “fight it all out, even if it takes all Summer”, but another battering would have diminished his potential to do so sooner.
Babylon 5
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I don’t have a favorite episode, but the show had some great sub-plots. The interaction between G’kar and Londo was great especially when G’kar “gets religion” and becomes Londo’s body guard, what sweet Irony.
The struggle between Babylon 5 and Psi Corp made for some good episodes…the whole “plans within plans” thing.
I also liked the internal Mimbari power struggle leading to deleen’s disolving of the grey council.
And of course the overall plot of Good vs Evil was well constructed. I too was a little disapointed with the climactic battle, but any other outcome would have been just as dissapointing. I think the writers wrote themselves into a corner on that one.
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For anyone who’s interested you can buy the entire series on DVD for $150 at
http://dvdbyte.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=213
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I realized the same about DS9 when it went on reruns on SPIKE. They basically copied B5 episode for episode but a season or two later. They did eventually get more seasons in the end, but only because Stranzinsky had scripted teh series to end with Sheridan being President. He wanted to quit after that, but Turner Television bought the rights and talked him into another season AND a spin-off, both of which flopped because Stranzisky was basically flying by the seat of his pants and not from a major script with scheduled major events like he did for Seasons 1-4.
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I realized the same about DS9 when it went on reruns on SPIKE. They basically copied B5 episode for episode but a season or two later. They did eventually get more seasons in the end, but only because Stranzinsky had scripted teh series to end with Sheridan being President. He wanted to quit after that, but Turner Television bought the rights and talked him into another season AND a spin-off, both of which flopped because Stranzisky was basically flying by the seat of his pants and not from a major script with scheduled major events like he did for Seasons 1-4.
I had heard or read somewhere that Straczynski (I checked the spelling on the Warner Bros. site) had the story plotted out for seven seasons and that season 4 (the last season I saw) was supposed to be the mid-point. That is apparently wrong, because only 5 seasons got made and I’m sure he could have gotten two more made if he chose to. Anyway, there is some good stuff on the Warner Bros. website, for what it’s worth. http://www2.warnerbros.com/babylon5/home.html. Also, found this fan site. http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/lurker.html Enjoy!
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which ships were the coolest? i still think the american-membarii-vorlon technology ship that went into the 3rd movie i think was the most badass.
i hated the drasi ships and the circular flying disc ships used by another alien race. they just sucked. i think i liked the humans the best, their ships just looked like a ship should. not all fancy.
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The Shadow vessels were by far the bad asses. Who’s not intimidated by a huge black spider that can destroy a planet.
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Strength wise, the Shadowships were best. Appearance wise, I think it’s a toss up between the Narn and the White Stars.
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Strength wise, the Shadowships were best. Appearance wise, I think it’s a toss up between the Narn and the White Stars.
How typically female…“I like the pretty ones” :-D
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I would vote for the ancients that hung around… A big spider scary yes, a giant tiki head that glows when it transmits communications, Awesome!
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…a giant tiki head that glows when it transmits communications, Awesome!
If you didn’t know about the ancients, that might make you think you’ve been using too many stims.
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