Comments by "Samson Soturian" (@samsonsoturian6013) on "October 23, 1864 Battle of Westport, the \"Gettysburg of the West.\"" video.

Strange you should blame looting for the failure when the Rebels were so desperate for supplies that they were going nowhere without loot. Many didn't have shoes and it was fall in Missouri.
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An important backstory of this offensive is that it was done by the surviving Missourian and Arkansan infantry but most of both states had been lost. These regiments were mostly not destroyed in the fighting around Fayetteville, Little Rock, and Vicksburg but forced into the south of the state where they were so poor they were using jars instead of canteens and carried bullets loosely in their pockets because they had no ammo boxes and many lacked winter clothing in a campaign expected to continue through the winter.
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This is case in point why you should never count on mass defection. I assure you, the press reports you're reading saying that the enemy population are all oppressed dissidents is total bull.
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