Norwich University Brings Battlefields To Life

Walking the 50 steps from one end of the Bloody Angle to the other, it is easy to imagine the horrors of the May 12, 1864, a battle that took some 18,000 American lives, according to Dr. Charles Sanders, a professor and renowned Civil War historian in the Master of Arts in Military History program at Norwich University.
 

"You can read that in a book, but when I take the students there and they see that the space we're talking about is so small and so compact; then you talk about the violence and the ferocity of the fighting, it's so immediate," says Sanders, describing the battlefield excursion he takes students on for the Norwich University Overland Staff Ride.
 

The Overland Staff Ride is one of several Staff Rides that Norwich offers each year to anyone interested in learning about military history from professors who are experts in the field. Each journey begins with a three-week online course in which participants read and discuss historical texts with each other through Norwich’s online learning environment. The journey culminates on the ground with a fourth week spent exploring firsthand the actual battlegrounds.
 

The Overland Staff Ride focuses exclusively on Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Campaign. This year the Overland Staff Ride will run from April 23-May 19. Dr. Sanders, a retired Army officer, former U.S. Naval War College professor and author of While in the Hands of the Enemy: Military Prisons of the Civil War, will reprise his role as the instructor and expert tour guide.

Participants will study five specific battlegrounds including the Bloody Angle and Spotsylvania. When onsite, they can expect to listen to running commentary by Sanders, imagining the battles, the physical challenges and how strategic decisions were made.
 

The best depictions of this educational experience come from previous participants.
 

"When you're out there with a recognized expert — (Sanders') knowledge is expansive — and when you're walking the terrain, you try to transport yourself," says Cmdr. Dave Snow, who said the trip enhanced his "understanding of logistics, chain of command and relationships, and the use of topography — how it limits or directs military decision."
 

"I had always visited battlefields and followed guides, but to have somebody of Chuck (Sanders') standards, ability and knowledge … to put it into context (by) listening to diary notations and descriptions, you have a much greater appreciation of the terrain and what it was like. It really brings it home (in a way) that reading a book or watching a video just can't do," said Bill Spoehr.


"Chuck (Sanders) was outstanding, great storyteller," said Harry Weiler. "He kept us spellbound."
 

Are you ready to take your place in history with Norwich University? Visit the Overland Staff Ride Website or call 802-485-2567. Registration deadline is March 16, 2012.