Talk:10th Texas Field Battery/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk · contribs) 20:16, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

Hi, I'll take a look at this one. Comments may be a few days in coming, but give me a ping or twenty if you don't hear back from me soonish. Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 20:16, 19 April 2022 (UTC)

Prelim

• No duplicated links
• No edit wars
• Earwig reports copyvio unlikely
• Images look good

Lede and infobox

• The exact names "Pratt's Texas Battery" and "Hynson's Texas Battery" are not mentioned in text
  • Common nomenclature for CSA artillery batteries was [Commander's name] [State] Battery. I'm not sure how to work this into the prose, though, and I think the fact that it's from Texas and the commander's name is well-established
• "by railroader Benjamin H. Pratt"? Perhaps also a link for railroader
  • Changed to "railroad builder" per the source. Our redirect for railroader is not really a helpful target here, and there's no wiktionary link. I suspect it may be an Americanism
• Suggest providing a little more information on the combat that the battery saw before Pine Bluff in lede
  • I've taken a crack at this
• Marmaduke's Second Expedition into Missouri should be mentioned in infobox
  • Done
• Suggest adding the individual battles the battery took part in in Price's Raid in the infobox list
  • Done
• How significant is the "Retreat from Little Rock"? You don't provide a link or redlink, and the article itself only mentions covering the crossing of a river which doesn't seem much like an engagement
  • I've redlinked it in the infobox and the body now as the Little Rock campaign. This was a significant campaign that was more of a campaign of maneuver than battle - the largest two fights were the Battle of Bayou Fourche and the Battle of Bayou Meto. I intend to write an article for the campaign sooner rather than later
• The Battle of Pine Bluff is not actually linked in main text
  • Done
• "The unit's service ended on May 26, 1865." this phrase is used in the lede and main text, but is a little ambiguous. Does this mean that the battery was disbanded on this date, or stopped serving in the war, etc? Suggest adding why the unit was disbanded/service ended too
  • Source just gives the date. I found a CSA report that indicates that it was still in Confederate records as of June 1, 1865 but had no cannons (possibly a paper formation at that point). I've noted the Confederates in that region surrendered on June 2. Confederate record-keeping for that region basically quit in 1865, and given that whole units basically dissolved on their own, I don't think there's much more that can be said there. I've searched the 1865 Trans-Mississippi volume of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion for "Hynson" and "10th Texas" and that strength table is all I can find.

Early service

• Is the unit being "organized" the same as it being "raised"? Think clarifying what "organized" means would be useful, e.g. is this the signing of the paperwork or the establishing of the physical unit in a barracks?
  • Source just gives the date without any context, and another source I can find just gives the date as well
• "Benjamin H. Pratt" You provide ranks for other men but not Pratt. I assume he was a captain considering he is later promoted major
  • Yes, added
• "When the battery was mustered" still 1 March 1861?
  • I guess so? It's not entirely clear from the source
• "it contained 72 men drawn" for a battery I think it would be more useful to know what/how many guns it had. Is this known?
  • Found a figure as of May 1862, I've added that (and also a figure for May 1864)
• "During part of 1862" Can be any more precise?
  • Found a source with more detail and have reworked this sentence
• Sentence starting "During part of 1862..." doesn't read very well or (to me) make much sense
  • I've found a source with somewhat more detail and have removed this sentence
• "September 28, 1862" No need to repeat the year
  • I've removed this, as I've found a better source than the one I was using (which was just an as-of-this-date strength report)
• "as part of Parsons's brigade" (also, from the previous text I thought Parsons commanded a cavalry unit, not a brigade?)
  • Clarified, Parsons commanded a brigade all along
• Did the aforementioned movement actually take place?
  • I've just cut this sentence. The source is one line in a series of CSA military reports, and there's no context to make this meaningful or significant, and it's not entirely clear if it's saying that Pratt needed to go to Des Arc, or if Pratt was at Des Arc. I probably shouldn't have included it in the first place since the source was only a blip in a larger order for many commanders.
• " intended to be sent to Missouri" would this have been a detachment from McRae's command?
  • See above
• "caused one sinking..." Any details available on what these ships were?
  • They were operating against gunboats and transports, but it's not clear what these alleged sinkings were of
• "while still commanded by Pratt" necessary?
  • Removed
• Suggest changing "During Marmaduke's raid" to a little more detailed explanation of what the expedition was
  • Expanded a bit
• "After the raid failed" why?
  • Added briefly
• "moved to the location of Colt, Arkansas"
  • Done
• Suggest removing "along with the rest of Carter's brigade" and editing the beginning of the sentence to "Still serving in Carter's brigade"
  • Done
• "Marmaduke detached two" can you also say what the other cannon were doing?
  • Source doesn't say, unfortunately
• Link brickyard
  • Done
• "to fire a signal shot. The Battle of Pine Bluff had begun" > "to fire a signal shot, which would begin the Battle of Pine Bluff"?
  • Done
• "The Union position could not be beat down into resistance" needs rewording
  • Is "subdued" an improvement?
    • Think so.
• "to a landing on..." I think this could be clarified a little. Is this a defence against an amphibious assault by Union forces, or more like pot shots at enemy traffic?
  • Pot shots. I think it's more clarified
• "Union forces responded to Greene's harassment..." how?
  • Expanded using another source I recently gained access to (Wikipedia library this time)
• Ditch Bayou should be added to the infobox, and dated in main text. This is very much a passing mention of the battle only, are there any other details available for what the battery was doing/why it was covering the bridge?
  • Added to infobox and dated. Apparently not much - the only full-length journal article about Ditch Bayou I can find only mentions Pratt in passing as being part of the Confederate force, with no details, and neither Doyle nor Smith give any details about what the battery did during the battle beyond Doyle stating that it guarded the bridge

Price's Raid

• When does Price get promoted? "early 1864" suggests before much of what was discussed in the previous paragraph. Might want to clarify that it was still Price (I assume) in command at those events.
  • Found a date of February 19 and have added that
• "that included in it his former unit"
  • Done
• "H. C. Hynson" rank?
  • Added
• Suggest removing "the Battle of Fort Davidson would be fought that day" and editing the next sentence to "As part of the preparation for the Battle of Fort Davidson"
  • Done
• "only two pieces could be brought to the summit" So did the battery actually fight from there?
  • The only other source I could find for this states that the Confederates did get four guns on the mountain, so I've mentioned both statements with attribution. It isn't clear under the two-gun theory which guns it was, but I've noted that the Confederate artillery on the mountain did get in the fihgt
• "in early October" is a date available?
  • Added (October 9)
• "was engaged during the action" which ended how?
  • Added
• "Price's army was decisively defeated at the Battle of Westport" when, and did the battery participate?
  • I've noted that the two battles were fought concurrently, which should answer both
• "Due to an ammunition shortage"
  • Done
• "finally abandoned their positions" to avoid too many "the field"s
  • Done
• For the quote, which part of the battle is it referring to? If it isn't about Clark's rear-guard then I suggest moving it up a bit
  • It's not clear from the quote exactly what it's referring to; the Confederate officer quoted summarized the battle down into a single sentence.
• "at the battle"
  • Done
• "Hyson's" sp
  • Oops, fixed
• " hundreds of men"?
  • Fixed
• "One source states" suggest using the name of the source here
  • Done

References

• Referencing looks good, although I note that the article might benefit from a couple more details that the sources seem to provide (not world changing but useful for further study), such as the name of Pratt's new unit, according to Bailey being the Second Horse Artillery Battalion.

@Hog Farm: That's my initial run-through completed. Will await your replies. Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 14:53, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

• • @Pickersgill-Cunliffe: - Sorry that this one's a bit rougher. I wrote most of this one over a year ago, and I have way more books available to me now then when I wrote it, so it'll be a slower research process for a few of these. I've been able to patch the Little Rock stuff up a bit with a book I just got about a week ago. Hog Farm _Talk 23:58, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

    No problem, take what time you need to fix this up - the bones are certainly nice enough! Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 19:35, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

    • @Pickersgill-Cunliffe: - I think all of the first round of comments have been replied to. Hog Farm _Talk 02:09, 29 April 2022 (UTC)

Second look

• Completely optional, but personally I believe tree lists make infobox lists such as those for battles a little tidier. Admittedly have only recently started using them myself, though..!
  • Done - I'd never used one of these before.
• Missouri and Robert C. Newton are dup links
  • Done
• If you're linking states, then that should include Arkansas
  • Done
• Move Mississippi River link to first instance
  • Done
• Suggest moving "It sometimes harassed Union shipping on the Mississippi during mid-1862." before the previous sentence to help chronology
  • Done
• "and sometimes harassed..." it feels like you've already said this with the aforementioned sentence, which was added in later. Suggest rephrasing this one/clarifying whether it is the same operation
  • It's unclear from the sources if this is two distinct things or one long one; not sure what to do with that
• "it was claimed" by who?
  • Source doesn't say, unfortunately
• Link Confederate? Equally Union soon after
  • I've actually added a reference to Confederate up in the very first sentences and linked there; linked Union at first mention
• You have the battery serving in the raid until 2 May, but include Taylor's Creek as part of the raid in the infobox despite happening after this date?
  • Outdented, as it was more of a post-raid thing
• Date the Battle of Girardeau - clarify whether the battery was present? If it was present, add to infobox
  • Per Carter's report it was there but did basically nothing, so I think it's best not to include it in the infobox
• Link ford
  • Done
• Link Counter-battery fire
  • Done
• "After the battle, the Confederates withdrew and abandoned the city." Earlier text suggested that the city had been abandoned before the battle
  • You're correct, removed
• "scrapped" Not a great word to use here
  • Went with "dueled", hopefully that's an improvement
• Clarify the ending of Ditch Bayou?
  • Done (and no, this new source for Ditch Bayou doesn't mention what Pratt's battery did their either). Ditch Bayou gave me trouble to source
• "H. C. Hynson, who had been a second lieutenant" > "Second lieutenant H. C. Hynson..."
  • Done
• Link creek
  • Maybe it's an Americanism, but "creek" is an extremely common word in American English and would fall afoul of WP:OVERLINK - my kindergarten-age cousins are familiar with this word
    • My British-ness shows through..
      • Wiktionary does suggest that the American and British usage here is different - it's such a common word in AmEng I'm not sure what to do to handle the BrEng difference Hog Farm _Talk 21:36, 30 April 2022 (UTC)
• "Price's Confederate fought another action" Something missing here
  • Missing a plural on Confederate

@Hog Farm: That's all I've got. Apologies that this has taken so long. Will await your replies. Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 19:12, 30 April 2022 (UTC)

@Pickersgill-Cunliffe: - I've tried to reply to all of this round. This is not the only article where I've had a lot of trouble trying to source details for Ditch Bayou. Hog Farm _Talk 04:46, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

@Hog Farm: Happy with your replies and edits to the article (apologies that there were so many comments - perhaps I went a little too far?), passing this as satisfying the GA criteria. Pickersgill-Cunliffe (talk) 12:41, 3 May 2022 (UTC)

I think this one needed that many comments (it also pushed me to research more thoroughly) Hog Farm _Talk 13:19, 3 May 2022 (UTC)