Over the course of the semester, we have studied many different battles, complete wars, and different commanders, all of these through the lenses of American Military History. One key component of any battle or war is how the commanders leading the armies execute it. The way to measure a commander’s execution is by comparing his actions to the Principles of War, also known as MOSSMOUSE. The commander I will be evaluating is William T. Sherman, widely known in the South for his infamous Atlanta Campaign. He did have one hiccup however. This was his one bad move, the move he took at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.
The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain is a battle that took place on June 27, 1864 during American Civil War, which occurred from 1861-1865. This war was started because of many reasons. Many scholars like to point at the economic differences, the geographical differences, the ideals of the two different populations, and other sorts. But President Lincoln stated the purpose of this war very plainly: the war to end slavery for good. As the war started to shift more towards an Union victory over the Confederate states, General Ulysses S. Grant sent another general by the name of William T. Sherman on a vicious campaign through the South to gain control of the city of Atlanta to end the war for good. The now infamous move is now referred to as the Atlanta Campaign or Sherman’s March to the Sea. Sherman had one main goal and that goal was total war. His goal was to lay waste to the South and force them to surrender by all means necessary. This meant pillaging every city he came to, massacring any rebels he came across, but doing this in a strategic manner.
The commander leading the forces in the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain was ...
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...ta to Savannah.
Works Cited
Agnew, John Holmes, Walter Hilliard Bidwell, and Henry T. Steele. The Eclectic Magazine. New York [etc.: n.p., n.d. Print.
Bailey, Ronald H. Battles for Atlanta: Sherman Moves East. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life, 1985. Print.
Blount, Russell W. Clash at Kennesaw: June and July 1864. Gretna: Pelican, 2012. Print.
Hess, Earl J. Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2013. Print.
Luvaas, Jay, and Harold W. Nelson. Guide to the Atlanta Campaign: Rocky Face Ridge to Kennesaw Mountain. Lawrence: University of Kansas, 2008. Print.
Royster, Charles. William Tecumseh Sherman: Memiors. [S.l.]: Library of America, 1990. Print.
Watkins, Samuel R. "Co. Aytch", Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment: Or, A Side Show of the Big Show. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Pub., 1990. Print.
From July 1st to July 3rd, 1863, the most famous and most important Civil War Battle took place in the small town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Confederates under Robert E. Lee advanced on the Union in hopes of taking the major city of Philadelphia, Baltimore, or even Washington D.C. Union commander General George Meade was sent to make sure none of this would happen. General Robert E. Lee was determined to invade the North and win a victory important for southern morale, leads his army toward Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he hopes to destroy railroad bridges linking east with west. He is unaware that a large union force headed by General Meade is headed in the same direction.
General Richard Sherman’s march to the sea has just finished. After successful capturing Atlanta, Georgia, General Sherman directed his Union army to Savannah, Georgia. Along the way, northerners wreaked havoc on Southern cotton mills and destroy train tracks while completely uprooting 20 percent of Georgian plantations. This effectively halted the Confederate’s means of transportation and economic structure subsequently w...
The famous Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1 to July 3 of 1863 in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle proved to show the most casualties of the entire war and resulted in a crushing defeat of the Confederates. The Battle of Gettysburg is generally considered to be the turning point of the American Civil War. This paper will demonstrate the various reasons as to why the Confederates, led by General Robert E. Lee, were unsuccessful in the Battle of Gettysburg during their invasion of the north. General Lee’s over-confidence, the confederate army’s disorganization and failed coordination, and the shift of intelligence all contributed to the crushing defeat of the confederates at Gettysburg. Following his “flawless” battle at Chancellorsville, General Lee was instilled with absolute confidence in his men and failed to see any deficiencies in his army’s offensive capabilities. Lee was not only over-confident, but also knew less than his opponent during the most crucial stages of the battle. The final contributing factor as to why the confederates were defeated was Alexander’s failure to provide effective artillery bombardment and his failure to advise General Pickett not to make the charge after the ineffective bombardment.
The Battle of Antietam could have been a devastating and fatal blow to the Confederate Army if Gen. McClellan acted decisively, took calculated risks, and veered away from his cautious approach to war. There are many instances leading up to the battle and during the battle in which he lacks the necessary offensive initiative to effectively cripple and ultimately win the war. This paper is intended to articulate the failure of Mission Command by GEN McClellan by pointing out how he failed to understand, visualize, describe and direct the battlefield to his benefit.
“It isn’t so sweet to secede, as [they] thought it would be,” a union soldier wrote a letter to home and this is explaining the Sherman’s march to the sea. There is many conversely about Sherman’s march to the sea, some people say that his march was blown out of proportion and others say that it was needed for the Union to defeat the confederates in the what seems never ending war. Sherman’s March to the sea started on November 15, 1864 in Atlanta, Georgia and went all the way to Savannah, Georgia which ended on December 21, 1864. In those few weeks Sherman’s army marched with totaled war on their mind. Total war means total destruction of enemies territory; as 62,000 union soldiers marched to Savannah, they destroyed everything in their path. After December 21, Sherman’s army continued to march on to North and South Carolina. William T. Sherman tactic to
The Battle of Antietam took place on September 17, 1862 at Sharpsburg, Maryland while George McClellan was the commander for the Union, and Robert E. Lee was the commander for the Army of Northern Virginia. The Battle of Antietam was one of the bloodiest battles that were ever recorded during the civil war with the loss of more than 23,000 soldiers all together. The main reason why the battle occurred was because Robert E Lee wanted to invade the north because he wanted to prove himself to the Europeans that the Confederacy did have the political and economic power to take out the Union. As for Abraham Lincoln he did not want Europe to enter the war, so initially the battle of Antietam became about the Emancipation Proclamation to stop and help the war over slavery come to an end. The Battle of Antietam is a significant piece of history that not only allowed the Emancipation Proclamation for freeing slaves but it also brought a huge victory win to Abraham Lincoln.
For centuries, Richmond Hill was inhabited by the Guale Indians, and later it was occupied by English settlements after the Spanish explorations. Centuries after, Richmond Hill proudly fought in the Civil War between the States. Fort McAllister was an important icon in Richmond Hill during the Civil War. Its purpose was to protect Savannah’s “backdoor”. Nine battles were fought at the fort, including the closing battle of Sherman’s infamous March to Sea that actually ended in Bryan County. Even when nearly destroyed by Sherman’s March to Sea in 1864, Richmond Hill was able to rebuild itself from the ashes of the devastation with the help of Henry Ford.
... by the war and fight more viciously. Lincoln was very careful not to underestimate his enemies in the South and sternly advised the American public not to get overconfident, “Let us not be over-sanguine of a speedy final triumph. Let us diligently apply the means, never doubting that just God, in His good time, will us the right result.” The siege of Vicksburg was in many ways the hardest blow to the South, because they lost their control of the river there, and lost communication with their western territories. In many respects, this was the day that I believe most of the southern soldiers believed the war had ended, and with Sherman making his march, the psychological impact was devastating. Without their beliefs, their way of life taken away, they had no reason to fight, and no reason to continue fighting because if Old Dixie could fall, so could anyone else.
During the War Between the States there were two large-scale, decisive battles fought near the town of Manassas, Virginia. This will be a guided look at the second of those two occurring at the end of August in 1862. There were several great leaders from both sides of the war involved in the 2nd of Manassas, however I am going to focus on the attitudes, maneuvers, and decisions of the four primary generals; General Robert E. Lee, Major General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Major General John Pope, and Major General George B. McClellan, as it was these men who, ultimately, shaped the actions and outcome of the battle. Following the Seven Days Battle, Maj. Gen. McClellan’s armies were camped on the banks of the James River, 20 miles from Richmond1 (Debelius 1998) and Gen Lee had just taken control of the Army of Northern Virginia on June 12 (Hennessy 2005). Maj. Gen. “Stonewall” Jackson was a subordinate commander in the Army of Northern Virginia and Maj. Gen. Pope was inbound to “assist” Maj. Gen. McClellan in securing the area of Northern Virginia for the Union high command. This study will focus on the mind-sets, maneuvers, and decisions these men made throughout the course of the battle that led to the defeat of the Union forces under Maj. Gen. Pope’s leadership.
Gettysburg was the turning point of the American Civil War. This is the most famous and important Civil War Battle that occurred over three hot summer days, July 3, 1863, around the small market town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. More importantly Gettysburg was the clash between the two major American Cultures of their time: the North and the South. The causes of the Civil War, and the Battle of Gettysburg, one must understand the differences between these two cultures. The Confederacy had an agricultural economy producing tobacco, corn, and cotton, with many large plantations owned by a few very rich white males. These owners lived off the labor of sharecroppers and slaves, charging high dues for use of their land. The Southern or Confederate Army was made up of a group of white males fighting for their independence from federal northern dictates (The History Place Battle of Gettysburg 1).
The Battle of Antietam on September 17th, 1862 was the single, most bloodiest day in American History, where more than 23,000 men became casualties of war. General George Brinton McClellan’s inability to use Mission Command, as a warfighting function was a key reason this battle did not end the American Civil War. An analysis of General McClellan’s Mission Command operational process will show how his personality, bias, and fear were detrimental to the outcome of the Battle of Antietam.
Chattanooga to Atlanta. Sherman had two objectives, one was to destroy the army of General J. E.
In the American Civil War, there were many major battles that contributed to the Union army proving victorious and the Confederacy suffering defeat. One of which that could be considered the most significant was the Battle of Gettysburg. A three day scuffle that essentially led to the dismantling of the entire southern war effort, Gettysburg is highly remembered as the biggest and bloodiest battle of the war. However, the final assault by the Confederate army on the third day of warfare was detrimental to the overall outcome of the battle. This brutal strike is also a perfect testament to the Confederate soldier’s courage and passion for their respective cause and ideals. In other words, it takes sincere discipline to march across open grasslands in clear sight, and rush headlong into a heavily fortified position held by the enemy. This attack is most widely known as Pickett’s Charge, an all-out Confederate offensive resulting in immense casualties for both sides involved.
It is far easier for us in the present than it was for those at Gettysburg, to look back and determine the path that the leaders should have taken. As students, studying battles such as this, we have the advantage of hindsight, knowing the outcome. Nonetheless, we can still learn valuable lessons from it. To do so, this analysis will explore some of the decisions of the leaders at Gettysburg, and how they were affected by the operational variables. This essay will scrutinize some of the leaders at Gettysburg, and the impact of their actions. The outcome of this analysis will show that what was true in 1863 is still true today. While many variables are vital to a successful army on the battlefield, none should be neglected. Each variable discussed in this examination will prove to be important, but the information battle will be paramount in the battle of Gettysburg.
The American Civil War was fought between the North (The Union) and the South (The Confederates), because of the South wanting to secede from the North. Lincoln's election as president in 1860, triggered southerners' decision to secede believing Lincoln would restrict their rights to own slaves. Lincoln stated that secession was "legally void" and had no intentions of invading the Southern states, but would use force to maintain possession of federal property. Despite his pleas for the restorations of the bonds of union, the South fired upon the federal troops stationed at Fort Sumter, in Charlestown, Virginia. This was the event that decided the eventual beginning of the Civil War. Despite the advantages of Northerners, their victory in the ...