Describe the outcome of the battle: The first two days of the battle were heavy on casualties for the Union Forces. “Union soldiers sustained an estimated 12,660 wounded compared to 5,588 for the Confederates.” (Franklin, 1998) An analysis of the total number of soldiers killed, wounded or captured during the 5-day battle revealed that for each Confederate casualty there were two Union casualties. “The battle of Fredericksburg was both lost and won by the application of tactical intelligence practices and techniques.” (Massamore, 1976)On December 15, 1862 during a meeting with (name) to discuss the following days attack order Burnsides General’s would convince him to abandon the campaign altogether. That night the Federal Army would return back across the river facing no resistance from the Confederate Forces, as they had been busy preparing for what they had believed to be a forthcoming renewed assault. General Lee’s forces would learn of their …show more content…
“A proper interpretation of available intelligence would have further indicated that such an attack on Marye’s Heights should have never been attempted because the canal and stone wall would channelize the Union Forces directly into the bulk of the southern firepower.” (Massamore, 1976) Had General Burnside been able to maintain the element of surprise and time associated with his initial rapid movement he likely would have been successful in his campaign. By employing his reconnaissance assets to locate an alternative crossing site into the town and moving in with the superior number of forces available he would have kept General Lee on his heels. In not doing so he allowed the Army of Northern Virginia to set their soldiers where they would be most beneficial in a defensive
Sears’ thesis is the Union could have won the war faster. McClellan was an incompetent commander and to take the initiative to attack an defeat the Confederate army. The Army of Northern Virginia, under...
Both Armies repositioned their artillery to the most advantageous position but it appeared that the Army of Northern Virginia had surrounded the Army of the Potomac but in a less defensible position. When two Armies meet on a battlefield the overall objective is to eliminate the opposition, so one of them would have to make a move. Lee ordered Generals Longstreet and Ewell to attack but due to a lack of decisive action on Longstreet’s part, the day would end in the bloodiest offensive of the battle and Longstreet would suffer great losses by Cemetery Hill .
This dialectic will focus on two opposing theses on the matter of how successful the Union blockade was in guaranteeing a victory for the Union. Within “Reassessment of the Union Blockade’s Effectiveness in the Civil War,” M. Brem Bonner and Peter McCord make an argument for the success of the blockade by assessing statistical data comprised from the efforts of blockade-runners to breach the hindrance caused by the Union. The authors frequently employ the objecting side of the effectiveness argument when discussing the legality of the blockade and the successes some blockade-runners had in smuggling goods in and out of the Confederacy. On the opposing side of the argument, Daniel O’Flaherty condemns the blockade as ineffecti...
Therefore, neither of the generals exceeded the other when it comes to military strategies, which rather debunks Shaara’s depiction of Longstreet’s advanced knowledge of modern warfare. Despite of the importance of the Battle of Gettysburg, often marked as the turning point of the war, General Longstreet should not obey an order that results in a significant loss of men that would be extremely difficult to replace at this time. Already limited by the amount of men still able to fight, pushing additional forces in an open battle would just nearly deplete the confederate soldiers completely. Since this battle was one that went on until a majority of ones sided were depleted, the south should have played it safe against the Unions nearly surplus supply of
Union officer William Tecumseh Sherman observed to a Southern friend that, "In all history, no nation of mere agriculturists ever made successful war against a nation of mechanics. . . .You are bound to fail." While Sherman's statement proved to be correct, its flaw is in its assumption of a decided victory for the North and failure to account for the long years of difficult fighting it took the Union to secure victory. Unquestionably, the war was won and lost on the battlefield, but there were many factors that swayed the war effort in favor of the North and impeded the South's ability to stage a successful campaign.
...ition. Even after the South was all set up and it looked impossible for Burnside to win, he decided to try anyway. All of the mistakes Burnside made could have been avoided, so it was Burnside’s entire fault for this big disaster. I think that General Burnside was out-of-line; he was being very naïve by ordering more troops up the hill when he knew they would die. For these reasons, Fredericksburg was a morale booster for the South and a man-killer for the North.
Lee is very quick; he organized scattered confederate troops into the famed Army of Northern Virginia in just three weeks. Lee’s wisdom urged him to keep the Union as far away as possible from the armament producing center of Richmond and far away from the northern part of the state where farmers were harvesting crops. Lee knows that defeats of such decisive sports will weaken our will to continue the war, and he prevented this at all costs.
A Confederate soldier on the wall at the Heights recollected seeing, “…Single bodies…scattered at increased distances until the main mass of the dead lay thickly strewn over the ground.” The Confederates deliberate defensive positions on the hill were just too intense for the Potomac forces to penetrate. Despite the failing state of his plan, Burnside continued to send division after division up the hill until nightfall. No one made it past that well defended wall. Burnside’s inability to assess the battle and alter his plan contributed to the slaughter of thousands of Federal soldiers.
Before the battle, major cities in the North such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, and even Washington, were under threat of attack from General Robert E. Lee?s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia which had crossed the Potomac River and marched into Pennsylvania.
The Union forces suffered one their most significant defeats of the Civil War at the Battle of Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862. The Union army was pushing towards Richmond, Virginia when they were met with a Confederate defensive stand while attempting to cross the Rappahannock River and the subsequent charges towards the Confederate positions. The first three steps of the Battle Analysis process will be covered briefly in this analysis along with an assessment of the significant actions taken. The Union Army was rendered ineffective due to several flaws in the leadership. Poor utilization of available intelligence methods, poor communication between leaders, minimal terrain analysis, and failure to plan for enemy courses of action all contributed greatly to the Union defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg.
September 16-18, 1862, outside of the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland, between the Potomac River and Antietam Creek, was the location of the bloodiest battle in American history. Confederate Colonel Stephen D. Lee described it as “Artillery Hell” because of the frightful toll on his gunners and horses from Federal counter battery and infantry fire. (AotW, 2014) The battle of Antietam, or the Battle of Sharpsburg, would collect an estimated 23,100 total casualties (Luvaas and Nelson, 1987). The body count far exceeded any of the other three battles waged in the Maryland Campaign (Harpers Ferry, South Mountain, and Shepherdstown). This battle was a contributing factor in the outcome of our country and the rest of the world. The Union Army desperately needed a victory at Antietam; however, a victory for the Confederate rebels may have very well gained them international recognition as a sovereign country in the eyes of the rest of the world. The Federal Army, which belonged to the Union States, consisted of an all-volunteer army and was a larger army than the Confederate States. Even though the Battle of Antietam was inconclusive, President Lincoln went on to read the Emancipation Proclamation to the country, effectively ending slavery, and ensuring that no foreign nation would intervene on the Confederates behave.
General McDowell came up with a plan for a direct attack on Confederate troops massed at Manassas Junction on the road to Richmond.... ... middle of paper ... ... A few moments later, General Johnson gave the order for a counterattack. The Confederate attack quickly broke the Union lines.
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.
The Union was at a disadvantage during this battle even though the fight was being brought to them. They were heavily out numbered with only 500-600 soldiers compared to the compared to the confederates with 1500-2500 soldiers. Forrest was also interested in making the Yankees prisoners so he ordered Capt. Charles...
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.