The Civil War : The Battle Of The 15th Alabama War

“It was not war-it was murder” (M.G. D Hill 1862). July 1st 1862, held one of the bloodiest battles during our civil war. Throughout the battle we have learned the importance of understanding your terrain and surroundings. Confederate also realized the relevance of controlling Malvern Hill from a military stand point. Throughout the mistakes of this battle it has taught us over time better ways to communicate, emplace, and maneuver artillery units as a whole. This battle plays a key role in the advancement of our military tactics and execution in the ways that we use artillery today.

They realized they had a problem since no other units were up to the line with them; they had to wait this out. They were ordered to lie down in the tall grass. The fighting started to break out in front of them at a small skirmish line. Many of the men had never seen battle, so some of the men stood up to watch what was going on. Maj. John D. Musser of the 143rd wrote: "… a few shells came booming over our heads, making many of the uninitiated dodge muchly and now and then a wounded skirmisher was brought in from the skirmish line and taken to the rear, all of which had a tendency to make us nervous and uneasy…" (Tomasak,

Many attribute the Union’s defense of Little Round Top during The Battle of Gettysburg to Chamberlain, a colonel in the 20th Maine Infantry and defended Little Round Top. It may be true that Chamberlain played an important role in defending Little Round Top, nevertheless all the credit should not go to him. Gouverneur K. Warren should be considered a bona fide key player to the success at Little Round Top, because of his ability to realize the Union’s weak point and form a strong defense in time to fight off the Confederates. If it were not for Warren the Confederates, from the words of Robert McNamara “could have overrun the left flank of the entire Union Army, and possibly won the battle and conceivably the entire Civil War” (1).

Mckim provides the most compelling account of the civil war. “In moving to the attack we were exposed to enfilading fire from the woods on our left flank, besides the

Morgan’s famous heroic stand below Goldsboro Road would begin on March 18th. His “division (Second), Fourteenth Army Corps, took the advance for the Left Wing at 5:30 A.M. on Saturday the eighteenth”(Hughes Jr., 17). After Morgan helped federal foragers in his division fight off small rebel forces near Bushy Swamp, Sherman ordered him to hold his division where it was. In the early morning of March 19th, Morgan’s men would advance along with Sherman and WilliamCarlin’s men. They would soon be told to hold position again as Carlin went to engage against Confederates. It wouldn’t be until the afternoon at three o clock that Morgan would soon have to help Carlin and Slocum against the Confederates, due to Carlin’s inability to stop them in the skirmishes. After Mitchell had placed his men into the appropriate area, Morgan’s unit would march in. He would send one of his men to send a message to generals in the battle. First he sent a message “to Davis requesting that Vandever’s brigade (backed with the wagons at the rear of the corps) be rushed to him”(Hughes Jr, 98). Morgan also sent one to Benjamin Fearing to ask if he could help General Mitchell by being at his right while having some of his men attack to help “stiffen Vernon’s skirmish line” (Hughes Jr., 98). Also seeing that there were no enemy troops on the right side near Goldsboro road, Morgan ordered one of his men to perform reconnaissance. Later, he and his men would have to

Let us go to his assistance!", after that the nickname "Stonewall" Jackson was spread around the army and Jackson become a legend. Another marker in the battlefield of Manassas was the U.S. Infantry Battalion and was lead by Maj. George Sykes. Lt. Eugene Carter said when the troops were formed, they initiated shooting, and the rebels disliked the long range rifles. The troops fired seriously and some of them fired at the stars. They shaped line of fight and walked over the field in splendid order but in the beginning there was some confusion. After that the went to the wood and the made a new line also there was a lot of bodies in the woods. furthermore, the last marker was the Washington Artillery Battalion, the Maj. John B. Walton was describing what happened there and said that signal by hand to the front until that the battery was finally upon the crown of hell, totally exposed to the perspective of their gunnery and infantry. At that moment there were fire like hail around the troops, Maj. John B. weapons were as quickly and delightfully served by the cannoneers with as much self-control and quiet as they are when upon the conventional every day drill.

As commanders understand the operational environment and the problem, they can begin visualizing the desired end state and solutions to solving the problem.6 After noticing that Confederate artillery fire had slackened, COL Chamberlain’s experience told him that Confederate troops were coming and quickly began to envision an operational approach that would achieve his desired end state to hold his position on the far left of Little Round Top. Through his critical and creative thinking, COL Chamberlain showed a skill common within good tactical leaders. He mentally visualized possible countermoves against imagined threats to his unit. While analyzing the terrain he could see that the 83rd Pennsylvania was forming on his right but there was nothing at all on his left. COL Chamberlain could see a dark bulk of a larger hill to the left of his men and determined that if the Confederates got an artillery battery on its crest the Confederates could take Little Round Top and subsequently drive off the Union Army. Visualizing how this could affect his desired end state, COL Chamberlain decided that he would send a company to the 20th Maine’s

Three years after the attack on Fort Sumter, one of the most controversial battles of the American Civil War was fought in West Tennessee. The battle at Fort Pillow, located near the Mississippi River about 50 miles north of Memphis, was a bloody slaughter of a mixed Union garrison. The garrison was comprised of 557 men total, about half of those men were African American 's in the 6th U.S. Regiment Colored Heavy Artillery, and the 2nd Colored Light Artillery, commanded by Major Lionel F. Booth. The other half was made up of white soldiers from the 14th Tennessee Cavalry, a Federal regiment, lead by Major William F. Bradford.The fort became engulfed by Confederate personal resulting into a tactical stalemate. However, when giving chance to

As General Longstreet prepared to carry out Lee’s orders, Union Chief Engineer Warren was sent to see what Little Round Top looked like. Warren was shocked that it was not defended properly. Warren asked for backup. Colonel Strong Vincent ordered the 20th Maine Regiment overseen by Colonel Chamberlain to defend Little Round Top. Chamberlain was instructed not to retreat no matter what. Colonel Chamberlain instructed the soldiers to fight with a Bayonet Charge because they were almost out of ammunition. (“Robert” History.com).

The American Civil war still remains as the most significant event in Alabama's history. The war created friction against unionist and secessionist. The civil war ended slavery . The civil war encouraged industrialization. Alabamians came to identify themselves as if they weren't Americans but as southerners, fiercely loyal to their lost cause. All of this was purchased with the lives of 600,000 American deaths.

     A new day dawns, July 3rd comes and Colonel chamberlain receives word that his unit is to be moved to the middle of the Potomac line. He is assured that he will see no fighting today. The Union soldiers were expecting a day of rest. Meanwhile Lee's plan of attack is being explained to the reluctant General Longstreet who would rather rest himself. The plan is simple; General Alexander who is in charge of artillery is to fire his cannons at the very middle of the Potomac lines. In an effort to breakdown Union firepower. As soon as General Alexander had diminished enemy strength, General Pettigrue, General Trimble, and General Pickett were to march their brigades up the slope and take Union ground. After the ground has been

Imagine, you are hundreds of mile from your home standing tall on the green countryside atop a hill overlooking a beautiful valley below. It is the summer of 1863 and you are at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania positioned on a place called “Little Round Top” and you are the commander of the Union Troops during the American Civil War. You have been battling against the Confederate forces as they charge against your troops over and over again, your supplies have been exhausted, and your troops are out of ammunition. As the leader, you give the instruction to fix bayonets and charge down the hill toward the Confederate soldiers, is a final attempt to halt there advances. To the surprise of the Confederate forces, seeing the charging Union troops, panic struck and the Confederate forces retreated.

The teacher, Mrs. Rasmusson, was talking about some literature written during the civil war. She then read and exploit of a small novel that described the war. “Run, retreat, the south is pushing from the left side”! Splat! The major's head had been obliterated by a piece of chain shot off by a cannon on the confederate side. On our way out we noticed that some of them were pursuing from the rear so the we split up into two groups one going to the right and my group going to the left. We would then meet up on a hill nearly a mile away from camp to get our bearings and rest. The area my group had to go through was a large open field with a large row of pines to one side and other, closest to us was composed of a mix of maple, oak, birch, and lots of willow trees which we used as cover and to check the adjacent ridge of any enemy lines. When one of the scouts told us that there was a large group of them hiding in the pines we then loaded our weapons and got ready to fight. Bayonets were locked on to the barrels of guns, medical bags were prepared, and soldiers were

Nonetheless, we cleared the 2nd and 3rd regiments from their horde of attackers. It was a remarkable feat to fight our way to the road. By the time I could see the bay there wasn’t a mercenary company left to relieve. They had faced the enemies best troops and were found wanting. We weren’t in particularly good shape, our battle line had lost all form and focus, and we were an uncontrolled mass. Yet, there were no enemy formations to rebuke us. The morale of the remaining enemy skirmishers, at the edge of the woods, were broken and they had

Upon seeing us marching towards them, General Tilly’s forces likewise advanced towards us. The battle ensued with our forces trying to quell their attacks of pikes, artilleries and cavalries. It was an exhausting 5 hours long battle as we repelled countless attacks from our enemies. The General’s infantry used mixed formations of around 3,000 gunmen and pikemen, while the others from them charged with their cavalries. The gunmen formed the outer section of the battle array, while the pikemen gathered at the center. Cavalries were positioned on the wings of their battalion and led the charges before the gunmen and pikemen. For our enemies, it was a standard battle formation.