Civil War Blunders, Generals & Tactics

Why did Pickett's charge fail?

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Napoleonic assaults were outdated, in view of rapid fire artillery and entrenched musketry fire. Rebel artillery overshot most of their targets and caused damage to supply units in the rear. One unit of rebel artillery was supposed to close in behind the advancing line, however, in the fog of war, they moved to the rear. Rebel caissons were also moved to the rear in order to get out of reach of Union guns.

Because of the shape of the Union line (a 'fish hook') they were able to bring reinforcements up quickly to bolster the center defence. Lee had gambled that the attacks on the flanks the previous day had weakened the Union line.

Going against entrenched positions with massed artillery over a clear field of fire on July 3rd was totally a blunder on Lee's part. So why did the greatest tactician of the war fail on this account?

There were several reasons why the greatest tactician of the war blundered at Gettysburg, namely:

1. he felt his boys were invincible

2. the attacks on the left and right the previous two days should have left the center weakened.

3. the preliminary artillery bombardment was the largest of the war up till that time, they were supposed to silence the union guns....unfortunately most overshot their target and wrought havoc among the supply units in the Union rear.

4. Supporting units of confederate artillery were supposed to advance with the rebel lines to support their attack, instead, the unit retreated due to misinformation.

5. Artillery caissons were sent to the rear trying to avoid Union fire, which only lessened the rebel cannonade.

6. The Union artillery fell silent wanting to conserve their ammunition for the main attack, instead it misled the rebels into thinking that the Union guns were silenced by the cannon fire.

7. Ewell was supposed to coordinate his attack on the Union right flank, instead he attacked to early and was driven back. The plan was for him to attack at the same time as the Pickett-Pettgrew assault. Since the Union line was a 'fish hook' shape, they could easily shift reinforcements to the center where they were needed.

So it may look like a blunder some 144 years later, but at the time, there may have been more of a chance to succeed then it appears to us now.

1 day ago

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