Posted on 03/09/2017 5:00:51 PM PST by Bull Snipe
'Cause if that's what you're saying I've gotta see your point, according to the statistics you cite... granted I know nothing about Cold Harbor except having heard the name here or there, probably mostly here at FR.
If Pickett had received the cavalry support he was promised the attack would have been a success. Instead Lee’s (Stuart) cavalry was totally out of position off on a goose chase after Meade’s (Custer) cavalry.
At Cold Harbor, the Confederate Infantry had about 24 hours to dig in and prepare for an attack from the Union army. They did not waste 1 minute of that time. It was a straight up frontal assault against well prepared defensive positions. Yankee soldiers, familiar with these types of situations wrote their names on pieces of paper and pinned them to the back of their coats, so their bodies could be identified. They knew what was coming. They attacked as ordered. About 7000 men were killed or wounded in about a half hour of fighting. The attack was called off. Grant ordered another assault, but his Corp commanders convinced him that it would end no better then the first assault. He called off any further assaults at Cold Harbor. Roughly 47%
of the attacking infantry were killed, wounded, captured, or missing. In his memoires Grant states that ordering the attack at Cold Harbor was the worst decision he ever made in his career.
I'm not saying I like the guy personally, but I thought Martin Sheen turned in a credible performance in the screen version of The Killer Angels as Lee:
(Speaking to General Longstreet, who as we all know advocated doing something sane in the situation:) "But General, the enemy is here. We must whup him here, or he will whup us."
Lee was a very formal person. What he said to Longstreet was “The enemy is there” pointing toward Cemetery Ridge, “and I am going to strike him there.”
Okay. Artistic license on somebody’s part. I’d say it still made the point of the conversation.
So was Pyrrhus of Epirus. His tactics, exactly like Grant’s eventually cost him everything.
Grant had an un-ending supply of German, Irish, and Slaves to fill the ranks. All three groups were equally worthless to American society back then.
Pickett never forgave Lee. Even though, years later, when asked why his charge at Gettysburg failed, Pickett replied: “I’ve always thought the Yankees had something to do with it.”
So was Pyrrhus of Epirus. His tactics, exactly like Grant’s eventually cost him everything.
...
But Grant went on to victory and the United States became the greatest power in the world.
The Overland Campaign was costly, but it put Grant in position to take Richmond, chase down Lee, and win the war.
He had the resources to fight the way he did. Probably only a handful of Generals in history have ever had at their disposal what he did.
He was also fighting an enemy with limited supplies, resources, men and money. That they lasted as long as they did is a testament to the CSA.
Time was on his side, so was the money, the manpower, and as I mentioned - the resources. Plus he had a President who backed him 100%.
Tactically, Grant was an amateur. The only reason he won the war was because when others turned around after their first bloody nose, he pushed on. And on. And on. And on.
He lost over 55% of his men in that campaign.
It still took him almost a year to take Richmond even after all that loss.
Any General given those sets of circumstances and combined with his deplorable tactics of continuous frontal assaults without care given to casualties, will eventually win the war.
That is true. Later in life, Pickett would say “that old man got my whole division killed.”
The operative words being “win the war”. There us no second place prize in war. While his tactical abilities were average at best, his strategic thinking was head and shoulders above his peers. Before the war ended, Grant would accept the surrender of 3 Confederate armies.
Where was Pickett promised cavalry support in is assault on Cemetery Ridge. Lee makes absolutely no mention of cavalry support for the assault on Cemetery ridge in his after action report to President Davis. In that report he praises Stuart for his defense of the left flank of the army on the second and third days of operations at Gettysburg.
it would be these worthless of American society that would stand in long blue ranks as lines of Confederate soldiers marched past to stacked arms, remove cartridge boxes/waist belts, and furl regimental standards to lay over the rifle stacks, then march of to sign their paroles.
Time was on his side...
Actually, time wasn’t on his side. In 1863, right after Gettysburg and Grant’s great victory at Vicksburg, Lincoln had to deal with serious draft riots. By 1864, an election year, there was tremendous pressure for Lincoln to end the war, which is why Lincoln promoted Grant in March. There were great expectations for Grant to end the war quickly, which I believe led to his decision to go up the middle at Cold Harbor.
The failure of the Overland Campaign to end the war led to Lincoln being abandoned by the Republican Party. He had to form his own Union Party.
Winfield Scott wrote down the plans for how to win the war before Ft. Sumter was even fired upon.
Generals & politicians laughed him into retirement. Ironically it played out almost exactly as he wrote them down in 1861.
Grant’s success was in that he used his resources. And he was the only one who really did. This is where others like the timid McClellan, the over-confident Hooker, and the overly defensive Meade couldn’t succeed.
McClellan was so timid that he over-estimated the Rebel forces during the Seven Days campaign as outnumbering him almost by 50,000 men.
Napoloen won battles similarly to Grant. Charge, charge, and charge again. He won, but the cost was a lot higher than it should’ve been unfortunately.
What most folks don’t realize is that beyond the “nostalgia” of the CW, Americans (Union) for the most part, thought it was a disgrace to go and serve in the Army - much less make it a career choice. Which is why you had high levels of immigrants and foreigners serve among the Union ranks - especially post 1863.
Sure you had a good share of elitists serving, who were either self-promoting martinets (Chamberlain, Barlow) or bored volunteers looking for adventure (Miles, Wallace).
Manpower does win wars, regardless of where they come from.
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