The Sacrifice at Antietam

By the time the sun set on September 12, 1862, over 26,000 men were dead or wounded. It was the bloodiest day of the Civil War, but, the battle's losses could have actual meant something. 26,000 men died and thier sacrifice was nothing. Why? McClellan. Bruce Catton describes a situation where McClellan learned that his troops had broken the enemy flank, and all that was needed was 5,000 men to win victory. McClellan, exhilerating with joy, ordered 5,000 men to move forward. Then, suddenly, he countermanded his orders and, the one time he was about to win a decisive victory, he choked. Why? No one can truely explain what happened, except, perhaps, McClellan was reverting to his former, pesstimistic self. Where was this break that was so crucial? The left flank of Lee's Army, commanded by Jackson. He was wrecked by the massive attacks of the I Corps, under Joe Hooker. Many people say that Hooker had more men. This is false. The average size of the six Union Corps that day would have been only 11,000 men. Hooker had no more then that many men. Now, let us devide the 40,000 present before AP Hills arrival. Jackson would have had over 20,000 men at his disposal. Not only that, but thousands of men were shifted to help Jackson. Which means, Hooker was facing anywhere between 2-1 or 3-1 disadvantage. And, unlike Longstreet, who had to string his men out on two fronts, Jackson had all his forces consentrated in one general vacinity. The XII Corps was knocked out before it could do much harm to the Rebs when Mansfield took a bullet to the stomach. So, it can't be used as a factor on the field. So, in essence, the Yanks fought better. Outnumbered, they drove back a much larger force, they won the fight for Miller's Cornfield. Jackson was saved by several factors. 1: Hooker got wounded in the foot. 2: Hood threw his fresh men into the meatgrinder against a wornout foe. 3: The XI Corps was knocked out too early. 4: McClellan refused to feed in his reserves.

The Bonnie Blue Flag: NC Fights at the Mule Shoe

Ok, scratch what I said on my last post. Obvisously, I didn't post alot. But, here I go.

The time was 4:35 in the morning. It had rained all the night before, and a fog laid low upon the lands. Silently, nearly 20,000 Union troops poured towards the bulge in the Confederate line. A few sentries saw them, and fired a few rounds at the attacking mass, up jumped thier comrades, and swung their guns around. Almost all the guns failed to fire. The Union mass was up, and into the works, stabbing and clubbing.

The fighting for the Mule Shoe had begun, and the whole Confederate Army was in trouble. All thier artillary and 3,000 men in the Mule Shoe had been captured. The Union attack flaunted on its own success, looting as they went, but, they would soon renew the attack.

Lee at once plunged everyman he had to stop the hole. Among those sent to stop the yanks, was the 4th and 14th North Carolina. They helped push back the yanks until they were almost completely out of the bulge. But, another atack came at them.

Suddenly, nearly 800 voices rose. They were singing, The Bonnie Blue Flag as they poured volley after volley into the yanks. Although most would be shot down, this little band became famous for the use of thier voices, rousing and ralling the men as the sang the CSA Anthem.

Before the battle ended that day, 10,000 men would be killed, wounded or captured, most of them Confederates. By the end of the battle, 27,000 would become casualties.

Blame at Chancellorsville

Seeing as I didn't blog a while, I will make up by posting a few times today. The Battle of Chancellorsville has always held my facination. With losses of nearly 31,000, it was almost the bloodiest battle ever fought. We all recognize the rout of the XI Corps as one of the worst disasters to befall the hardluck Army of the Potomac. But, was it all that much of a suprise? No. 1. Hooker knew that Jackson was marching, and believed two things; he was either retreating, or about to fall upon his right. 2. He ordered Howard to entrench and face some regiments to the left. 3. Howard did not. He went so far as to lie to his commanding officer by telling him that they did. 4. General Devins, one of Howard's officers, knew that Jackson was about to fall on his flank, but did not report it to Howard. 5. Howard ordered his reserve Corps to help Sickles capture Jacksons' rearguard. 6. Nearly a mile gap was created by Sickles and Howard between the III and XI Corps. 7. Pickets were posted by the two regiments that were facing west, and they had enough time to alert the rest of the Corps. 8. Devins could have stopped the retreat from becoming a rout. He had several brigades that could have wheeled to face the enemy and be able to have enough time to rally the other units. Devins would not allow it. 9. Howard was not even present with his Corps until the rout was well underway. So much for Jackson being such a good general. The reason why he was so good was because he faced such a bad general. Then, Jackson lost the war for the South by riding out at night, and not telling his picket regiments that he was going to do so. They had no idea that Jackson was out riding.

In essence, Jackson lost the War for the South by getting himself killed, thus allowing such blunders at Gettysburg that allowed a northern victory.