Attack by column by divisions at South Mills?

NC Squadron

Private
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Location
Elizabeth City, NC
I read that the 9th New York Zouaves charged the 3rd Georgian position at the Battle of South Mills in column by divisions, which would be a column two companies wide by five deep. Looking at the casualties from the battle, certain companies sustained significantly more casualties than others and I want to know if they were the companies on the left side of the formation. They would have been closest to the two cannons firing canister. Two or three rounds of canister were fired.

I've seen a column by division laid out like this:
F-A
I-D
H-C
K-E
B-G
I don't know if this was a standard arrangement or not, but companies F and H had 14 casualties each and B had the third highest at 8. Co. I had 5 and Co. K had 0, but much of that company was handling the two boat howitzers at another location on the battlefield. The two cannons firing canister at them were to their left in front of them, about 100 yards away.

The companies on the right side of the formation (A, D, C, E, and G using this diagram) had 6, 2, 6, 4,and 7 casualties, respectively. If the lineup of the companies is correct, the left side companies suffered 41 casualties compared to 25 for the right side. Six of the 8 men killed during the charge would have been on the left. Of the severest wounded, 13 of the worst would have been on the left compared to 6 on the right. Company F, the front left column, had the most severe wounds (6), tied for the most casualties (14), and had the second most killed (2)

More information is available at Sawyer's Lane: the battle of South Mills .
 
Last edited:
That is the correct formation when in a column of division according to Hardee 1855/ US infantry tactics 1861...
Thank you! Charging in column by division with fixed bayonets probably wasn't a good call as they were over 600 yards from their objective when they began and had marched more than 20 miles to get there.
 
Thank you! Charging in column by division with fixed bayonets probably wasn't a good call as they were over 600 yards from their objective when they began and had marched more than 20 miles to get there.

Attack in column of divisions was also the formation used by the 54th Mass. in their famous assault at Battery Wagner. In their case the formation was chosen because the space between a salt marsh on the left and the tide on the right was at the time too narrow to allow for a broader frontage than that.
 
Attack in column of divisions was also the formation used by the 54th Mass. in their famous assault at Battery Wagner. In their case the formation was chosen because the space between a salt marsh on the left and the tide on the right was at the time too narrow to allow for a broader frontage than that.
In the case of the Hawkins Zouaves, they had a cultivated area approximately 600 yards wide by a mile long. The 21st Massachusetts and 51st Pennsylvania had outflanked the Georgians' left flank when Col. Hawkins charged down the middle of the field without orders from General Reno.
 
Back
Top