Biggest Blunders

What do people think was the biggest mistake of the war in terms of bad tactics and loss of men. The ones that come to mind are Grant @ Cold Harbour, Sherman @ Kennesaw Mountain, John B Hood @ Franklin , Lee @ Gettysburg Pickett's Charge. For me they are all bad but Franklin was the worst.
It wasn't Franklin that was the blunder. It happened the day before at Spring Hill. When you understand Spring Hill, you'll understand why Hood did what he did at Franklin.
 
It wasn't Franklin that was the blunder. It happened the day before at Spring Hill. When you understand Spring Hill, you'll understand why Hood did what he did at Franklin.

Always found that strange , how could an entire army march pass your camp and get away.
 
Always found that strange , how could an entire army march pass your camp and get away.
It's odd, but complicated. Very complicated. Nothing that can be explained in a post. To sum it up though: Lack of Supervision, Poor Judgement, Failure in Unity of Command, Poor Dependability, Lack of Decisiveness, Failure of Integrity, Lack of Enthusiasm, unselfishness, Courage, endurance and a huge lack of initiative.
 
Or a more modern version "everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" - Mike Tyson

Biggest blunders. Pope not listening to any of his subordinates at 2nd Manassas. Burnside at Fredericksburg. Cold harbor. The 2nd battle of Petersburg (june 15 to 18), this is a really underrated one because it's not talked about in major works on the war.
Pope ‘s failure to listen to intelligence reports and the inadequate defense of his left flank that put Gouvernor Warren’s 1200 men and Hazlette’s Battery in an absolutely “Vortex of Hell.” Those men had no chance. I don’t understand how anyone survived that slaughter unscathed!
My wife’s Great Grandfather, Nicholas Darrow Rogers of the Fifth NY was wounded just above his left knee and was captured. He was exchanged three days later . He was treated successfully at the First General Hospital in Hall’s Hill and discharged on December 18, 1862. He re-enlisted in July 1864 to complete his two year obligations. He served as a cook for those 100 days. He was very fortunate to have saved his leg and work as a painter after the war. He had significant disability and was awarded a pension in his later years. He was in and out of Old Soldiers Homes on Bath NY and Hampton, Va. until death in Hampton September 5, 1915.
 
Recent research has led me to the conclusion that use of cavalry to break the Army of the Cumberland's Louisville & Nashville/Nashville & Chattanooga RR supply line was a strategic error. The only superior military asset that the Western Confederacy had was its cavalry. The cavalry was frittered away in futile attempts to break the AoC's communications. The lack of adult supervision allowed the cavalry to become a parasite that took essential resources away from the army.
 

The Have History will travel guy posted this last month. I like his stuff he posts some great personal accounts on the war. In this video he reckons that John C. Pemberton made one of the wars biggest blunders at Big Black River Bridge. He reckons the defensive position adopted by Pemberton was doomed to failure.
 

Must read more on this meeting, not holding the position seems to have been an error.
 
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