Hussar Yeomanry
Sergeant
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2017
- Location
- UK
I was originally going to respond to @Tom Elmore's excellent thread on the 8th Ohio
Instead to avoid thread jacking I'll post it here:
Brockenbrough's (Mayo) brigades performance is an increasing enigma to me.
Colonel Brockenbrough has held temporary brigade command before so he should somewhat know what he's doing.
3 Regiments are veterans of pretty much every battle that the ANV was in (Field's 1st Brigade of A. P. Hill's famed Light Division). Yes these regiments are on the small size but these are battle hardened men.
OK so the 22nd Virginia Battalion have only seen action at Chancellorsville (losing 6 killed, 23 wounded and 6 missing) and are actually Heavy Artillerymen from the Virginia defences and are less than thrilled with now being infantry. But has their presence introduced some sort of poison to the brigade?
So why does a mostly veteran brigade under a semi experienced commander perform so poorly? I accept that their position in Pickett's/ PPT Charge is unenviable and that they may have been slightly late in setting off but that seems insufficient. I accept that it also by the point of Pickett's Charge has pretty much become two seperate commands, the other half now under Colonel Mayo but the more I look the less it makes sense and as @Coonewah Creek says in the thread on the 8th Ohio that if Brockenbrough/Mayo had pressed forward at all ably then that the 8th would not have been able to so expertly flank Davis' Brigade.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
Instead to avoid thread jacking I'll post it here:
Brockenbrough's (Mayo) brigades performance is an increasing enigma to me.
Colonel Brockenbrough has held temporary brigade command before so he should somewhat know what he's doing.
3 Regiments are veterans of pretty much every battle that the ANV was in (Field's 1st Brigade of A. P. Hill's famed Light Division). Yes these regiments are on the small size but these are battle hardened men.
OK so the 22nd Virginia Battalion have only seen action at Chancellorsville (losing 6 killed, 23 wounded and 6 missing) and are actually Heavy Artillerymen from the Virginia defences and are less than thrilled with now being infantry. But has their presence introduced some sort of poison to the brigade?
So why does a mostly veteran brigade under a semi experienced commander perform so poorly? I accept that their position in Pickett's/ PPT Charge is unenviable and that they may have been slightly late in setting off but that seems insufficient. I accept that it also by the point of Pickett's Charge has pretty much become two seperate commands, the other half now under Colonel Mayo but the more I look the less it makes sense and as @Coonewah Creek says in the thread on the 8th Ohio that if Brockenbrough/Mayo had pressed forward at all ably then that the 8th would not have been able to so expertly flank Davis' Brigade.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?