Dahlgren's raid Controversy

[KeyserSoze]

Is it your point that a more competent leader than Davis would have led to the Confederate States to independence or, at the very least, held off a second rate enemy for longer than four years? .

That was the Confederacy's problem; third rate leadership against a first rate opponent.

The Dahlgren raid doesn't make a lot of sense if on one of the goals was to take out Davis if he was as bad a leader as you seem to think.

If one of the goals was to execute Davis then I'll agree that it was better for the war effort that they failed.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

I believe it was General Couch was in charge of the Union army at that time at Mine Run. Meade was at a hearing in Washington. I forget how this program started in the first place but there was a crossing of the Rapidan and fighting started no one new for what reason. It was a planned diversion to kick off Kilpatrick's raid. It worked.

Mine Run was November 1863. Meade's testimony before the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was in February 1864. You've really got your dates jumbled.

To Alfred Pleasonton's great credit, he was vehemently opposed to the proposed raid and said so. Meade was far from excited about it too. However, Lincoln personally approved it, and the orders to Meade came from Stanton via Halleck.

In addition to the Kilpatrick and Dahlgren columns, a diversionary force of 500 or so hand-picked troopers of the Reserve Brigade went on a raid in the direction of Charlottesville under command of George Custer. They had a small engagement at Raccoon Ford--perhaps that's what you're thinking of. The main column captured the Confederate pickets at Ely's Ford and crossed the Rapidan completely unmolested.

 

[Rebforever]

Mine Run was November 1863. Meade's testimony before the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War was in February 1864. You've really got your dates jumbled.

To Alfred Pleasonton's great credit, he was vehemently opposed to the proposed raid and said so. Meade was far from excited about it too. However, Lincoln personally approved it, and the orders to Meade came from Stanton via Halleck.

In addition to the Kilpatrick and Dahlgren columns, a diversionary force of 500 or so hand-picked troopers of the Reserve Brigade went on a raid in the direction of Charlottesville under command of George Custer. They had a small engagement at Raccoon Ford--perhaps that's what you're thinking of. The main column captured the Confederate pickets at Ely's Ford and crossed the Rapidan completely unmolested.

OK, Thanks, Eric.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

OK, Thanks, Eric.

Any time.

 

[JPWalton]

Furthermore, I'm positive that if there was a set of secret orders to do dastardly things in Richmond, Kilpatrick got them too. He wasn't exactly known for his scruples, and the idea of giving such a huge task to a deputy doesn't make sense. If Kil-Cavalry were not informed of the plan and didn't approve, he could simply overrule or at least interfere in the secret mission upon learning of it.

If I recall correctly, Kilpatrick admitted the documents were genuine to Meade, although claimed they had been doctored to include the assassination order. Of course, he said they were Dahlgren's documents and not his, which is the part I flat out do not believe.

Basically, I think Kilpatrick's testimony only proves that he was a bad liar. His statements were bizarre to say the least. He clearly tried to shift blame onto Dahlgren for everything that went wrong in the raid and cover his tracks, an old tactic of his, but in this instance did so very stupidly. Wouldn't it have been smarter to simply declare the documents a forgery, or at least to claim he had never seen them? Instead he took up a middle ground between disowning the disaster and confirming the most shameful part of it.

I think it should be called Kilpatrick's Raid since he outranked young Dahlgren and it was his (Kilpatrick's) idea in the first place. As for the papers, I'm not sure any hard evidence exists one way or the other to reach a solid conclusion.