Engineer Manual?

[Drumfish420]

Can anybody recommend a good book(s) on Civil War engineering? I am trying to better understand the uses of terrain and how and why they placed earthworks, rifle-pits, gun-pits, etc, where they would have placed them. Thank you!

 

[Belfoured]

Can anybody recommend a good book(s) on Civil War engineering? I am trying to better understand the uses of terrain and how and why they placed earthworks, rifle-pits, gun-pits, etc, where they would have placed them. Thank you!

The official manual for the Federals is the Manual for Engineer Troops authored by James C. Duane. He was my ancestor's unit commander of the US Engineers Battalion in the Peninsula Campaign. There have been reprints available and it can also be accessed online.

 

[Missouri Swampfox]

Mahan's Manual on Fortifications available as a pdf on archives.com

 

[Dan Kohli]

Generally if they were on a hill, they would try to put trenches on the military crest of the hill and not the actual crest of the hill. The military crest of a hill is in front of the real crest to prevent the enemy from getting under the depression of the guns. The main assault on Missionary Ridge is a good example of not doing this. if I remember correctly. Braxton Bragg had made the mistake of positioning the troops occupying the ridge on the actual top of the ridge and not the "military ridge" of the ridge. This opened up the possibility of assault of the actual ridge and not just the rifle pits below Missionary Ridge.

Some primary sources that I can quickly find.
The Manual for Engineer Troops by Captain James Duane.

Manual for Engineer Troops ...

A manual for use by engineer troops to perform different tasks.

books.google.com

The 1861 Regulations for the U.S. Army has an article on engineering, and the article for "Troops on Campaign" has a section on how to conduct a siege. The 1861 regulations have a 1863 version that does not include the engineer article.

Revised Regulations for the Army of the United States, 1861

books.google.com

 

[Drumfish420]

Awesome thanks guys!

 

[USS ALASKA]

@Drumfish420

Sir, perhaps some info in this thread would be of value to you...

American Civil War Engineer and Fortification Papers | Forts, Fortifications, & Other Forgotten Places

UNF Digital Commons UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations Student Scholarship 1996 Brick Versus Earth: The Construction and Destruction of Confederate Seacoast Forts Pulaski and McAllister, Georgia by David P. Eldridge University of North Florida This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free...

civilwartalk.com

HTHs,
USS ALASKA

 

[1SGDan]

Belfoured has it right Duane's Manual was the standard for Civil War Engineer troops.

 

[DixieRifles]

I am trying to better understand the uses of terrain and how and why they placed earthworks, rifle-pits, gun-pits, etc, where they would have placed them.

Dr. Timothy Smith's last(not publish date) book in a series on the Vicksburg Campaign : "The Siege of Vicksburg; The Climax of the campaigns to open the Miss River, May 23 - July 4, 1863".
There was a lot to this siege besides taking pot shots and artillery barrages. They dug earthworks and moved closer to the Confederate lines. Besides the one mine that was exploded under the CS earthworks, both sides dug mines and counter mines. I was surprised at some of the things I learned about the Vicksburg Campaign despite visiting many times.
It is 700+ pages with lots of reference sources.

 

[gary]

William Grabau is a retired geologist who wrote Ninety-Eight Days: A Geologist's View on the Vicksburg Campaign mentions how's Vicksburg loess soil is different from the loam soil of the Eastern States AND that the engineering manuals did not account for the different soils. The engineering manuals were eastern oriented. Thus a cannonball that should have been stopped would punch right through. A colleague told me that loess is like a bunch of balls sitting atop of one another and thus its quality for strength is poor. Confederate engineers didn't know.

 

[DixieRifles]

A colleague told me that loess is like a bunch of balls sitting atop of one another and thus its quality for strength is poor. Confederate engineers didn't know.

I'm not a geologist, either. But that does not describe the soil and the earthworks. I remember one time I drove towards Vicksburg on the Interstate that cut through the bluffs. People had carved graffiti on the "clay" walls of the bluff, and it looked like it had been there a long time for them to complete that much artwork. Not only the soldiers but the civilians dug caves to live underground for protection.
I need to go back and check Tim Smith's 2 books on the battles and siege to see how he describes the soil.

Caves of Vicksburg​