Great Civil War Cock-ups

Ara Oko

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Joined
Sep 28, 2019
From Jackson being shot returning from a scouting mission, to the missing pontoons at Fredricksburg, I wonder if Picketts charge qualifies? I think it may.
What say you guys?
 
General Nathaniel Banks filling the muddy road to Shreveport with wagon trains, his own train loaded with items such as trunks, chairs, valises, paper collars, and iron bedsteads. It caused (or contributed to) his defeat when Taylor attacked him at Sabine Crossroads (near Mansfield) April 8, 1864. He couldn't get troops that were following past the traffic jam to fight, and the troops that were attacked couldn't retreat. An anonymous person wrote to the Wisconsin State Journal afterward: "“The idea of fighting a large battle with wagon trains, I don’t think ever originated with any other man."
 
From Jackson being shot returning from a scouting mission, to the missing pontoons at Fredricksburg, I wonder if Picketts charge qualifies? I think it may.
What say you guys?

I wouldn't put Picketts charge in that category. It failed as did many other direct assaults during the CW, and not necessarily because of poor planning. It is true that the execution revealed flaws and the support that Lee envisioned on the flanks of the charge did not occur, but there is hardly a case when everything went according to plan.
 
I think the whole wilderness campaign might qualify. It was a series of actions in the most hostile terrain. Involved was the battle of the axes which most of you will know.
I'm nominating this futile attempt to drive a road through enemy held forest that wasted many days, and achieved nothing.
 
The "Engineer" who picked the spot for Fort Henry.

Which brings to mind the whole Ft Donelson matter! Losing an army right off the bat without much arguing about it is...well...! For me, the surrender of Ft Donelson might be the top of the list. From that point on, it was a series of unfortunate events. I've always thought the Confederacy was lost from that point on.
 
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