Great Civil War Cock-ups

Well, blame the orders he was given... Col. Charles C. Marshall.

He was following his orders and not joyriding.

Read this topic;.

To quote @Eric Wittenberg and JD Petruzzi's wonderful book title - There's plenty of blame to go around
 
Perhaps there should be two categories:

1. Poor decisions, or flawed execution of what might have been workable plans.

2. Pure accidents like the wounding of Jackson or Longstreet.
When I wrote the op, I didn't differentiate anything, but it's not a bad idea. There is a difference, guaranteed by the chaos of War.
The thing with orders was often they arrived late, were incomprehensible or were otherwise disconnected from reality
I wonder how, as an officer, I put my men in when maybe only 30% effectives remain anyway.
Military cock-ups cost lives.
Perhaps that grim count should be the measure.
 
An obscure one, but one that’s fairly undeniable, my nomination is for the Casco class light draft monitors. The squabbling between the guys at the Monitor Board and Ericsson that led to redesigns, bad math, and an entire class of ships that didn’t float without even more redesigns.
 
I think this is a "cocked-up" title for a CWT thread. But, I did click on it so admittedly it's good clickbait. I also got a giggle out of typing, "cocked-up" in a thread.
Am pleased to amuse. But the fact is, there were some whopping cock-ups. I really can't think of a more apt title I could have chosen.
As a vet, I can say we have a tradition of laughing at our situation using some weapon grade obscenities as standard. I hope 'cock-ups' is mild enough to pass muster among our battle-hardened community.
 
An obscure one, but one that’s fairly undeniable, my nomination is for the Casco class light draft monitors. The squabbling between the guys at the Monitor Board and Ericsson that led to redesigns, bad math, and an entire class of ships that didn’t float without even more redesigns.
Sounds strangely contemporary.
 
Back
Top