Member Review One Continuous Fight

[wausaubob]

Funny thing relevant to CWT, at one point the authors do mention that during a cavalry fight during the retreat the US forces ran low on ammunition. Soldiers went to retrieve more cartridges and did return with nose bags full of ammunition. @Rhea Cole wasn't the only one who thought this had happened. And Custer's Spencer equipped regiments did some serious fighting during the retreat, in addition to being engaged at Gettysburg.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Funn thing relevant to CWT, at one point the authors do mention that during a cavalry fight during the retreat the US forces ran low on ammunition. Soldiers went to retrieve more cartridges and did return with nose bags full of ammunition. @Rhea Cole wasn't the only one who thought this had happened. And Custer's Spencer equipped regiments did some serious fighting during the retreat, in addition to being engaged at Gettysburg.

The nose bag / ammo bag is explicitly described in the Wilder's Brigade literature.

 

[Belfoured]

Funn thing relevant to CWT, at one point the authors do mention that during a cavalry fight during the retreat the US forces ran low on ammunition. Soldiers went to retrieve more cartridges and did return with nose bags full of ammunition. @Rhea Cole wasn't the only one who thought this had happened. And Custer's Spencer equipped regiments did some serious fighting during the retreat, in addition to being engaged at Gettysburg.

The notion that soldiers in a pinch won't find a substitute to get the job done tosses common sense to the side. Especially something handy whose main purpose isn't a dire need at the time.

 

[wausaubob]

General Meade re-established his logistical connection at Frederick. From Gettysburg the wounded who could be assisted were evacuated to hospitals. The men who could not be saved were at least sent to a hospital instead of dying unknown and alone.
Losing a battle, in not retaining the battlefield, far from a logistical connection in which the wounded could be cared for, and the army could be re-supplied was a very costly loss. General Rosecrans was going to find this out for himself. He was not able to retain the Chickamauga ground, and his railroad connection back to Nashville was not secure, and not sufficient for the size of his army even when it was secure.
Meade and Ingalls, working under Grant's command, made sure the Army of the Potomac never was cut off from its logistical connection after a battle. Though General Meade was not always able to follow up a battle in the way that could end the war, neither did he lose control of the battlefield. Not all the wounded at Cold Harbor were recovered. But the US lines held and the ambulatory wounded presumably made it back to friendly lines.

 

[wausaubob]

General Meade exercised a degree of caution. His army remained intact and he retained his command until the end of the conflict. General Rosecrans in contrast, became very aggressive in northern Georgia. His army was mangled and General Rosecrans lost his command.
History might blame General Meade, but I am not seeing any complaints by Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Howard or Schofield.

 

[wausaubob]

The book should be mandatory reading for all students of the Civil War. The mud, stream crossings, besotted food, sleeping on wet ground, and the thousands of Confederate wounded many of whom had to be abandoned to the civilians and the elements, as described by the authors, will destroy any notion of the war being fought by gentlemen in pristine uniforms.