Picket Placement

[Sheltowee]

Was there any standard for how far forward pickets should be posted?

I know dictated by tactical situation, terrain etc.- but maybe an army manual had some basic directive?

I'm reading an account of the fight at Camp Wildcat, and it seems to suggest the federal pickets were 3 miles out.

Seems crazy…..

 

[Jamieva]

Definitely not 3 miles out i do know that.

 

[Kurtlg]

There is an account by a member of the 8th Ohio that says the regiment was posted as pickets 200 yards in front of the other troops on July third at Gettysburg prior to Pickett's charge . I'm sure distances varied based on terrain and circumstances. I think there might be an illustration showing how far pickets were from the other troops in Jack Coffins "Arms and Equipment of the Civil War.

 

[Kurtlg]

Sorry .. Jack Coggins

 

[The Ninth Ohio]

Was there any standard for how far forward pickets should be posted?

I know dictated by tactical situation, terrain etc.- but maybe an army manual had some basic directive?

I'm reading an account of the fight at Camp Wildcat, and it seems to suggest the federal pickets were 3 miles out.

Seems crazy…..

The detachment of the 1st KY Cav (US) was posted approximately three miles south of the federal camps at the Battle of Mill Springs. A few companies of the various participating regiments missed the battle entirely because they were on picket about the same distance in other directions.

 

[Dan Kohli]

Like @ The Ninth Ohio alluded too. The cavalry would be stationed in grand guards, pickets, and vedettes as far out as possible to spot incoming danger, but close enough to warn the rest of the army. Infantry would provide pickets nearer to the army, although sometimes they provided guards along some important roads.

 

[DixieRifles]

Ive been with relic hunters who can point out picket posts by indentions in the ground.
Was it normal or required by regulation for pickets to dig trench/earth works?

 

[jepridgen]

Ive been with relic hunters who can point out picket posts by indentions in the ground.
Was it normal or required by regulation for pickets to dig trench/earth works?

That probably depended on the time of war and the tactical situation. Earlier on, field fortifications were much less prevalent. If the armies were maneuvering in a campaign (think the move to Gettysburg, etc.) the pickets would either not have time or just use existing structure or cover. Naturally, a fixed position like Vicksburg, Ft. Donaldson, etc., even early in the war would likely have had various fixed picket lines.

A great example are the ones at Fort Blakeley, AL. Those were very late war, and it was surreal being in a reenactment there inside actual picket rifle pits.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

These pickets were sent out 2 miles-

"On the following morning we go in camp and pitch our tents, clean up the grounds and prepare for inspection. In the evening our company is sent out on the picket line, taking a position about two miles from camp and cautioned to go quietly to our posts and build no fires on the line or at the picket reserve."
Source:

Footprints through Dixie : everyday life of the man under a musket : on the firing line, and in the trenches, 1862-1865 : Gaskill, J. W. (Joseph W.) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

186 p. : 24 cm

archive.org

 

[Sheltowee]

These pickets were sent out 2 miles-

"On the following morning we go in camp and pitch our tents, clean up the grounds and prepare for inspection. In the evening our company is sent out on the picket line, taking a position about two miles from camp and cautioned to go quietly to our posts and build no fires on the line or at the picket reserve."
Source:

Footprints through Dixie : everyday life of the man under a musket : on the firing line, and in the trenches, 1862-1865 : Gaskill, J. W. (Joseph W.) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

186 p. : 24 cm

archive.org

Seems kind of extreme?

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Seems kind of extreme?

Don't know - maybe they wanted lots of warning time? If the pickets started firing their guns, I assume that would alert the camp that an attacker might be approaching. No need to run two miles back to camp to tell them. That's just a guess on my part.

 

[EHParks]

The detachment of the 1st KY Cav (US) was posted approximately three miles south of the federal camps at the Battle of Mill Springs. A few companies of the various participating regiments missed the battle entirely because they were on picket about the same distance in other directions.

Interesting old thread on infantry pickets and cavalry videttes here. I did not know that videttes were often mounted patrols riding a circuit in-between and in support of dismounted troopers on picket and/or infantry pickets so it would make sense they could be farther out from the main body.

 

[Sheltowee]

Interesting old thread on infantry pickets and cavalry videttes here. I did not know that videttes were often mounted patrols riding a circuit in-between and in support of dismounted troopers on picket and/or infantry pickets so it would make sense they could be farther out from the main body.

Interesting- thanks

 

[captaindrew]

One thing to keep in mind, pickets/guards were deployed in tiers. Say a company or companies were ordered to a guard shift. Only a portion of that force would be on the front line at one time. The rest would be set up in reserve on alert between the pickets and the main force. They would regularly rotate the front line pickets to keep them fresh during that shift. If there was an alarm at the front the reserve would get called up and word would get back to the officer of the day who would be on call back at the main camp. So you could have some pickets a good ways out from the main force although a couple miles does seem a stretch for infantry. Buy that distance does give some time before any real danger could reach the main body and there would be a pretty good force in between to slow them down.

 

[EHParks]

One thing to keep in mind, pickets/guards were deployed in tiers. Say a company or companies were ordered to a guard shift. Only a portion of that force would be on the front line at one time. The rest would be set up in reserve on alert between the pickets and the main force. They would regularly rotate the front line pickets to keep them fresh during that shift. If there was an alarm at the front the reserve would get called up and word would get back to the officer of the day who would be on call back at the main camp. So you could have some pickets a good ways out from the main force although a couple miles does seem a stretch for infantry. Buy that distance does give some time before any real danger could reach the main body and there would be a pretty good force in between to slow them down.

My knowledge of Chancellorsville is sketchy, I was wondering what was the picket situation on Jacksons front during the battle? I recall accounts of fleeing pickets stampeding through the Union camps as the Confederates streamed out of the thick woods seemingly with no warning. Was Union cavalry completely absent on the right flank off on their raids?

 

[jepridgen]

My knowledge of Chancellorsville is sketchy, I was wondering what was the picket situation on Jacksons front during the battle? I recall accounts of fleeing pickets stampeding through the Union camps as the Confederates streamed out of the thick woods seemingly with no warning. Was Union cavalry completely absent on the right flank off on their raids?

Yes, the Union cavalry was completely focused on their raid. They weren't all on the raid, but they weren't used for reconnaissance or screening of that flank.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Another random thought- I wonder if it made a difference if the regiment was camped in a heavily wooded area where the approach of enemy forces could be hidden for some time. That would seem to make a case for posting pickets further out.

Also wonder if the standard distance used was changed over time? My understanding is that both armies initially relied on European military manuals, but by 1862 new manuals were being written that took into account the particular needs of the American soldiers- like requiring teeth that could tear cartridges since cartridges made in Europe could be torn by hand due to the use of different paper to manufacture them.

 

[thomas aagaard]

basically all military manuals in use during the 1850-65 period was based on European manuals.
Sometimes direct translations (like the drill books that do tell you to use the teeth to tear the cartridge)
others where based on two or more books.
(some of the books on marksmanship come to mind)

By the later part of the war the most common book for the federals on outposts and pickets was "made" by Daniel Butterfield.
As he writs in the preface. "selections have been made from the orders of Crawfords's division of the British army, MacDougall's "the theory of war, and from the pamphlet issued by the war department on cavalry outpost duty."

It is one of the big criticisms I got of the prewar US army.
All of its drill, tactics and similar was based on the French. For fighting large scale wars in Europe.
This obviously became pretty useful when the civil war broke out, but it was mostly irrelevant for what the army was during in the decade leading up to the war. Where a handbook on hw to take 30 men and fight 10 bandits, Indians or Mexicans would be more useful, than a book on how a battalion of infantry fight of cavalry in the open fields of Europe.

 

[EHParks]

It is one of the big criticisms I got of the prewar US army.
All of its drill, tactics and similar was based on the French. For fighting large scale wars in Europe.
This obviously became pretty useful when the civil war broke out, but it was mostly irrelevant for what the army was during in the decade leading up to the war. Where a handbook on hw to take 30 men and fight 10 bandits, Indians or Mexicans would be more useful, than a book on how a battalion of infantry fight of cavalry in the open fields of Europe.

TBF, it took awhile...George Patton and America's first motorized attack.

 

[6thMichCav]

I can't speak to any standard, but it makes sense that cavalry pickets were placed farther out due to the speed of horses and their ability to retreat or deliver messages faster.

Absent horse transportation, my placement of pickets would depend on geography and how fast those pickets could reasonably notify the main camp of an attack or raid. And that may literally come down to: "How fast can you run a mile?"