Pickett's Charge, failed because?

Waterloo50

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Mention the name George E Pickett and the first thing that springs to mind is the failed attack at Gettysburg.

Like many of us here I’ve examined that famous/infamous charge and I’m left wondering what could have been done differently to make it a success, was it even possible for the outcome to have been different. I’d like to know what others think, if I could send you back in time and assuming that Lee would act on your advice, what would you have told him was required to break through the Union defences...oh, by the way, telling Lee not to go ahead with an attack isn’t an option.

For those who want a quick overview of how things originally played out here’s a quick timeline, it’s not exhaustive by any means but it gives a rough idea on how things unfolded.

1:00pm 152 Confederate cannons are pushed out of the tree line and fire on the Union centre, 122 Union cannons respond, the firing last for 2 hours.
3:00pm the cannon fire falls silent.
3:10pm 14000 Confederate troops step out of the tree line, the confederate line is almost a mile in length, the confederate line steps out in perfect order, it was 87 degrees and humid so the line moved slowly.
122 Union cannon open up on the confederate line.
The Confederate line has to cross open ground for about a mile to make it to the Union line, however, they have to cross the Emmitsburg road which is lined either side by two 5 foot tall fences.
At the Union line, approximately 6000 men are told to hold fire until the confederate line reaches the road, meanwhile, 25 Union cannon are being loaded with canister shot.
When the confederate line or what’s left it reaches the road, all hell breaks lose and the confederate line starts to falter, so much so that they go to ground, the bodies are falling and the road becomes a scene of complete carnage, those that have managed to push on meet the first line of union defences at the West wall, the confederate line clashes with 1600 union soldiers, in this clash the Union suffers 500 casualties and approximately 1100 union men withdraw to the main union line, the confederate line loses momentum and on seeing this the union swing around and box in those that had made it to the west wall.
On seeing the line falter, brigadier general Armistead pushes through the line and try’s to encourage the men to keep moving, again the confederate line is hammered by the union main line.
In total the confederate line took about 50 minutes to cross and withdraw across the field, they suffered a loss of 6,800 men.

I fail to see what could have been done differently, does anyone have any theories about what was needed to break the Union line?
 
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Pickett's Charge failed because..

the distance was too great
the opposing firepower was too savage
the men sent to accomplish the mission were too few

We were standing at a departure point of one of the regiments looking across to the ridge. After a long silence, she said, "How could they think they could make it? Why did they even try?"
 
Pickett's Charge failed because..

the distance was too great
the opposing firepower was too savage
the men sent to accomplish the mission were too few

We were standing at a departure point of one of the regiments looking across to the ridge. After a long silence, she said, "How could they think they could make it? Why did they even try?"
Some valid points but I’d argue that in wars before and since, charges have been made over equally long distances and had been successfully carried out, WW1 for example, despite heavy and consistent opposing firepower men still reached and captured their objectives, a creeping artillery barrage was normally the key to success, would a greater number of men really made a difference, considering that the confederate line was a mile long, any higher number and the line would have been stretched to wide, the other option would be for the confederate line to be so many men deep but again the same problems would have been encountered.
 
I think the charge was doomed from the start. On this occasion Lee got his tactics badly wrong.
True, which is why I’m asking the question, what could have been done differently. I appreciate that Lee would have weighed up his options but could there have been another tactic, was there something he missed or some elements of his force that he didn’t use that could have changed the outcome.
 
Artillery barrage more successful
Artillery moving forward to support the attack, protect the flanks
Support troops moving forward to take advantage of potential breach in union line
Destruction of as many fences as possible before the attack
Agreed, those fences were always going to be a choke point, I like the barrage idea I just don’t know how accurate or successful it would have been back then, maybe one of our artillery guys could enlighten us. Again, it would make sense to have something in reserve ready to plug any gaps or even just to capitalise on any gains that were made. Those fences, it seems to me that they presented the same problem that the barbed wire did at the Somme, countless numbers of artillery shells fired at the wire and they still couldn’t break it, it makes no sense to me why anyone would order an attack across open land with two five foot fences that were still intact. Pickett’s charge is something I’d expect to read about in the Napoleonic wars not during the civil war.
And what about exposed flanks, by the time they got to the west wall they faltered and as a result allowed themselves to be flanked and obliterated.
 
Considering how irrelevant the entire artillery barrage was, what if they would have went with an early morning/near dawn attack? I'm aware that with troop movements that size there were no true "surprises" but you'd have to think at 0:darkthirty if you can't see them, they can't see you? Sunrise at the time was 4:22am. So if you and your men stepped off at 4:00, you'd be almost to the Emmitsburg road by the time the first rays of light are starting to reach the battlefield. I believe the Confederates were notorious for not wanting to shoot over their own troops, but what if they would have done so and supported their assault with all their artillery instead of opening the attack with it? It was a lost cause, and this will probably do little to help, but who knows?
 
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Lee believed, and originally intended, that the center of the assault would be supported on both flanks by Hill and Longstreet, an action that did not happen. Additionally, Lee intended that Stuart and the cavalry disrupt the Union rear at the East Field, thereby drawing away further federal resources. But that assault did not achieve the desired result.
 
I fail to see what could have been done differently, does anyone have any theories about what was needed to break the Union line?
I doubt this would have worked either, even assuming the Confederates had the manpower to support it, but Pickett's Charge was "atypical Longstreet." When he was in charge of a major assault, he attempted to attack in depth...with multiple battle lines as at 2nd Manassas and Chickamauga. Pickett's Charge had no depth. Even had a major breach of the Union line been accomplished, there was nothing to follow up the breakthrough. I'm sure he wished his name had no association with it at all.
 
Lee was not well and his judgement was impaired. He thought that Pickett’s Division could punch through the Union line, where a Brigade had so nearly succeeded the day before. He was “off balance” and he thought his Men were invincible, Yet they were most probably tired from having marched 32 miles in the boiling heat the day before - they arrived exhausted !
The Confederate Artillery bombardment was just not effective enough.
Pickett’s charge was supposed to have been supported by a Cavalry assault from JEB Stuart, that was to hit in the rear of the Federal position, but this did not go to plan.
The fight on East Cavalry Field May have been the MOST DECISIVE action of the battle. All credit to Custer !
 
Cold Harbor and Pickett's Charge seem to me to be opposite sides of the same coin. Grant was very much in Lee's place, with subordinates telling him not to do it, with pride saying it can be done with enough grit and my army's got it! Lee had that in play. Grant's men supposedly wrote their names inside their shirts and Lee's just about did the same, some of them straggling way, way, way out of gunshot. The men who made both these doomed charges were dedicated, hard-core, do or die soldiers - that was one of the critical losses. The best men you had went down, were lost and for no gain. The difference was Cold Harbor was not the first of a series of death knells for Grant - it was a disturbance in the force only. For Lee, the loss was irreparable and the ANV, the Confederacy's finest and best led fighting force, was headed downhill after that.

For me, Lee knew he was throwing the dice but he thought he had the loaded pair. His army was a wonder, they would do anything he asked of them and he believed they would succeed at it. So he not only asked, he demanded. People have wondered what in the world was up with Lee, he wasn't himself, he was sick, etc. Actually, this was indeed Lee! He was a very controlled person at all times but this was one time he threw any restraint out the window and went for the whole enchilada. Think what the prize would have been had he won!

To prevent the disaster and gain a lesser but more secure prize? Listen to Longstreet!
 
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Mention the name George E Pickett and the first thing that springs to mind is the failed attack at Gettysburg.

Like many of us here I’ve examined that famous/infamous charge and I’m left wondering what could have been done differently to make it a success, was it even possible for the outcome to have been different. I’d like to know what others think, if I could send you back in time and assuming that Lee would act on your advice, what would you have told him was required to break through the Union defences...oh, by the way, telling Lee not to go ahead with an attack isn’t an option.

For those who want a quick overview of how things originally played out here’s a quick timeline, it’s not exhaustive by any means but it gives a rough idea on how things unfolded.

1:00pm 152 Confederate cannons are pushed out of the tree line and fire on the Union centre, 122 Union cannons respond, the firing last for 2 hours.
3:00pm the cannon fire falls silent.
3:10pm 14000 Confederate troops step out of the tree line, the confederate line is almost a mile in length, the confederate line steps out in perfect order, it was 87 degrees and humid so the line moved slowly.
122 Union cannon open up on the confederate line.
The Confederate line has to cross open ground for about a mile to make it to the Union line, however, they have to cross the Emmitsburg road which is lined either side by two 5 foot tall fences.
At the Union line, approximately 6000 men are told to hold fire until the confederate line reaches the road, meanwhile, 25 Union cannon are being loaded with canister shot.
When the confederate line or what’s left it reaches the road, all hell breaks lose and the confederate line starts to falter, so much so that they go to ground, the bodies are falling and the road becomes a scene of complete carnage, those that have managed to push on meet the first line of union defences at the West wall, the confederate line clashes with 1600 union soldiers, in this clash the Union suffers 500 casualties and approximately 1100 union men withdraw to the main union line, the confederate line loses momentum and on seeing this the union swing around and box in those that had made it to the west wall.
On seeing the line falter, brigadier general Armistead pushes through the line and try’s to encourage the men to keep moving, again the confederate line is hammered by the union main line.
In total the confederate line took about 50 minutes to cross and withdraw across the field, they suffered a loss of 6,800 men.

I fail to see what could have been done differently, does anyone have any theories about what was needed to break the Union line

I too am at a loss. Why did they make this charge in the first place with that much ground to cover? Were there any other plans that they discussed or did they feel this was the only option?
 
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