Question about infantry tactics

[phil1861]

I said Wood's but should have been Miller's brigade, Negley's Division.

Battery in question is Battery G, 1st Ohio under Lt. Fredrick Marshall. His report in the ORWR is about the most detailed I've read from an artillery battery in action. Miller's brigade barely escaped encirclement on the 31st December and Marshall's battery lost at 12pdr Wiard rifle and had difficulty getting other pieces off due to damage and loss of horses.

 

[28thNewYork]

You can get a good overview of modern tactics relative to this subject by reviewing FM 7-8 "Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad" which is available in pdf. form on-line. Direct comparisons to ACW tactics, as has already been commented upon, are difficult to draw, since modern tactics rely heavily on "...rate and distribution of fire...", which could be accomplished only by increasing the number of weapons and men engaged in ACW times, and on the fact that most modern missions also take into consideration the used of a large measure of reliance on "...cover and concealment...", something for which the Armies of both sides in the ACW were not really noted.

 

[John Davison]

I think the 'Napoleonic tactics' item partly results from confusion as to what is 'tactics,' what is 'strategy,' and what is now called 'operational art.' The military theory and strategy of the day was unquestionably derived from writers using the Napoleonic wars as a major model (principally Jomini), and what we'd call 'operational art,' Jomini called 'grand tactics.' (in English translation, anyway)

Again, not an expert in the infantry tactics field, but I would expect to see significant differences between Hardee's tactical manual and what was used in the French army in 1805-1815.

Reading all of our responses, and how tactics had changed, or remained the same from the Napoleonic wars to the American Civil War, I was reminded of D-Day, and Omaha Beach, and recognized many similarities between the Normandy Invasion, from a tactical standpoint and Picketts charge.

 

[Elennsar]

Some elements are hard to get away from.