Raising the Alarm

[WinterLeia]

if pickets realized the camp was being attacked or about to be attacked, what did they do to raise the alarm? Did they just start screaming and shouting or did they blow a horn or what did they do?

 

[Sheltowee]

Gunfire would be the first audible response. If overwhelmed, typically the pickets would fall back to their lines……shouting all the way.

 

[Stryker65]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

 

[captaindrew]

Front line pickets would generally be a good distance out from the main force. In between the front line and main body part of the force on picket duty would be held in reserve. Now in an extreme emergency of course gunfire would be the first alert but at the first sign of trouble the front line pickets would call out for the sergeant of the guard. He would call up the reserves to the front and assess the situation. If there indeed was trouble word would be sent back to the officer of the day with the main force who would then respond accordingly.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Front line pickets would generally be a good distance out from the main force.

Was there a standard distance in order for the picket's alarm to be heard in a timely manner? Half a mile? A mile? Or maybe it depended on the terrain as to where they could find a good defensive position?

 

[Story]

Did they just start screaming and shouting?

Yes

 

[captaindrew]

Was there a standard distance in order for the picket's alarm to be heard in a timely manner? Half a mile? A mile? Or maybe it depended on the terrain as to where they could find a good defensive position?

I don't ever recall being a standard distance but it would usually be a good way out so if there were an alarm that distance would give time to respond as much as a mile or more away from the main body. What would happen when a company or regiment would be assigned picket duty half the guys would be at the front while the rest of the unit would be held in reserve close by. They would then rotate squads back and forth to the front to keep the guys fresh. There would be a sizable enough force out there theoretically to at least slow down any threat in time to get the main force alerted and moving. The front line pickets would send runners back to alert the officers back at the main force as to what was going on.

 

[Allyn]

My ancestor's brother David Christian Conrad, Co. L, 12th PA Cav., was taken prisoner on Nov. 29, 1864, at Charlestown, VA, while on picket and ended up in Crews and Pemberton Prison in Richmond for the winter. Even though it wasn't the same as being in battle, being on picket wasn't for the faint-hearted.

 

[Story]

I don't ever recall being a standard distance but it would usually be a good way out so if there were an alarm that distance would give time to respond as much as a mile or more away from the main body.

Truly a case of "it depends" and a unified answer across the unit's frontage might not be the same. On one hand, you want the skirmishers far out enough to do their job of Early Warning (in the pre-radio era) and some risk has to be accepted.

On the other hand, how much risk? Depends on the greater situation. How close is the enemy, how strong and how likely are they to perpetrate shenanigans? No commander should want to throw away his troops.

The balancing factors - you don't want them out in the middle of a big field (say next to a sunken lane) or on the enemy side of a ravine/hard-to-wade creek, where their withdrawl would turn them into shooting gallery targets and/or being easily captured. But putting guys up in the branches inside a treeline (so they had a greater field of vision) would clearly beat being a few hundred yards closer while in open ground.***

I think the considerations were later codified with the Army mnemonic METT-TC:

• M: Mission
• E: Enemy
• T: Terrain and weather
• T: Troops available
• C: Civilian considerations

*** See also https://civilwartalk.com/threads/sharpshooter-in-a-tree-question.137078/

 

[Sheltowee]

An older post-

Picket Placement | Men in Ranks - Battlefield Tactics

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...

civilwartalk.com

 

[WinterLeia]

The only time I'd ever seen the scenario of a camp unexpectedly attacked that I can remember offhand is The Battle of Shiloh in the Grant documentary. But that was an inaccurate depiction. No Union soldiers were shot while they were asleep in their tents. And they knew a large Rebel force was in the area. The officers over the pickets and skirmishers even suspected that it was heading toward them, as they had caught sight of artillery that small groups of Confederate skirmishers wouldn't have been hauling. But they couldn't get Sherman and Prentiss to listen to them. And overall, I don't think there was anything very typical about Shiloh. It was a very strange engagement.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Besides infantry pickets, an army should have cavalry videttes posted which could fire a few shots then make haste on their horses to report the approaching threat.

Unfortunately, I don't think some generals ever appreciated the value of cavalry as a screening force. Lee, Meade, and Rosecrans did. Grant, Sherman, and McClellan not so much.

 

[Story]

Tripped over this quasi-related artwork - shamming while on picket duty was a thing, time-immaterial.
While clearly a Napoleonic subject it was painted in 1862

https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5488749

The lazy lookout - Peter Baumgartner

 

[DixieRifles]

Was there a standard distance in order for the picket's alarm to be heard in a timely manner? Half a mile? A mile?

Good topic. I've never completely understood the duties of a Picket Post nor what they did to prepare their position and, as you ask here, how far they were from the main force.

But, there is documentation about the Battle of Collierville, TN, 11 Oct 1863. The picket post was said to consist of 16 (maybe 18) men that was positioned near the Abington home. The position of the Union garrison of 240 men were in the present town square and they had an earthen fort a little further north. Using Google Maps, I came up with a distance of 1.1 miles between the fort and the picket post but that was following the streets: obviously less than 1 mile if traveled directly by foot and much closer if measured to the RR Depot.
In this battle, the picket post was easily overran & captured or killed but at least one soldier(maybe 2) escaped to ensure the alarm was sounded.
I have always wondered if they had a picket post located on the other road leading into the town from the South. There is no record of that. Maybe at that time, the area was cleared of trees and they could easily spot any enemy troop movements coming up the other road----but only during the day.