During the begining part of the Civil War Generals fought liniar tactics because it was "The neopleonic way to fight". However, neopleon actually won MANY of his battles through flanking and manovering around the enemy. Why didnt Civil war generals find out about this until late 1862? Instead they fought the liniar tactics.
excuse the mis-spelling. Im too lazy to use spell check.
2006-06-19 05:21:25 · 4 answers · asked by Kyle W 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
Yes, napolean did infact flank the enemy. and yes I know that the civil war generals werent direct students of napoleon lol.
2006-06-19 05:47:58 · update #1
Actually, the linear tactics were used to exploit the potential of the weapons employed. The muskets used primarily by both sides did in fact have a longer range than the weapons used in either the American Revolution or the Napoleanic Wars, but their individual accuracy still left a great deal to be desired beyond a certain minimal range. By massing forty or fifty men in a double line and having them fire in volley, the company can then inflict a much more reliable amount of firepower against the enemy, who must also deploy his men in the same efficient but vulnerable formation. The idea was to kill more of the enemy, not to save more of your own.
2006-06-19 07:00:25 · answer #1 · answered by sdvwallingford 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The early generals of the War between the States were educated on Napoleonic Tactics through West Point. It was not until the later years when the newer generals who were captains and majors when the war started came to the front, that maneuvering became effective, yet this was still in linear format.
2006-06-19 12:45:42 · answer #2 · answered by rb_cubed 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
civil war generals did try to flank, that was the whole point. i have taken military history classes and in many cases there were flanking maneuvers. the problem is you have to keep ur enemy occupied so u can flank them!
a good example of this is the union soldiers at little round top trying to fend off confederate attacks trying to flank them, because it was the end of the union line.
2006-06-19 13:45:26 · answer #3 · answered by mastertofu77 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, he didnt; he pounded the enemy with artillery and then threw collums of infantry directly at the enemy. besides the generals were untried tacticians and used revoutionary tactics, they were not generaly students of Napoleon directly
2006-06-19 12:44:07 · answer #4 · answered by ben s 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋