Civil War battles?

Question

In general, how were the battles of the civil war fought?

Answer 1

First let's talk about the way that the army was set up. At the bottom of the line was the Regiment about 1,000 men next was the Brigade made up with three to four regiments or 3,000 to 4,000 + men, the Corps made up of with three Brigades 5,000 + Men and then the Army made up of any where from one to five Corps or more. So now you can see ho the Union fit into the positions at Gettysburg.

The armies fought in long lines with 100 men out in front of the regiment as skirmishers the defender stood as a wall as the attacker marched up to the line about 1,500 ft away from the others and then the banged away at each other until one orthe other ran away then the other ran after them. That was the plan.

From 1861 until 1864 that was the way the war was fought. In 1864 Col Emory Upton got permission to test new tactics that are similar to those used in WWII of the staggered wave advance, that took into account the rifled infantry weapons and their range, and he kept "his" assualt on the Bloody Angle with almost no casualties where the rest of the Union Army took massive casualties with the old style attacks. But Upton's reforms came to late to show if they would have dropped casualties in the war because he never overcame the hidebound attitudes of the generals though Grant was interested in studing them farther.

So that's it long lines of soliders shoulder to shoulder with boxes ful of 65 cartridges firing at a line of other soldiers with boxes with 65 cartridges.

Answer 2

Stupidly.

Grant and Lee continued many of the practices of the previous century, including lining the men up in straight rows and charging forward. While that may have been a decent tactic when the guns were inaccurate and hard to load, the much more accurate guns of the civil war made that a poor practice.

But even sadder, is the generals of the First World War did not learn anything from the Civil War, and continued to send men charging the front, this time facing machine guns.

Answer 3

The old tactic of Napoleonic assaults was used, with dismal results on both sides. Defending the high ground and flanking movements were the main tactical strategies. The use of newer technologies in firepower, from the artillery and rapid fire carbines wreaked havoc on charging formations.

In general, to answer your question, the tactics were outdated and they resulted in massive casualties for the attackers.

Answer 4

slow advances two sides opposite each other. trying to gain ground by out flanking each other. bloody brutal combat. more died from wounds than outright death on the battle field. large scale battles with thousands on either side.the last american war of its kind.

Answer 5

In civil war battlestwo lines of people walked twords each other and shot each other. When they ran out of amo they bayeneted each other.

Answer 6

Hand to hand combat