Emory Upton in the Battle of Columbus in the Civil War

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Methods
Results of Findings
Upton’s Strategy Research
Conclusion
References

Introduction

The Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 is considered a turning point in the American Civil War. The following year, the main leitmotif of the North’s military campaign was an attempt to stiffen Confederate defenses on all fronts and, if not to defeat them in a decisive battle, at least to deplete the South’s living and material resources and destroy its economy. Nevertheless, the Confederacy was not yet broken and was unwilling to admit defeat. In May 1864, the enemies met again at the Spotsylvania settlement, a series of cabins made strategically important by their proximity to the crossroads.

Yankee Blitzkrieg. Wilson’s Raid Through Alabama and Georgia Review

The book Yankee Blitzkrieg. Wilson’s Raid Through Alabama and Georgia explores primarily the U.S. Civil War, highlighting significant figures and battles for one side or the other. One of these generals, reviewed and studied in this book, is Emory Upton, who made a tremendous contribution to the war effort (Jones, 2021). The book analyzes every action and decision the general made, step by step, and focuses on the battle of 1864, where Emory created a whole new type of offensive.

Methods

In order to understand Upton’s contribution to the development of strategy and combat tactics, it is necessary to pay attention to what factors he considered significant. From the text of the book and the general’s own reasoning, it can be seen that Emory Upton considered two factors to be fundamental to success on the battlefield. It is namely the number of soldiers and time in terms of the amount of it in the enemies (Jones, 2021). From this point of view it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of his strategy, and to identify the reasons for the failure of the most significant battle in the history of the general.

Results of Findings

Then, it was decided to throw units of General Governor Warren’s 5th Corps in support of Upton. Once again the choice proved unsuccessful, Warren’s men had already participated in a hopeless attack a few hours earlier that had ended in profuse bloodshed. The order to attack Confederate positions did not excite the troops (Jones, 2021). The soldiers were reluctant to advance, but when they entered a field littered with blue uniforms, they turned back and quietly occupied their trenches.

It was at that moment that the fate of Upton’s men was decided. Taking advantage of the confusion among the Federals, the Southerners moved three infantry brigades to the site of the breach. Deployed in lines, the Confederates advanced on three sides toward the plucky colonel’s position. Fortified in the trenches, the Federals fought off fierce enemy attacks for hours, hoping in vain that backup was imminent. Upton simply could not believe that everything had gone to waste and that the successful breakthrough would end in nothing. Nevertheless, the Confederates succeeded in breaking the resistance of the irrepressible Yankees. The Federals lost more than a thousand soldiers, Colonel Upton himself was wounded, and was eventually forced to order a retreat (Jones, 2021). Keeping order, the shot regiments of Northerners left the dead-covered trenches and returned to their original positions, bringing several hundred prisoners with them.

Upton’s Strategy Research

Before the attack, Upton decided to inspect the formation to determine the weaknesses of the opponent and to determine which vector to take. Ultimately, the officer concluded that the main objective was to break through the fortifications, since the situation did not allow for bypassing or outmaneuvering them. It should be noted that the positions of the opponents were better fortified than usual, which made the task much more difficult. Then Emory Upton decided that a classic attack would be defeated by musket-wielding detachments. Then the general decided to divide the troops into four sections so that each had a width of three.

At that time, the advancing infantry often lost formation and the attackers mingled into one unruly crowd. The general decided to deal with this problem not in the classic way through training, but by stealth. He gave each squad a tactical assignment that prevented soldiers from mixing among themselves and disrupting the strategic formation (Jones, 2021). After the breakthrough, the 121st New York and 96th Pennsylvania Regiments would deploy to the right and capture an artillery battery, while the 5th Maine would deploy to the left, extending the breakthrough area (Jones, 2021, p.88). The 2nd and 3rd attacking lines would enter the breach, while Vermont regiments would remain behind and act based on the situation. One point Upton stressed was that officers had been ordered not to allow soldiers to stop, even to help the wounded.

Notably, Upton’s regiment was tasked with breaking through enemy fortifications. At the beginning of the battle, Upton’s detachment came out of the woods and was immediately hit by a musket volley. Without stopping, the attackers rushed forward, crossed the open space in a minute, and rushed the fortifications. The barrage broke their line, then they were hit by the second volley, but did not stop, and the fight in the fortifications began (Fitzpatrick, 2017). The second wave of attackers broke through the line and the regiments began to turn left and right, widening the breach. So Upton’s objective was accomplished and the fortifications were destroyed. The remaining regiments immediately continued their advance, suffering fewer casualties because the musketry was destroyed or scattered. However, the plan was thwarted and could not be executed to the end, resulting in defeat. Upton accomplished his mission – he broke through the enemy’s fortifications and waited for Mott’s advance, not yet knowing that he would not be there. Meanwhile, the Southerners moved to counterattack, pushing their positions back (Fitzpatrick, 2017). Upton’s entire plan was based on the idea that additional units would be brought into the breach, but Mott’s attack was repulsed, and General Wright did not know how to proceed.

Although the attack resulted in defeat, one cannot overlook Upton’s enormous contribution to infantry strategy. The fact is that such an attack alarmed enemy generals, who began to develop defenses against such attacks. Upton’s actions were extremely effective against infantry fortifications, which were very popular in ground strategies (Fitzpatrick, 2017). Thus, the general’s main contribution consists of new insights into the fight against defenses and barrier units. His actions forced modern generals to reconsider both defense positions and attack capabilities (Fitzpatrick, 2017). In addition, tactical decisions at the time were made on the battlefield rather than analyzed afterward. With this in mind, Upton introduced the concept of unpredictable troops, that is, actions on the part of the enemy that cannot be predicted.

While on the front lines, the commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, Emory Upton, watched the battle intently. In spite of his youth, Upton was considered an experienced serviceman: just before the war he graduated from West Point, began his service as a second lieutenant in the artillery, advanced quickly because of his ability and scientific mindset, and at Gettysburg was already in command of an infantry brigade (Jones, 2021). Upton suggested to General Grant, commander of the Army of the Potomac, that he abandoned the satchel and break the Confederate positions with a massive infantry attack on a narrow section of the front. The attack was directed at the weakest part of the enemy’s trenches, which due to their configuration became known as the Horseshoe of the Mule (Jones, 2021). The offensive was to be carried out by twelve reliable infantry regiments, arranged in a powerful assault column of four successive lines (Jones, 2021). The attack was to be conducted at an accelerated pace, turning into a run, while the personnel were strictly forbidden to stop and get involved in a firefight with the enemy.

Knowing that no one would follow instructions in combat, Upton made sure the soldiers, while loading their rifles, did not put the primer on the breechblock spigot. An exception was made only for the first line. At about six o’clock in the evening of May 10, 1864, 5,000 blue uniforms, in four battle lines, like a devil out of a snuffbox, emerged from the woods and, issuing a belligerent roar, rushed toward the enemy’s positions (Jones, 2021, p.74). The Confederates were experienced soldiers and were not the least bit confused. As they drew the enemy closer, they fired a powerful salvo that swept away the first wave of attackers. While the greys reloaded their weapons, a second wave reached the fortifications, almost unhindered. The Federals jumped up on the bulwark and fired a killing salvo at the enemy at point-blank range (Jones, 2021). The surviving Southerners had already been bayoneted from top to bottom, like harpoons. General Doles’ three Confederate regiments, manned by Georgia natives, were almost entirely dead in their positions.

The blue uniforms were able to take a fairly wide swath of terrain at once. Fortified in the trenches and deployed lines to the right and left, the Yankees began mowing down Confederate units with longitudinal fire. At the Battle of Gettysburg, the division was caught in a meat grinder and exsanguinated (Jones, 2021). Since then, the personnel never recovered from the shock. Besides, the soldiers were nearing the end of their contracts and no one was burning to take a bullet in their last days. Mott’s division had no time to turn around when Southern artillery batteries pelted it with buckshot (Jones, 2021). It was enough for the soldiers, disregarding the officers’ shouts, to turn around and flee into the nearest wooded area.

Conclusion

To conclude all information above, Upton’s strategy was so effective that it drew the attention of the entire command. Furthermore, the general himself was promoted despite the fact that the troops were defeated in this battle. The tactical technique of conducting a frontal assault on entrenched infantry was deemed successful. It is believed that this attack formed the basis of the infantry tactics used in World War I trench warfare.

Nevertheless, it is essential to emphasize the general’s own attitude toward what happened. He was disappointed and attributed the blame for the defeat to himself. He ignored the fact that in this case the victory was not due to the problems of Mott’s detachment, while Upton’s actions had been flawlessly executed and the defense had been breached completely, as the general had planned. Upton’s contemporaries described his decision solely as an unusual, cold and extremely effective tactic. Those who were with him on the battlefield wrote that his actions were so deliberate and prudent that they could not result in a single mistake or strategic miscalculation. Moreover, the attack itself was so lightning-fast that the enemy had no time to do anything about it.

References

Fitzpatrick, D. J. (2017). Emory Upton. Misunderstood reformer. University of Oklahoma Press.

Jones, J. P. (2021). Yankee Blitzkrieg. Wilson’s raid through Alabama and Georgia. University Press of Kentucky.

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