Wall Of Fire - The Rifle And Civil War Infantry Tactics

Wall Of Fire - The Rifle And Civil War Infantry Tactics PDF Author: Major Richard E. Kerr Jr.
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782899413
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 71

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Book Description
This thesis examines the effect the rifle had on infantry tactics during the Civil War. It traces the transition from smoothbore to rifle and the development of the Minie ball. The range and accuracy of various weapons are discussed and several tables illustrate the increased capabilities of the rifle. Tactics to exploit the new weapon are examined, primarily those of William Hardee. Using Hardee’s tactics as the standard rifle tactics before the war, the change in how infantry soldiers fought is documented with two battle analyses. The 1862 Maryland Campaign shows the start of tactical evolution as soldiers seek cover, expend large quantities of ammunition and are decisively engaged at greater distances. During the 1864 Wilderness-Spotsylvania battle, the concepts of fortification defense and skirmish offense take hold. Examining several current books that deal with the rifle and its effects, the thesis concludes that the rifle’s increased firepower was a major factor in the move away from Hardee’s formation tactics.

Wall Of Fire - The Rifle And Civil War Infantry Tactics

Wall Of Fire - The Rifle And Civil War Infantry Tactics PDF Author: Major Richard E. Kerr Jr.
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782899413
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 71

Get Book

Book Description
This thesis examines the effect the rifle had on infantry tactics during the Civil War. It traces the transition from smoothbore to rifle and the development of the Minie ball. The range and accuracy of various weapons are discussed and several tables illustrate the increased capabilities of the rifle. Tactics to exploit the new weapon are examined, primarily those of William Hardee. Using Hardee’s tactics as the standard rifle tactics before the war, the change in how infantry soldiers fought is documented with two battle analyses. The 1862 Maryland Campaign shows the start of tactical evolution as soldiers seek cover, expend large quantities of ammunition and are decisively engaged at greater distances. During the 1864 Wilderness-Spotsylvania battle, the concepts of fortification defense and skirmish offense take hold. Examining several current books that deal with the rifle and its effects, the thesis concludes that the rifle’s increased firepower was a major factor in the move away from Hardee’s formation tactics.

Civil War Infantry Tactics

Civil War Infantry Tactics PDF Author: Earl J. Hess
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807159395
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 445

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Book Description
For decades, military historians have argued that the introduction of the rifle musket-with a range five times longer than that of the smoothbore musket-made the shoulder-to-shoulder formations of linear tactics obsolete. Author Earl J. Hess challenges this deeply entrenched assumption. He contends that long-range rifle fire did not dominate Civil War battlefields or dramatically alter the course of the conflict because soldiers had neither the training nor the desire to take advantage of the musket rifle's increased range. Drawing on the drill manuals available to officers and a close reading of battle reports, Civil War Infantry Tactics demonstrates that linear tactics provided the best formations and maneuvers to use with the single-shot musket, whether rifle or smoothbore. The linear system was far from an outdated relic that led to higher casualties and prolonged the war. Indeed, regimental officers on both sides of the conflict found the formations and maneuvers in use since the era of the French Revolution to be indispensable to the survival of their units on the battlefield. The training soldiers received in this system, combined with their extensive experience in combat, allowed small units a high level of articulation and effectiveness. Unlike much military history that focuses on grand strategies, Hess zeroes in on formations and maneuvers (or primary tactics), describing their purpose and usefulness in regimental case studies, and pinpointing which of them were favorites of unit commanders in the field. The Civil War was the last conflict in North America to see widespread use of the linear tactical system, and Hess convincingly argues that the war also saw the most effective tactical performance yet in America's short history.

Us Infantry Tactics 1861

Us Infantry Tactics 1861 PDF Author: By Authority the Sec
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781847342959
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description


Infantry Fire Tactics

Infantry Fire Tactics PDF Author: Charles Blair Mayne
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Infantry drill and tactics
Languages : en
Pages : 478

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Manual of Arms

Manual of Arms PDF Author: W J Hardee
Publisher: Leonaur Limited
ISBN: 9781782825791
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
The foot soldier during the American Civil War This book will be of particular interest to all those who study the American Civil War, since it details, using text and diagrams, the drills of the ordinary infantryman on both sides of the conflict. The book confines itself to the drills of the foot soldier, as they appear in the W J Hardee and Silas Casey texts. There are, to be clear, few differences between these drills, but this makes the book authentically useful from a Confederate and Union Army perspective, as these procedures were applied throughout the war. Containing illustrations original to each edition, this text has been enhanced by the inclusion of the management and cleaning guide for the 1863 pattern Springfield Rifle Musket which includes useful and interesting illustrations of the component parts of the weapon. This is a useful book for modellers, wargamers, reenactors, television and film companies, professional and amateur theatrical companies, and for parades and other events. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics

Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics PDF Author: William Joseph Hardee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description


Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics

Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics PDF Author: William Joseph Hardee
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Infantry drill and tactics
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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The 1863 U.S. Infantry Tactics

The 1863 U.S. Infantry Tactics PDF Author: United States. War Department
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 9780811700214
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 604

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Book Description
A must-have book for historians, researchers, reenactors, and writers, this authorized book covers the instruction, exercise, and maneuvering of the U.S. Infantry during the Civil War. of field music. 76 drawings.

Soldiers from Experience

Soldiers from Experience PDF Author: Eric Michael Burke
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807178756
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Winner of the 2022 Civil War Books and Authors Book of the Year Award In Soldiers from Experience, Eric Michael Burke examines the tactical behavior and operational performance of Major General William T. Sherman’s Fifteenth US Army Corps during its first year fighting in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. Burke analyzes how specific experiences and patterns of meaning-making within the ranks led to the emergence of what he characterizes as a distinctive corps-level tactical culture. The concept—introduced here for the first time—consists of a collection of shared, historically derived ideas, beliefs, norms, and assumptions that play a decisive role in shaping a military command’s particular collective approach on and off the battlefield. Burke shows that while military historians of the Civil War frequently assert that generals somehow imparted their character upon the troops they led, Sherman’s corps reveals the opposite to be true. Contrary to long-held historiographical assumptions, he suggests the physical terrain itself played a much more influential role than rifled weapons in necessitating tactical changes. At the same time, Burke argues, soldiers’ battlefield traumas and regular interactions with southern civilians, the enslaved, and freedpeople during raids inspired them to embrace emancipation and the widespread destruction of Rebel property and resources. An awareness and understanding of this culture increasingly informed Sherman’s command during all three of his most notable late-war campaigns. Burke’s study serves as the first book-length examination of an army corps operating in the Western Theater during the conflict. It sheds new light on Civil War history more broadly by uncovering a direct link between the exigencies of nineteenth-century land warfare and the transformation of US wartime strategy from “conciliation,” which aimed to protect the property of Southern civilians, to “hard war.” Most significantly, Soldiers from Experience introduces a new theoretical construct of small unit–level tactical principles wholly absent from the rapidly growing interdisciplinary scholarship on the intricacies and influence of culture on military operations.

Rifle and Infantry Tactics

Rifle and Infantry Tactics PDF Author: William Joseph Hardee
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783337611422
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description