The Role Of Union Cavalry During The Atlanta Campaign
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First, this work investigates the tradition of the Union cavalry and the state of Sherman’s cavalry at the beginning of the campaign. Secondly, an analysis of the cavalry operations breaks the use of cavalry into three phases and focuses on the various missions which were attempted. Finally, the study addresses the lessons learned and what the applicability is for modern operations.
This study concludes that although the Union cavalry was well manned and well equipped, improper employment and deficient senior leadership caused it to play an unsuccessful and detrimental part in the overall campaign.
Major Robert Blake Leach
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The Role Of Union Cavalry During The Atlanta Campaign - Major Robert Blake Leach
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Text originally published in 1994 under the same title.
© Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.
Publisher’s Note
Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.
We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.
THE ROLE OF UNION CAVALRY DURING THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN
BY
MAJ Robert Blake Leach, USA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS 46
ABSTRACT 47
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 48
DEDICATION 49
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 50
CHAPTER 1—SETTING THE STAGE 51
The European Cavalry Heritage 51
United States Cavalry Prior to the Civil War 52
Cavalry During the Early Years of the Civil War 53
Atlanta Campaign Overview 54
CHAPTER 2—THE STATE OF UNION CAVALRY 56
The Meridian Expedition 56
Sherman’s Cavalry for the Atlanta Campaign 57
Commander’s vision far_ Use of Cavalry 58
Sherman’s Cavalry Commanders 59
Brigadier General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick 61
Union Cavalry Logistical State 64
The Confederate Cavalry Threat 65
CHAPTER 3—THE FIRST PHASE: MAY 1—JULY 9, 1864 67
The Union Cavalry Assembles 67
Cavalry at Snake Creek Gap and Resaca 68
First Mission to Destroy Railroad Lines 70
Cavalry in the Pursuit to Cassville 72
Cavalry around New Hope Church 74
Union Cavalry Takes the Allatoona Pass 76
Cavalry Operations near Kennesaw Mountain 77
Union Cavalry Reaches the Chattahoochee River 80
CHAPTER 4—THE SECOND PHASE: JULY 10—AUGUST 3, 1864 82
Rousseau’s Raid to Opelika. Alabama 82
Stoneman Attempts a Raid to Newnan 83
Garrard Raids the Railroad during the Battle of Atlanta 85
Sherman Plans a Grand Cavalry Raid 87
McCook’s Force is Scattered 91
Stoneman Deviates from the Plan 92
The Battle of Sunshine Church 94
Sherman Declares the Cavalry Raid a Failure 97
CHAPTER 5—THE THIRD PHASE: AUGUST 4—SEPTEMBER 8, 1864 101
Union Cavalry Reorganizes 101
Confederate Cavalry Raids the Union Railroads 102
Kilpatrick Raids the Confederate Railroad 105
Final Cavalry Missions of the Campaign 108
CHAPTER 6—LESSONS LEARNED AND APPLICABILITY 111
Missions 111
Leadership 111
Immediate Lessons Learned 112
Lessons Applicable Today 114
Staff Ride 114
Specialized Units 114
Sherman Deification 115
MAPS 117
BIBLIOGRAPHY 122
Books 122
Periodicals and Articles 124
Government Documents 124
Unpublished Materials 124
REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 126
ABSTRACT
This study is a historical analysis of the effectiveness of Union cavalry during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. In a campaign noted for the highly skilled maneuver conducted by General William Tecumseh Sherman, the effective employment of the cavalry was essential. The Union cavalry had the missions of providing security to the flanks of the army and protecting the supply lines by guarding the railroad and by striking against the Confederate cavalry. Later in the campaign, the Union leadership introduced the task of destroying Confederate railroads as a cavalry mission. The Union cavalry failed to perform these missions adequately.
First, this work investigates the tradition of the Union cavalry and the state of Sherman’s cavalry at the beginning of the campaign. Secondly, an analysis of the cavalry operations breaks the use of cavalry into three phases and focuses on the various missions which were attempted. Finally, the study addresses the lessons learned and what the applicability is for modern operations.
This study concludes that although the Union cavalry was well manned and well equipped, improper employment and deficient senior leadership caused it to play an unsuccessful and detrimental part in the overall campaign.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to acknowledge the effort of Dr. William G. Robertson and Major Stephen C. McGeorge, of the Combat Studies Institute, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. With penetrating questions and commentary, they provided keen insight concerning the true value of a historical work and the importance of conducting it properly. They furnished a standard I will maintain.
Finally, I thank my wife, Beth Templeton Leach, and my son, Adam Kyle Leach, for their moral support throughout the year. Their interest and encouragement provided momentum when most necessary.
DEDICATION
To three comrades-in-arms:
Michael Patrick Mead, my brother-in-law and friend, formerly of the United States Navy. His untimely death on November 5, 1993 prevented us from completing requirements for our master’s degrees at the same time as we had planned.
Colonel Charles R. Leach, United States Army, my father, 1925-1975. His completion of the Master of Military Art and Science degree in 1965 gave his son a goal in 1994.
Lieutenant Washington Wayne Manning, an ancestor who belonged to Company D, 7th Ohio Cavalry, and commanded the escort for General Stoneman’s Cavalry during the Atlanta Campaign. Taken prisoner by the Confederates, his service represented that of Union cavalrymen who performed well but were denied success due to faulty leadership and employment.
The legacy of such men was my inspiration.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure
ATLANTA CAMPAIGN AREA OF OPERATIONS MAP
NORTHWEST GEORGIA MAP
ROUSSEAU’S RAID MAP
STONEMAN-McCOOK RAID MAP
KILPATRICK’S RAID MAP
CHAPTER 1—SETTING THE STAGE
By the end of 1863 the tide of the Civil War was clearly in favor of the Union Army. Confederate forces in the East under General Robert E. Lee had been repulsed at Gettysburg and were back in Virginia on the defensive. In the West, the siege of Knoxville ended as Lieutenant General James Longstreet retreated toward Virginia. On December 27, General Joseph E. Johnston took command of the Army of Tennessee, which had been pushed south into Georgia following the Battle of Missionary Ridge. The strategic city of Vicksburg on the Mississippi was in Union hands.
On March 18, 1864, Major General William Tecumseh Sherman assumed command of the principal Union armies in the West: the Army of the Cumberland, the Army of the Tennessee, and the Army of the Ohio. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant ordered Sherman to initiate the Atlanta Campaign concurrently with his own advance into Virginia. Grant’s order required Sherman to:
...move against Johnston’s army, to break it up, and to go into the interior of the enemy’s country as far as he could, inflicting all the damage he could upon their war resources; if the enemy in his front showed signs of joining Lee, to follow him up to the full extent of his ability.
{1}
As he moved toward Atlanta, Sherman pursued a campaign plan of maneuver against Johnston. The marches and counter marches of the campaign have been likened to a dance, a kind of gigantic waltz performed by 160,000 men who moved to the music conducted by two excellent generals.
{2} For the army on the offensive in such a campaign, such a dance
should have been ideal for the employment of the highly mobile cavalry in a variety of roles. The Union Army had a cavalry arm which was well manned and well equipped. Yet, due to improper employment and poor senior leadership, Sherman’s cavalry played an unsuccessful part in an otherwise well-executed campaign.
The European Cavalry Heritage
The traditional role of cavalry in Europe was to protect the army flanks and to maneuver around the enemy infantry to strike his rear. This usage began when Frederick the Great abandoned mass attacks and adopted new tactics. He made full use of his artillery to soften the enemy defenses and his infantry to hold the enemy’s line and assault one of its flanks, while his cavalry moved around towards the enemy’s rear.{3}
In the days of Napoleon, infantry, artillery, and cavalry were in close contact and were easily controlled by the general on the battlefield. Following an artillery preparation, an army charged its opponent, who would still be in shock from the barrage. With the greatest mobility, cavalry was the logical choice for this shock action charge, with a subsequent pursuit. The other roles for the cavalry continued to be reconnaissance and security.
United States Cavalry Prior to the Civil War
In the early history of the United States, cavalry did not achieve any real prominence. During the French and Indian Wars, the dense woodlands in contested areas were not conducive to cavalry operations. Unlike the Plains Indians of the following century, Indians in the eastern woodlands did not use horses, so there was no threat that required the colonists to develop cavalry forces.
When the American Revolution began, General George Washington’s army had no cavalry. Early military operations in New England convinced Congress to authorize a corps of four regiments of dragoons, but these dragoon regiments were not well equipped. The few properly mounted and armed men spent most of their time as couriers and escorts at Washington’s headquarters. The dragoons never played the part a cavalry arm should have played in the campaigns between New York and Philadelphia in 1777-1778.{4}
Americans, such as Henry Light Horse Harry
Lee, William Washington, and Francis Marion, commanded units which opposed British cavalry commanded by Colonel Banastre Tarleton. In the southern theater, the Americans who fought on horseback used tactics that more closely resembled guerilla warfare than traditional European cavalry tactics.
Once the colonies gained independence, inherent distrust of a standing army prevented the existence of cavalry, which was a highly visible symbol of military presence.