doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Nathan Bedord Forest and SxS's

dtm: interesting, did not know that infantry square tactics were employed in the civil war...could you site when and where squares were employed and by whom?

agreed, farnsworth was doomed and his men wasted...too bad kilpatrick was not found at fault...in fact, he was actually promoted and lead sherman's cavalry on the notorious march from atlanta to savannah...where he earned the nickname: kill cavalry...

interesting that in war, leaders who are aggressive and attack, are rewarded with promotion, regardless of the cost of their actions...

Another myth at play is that infantry was more powerful than cavalry. This simply is not the case. Cavalry long arms had advanced technologically faster than infantry weapons. There were a myriad of breechloading arms employed by the mounted branches of both armies. All of these were rifled. The advantage they possessed was huge in that they effectively tripled the rate of fire from 3 to 4 rounds per minute for a well trained infantryman to 10-12 rounds per minute for a trooper.

Ed, sadly I am not well enough versed in all of the actions that saw cavalry pitted against infantry. I can refer you however the drill manuals employed at the time. Casey�s of 1861 for infantry and Poinsett�s for cavalry. Both are available online.

I can also add that on the first days fight at Gettysburg, a portion on Pettigrew�s division formed squares multiple times to defend against perceived mounted attacks by Buford�s men. Also the US regulars formed squares to repel Stuart�s charges at 1st Bull Run. I know there are other instances of it occurring I�m just not as well versed in the specifics.

Dave

Another item just came to mind, during the 1864 valley campaign, Sheridan regularly employed mounted cavalry charges against Jubal Early�s infantry to great success. Veteran troopers riding against veteran infantry here.

dtm: agreed, those union troopers armed with cartridge firing repeating rifles had a significant advantage over those armed with single shot muzzleloaders...however, at close range, a shotgun, loaded with buckshot was somewhat of an equalizer, i would think...also, confederate troopers, especially those riding with forrest, were known to carry multiple six shot revolvers, whereas, union troopers not so much...

yep, the 1864 valley campaign was a disaster...poorly lead and depleted infantry were no match against an overwhelming army of well lead and well equipped men...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Campaigns_of_1864

just as forrest's last major battle at selma against wilson's overwhelming mounted force, armed with repeating rifles was a disaster...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Selma

Every federal trooper was armed with a revolver and a saber. It was not however until after campaign season of 1863 had been completed that Union trooper was issued a long arm. Ironically on the southern side, sabers were always in short supply.

The self contained cartridge did not make its appearance in any significant numbers until the last year of the war, with the issuing of the Spencer carbine firing rim fire .56-50 cartridge. The breechloaders prior to that and for the most part were fed ammunition in the form of a bullet tied to a combustible paper tube containing the powder charge. The Smith carbine used a form of India rubber tube to hold the powde, the Maynard, Burnside and Gallagher carbines all used a spun copper or brass cartridge case rather than paper but theses were supplied in fewer numbers than the sharps cabine. Never the less, all were externally primed with the ubiquitous winged musket cap.

Yes it is true that many a confederate trooper found himself armed with multiple revolvers, one must keep in mind, they were short ranged weapons. While capable of great accuracy out to 25 to 30 yards they were rarely employed this way. Typically they were used up close just as they are today.

bedford forrest is known to have killed 30 union soldiers in personal combat...an amazing achievement, among many others...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest

Col John T Wilder (USA) equipped his brigade with Spencer rifles in 1863, He personally signed a note for his men to purchase these rifles. He had desired the Henry but they could only supply about 600 at the time. Spencer could supply the total amount desired so he went with them to keep Ammo consistent. They were first used at the Battle of Hoover's Gap TN in the Tullahoma Campaign. Rosecrans had hoped to secure this gap with about 3 days of hard fighting. With the use of the Spencer Rifles Wilder secured it before dark of the first day. This battle occurred around 25-30 miles northeast of where I live. Present day I 24 about leveled the Gap where the battle was fought. My G Grandfather is buried in a small cemetery on the side of US 41 highway adjacent to the Gap. He was however not involved with this battle & lived until 1918,

I recall reading that Forrest's opinion of the Cavalry Saber was that it was useful for slicing bread in camp. He liked his men armed with a pair of Colt Revolvers & an Enfield Short Rifle. His Elite company, the Forrest Escort Company were all equipped with repeating rifles I understand. I do not know if they were Spencers or Henries, whichever they were no doubt captured arms. Forrest was one of few on either side to attain the rank of General who had no formal military training, he was essentially Self Taught. Probably one of the main reasons he was so successful, he was not saddles with outdated tactics.