142 Years Ago today...

[captskillet]

May 12, 1864

Bloody day at the Bloody Angle


Close-range firing and hand-to-hand combat at Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia, result in one of the most brutal battles of the Civil War. After the Battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6), Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee raced respective Union and Confederate forces southward. Grant aimed his army a dozen miles southeast of the Wilderness, toward the critical crossroads of Spotsylvania Court House. Sensing Grant's plan, Lee sent part of his army on a furious night march to secure the road junction before the Union soldiers got there. The Confederates soon constructed a five-mile long system of entrenchments in the shape of an inverted U.

On May 10, Grant began to attack Lee's position at Spotsylvania. After achieving a temporary breakthrough at the Rebel center, Grant was convinced that a weakness existed there, as the bend of the Confederate line dispersed their fire. At dawn on May 12, Union General Winfield Scott Hancock's troops emerged from the fog and overran the Rebel trenches, taking nearly 3,000 prisoners and more than a dozen cannons. While the Yankees erupted in celebration, the Confederates counterattacked and began to drive the Federals back. The battle raged for over 20 hours along the center of the Confederate line—the top of the inverted U—which became known as the "Bloody Angle." Lee's men eventually constructed a second line of defense behind the original Rebel trenches, and fighting ceased just before dawn on May 13.

Around the Bloody Angle, the dead lay five deep, and bodies had to be moved from the trenches to make room for the living. The action around Spotsylvania shocked even the grizzled veterans of the two great armies. Said one officer, "I never expect to be fully believed when I tell what I saw of the horrors of Spotsylvania."

And yet the battle was not done; the armies slugged it out for another week. In spite of his losses, Grant persisted, writing to General Henry Halleck in Washington, "I will fight it out on this line if it takes all summer."

[Marc_Mitscher]

ORIGINAL: captskillet



"And yet the battle was not done; the armies slugged it out for another week. In spite of his losses, Grant persisted, writing to General Henry Halleck in Washington, "I will fight it out on this line if it takes all summer."

Which was the correct strategy, even if politically unpopular. Grant knew that the confederacy could not win a war of attrition. I reread Catton's "A Stillness at Appomattox" last year and there is a very thorough description of the battle, the slaughter was appalling.

I had read somewhere that Matrix was developping a WITP style game on the Civil War, which is something I would personally love, but I don't see it discussed anywhere. Does anyone know if there is such a game in development. (edit: nevermind, I found the thread in the general forum)

[captskillet]

Grant was smart enough to figure it out when all the other AOP (and higher) commanders couldn't............. use your numbers to make it an attrition war, lock onto to ANV and dont let go..........of course that was easier said than done with Marse Robert and it helped that by then the AOP had a good commander and the Yankees had a good cavalry arm!

[Big B]

Your new avatar works! NYUK NYUK NYUK[:D]

[Mike Scholl]

And yet the battle was not done; the armies slugged it out for another week. In spite of his losses, Grant persisted, writing to General Henry Halleck in Washington, "I will fight it out on this line if it takes all summer."

And yet just a few days after this "stirring promise" Grant ordered another "jug handle" sideslip to his left that took both Armies to the North Anna River. Must have been a very short summer....

[captskillet]

one of the greatest minds of the 20th century......[&o]!

[Nikademus]

Curley for Prez.

[Marc_Mitscher]

ORIGINAL: Nikademus

Curley for Prez.

Is'nt he already?[:'(]

[Nikademus]

no way. Curley would have done a better job. [:D]