Civil War historians view the Battle of Chancellorsville as General Robert E. Lee’s “greatest and most remarkable” victory (Sears 1). Lee, facing an army twice his size, defies all military doctrine and divides his army multiple times in order to out-maneuver and surprise the Union forces. The daring maneuver succeeds and ultimately forces the Union’s Army of the Potomac to retreat. The victory was another major blow to Union troops, but it came at a huge cost to the Confederacy: the loss of General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. By evaluating the battle through the lens of the mission command activities, one can see how Lee’s daring maneuver was actually very calculated and his only option for victory. Throughout the rest of this paper, I will describe the timeline of the battle and how General Lee used the mission command activities of understand, visualize, assess, and lead to ultimately achieve victory at Chancellorsville. After the Union’s defeat at Fredericksburg in December of 1862, President Abraham Lincoln once again made a change in the Union Army’s leadership. General Ambrose Burnside was replaced with Major General Joseph Hooker. Hooker and Lincoln both agreed that the key to victory in the war was the destruction of Lee’s Army in a decisive battle (Sears 57-62). Hooker’s plan to accomplish this was to use his 130,000 soldiers and launch a double envelopment of Lee’s 60,000 men still camped at Fredericksburg. Between April 27 and May 1 of 1863, Hooker
General Lee’s Army had been in mainly defensive positions and he wanted to surround Washington, because he believed if he could capture it then he could end the war. General Lee had also begun reorganizing his Army and in doing so, he gave a great unbalance to the experience in his command positions. Of the forty-nine command positions 14 on them were in experienced in the position in which they held. The planning required at the corps level was remarkable different from the planning required at the division level. In addition, the planning at the
As commanders understand the operational environment and the problem, they can begin visualizing the desired end state and solutions to solving the problem.6 After noticing that Confederate artillery fire had slackened, COL Chamberlain’s experience told him that Confederate troops were coming and quickly began to envision an operational approach that would achieve his desired end state to hold his position on the far left of Little Round Top. Through his critical and creative thinking, COL Chamberlain showed a skill common within good tactical leaders. He mentally visualized possible countermoves against imagined threats to his unit. While analyzing the terrain he could see that the 83rd Pennsylvania was forming on his right but there was nothing at all on his left. COL Chamberlain could see a dark bulk of a larger hill to the left of his men and determined that if the Confederates got an artillery battery on its crest the Confederates could take Little Round Top and subsequently drive off the Union Army. Visualizing how this could affect his desired end state, COL Chamberlain decided that he would send a company to the 20th Maine’s
This paper will examine the Battle of Fredericksburg through the research of analytical papers, historical articles and technical reports by conducting the four steps of battle analysis. It will analyze the effects of the use and dismissal of intelligence assets and disciplines when applied to the planning of a territorial battle campaign. Using terrain analysis it will discuss how the choice of advantageous terrain can sway the outcome of a battle. It will also discuss how timing and momentum can be critical to our overall military planning. Finally, it will present an alternative outcome to the battle by establishing the utilization of intelligence assets available to both commanding generals and how altering critical decision points would have presented a significantly different result.
The Battle of Antietam could have been a devastating and fatal blow to the Confederate Army if Gen. McClellan acted decisively, took calculated risks, and veered away from his cautious approach to war. There are many instances leading up to the battle and during the battle in which he lacks the necessary offensive initiative to effectively cripple and ultimately win the war. This paper is intended to articulate the failure of Mission Command by GEN McClellan by pointing out how he failed to understand, visualize, describe and direct the battlefield to his benefit.
The Battle of Fredericksburg took place between December 11-15, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia. General Robert E. Lee commanded the confederate Army of Northern Virginia, while the opposition forces of the Union Army of the Potomac, were commanded by Major General Ambrose Burnside. The battle stemmed from a need for the Union Army to demonstrate some success in the war effort. The Northern public was currently losing confidence in Lincoln and his ability to win the war. Lincoln had replaced several of his top Generals in order to thwart the recent advances of the Confederate Army, which made significant advances during the fall. The battle is remembered as one of the most one-sided battles in the history of the war, being that the Union casualties would amount to more than three times that of the Confederates. When looking at the methodology Major General Burnside used to stage his troops and prepare his attack, we can assess why the number of casualties far surpassed that of the Confederates. Preparation, equipment, time and execution were the main factors which attributed to the failed campaign, ending with the withdrawal of the Union troops on December 15, 1862. The plan initially went awry after Burnside and his troops arrived to the Rappahannock and there were no pontoon bridges to cross the river, which were only requisitioned for 10 days prior. The equipment would eventually arrive two weeks later, giving General Lee
First, Hooker did not provide a clear commander’s intent. In fact, history does not show that he provided a commander’s intent at all. This is evident because there are conflicting opinions about what exactly happened with Hooker in the battle. Some say that he lost his nerve during the campaign. However, further analysis reveals his actual intent: maneuver forces to Lee’s flank and rear in order to force a Confederate withdrawal from Fredericksburg. That is, General Hooker had no intention of engaging in a decisive battle with
The Battle of Fredricksburg was a huge success and victory for the South. The Union faced 13,000 casualties, which has boosted the morale of soldiers in the Confederacy. This victory could be our pathway to victory in this war of Northern Aggression. The Confederacy needs to make smart moves and use proper tactics to ensure this. Our generals are important to winning this war, as proven in the Battle of Fredricksburg. General Stonewall Jackson and General Lee worked very well together during battle. They used high ground to their advantage and fired from above the Union soldiers, destroying them completely. After this battle, the Confederates gained an advantage—the Union was unable to defeat the Virginia Army. This raised the spirits of our
The Battle of Gettysburg was fought for three days from July 1 to 3. The Army of the Potomac, led by General George Meade, repelled the attack of the Confederate’s Army, led by General Robert E. Lee. The purpose of this paper is to examine General Lee’s effectiveness by analyzing his utilization of the mission command, and its principles.
The Battle of Gettysburg was amongst one the most important turning points during the Civil War. It was a three-day bloody battle between the Union and Confederate forces which would ultimately lead up to the victory of the Union. In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara shows a depiction of the battle through the eyes of the officers and tries to give the reader a first-hand look into the daily struggles that they had to deal with when it came to distinguishing between what’s best for their men and chances of success in the battle. In the book, we are introduced with two important officers: Colonel Chamberlain of the Union force, and General Lee of the Confederate force. Throughout the book, we witness different leadership strategies and philosophies between both officers which ultimately serve as their road to success or failure in the battle. Focusing on General Lee’s philosophy on leadership, “To be a good soldier, you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.”, it reinforces the idea that in order to fully succeed at battle, you must set aside and sacrifice your sense of sympathy towards your soldiers as a way to avoid making emotional decisions.
General Robert E. Lee’s impact on his leadership style have provide his men hope and loyalty, even on the day he surrendered at the Battle of Appomattox Court House in 1865, which is one also one of the last battles of the American Civil War. His men would be willing to fight, under his command, even to the very end. One of his men stated that they will go in and fight some more, if he order them to do so. General Lee’s leadership impacted even the most exhausted, dirty and hungry men, who were willing to fight and to give their ultimate sacrifice, simply because they believe in him. (Gipson, 2003)
Today, the Battle of Gettysburg is considered one of the most important battles of the American Civil War. However, with 23,049 casualties on the Union side and 28,063 on the Confederate side, it can also be considered one of the bloodiest (Civil War Trust). Such heavy losses naturally rattled the entire nation and Americans on both sides began to question the war and what it stood for. As Americans gathered together at the consecration ceremony of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, the much acclaimed orator and politician Edward Everett delivered what was meant to be the Gettysburg Address. Yet, today, it is not Edward Everett’s Gettysburg Address that the world remembers, but Abraham Lincoln’s, who was invited to the ceremony almost as an afterthought. Lincoln’s 272 words helped remake America by giving hope to its citizens at a time when they were at their lowest.
The Battle of Gettysburg was one of the most famous battles of the Civil War. The battle was fought from July 1 to July 3 near Gettysburg. The famous battle was between Robert Lee and his Northern Virginia Army and George Meade and the North's Army of the Potomac, The Union. The original leader of the Army of the Potomac was General Joseph Hooker, but President Lincoln relieved Hooker of his duties and named Meade the new General of the Army. Many soldiers died from both sides during this battle and that is the reason it is known as one of the bloodiest battles. The Battle of Gettysburg was General Robert Lee's second attempt at invading the North and there was a definite aftermath to this battle.
With his army in high spirits after a victory in the battle of Chancellorsville, General Robert E. Lee decided to move north into Maryland and Pennsylvania. Lee’s goal was to move the war out of war torn Virginia, and try to move it north to threaten northern cities and stem the North’s appetite for war. After getting wind of Lee’s plan, President Abraham Lincoln sent Major General Joseph Hooker’s Army of the Potomac as a response. A loss at Chancellorsville lead President Lincoln to replace Major General Joseph Hooker with Major General George Gordon Meade just three days before the Battle of Gettysburg. Once in command Major General Meade moved his army to try to keep them in between Washington D.C. and General Lee’s army.
from April 29 to May 6, 1863 as part of the Civil War. To be more precise, the battle of Chancellorsville took place in the vicinity of Fredericksburg where other two battles took place. The Confederate army was led by General Robert E. Lee, while the Union army was led by Major General Joseph Hooker. Impressively, General Hooker’s army was composed with as many as 130,000 soldiers. The Union army was very well trained, equipped, and had all odds in favor. The Union army was two times as big as that of General Robert E. Lee, whose army was composed of merely 60,000-65,000 Confederate soldiers. Of these, 30,000 soldiers were from General Stonewall
The focus of this investigation will be, “To what extent was Robert E. Lee an effective leader of the Confederate Army?” The investigation will analyze Lee’s strengths and weaknesses that contributed to his effectiveness and the overall loss of the Confederacy in the Civil War. The overall character of Lee throughout his lifetime is too broad, therefore, this investigation will focus solely on the testimony of his military background, and the personality traits that led to Lee’s decisions during the Civil War. As a result, Lee the American by Gamaliel Bradford Jr. and Robert E. Lee: The Soldier by Sir F. Maurice are important sources to this investigation, due to the background they give on Lee’s military training, personality, and victories in the battles leading up to Gettysburg.