Alexander's Artillery Barrage prior to Pickett's Charge

[rclark14]

hi, thanks sounds good- maybe you could give me a tutorial on how it's done- that's what I was hoping for- thanks

[rclark14]

Right, that is what the historian was saying on History show- Pickett's charge was on a show called Military Blunders- they needed to cut there losses and regroup. The thing that bothered me was that the north was getting superior weapons- and that is/was bothersome. How do you feel? One historian said the south never had a chance to win that war- as if the north was fighting with one arm tied behind its back the whole time. Mainly because of surplus, supplies, manpower and factory output- the south tried as hard as they could I would say.

[Damned Black Hat]

The Union artillery was pretty much always superior to those employed by the South. Union players in this game need to properly deploy their artillery to stand much of a chance against the stronger Confederate infantry.

Another reason the bombardment failed was they were using newer fuses. The factory that had supplied the fuses before Gettysburg had burned to the ground and as a result the CSA artillery was still adjusting to the new fuses they had gotten. Yet another reason is that 150 artillery pieces will create a hell of a lot of smoke, meaning the artillerists could not see if their shelling was having any effect or how close or far off target they were. This also allowed the Union artillery to dupe them into thinking they had knocked out several guns by holding their fire.

[SouthernSteel]

How is that bothersome? I'd say it's more nearly fact. The North had (and built) more industrial might to supply their war machine. They had more guns of generally better quality and plenty of shot and powder for them (generally speaking).

The "South never had a chance" argument is heavily flavored by Lost Cause sympathies, so anyone who espouses any sentiments along those lines is usually discounted. It's somewhat safer to argue that the North had superior capactiy to produce for its armies (and its navy) and increasingly outdistanced the South in that regard.

[Damned Black Hat]

The South definitely had their chances to win. Had Lee's Special Order 191 not been discovered, had the Confederates won at Gettysburg, hell, if the Confederates put up enough of a fight to the point Lincoln doesn't get reelected, they win. The Confederacy did not have to conquer the North to win, they only had to avoid losing the war. However, Lincoln's re-election all but sealed the fate of the CSA.

[Jack ONeill]

R,

I appreciate your enthusiasm. However, it will take less time to do it then to explain it.

Jack

[crassus]

Well that would explain the shells but it wouldn't explain the roundshot.

I also am a little bit sceptical because as professional as the South's gunners were by then,they had two days to evalute their shells. I think someone would have noticed that the shells were exploding too late.

[A.S. Johnston]

A victory for the Confederacy at Gettysburg would have - more likely than not and the slavery issue notwithstanding - won them recognition as a nation by Great Britain and - again, more likely than not - have won the '64 election for McClellan, probably leading to an armistice if not a complete end to the war with the Confederacy still independent. Just my two cents.

[rclark14]

Agree- Lee and Stonewall gave the south much real hope. The other thing the historian talked about was why didn't Lee's artillery give converging fire before the charge- that is a mystery Anyways, tons of what ifs- I liked McClellan as a candidate. Anyways, take care

[SouthernSteel]

Sounds a lot like Shelby Foote's bit from Ken Burns' documentary (although I don't remember him going into the military details in that sort of depth, but that expert's viewpoint you're talking about is smashed into my general knowledge concerning the battle - don't recall who/where it was I heard it first though.)

And crassus, that's where the smoke obscuring the view comes into play. They couldn't tell where the shells were landing, and as such could not make adjustments. Still, I recall hearing that Confederate gunners regularly shot high, so this wasn't an isolated incident.