The inadequate Confederate artillery

[Little Powell]

The artillery in the game is something that is usually hotly discussed around here. Especially the disadvantage of the Confederate guns. I found a very interesting article on MHO. It is an account from a soldier walking the Gettysburg battlefield three weeks after the fighting. At one part he mentions:

"A close observer will notice an important fact in respect to the number of shells found on both sides of the field. The ground occupied by our forces is literally strewn with unexploded rebel shells, while along the Confederate fortifications very few can be found: but the fields and the woods are all covered with fragments of exploded shells. It is said, not one sixth of the shells thrown by the rebels exploded; hence the greater destruction of life by our artillery from the same number of guns."

This is fascinating to me, and would explain why the Confederate artillery barrage prior to Pickett's Charge was so ineffective..

[born2see]

It makes sense if you think about the manufacturing capability of each side.

[SiliconMagician]

It is when I read vignettes like these that I am amazed that the CSA managed to hold out as long as it did.

It's a true a tribute to their tenacity for many of these men to spend most of 4-5 years walking amazing distances both barefoot and hungry and then fighting the most brutal combat of the 19th century.

All these disadvantages added together would break any other contemporary army in the world yet these boys not only fought but thrived on it.