"Civil War notes & queries..." Topic

I'm only just getting into the Civil War as a period, but my son has lately returned from a school trip to the US as part of his History 'A' Level. The party were taken to visit Antietam and Henry has at last got me fascinated.

Despite quite a lot of internet research and some further reading, I have some pretty basic questions for which I'd love to find answers:

(1) Buildings feature prominently on Civil War battlefields – for example the Dunker Church at Antietam or the Twin Houses at Seven Pines, and yet never seem to have been used as strongpoints – why? Is it because European buildings, like La Haye Sainte or Hougoumont were brick or stone, whereas in the US they were more likely to be wooden? Or maybe it's because the vast size of the armies made a small building less significant?

I did wonder if it was something to do with respecting the 3rd Amendment, but buildings were frequently used as headquarters or hospitals.

(2) When a regiment sent forward skirmishers, I'm assuming the regiment would cease firing so as not to risk hitting their own men? I can find quite a lot of detail on how skirmishers work in teams, their spacing and distance from the line, command and control, etc, but on what the rest of the regiment was doing behind them sources seem to be silent.

(3) I understand Civil War regiments rarely got replacements and would dwindle to the point that they would be disbanded, with the preference being to raise a new regiment from scratch. What was the point when this would happen, roughly? I read of regiments down to the size of companies, so I just wondered.

Also; what would happen to the Colonel? Would he be promoted, retired, or would he go back to Washington or Richmond to take over a new regiment?

Many thanks all,

Nick

1. Battlefields in the US were in far less densely-occupied regions than in Europe. Where in Europe a village would be referenced on a map or as a visual landmark in the US it was an individual building or farmhouse. You can't fit many people in a single structure.
2. Skirmishers were deployed before the regiment was attacked, or after. during an attack the skirmishers would shew off to the flanks or behind, or rejoin the regiment.
3. As I understand it, it differed between the Union and Confederate armies. In the North when volunteer regiments (as opposed to US army units) were raised the governor got to commission the colonel. The more colonels he commissioned the better for him politically, so better to raise a new regiment than reinforce an existing regiment. In the South I don't think that happened but they were short of manpower so their regiments were always small. When a regiment was dissolved the officers were free to join another regiment or ask the governor for another commission.

Murvihill is correct pretty much.

1) We did not have the big walled enclosures of Europe, so only skirmishes used homes and barns mostly. At Fredericksburg, the Confederates occupied the homes and basements with more troops. But still not much, in comparison to Europe.

3) The Union pretty much did as above. So regiments normally became smaller and smaller as the war progressed. Look at the size of the Irish brigade at the beginning of the war, then at Gettysburg.
Confederates did replenish their regiments. Look at regimental strengths at Gettysburg, to see the average difference in size of a battle hardened Union regiment and a battle hardened confederate.

This is a very short and not concise answer, very general, but I have to leave. 🙂

1 – I would suggest that mention of buildings in accounts of battles does not imply they were used as strongpoints, or used at all.

Generals writing orders would use buildings as points of reference. Officers would refer to buildings in their reports to place where they were in relation to friends and enemy and confirm they followed orders (Your orders were to advance between those two buildings and my report says that I did so, or explains why I did not).

Furthermore, buildings are a more permanent feature of the battlefield – even if they are destroyed during the action, it is likely a replacement would be built on the same site.

In contrast, the path of a road could change over time even if it links the same points. A cornfield might be replanted with another crop or merged with other fields so its apparent area increases.

A lot of your engagement/battle questions etc can be answered with this book from Paddy Griffith:

link

A regiment's colonel and other officers were part of that regiment. IF the regiment ceased to exist, they lost their commissions, though they might receive new ones in other regiments -- or not.

The main difference in the policies of the two governments concerning replacements was that the Confederacy instituted conscription about a year earlier than the U.S. did. Conscripted men were usually fed into existing regiments, not formed into new ones. So for about a year (roughly 1863) Confederate regiments were getting replacements when Union regiments seldom received any.

Buildings in the Horse and Musket period were generally not very good strong points (neither in the US or in Europe) because the tactics in those days depended on massed musketry fire. While being in a building made you less vulnerable to enemy fire, the few, small windows made it impossible to mass the same number of muskets per yard of front as a unit in the open could do. You could not generate enough firepower to keep the enemy from closing on you. In a town or village that meant that the enemy could charge into the streets and isolate the small pockets of garrison troops, each in their own building. They would generally panic and beat a hasty retreat. Now if you had the time to barricade the streets and loophole the walls, that was a different story. And actual fortified positions like Hougamont and La Haye Saint were also much more defensible. Another disadvantage to towns and villages (and fortified points) was that the troops inside had no real potential to attack outside the place since it would take time to get back into formation.

This should give you a good account of how a building played a part in battle.

Subject: Emerging Civil War


link

Also, 3" rifles would convince most building dwellers that it was time to leave.

The Dunkard church is a relatively small structure, suitable for a skirmish unit but nothing substantial.

The Seven Pines structures are also relatively confined for space.

Lee did defend the Fredericksburg houses in order to delay the Union forces but used relatively small forces to maximum effect.

Whilst built up areas, when reduced, can make excellent defensive positions, whole houses, when they collapse are best avoided until they do so.

The book mentioned is a fantastic resource with a bonus being the many sketches providing a cornucopia of conversion ideas.

Best wishes,

Chris

Thank you, gentlemen, thank you!

Much of the discussion on buildings is what I suspected, but as my main interest has always been naval and more modern infantry combat it's reassuring to have this confirmed.

The recruitment side is something I hadn't understood previously, and as I pretty much always fight campaigns this information is gold for me.

Dave – Griffith's book added to my list of next purchases, thanks for the heads-up (just don't tell my Julie – she seems to labour under the misapprehension that I already have enough)

Best wishes,

Nick

From a CSA Alabama point of view, since my research material is from those points of view.
Initially, they used muster points to gather small groups of volunteers and the converged companies may March as companies or regiments to the command location for an Army-or Corps. At that location, they would be formed into Brigades and Divisions.
As the war progressed the muster points were replaced by training camps. These camps were of different types but may be in the same area. For Example Tallageda city had seven camps two were supply depots, one was a hospital, three were basic training posts and one was a returning from leave or wound recovery. Soldier were sent to either their old company or new unit. An infantry Lieutenant went here and asked to be sent to a cavalry unit as a private.

So CSA units from Alabama could get a trickle or a whole company based on the situation. Captains of companies were still elected which often depended early in the war on which muster point group was the largest. Later in the war the most experience counted but not always.
State Colonels were appointed by the Governor. Displaced officers may be given a new unit or assigned to training camps or administration.