Download Instructor Handout 2 1776 Military History HO

U.S. Army Officer Candidate School
1776 Military History
February 2006
Military History
Jaques Novicov completed a study on war from the earliest
recorded warfare in history thru 1898.
His findings: Past 3,502 years - Peace existed less than 5
percent of the time.
Conclusion: War is an integral part of human psyche, and as
Soldiers, we must discover what we can do about it by
studying it, so we can do our job more effectively.
TERMINAL LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
Demonstrate a basic understanding of the
Action:
evolution of technology and the impact on
warfare (military history).
Conditions: Without aid of notes or references
IAW instruction and this student handout.
Standards:
A. ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
Identify the goals of studying military history
Action:
Conditions: Without aid of notes or references
IAW instruction and this student handout.
Standards:
Ancient man was able to adapt to bring down animals far
bigger than him.
The Greeks were able to defeat the Persians through
maneuver. Battle of Marathon.
Marathon. The Persian Army under Datis (15,000 strong)
landed near Marathon. (Marathon is 24 miles northeast of
Athens.) General Miltiades, general in the Greek Army
gathered a force of 10,000 Athenians and 1,000 Plataean
citizen Soldiers. On 12 September 490 BC, Miltiades
arranged his Greek Hoplites (Infantry) in a long line across
the 2 mile plain of Marathon. Then the Greek's charged the
Persian lines. The center of the Hoplite force was pushed
back but the flanks broke through the Persian Forces and
encircled the Persian Centre.
We study history with the unwritten purpose of fighting wars
more effectively. Military history is an objective, accurate,
descriptive, and interpretive record of all activities of the
Armed Forces in peace and war. Its uses include:
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Thermopylae. In 480 BC, Xerxes led the Persians (Medes)
and invaded Greece. The Spartan king, Leonidas, in charge of
7000 Greeks, was ordered to cut the advance of the Persian
army at Thermopylae (in central Greece), a narrow strip of
land between the sea and impassable mountains. The Persian
army, 250,000 strong, attacked twice and was forced to
retreat, due to the fact that the passage was so narrow they
could not fully deploy their force.
However, an avaricious local farmer, Ephialtes, led a force of
Persian infantry through a mountain passage and the next
morning they appeared behind the Greek lines. Leonidas
ordered the rest of the army to withdraw, and held the
passage with 300 Spartans. As a true Spartan, he chose death
over retreat; all 300 Spartans, including Leonidas, died, but
held the Persians long enough to ensure the safe withdrawal
of the rest of the Greek Army. The Greeks were actually
heartened by the example of Leonidas and the 300 Spartans
plus allies who fought at Thermopylae.
Doctrine and training versus numbers:
Salamis (a sea battle).
Persians: 200 X 200 = 40,000, most couldn’t swim.
Greeks: 40 X 200 = 8,000, almost all could swim.
Persians lost.
Wars are primarily about fighting and killing, but it would be
a great oversimplification to state that that is all they are
about. Quarrels between nations and groups of people do
indeed produce misery and suffering for all those willingly or
unwillingly involved, but thankfully there is much more to
study and learn about the great conflicts of our time than
merely the violence and destruction they caused. Wars can
set about vast changes in society, be switching points in
history, and can be begetters of social movements and the
origin of future problems. They are also prime movers in
bringing about innovation and new and different ways of
doing things and of organizing society.
Lessons learned
Understand the enemy
Human side of war
Doctrine development
As technology improves, our theory will change and adjust
our doctrine, which determines how we train our Soldiers and
how we fight wars.
Objectives: Understand the nature, structure, and foundation
of theory. The nature, structure and foundation of theory are
derived from a large historical base. By studying a large
chronological base of historical military events with common
traits, a single theoretical thought can be developed. Military
thought is derived from military theory and doctrine. When
studying the relationship between history, theory, and
doctrine it becomes clear and concise that doctrine is derived
from volumes of theory and past history. As technology
improved, our theory has altered and changed the doctrine by
which we train our Soldiers today.
Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA): A fundamental
change in the nature of warfare. History suggests three
common preconditions for the full realization of a RMA are
technological developments, doctrine innovations, and
organizational adaptation.
Technological Developments: New technologies, which
intentionally or otherwise have had military application.
Mere inventions, of course are not enough; the new
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technologies must also be developed into practical military
systems.
Leadership: Military Leadership is the process of influencing
others to accomplish the mission by providing purpose,
direction, and motivation.
Doctrine Innovations: To fully exploit the potential of new
systems, operation concepts incorporating and integrating
new technology must be developed into coherent doctrines.
Military Theory and Doctrine: Military theory is the body of
ideas that concern war, especially the organization and
training for principles by which forces guide their actions in
support of their objectives.
Organizational Adaptation: The most profound change
requires significant bureaucratic acceptance and institutional
transformation.
Threads of Continuity: The study of military history reveals
the art of war as an ever-changing phenomenon. Each war is
different in some way from those preceding it. Sometimes
the changes have been evolutionary; other times, they have
been revolutionary. Military and political leaders must adapt
to these changes. Failure to recognize the impact of these
changes often has resulted in defeat. Contrarily, some
historical leaders have accurately judged the impact of these
changes, reacted accordingly, and emerged victorious. There
are two threads of continuity: internal and external.
Internal Threads: The threads of continuity that are entirely
part of the military profession are military professionalism,
logistics/administration, operations, strategy, tactics,
leadership, military theory and doctrine.
Military Professionalism: A profession is an occupation or
calling that requires specialized knowledge of a given field.
It requires long and intensive training that maintains high
standards of achievement and conduct through education and
continued study.
Logistics and Administration: Logistics is providing for the
movement and maintenance of all services and resources
necessary to sustain military forces. Administration is the
management of all services and resources necessary to sustain
the forces.
Operations: Operations involves the planning, conduct and
sustainment of campaigns designed to accomplish strategic
goals within a specific theater of war.
Strategy: Strategy is the level of war at which a nation or
group of nations determine national or alliance security
objectives, develops, and uses national resources to
accomplish these objectives. Activities at this level include
establishing national and alliance military objectives that
support the security goals; sequencing initiatives; defining
limits and assessing risk for the use of military power, as well
as, developing global and theater war plans; and providing
armed forces and other capabilities in accordance with policy
objectives.
Tactics: Tactics are the specific techniques smaller units use
to win battles and engagements. These include activity out of
enemy contact that is intended to directly and immediately
affect such battles and engagements.
External Threads: The most significant of these external
threads of continuity are political factors, social factors,
economic factors, technology, and military geography.
Political Factors: Those ideas and actions of government or
organized groups that affect the activities of societies are
political factors. They shape warfare, determine the
composition and strength of military organizations, and
usually establish the goals and policies for which wars have
been fought.
Social Factors: The activities or ideas emanating from human
groups and group relationships that affect warfare are social
factors. These factors involve such diverse concepts as
popular attitudes, cultural differences, the role of religious
institutions, levels of education, reaction to and roles of mass
media, inter-racial and minority rights questions, combat
psychology, standard of morality and justice, and ultimately
the will of a people to resist.
Economic Factors: Those activities and ideas that involve the
production, distribution, and consumption of material
resource of the State are economic factors. Economic war,
which takes such forms as blockade or boycott, is a part of
warfare, and it can be used in peacetime as a tool of
diplomacy.
Technology: Technology is the application of science,
especially to industrial or commercial objectives. Within the
military profession, technology leads to progressive
advancement in such important areas as transportation,
weaponry, communications, construction, food production,
metallurgy, and medicine. Technology has an undeniable
influence on strategy, tactics, logistics, military theory and
doctrine, and military leadership. When an Army’s
technology is superior to its adversary’s, it enhances the
probability of success in military endeavors.
Military Geography: The relationship between the physical
landscape and the employment of military power. Military
geography takes into account the significance of geographic
realities at the tactical and operational levels, and more
importantly, the influence of geography at the strategic level
and in the shaping of military forces.
The Nine Principles of War: The nine principles are concisely
stated as objective, offensive, mass, economy of force,
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maneuver, unity of command, security, surprise, and
simplicity. They are set forth in Field manual 3-0.
included spears, spear throwers, knives, bows, clubs - all
adapted from hunting purposes. Tactics were adapted to the
environment.
Goals in Studying Military History: Studying history helps
Soldiers prepare for something they may never do, deploy to
a theater and conduct operations in war. It is not uncommon
for a Soldier to serve only a few months in a combat
environment over the span of a thirty-year career. Yet, we
expect the Soldier to perform flawlessly. It is for this reason,
that we study history with an unwritten purpose of fighting
wars more effectively. To help move us in that direction we
approach the subject with three goals in mind:
(1) To foster and maintain a historical mindedness.
(2) To promote espirit and pride in the professional
army.
(3) More importantly, to instill an appreciation of
insights gained from lessons of the past. Understanding that
the lessons of the past cannot be blindly applied to any
situation. Rather, we use the lessons in a broad-brush fashion
to guide an event close to our desired outcome by referencing
our historical database.
B. ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
Identify the events leading up to the French
Action:
and Indian War, and the innovative changes
in warfare during the French and Indian War.
Identify how the French and Indian War led
to the American Revolution. ID how the US
Army was formed during the Revolutionary
War.
Conditions: Without aid of notes or references
IAW instruction and this student handout.
Standards:
Different Native American tribes of the time. (Estimated
regional population circa 1600: 100-150 k)
Dominant language groups:
Iroquoians - Mohawk, Oneida, Onodaga, Cayuga, Seneca,
Conestoga, **Tuscarora, Cherokee, Huron
Algonkians - Powhatan, Micmac, Abnaki, Croatan,
Nantikoke, Deleware,Pequod, Narraganset, Wompanoag,
Massachuset, Mohican, Shawnee, Illinois, Miami, Erie,
**Cree, Ojibwa (Chippewa), Ottawa.
Key food sources: Maize, fish, seasonal tubers / fruits
(game).
Natural primitive copper ornaments and implements.
Sophisticated tanning and hide processing techniques.
Primitive Maize based agriculture augmented limited trade
with other tribes. “Wampum” used as promissory notes as
well as “cash in hand.” Limited domestication of animals
and fowl (dogs, turkeys, and ducks). Extremely limited food
storage or surplus capacity, feast to famine yearly.
Endemic to all Regional Peoples. The principal
preoccupation of some societies.
European observers often misinterpreted “ritualized” conflict
as “sham war” and Indian raiding as “criminality.” Weapons
Europeans fought with and traded with Native Americans. In
1607, English colonists landed at Jamestown, Virginia. Based
on various explorations, the British and French laid claim to
the territory comprising present-day West Virginia and
Native Americans were forced west. Many of the tribes were
destroyed by constant warfare and catastrophic diseases. At
the same time, trade with the Europeans proved a strong
attraction, enabling the Indians to acquire valuable new
products, such as guns, steel hatchets, cloth, and kettles.
The fur trade in particular made many tribes powerful and
more aggressive. The Indian nations successfully played one
European power against another. For instance, the British
formed an alliance with the Iroquois Confederacy to cut the
French out of the lucrative fur trade. However, the Six
Nations also negotiated treaties and traded with the French.
The earliest 'hand gonne' was developed in the fifteenth
century, but was not a great influence in battle. It was a small
cannon with a touch-hole for ignition. It was unsteady,
required the user prop it on a stand, brace it with one hand
against the chest and use the other hand to touch a lighted
match to the touch-hole, and only had an effective range of
about thirty to forty yards. It surely must have taken iron
nerves to use one of these against a charging knight, nearly
within his lance's reach, when the powder might not even
ignite.
The touch- hole was moved to the side of the gun barrel, and
a cup was placed at the opening with a lid on it. This cup
would hold a small amount of gunpowder which could be
easily ignited. When the powder began to burn, some of the
fire would go through the touch- hole and ignite the
gunpowder inside the barrel, thereby firing the gun.
The Matchlock was a welcome improvement in the midfifteenth century and remained in use even into the early
1700s, when it was much cheaper to mass produce than the
better classes of firearms with more sophisticated ignition
systems. The Matchlock secured a lighted wick in a moveable
arm which, when the trigger was depressed, was brought
down against the flash pan to ignite the powder. This allowed
the musketeer to keep both hands on the gun, improving his
aim drastically.
The idea of this mechanism is simple. Have you ever used a
modern lighter which has a flint pressed up against a
roughened metal wheel? When you spin the wheel with your
finger, the flint pressed against its surface throws off sparks.
The same system was used in these firearms to create sparks
as needed to ignite the gunpowder to fire the gun. No more
waiting to get a wick lit and no more worry about it going out
when the fog rolls in.
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The flintlock was developed in France around 1612. In the
early 1700s the Brown Bess Flintlock made its appearance. It
probably got its name from the acid-brown treatment of its
barrel.
The War was ended by the Treaty of Utrecht. France ceded
the Hudson Bay territory, Newfoundland, and Nova Scotia to
Great Britain but kept Cape Breton Island and the islands of
the St. Lawrence
The first of many wars between Whites and Indians was
fought in 1637 between the Pequots and the New England
settlers. The Pequots were a warlike tribe centered along the
Thames River in southeastern Connecticut. By 1630, under
their chief, Sassacus, they had pushed west to the Connecticut
River. There they had numerous quarrels with colonists,
culminating in the murder by the Pequots of a trader, John
Oldham, on 20 July 1636. On 24 August, Gov. John Endicott
of the Massachusetts Bay Colony organized a military force
to punish the Indians, and on 26 May 1637, the first battle of
the Pequot War took place when the New Englanders, under
John Mason and John Underhill, attacked the Pequot
stronghold near present-day New Haven, Conn.
French and Indian forces began the year of 1745 with raids
on English fortifications in Maine. Fort Louisbourg was
captured by New Englanders. Saratoga, New York was
attacked and burned by French and Indian forces after the
English had persuaded the Iroquois League to enter the war
against the French. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was
signed on 18 October 1748 which restored Fort Louisbourg to
France outraging the New Englanders. The English Crown
agreed to pay for the expedition. Great Britain's privilege of
transporting slaves to Spanish America was renewed.
The Indian forts were burned and about 500 men, women,
and children were killed. The survivors fled in small groups.
One group, led by Sassacus, was caught near present day
Fairfield, Conn., on 28 July, and nearly all were killed or
captured. The captives were made slaves by the colonists or
were sold in the West Indies. Sassacus and the few who
escaped with him were put to death by Mohawk Indians. The
few remaining Pequots were scattered among other southern
New England tribes.
“In our first war with the Indians [Pequot War 1637], God
pleased to show us the vanity of our military skill, in
managing our arms, after the European mode. Now we are
glad to learn the skulking way of war.”
- John Eliot 1677
In early 1750, French troops arrive in the Ohio Valley to
build a series of forts to include Fort Duquesne. A young
Virginia officer, George Washington, was sent to deliver a
letter demanding that the French leave the region. This
mission was, not surprisingly, a failure, but when passing
through the region where the Allegheny and the
Monongahela form the Ohio, Washington noted that the point
of land at the junction was an excellent location for a fort. In
early 1754, in response to Washington's suggestion, the
British started to build a fort there, Fort Prince George, but
French troops soon arrived and threw them out. The French
completed the fortification, renaming it Fort Duquesne.
Washington, meanwhile, had been sent out with a contingent
of troops to help establish British control in the west, and
when he heard of the surrender of Fort Prince George, he set
up camp in Great Meadows, southeast of Fort Duquesne.
Washington received a report that a nearby French contingent
intended to attack, so he launched a preemptive strike against
the French camp. This was the first engagement of the yet
undeclared French & Indian War. Though Washington won
that engagement, he was soon defeated by a superior force
sent out from Fort Duquesne, leaving the French in command
of the entire region west of the Allegheny
King William’s War was the first in a series of colonial
conflicts between France and England for supremacy in
North America. The major goal, other than prestige, was the
control of the fur trade. All of these struggles had European
counterparts that were often of greater significance than the
American events.
French and Indian forces from Montreal attacked and burned
Schenectady, N.Y. The city of Quebec was attacked by
English forces that were repulsed by the French. The war
ended by the Treaty of Ryswick which restored all
possessions to their pre-war status.
In Queen Anne’s War, the French lost most of their territory
and moved into the Ohio Valley. In March of 1702 Queen
Anne ascends the English throne. By May, England declares
war on France after the death of the King of Spain, Charles II,
to stop the union of France and Spain. This War of the
Spanish Succession is called Queen Anne's War in the
colonies, where the English and American colonists battle
the French, their Native American allies, and the Spanish for
the next eleven years.
In 1757, the French seized Fort William Henry giving them
command of the Hudson River and northern New York. The
English seized the island fortress of Louisbourg.
In 1758, British troops capture Fort Frontenac, on Lake
Ontario, the main supply center for French forces in the Great
Lakes area cutting off French troops from reinforcements of
food, troops, and weapons.
In 1759, the British dominated the Great Lakes area and
Quebec, the French headquarters of Canada.
British General James Wolfe was killed in the Battle of
Quebec. His assistant, Major General Jeffery Amherst,
continued to press the attack in 1760 by sailing down the St.
Lawrence River to attack Montreal. The result was another
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These lands weren’t part of any of the Colonies, settlement
was forbidden and land negotiations with the Indians were
prohibited.
British victory. On 8 September the French surrendered
Montreal.
Scattered fighting continued throughout Canada for the next
few years.
In 1764, the British passed the Sugar Act, the first law aimed
strictly at raising American money for the Crown, increasing
the duties on merchandise imported into the Colonies that
was not of British origin. This was followed by the Currency
Act. This law barred the Colonies from printing their own
currency, arousing the ire of many Americans.
Treaty of Paris – 1763. This gave British title to all of the
land east of the Mississippi, including Canada and Florida.
The National debt doubled. Proclamation Line of 1763 - no
settlement west of the line.
Significance of the Colonial Wars. The English had gone
into tremendous debt. Since the war was fought to protect the
borders of the American colonies, the English decided to
make the Americans pay for most of that debt.
The British national debt as a result of 25 Years of war was
140 million pounds of sterling.
New territory to be secured. Regular Army mission: Defense
or Occupation, who will pay??
Cost of the war to Americans: Pay for volunteers/militia;
casualties, disabled, dislocated; and tensions between
Colonials and “Englishmen.”
Colonial Guerilla Tactics: The French and Indian War,
showed the American colonists how powerful the English
Army and Navy could be. It also showed them how
vulnerable these same troops could be to guerrilla tactics used
by the French and Native Americans. When the British tried
to keep the American colonies from rebelling in 1775, the
British troops faced the same kind of tactics.
Opposing views:
British view of the Colonists: Militia undisciplined, Colonies
can’t cooperate, Apathy, Constraints on militia AO,
Volunteer mentality, Localism, Greed.
Colonists view of the British: Arbitrary Discipline,
Discrimination of officers, Fatigue duties, Contemptuous
manner, Press Gangs, Quartering Troops in private homes.
The Revolutionary War:
The American Revolution: The year was 1763. The Seven
Years War was over. Britain dominated the North American
Continent east of the Mississippi. With the French no longer
a threat, Britain could now turn her attention to the Colonies.
Desiring revenue from the Colonies to offset the massive
expenditures for defense, the British administration began
stricter enforcement of the Navigation Acts restricting
colonial trade with other nations. And, fearing that the New
England was becoming too powerful; the King wanted to
control the Colonial legislatures.
In a Royal Proclamation issued on 7 October 1763, the new
territories were organized into four areas: Quebec, East
Florida, West Florida and the island of Grenada. The lands
west of the Appalachians were “reserved” for the Indians.
On 24 March 1765, the British subsequently renewed the
Colonists’ fury by passing the Quartering and Stamp Acts.
The Quartering Act obligated the Colonies to provide lodging
and supplies for British Soldiers. Also established was the
Stamp Act, the first direct levy on the Colonies and passed to
generate funds for the British. Newspapers, almanacs,
pamphlets, brochures, legal documents, dice, and playing
cards were taxed by this act. Stamps, issued by the British,
were attached to the taxed items to indicate that the tax had
been paid.
On the advice of the Massachusetts Assembly, nine of the
thirteen Colonies formed the Stamp Act Congress to labor for
the revocation of the Stamp Act. The Congress approved a
“Declaration of Rights and Grievances.” This Declaration
proclaimed that the Colonists were the equal of all British
citizens, objected to taxation without representation and set
forth that the British Parliament could not tax the Colonies
unless the Colonies had representation in Parliament.
In 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act, decreasing the tax on
imported British tea and in effect, giving British merchants an
inequitable edge in selling their tea in the Colonies. On 10
May, Parliament sanctioned the East India Tea Co. to ship
half a million pounds of tea to the Colonies. Parliament was
planning to rescue the bungling company from bankruptcy by
not imposing the normal duties and tariffs on the tea.
Therefore, the firm could undersell any other tea obtainable
in the Colonies, including smuggled tea. On 27 November,
when British tea ships arrived in Boston harbor, many
citizens wanted the tea sent back to England. On December
16, a group of Colonists, sparsely disguised as Indians,
sneaked onto the ships and tossed 342 chests of tea into
Boston Harbor. Britain responded to this act, known as the
Boston Tea Party, by passing the Intolerable or Coercive Acts
in 1774.
The Quebec Act was used as a mechanism to reaffirm the
Crown’s control within the Proclamation lands. It expanded
the boundaries of Quebec south to the Ohio River near
present day Pittsburgh, down the Ohio to the Mississippi,
effectively cutting the Colonies of Connecticut,
Massachusetts and Virginia off from the west. This blocking
of Colonial expansion was one of the complaints set forth by
the Colonists in the Declaration of Independence two years
later.
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Boston was fortified and ammunition belonging to
Massachusetts was seized by British troops. No fighting
occurred, though American militiamen were ready to resist.
Groups of minutemen, militia who were to be prepared on a
minutes notice, were organized and a Provincial Congress
and Committee of Safety were formed by Massachusetts to
decide when they would be called into action. In 1775,
Parliament passed the New England Restraining Act. This
Act prohibited the New England Colonies from trading with
any country other than Britain. It was also decided to use
force to impose compliance with recent Acts.
relief column, under Brigadier General Hugh Percy, waiting
in Lexington. The Americans were dispersed by fire from
Percy’s two cannons and the British troops were collected
back into ranks. Percy then led the retreat back to Boston.
The average American Soldier was 28 years old, married,
three children, and his mother lived with him. He had been a
farmer his whole life. King George was a distant tyrant who
had little effect on the farmers way of life, however; , he
believed in liberty and the struggle against Britain, so he
answered the call to arms. Granted, he knew how to shoot
and ride, so surely he could be a Soldier for General
Washington.
Battle of Lexington and Concord: On 18 April 1775, British
General Thomas Gage in Boston was ordered to seize a cache
of arms in Concord, a small town 15 miles away and if
possible, to capture John Hancock and Samuel Adams, two of
the more outspoken rebel leaders. To accomplish this, Gage
assembled approximately 700 troops commanded by
Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith. Maintaining strict
secrecy, the troops departed Boston at Midnight on 19 April.
However, the garrison was watched closely by the residents
of Boston and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety had
learned of Gage’s plans. By the time the troops had begun
their march, Paul Revere and William Dawes were on the
way to warn Hancock and Adams who were at Lexington and
to alert the countryside to the coming of the British troops.
Revere reached Lexington near midnight and Dawes shortly
after. Here they were joined by Dr. Samuel Prescott and all
three left for Concord. Revere and Dawes were captured, but
Dr. Prescott escaped by leaving the road and making his way
to Concord cross-country. The British continued marching
toward Concord, but the entire countryside was on the alert
by this time and the militia was waiting to meet them. The
advance British troops, commanded by Marine Major John
Pitcairn, arrived at Lexington at dawn. Then, a shot rang out.
It’s unclear who fired first, but the British answered with a
volley of shots. With eight killed and as many as ten
wounded, the militia scattered into the woods. After the
engagement, the British discovered that Hancock and Adams
had escaped, so they pushed on toward Concord.
The Americans fought differently from the British. Flanking
the retreating column, the Americans hid behind trees and
stone walls, firing on the passing troops. The British flanking
maneuvers couldn’t prevent ambushes and since the
Americans didn’t oblige and form a firing line, the British
had nothing to shoot at. British morale was destroyed and the
troops broke rank on the way to Lexington. The retreat would
likely have become a catastrophe for the British but for the
As the British resumed their retreat to Boston, the Americans
renewed their attacks. But with Percy commanding, the
retreating troops managed to maintain their ranks and the
retreat was successful. While the Americans lost about 90
men, the British endured casualties approaching 20 percent,
paying dearly for the march to Concord. But the real cost of
the engagement was the resulting siege of Boston, the
propaganda that the rebels obtained - prior to the conflict,
only a third of the people wanted a break from Britain,and the
beginning of the Revolutionary War.
On 23 April 1775, The Provincial Congress in Mass ordered
13,600 Soldiers mobilized
On 10 May 1775,American forces led by Ethan Allen and
Benedict Arnold captured Fort Ticonderoga in New York.
The fort contained a much needed supply of military
equipment including cannons which were then hauled to
Boston by oxen teams.
On 17 June 1775,the first major fight at the Battle of Bunker
Hill. (Breed’s Hill), costly/nominal victory for the British.
On 2 May 1776, King Louis XVI of France commits one
million dollars in arms and munitions.
From June-July 1776, The British fleet arrives in New York.
On 4 July 1776, Establish the United States Declaration of
Independence.
After retreating from Lexington in April 1775, the British
Army occupied Boston for several months. Realizing the
need to strengthen their position in the face of increasing antiBritish sentiment in and around Boston, plans were
developed to seize and fortify nearby Dorchester Heights and
Charlestown peninsulas. The peninsulas offered a
commanding view of the seaport and harbor, and were
important to preserving the security of Boston.
On 17 June 1775, the first major fight between British and
American troops occurs in Boston at the Battle of Bunker
Hill. American troops were dug in along the high ground of
Breed's Hill (the actual location) and were attacked by a
frontal assault of over 2000 British Soldiers who storm up the
hill. The Americans were ordered not to fire until they could
see “the whites of their eyes.” As the British got within 15
paces, the Americans let loose a deadly volley of rifle fire and
halted the British advance.
The British then regrouped and attacked 30 minutes later with
the same results. A third attack, however, succeeds as the
Americans ran out of ammunition and were left only with
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bayonets and stones to defend themselves. The British
succeeded in taking the hill, but lost half of their force, over a
thousand casualties, and the Americans losing about 400,
including an important colonial leader, General Joseph
Warren.
In March 1776, General Washington ended the British siege
of Boston, and quickly moved to face General Howe in New
York. New York offered the opportunity for the British to
separate the Northern and Southern Colonies. Also, control of
New York would place the strategic Hudson River under the
control of the British. As a result, Washington knew victory
in New York would be essential for the survival of the
American cause.
Washington first faced the Army of Howe in the Battle of
Long Island, 27 August 1776. At this battle, Howe was able
to turn the American left flank and inflict severe casualties,
nearly capturing Washington's entire army. Troubled by these
developments, Washington nonetheless continued his efforts
in New York. He occupied Harlem Heights and upriver he
ordered the construction of Fort Washington and Fort Lee,
positioned on opposite sides of the Hudson River.
Howe moved to envelop Washington's Army at Harlem
Heights and forced the rebels to abandon their position on 16
September 1776. Next, he faced Washington at White Plains
on 28 October, forcing the American Army to withdraw
northward to North Castle. At that point, Howe turned away
from his pursuit of Washington to capture Fort Washington
on 16 November and Fort Lee on 20 November, eliminating
their threat to the British control of the Hudson.
Having failed repeatedly in his efforts to deny New York to
Howe, Washington removed his battle-weary forces from the
area. He moved southward through New Jersey, crossing the
Delaware River to settle in Pennsylvania in December of
1776. This set the stage for his successful “Christmas
Campaign” of 1776.
On 25-26 December 1776, Christmas, George Washington
took 2400 of his men and re-crosses the Delaware River.
Washington then conducted a surprise raid on 1500 BritishHessians (German mercenaries) at Trenton, New Jersey. The
Hessians surrendered after an hour with nearly 1000 taken
prisoner by Washington, who suffered only six wounded
(including future president Lt. James Monroe). Washington
reoccupied Trenton. The victory provided a much needed
boost to the morale of the American Patriots.
The Battle of Saratoga was to be the major turning point of
the American Revolution. This battle proved to the world that
the fledgling American Army was an effective fighting force
capable of defeating the highly trained British forces in a
major confrontation. As a result of this successful battle, the
European powers, particularly the French, took interest in the
cause of the Americans and began to support them.
During this First Battle of Saratoga, fought 19 September
1777, the American forces lost ground to the British forces
under General Burgoyne. Disagreements in tactics and
personalities led to a heated argument between Generals
Gates and Arnold. General Gates relieved Arnold of
command as a result. The Battle of Bemis Heights was the
second battle of Saratoga, taking place October 7th when
Burgoyne desperately attacked rebel defenses with his tired,
demoralized army. At Bemis Heights, Gate's defensive tactics
insured a tactical victory for the Patriots.
However, Arnold saw an opportunity to seize the offensive
while Burgoyne was vulnerable and led a counterattack. This
bold move so badly wounded the British forces that
Burgoyne surrendered days later at Saratoga.
Valley Forge, 40 km (25 mi) west of Philadelphia, was the
campground of 11,000 troops of George Washington’s
Continental Army from 19 December 1777 to 19 June 1778.
Because of the suffering endured there by the hungry, poorly
clothed, and badly housed troops, 2,500 of whom died during
the harsh winter, Valley Forge came to symbolize the
heroism of the American revolutionaries. Despite adverse
circumstances, Baron Von Steauben drilled the Soldiers
regularly and improved their discipline.
On 6 February 1778,France recognizes the United States,
becoming the major supplier of military supplies. British
vessels fire on French ships and war is declared. Spain enters
in 1779 as an ally of France (Protestant/Catholic).
On 23 February 1778,Baron von Steuben of Prussia arrives at
Valley Forge to join the Continental Army.
On 29 December 1778,The British begin a major southern
campaign and capture Savannah, Georgia, followed by the
capture of Augusta.
On 23 September 1779, Captain John Paul Jones’ ship
engaged the HMS Serapis in the North Sea off Famborough
Head, England. Richard was blasted in the initial broadside
that the two ships exchanged, losing much of her firepower
and many of her gunners. Captain Richard Pearson,
commanding Serapis, called out to Jones, asking if he
surrendered. Jones' reply: “I have not yet begun to fight!”
It was a bloody battle with the two ships literally locked in
combat. Sharp shooting Marines and seamen in Richard's
tops raked Serapis with gunfire, clearing the weather decks.
Jones and his crew tenaciously fought on, even though their
ship was sinking beneath them. Finally, Capt. Pearson tore
down his colors and Serapis surrendered.
Bon Homme Richard sank the next day and Jones was forced
to transfer to Serapis.
On 12 May 1780,The British initiated a southern strategy by
beginning a siege of Charleston. The siege lasted until May
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9th when British artillery fire was close enough to set the
town on fire and force surrender.
Army was a creation of the Continental Congress. Congress
prescribed its size and composition, chose its generals, and
governed the system for its administration and supply.
Suspicious on the principle of a standing army and acutely
aware of historic examples of seizure of political power by
military leaders, its members kept a watchful eye on the
Army's commanders and insisted they defer to civilian
authority.
On 17 January 1781, The Americans werevictorious at
Cowpens. American General Morgan defeated a British
force of regulars under the command of Colonel Tarleton.
Morgan's troops enveloped the British in a classic military
action that captured all of the British forces.
General Cornwallis arrived in Petersburg in May of 1781.
After receiving conflicting instructions, Cornwallis went to
Yorktown and began preparing a naval base there. General
Washington moved south and, together with French ground
and naval forces, surrounded the British Army, forcing
surrender and effectively ending the war.
Under the Articles of Confederation the States were
responsible for raising troops for the Continental Army, for
the organizing and equipping them, and appointing officers
through the rank of colonel. When they joined the main
army, the militia normally shared in its supplies and
equipment. It was an inefficient military system for an
organized national effort.
Lt. General Charles Cornwallis attempted to hold out for
reinforcements from Lt. General Henry Clinton, but by 19
October, the British could not withstand anymore. They were
blocked by the French from the sea and had run low on food
and supplies. Cornwallis sent word of surrender. That
afternoon the British marched out of the fort, while their band
played “The World Turned Upside Down”.
The surrender ceremony has become a legend unto itself.
First, General Cornwallis was not present, supposedly taken
ill. As a result, his second-in-command, Brig. General
Charles O'Hara, was the British representative. He first
attempted to surrender to French General Comte de
Rochambeau, but Rochambeau refused and pointed him to
General Washington. Washington's only reaction was to ask
him to surrender to his deputy, Maj. General Benjamin
Lincoln.
Two years after the conclusion of the Revolutionary War,
American and British delegations met in Paris to formalize
Britain's recognition of the United States of America.
In 1783, The Newburgh Conspiracy was an attempted seizure
of political power by , a group of armed, former Pennsylvania
Soldiers marching on Philadelphia, surrounding
Independence Hall, and demanding back pay. They were
resentful at the lack of support they had received during the
war and bitter at Congress' failure to compensate them for
their wartime sacrifices. On 15 March 1783, Washington
personally addressed a regular meeting of the officers at
Newburgh. “Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my
spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in
the service of my country.” The threat to democracy at
Newburgh evaporated.
How the American Army was assembled: Under the
circumstances it is not surprising that Washington never got
the kind of Army, molded in the British image that he
desired. The experience before Boston in 1775 was repeated
many times, as local militia had to be called in continually to
give the American Army a numerical superiority in the field.
Though the militia belonged to the States, the Continental
General Washington could never depend on having enough
trained men or supplies. He continually inveighed against
sending militia to fight his battles and by early 1776 had
concluded that he needed an army enlisted for the duration of
the war. Congress would not support the request for a
standing army until the retreat across the New Jersey in
December 1776. Congress authorized 110 battalions
throughout the war.
Perhaps, General Washington’s greatest achievement was
simply maintaining the Continental Army continuously in the
field. The Continental Army was composed mainly of
infantry and artillery, with very little cavalry. The basic unit
of infantry organization was the regiment or battalion
composed of eight companies. Organization above this level
was highly flexible. A brigade was usually formed of several
regiments and was commanded by a brigadier general; a
division consisted of a similar grouping of brigades
commanded by a major general. Artillery was organized into
a bridge of four regiments under the Chief of Artillery,
Brigadier General Henry Knox, but the various companies
were distributed among the infantry battalions. Washington
was provided with a staff similar to that of the British Army.
The Army was constantly under-strength, organized
differently from State to State, and employed varying systems
of drill, discipline, and training. In the promotion of officers
in the State lines, Continental commanders shared authority
with the States, and this system gave rise to all sorts of
rivalries, jealousies, and resentment, leading to frequent
resignations. Staff officers were generally inexperienced and
unable to overcome obstacles posed by divided authority,
inadequate means, poor transportation, and communication
facilities. The supply and support services of the Continental
Army never really functioned efficiently, and with the
depreciation in the currency they came close to collapse.
Up to five thousand African Americans served in the
American Revolutionary War. Most having been slaves; they
fought side by side with men who did not believe that
“Blacks” should be free. Initially neither slaves nor free
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blacks were allowed to serve in the Army. There was a fear
that once armed, they might turn on the colonists.
States seceded from the Union and seized federal property
inside their borders, including military installations, Fort
Pickens and Fort Sumter and created the “Confederate States
of America.”
The most important weapons were the flintlock musket, the
rifle, and the artillery.
Rifle: By the end of the French and Indian War, a new
weapon had appeared on the frontier in Pennsylvania and to
the southward, one far better suited to guerrilla warfare than
the musket. The Kentucky rifle had a rifled barrel that
imparted a spinning effect to the bullet, giving it greater
range and accuracy. The early rifles were too heavy and slow
to load to be of military use. The Germans, who settled in
Pennsylvania around 1750, developed a much lighter, far
easier, and faster to load weapon. They used a bullet smaller
than the bore and a greased patch to keep the fit tight. This
weapon could hit a man size target at 200 yards.
Musket: The flintlock musket is one of the main weapons of
the British in the 1720-1840. The flintlock musket was the
most popular weapon during the American Revolutionary
War. On the battlefield, Soldiers would line up in a row
march to within range and fire. The flintlock musket was
most effective at 60 yards (55 meters). It came equipped with
a bayonet and was the best weapon of the war. Europeans and
Americans used the flintlock musket for 200 years. The
flintlock musket had varying locks and was known by
different names, such as “Match Lock,” Flint Lock,” and
“Wheel Lock.” They are the same with some variations in
the firing mechanism.
Artillery: At the time, artillery fired missiles, rockets, and
cannon balls. Cannons of the 16th and 17th centuries were
made of bronze, which meant they were heavy. A Swedish
King, Gustav II Aldolf, introduced a lightweight mobile
cannon and it is likely that the British bought the cannon
from the King and used it during the Revolutionary War.
“The War of Northern Agression?”: The “Civil War” was
not the only title for the conflict. The following is a list of
titles (not all of them) for the Civil War: The War for
Constitutional Liberty; The War for Southern Independence;
The Second American Revolution; The War for States’
Rights; The War of the Southern Planters; The War of
Rebellion; The Brothers’ War; The War of Secession; The
War against Slavery; and The War of the North and South.
The title “The War Between the States” is still the one widely
used, often by patriotic Southerners who refuse to use the
words “Civil War.” The reasoning for the differences in titles
for the War is simply, that “the defeated and their heirs
grasped for some expression of unquenched ardor and
defiance which would do justice to the Old South”.
Was it really about States’s rights? From the Confederate
Constitution: Article VI Section 3.
“This Constitution, and the laws of the Confederate
States, made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made,
or which shall be made, under the authority of the
Confederate States, shall be the supreme law of the land;
and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any
thing in the Constitution or laws of any State to the
contrary notwithstanding.”
When Abraham Lincoln, a known opponent of slavery, was
elected president, the South Carolina legislature perceived a
threat. Calling a State convention, the delegates voted to
remove the State of South Carolina from the union known as
the United States of America. The secession of South
Carolina was followed by the secession of six more States -Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas
-- and the threat of secession by four more -- Virginia,
Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina. These eleven
States eventually formed the Confederate States of America.
C. ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
Identify the innovative changes in warfare
Action:
during the Civil War.
Conditions: Without aid of notes or references
IAW instruction and this student handout.
Standards:
Civil War Causes
The Build Up in 1861: During the administration of
President James Buchanan, 1857-61, tensions over the issue
of extending slavery into the western territories mounted
alarmingly and the nation ran its inexorable course toward
disunion. Along with slavery, the shifting social, economic,
political, and constitutional problems of the fast growing
country fragmented its citizenry. Abraham Lincoln’s election
to the residency on 6 November 1860 triggered South
Carolina on 20 December to enact an ordinance declaring the
union now subsisting between South Carolina and other
States, under the name of the “United States of America” is
hereby dissolved. Within six weeks, six other deep-South
1861 Regiments: 10 Infantry, 2 Dragoons, 1 Mounted Rifle,
2 Cavalry, 4 Artillery. Total Strength: 16,215 (out of 17,867
authorized) - Regiments in theory, Companies in practice.
Location: (198 line Co’s) 183: frontier; 15: Canada/Atlantic)
Officers: 286 of 1098 resign, join CSA ( very few enlisted).
Fort Sumter, located in Charleston Harbor, refused to
surrender to the Confederates. Sixty-eight Soldiers had been
in the fort from 26 December, without supplies. When
Lincoln made the decision to resupply the fort, the
Confederacy decided to assault.
In the middle of the night of 12 April, Confederate emissaries
brought Major Anderson an ultimatum. Either surrender by 4
A.M. or the Confederate batteries will open fire. At 4:30
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A.M., General Beauregard gave the order to open fire. The
next afternoon Major Anderson surrendered. The war was on.
Most people think of the War as fought by the men of the
North and South; men being adults. What many folks do not
know, and regrettably what we do not tell our children in
bringing history closer, is that many of the War's Soldiers
were children. Here are the figures:
 Over 2 million Federals were under the age of 21
 More than 1 million were 18 or under
 Roughly 800 thousand were under the age of 17
 About 200 thousand were 16 and under
 Nearly 100 thousand were under 15
 300 were under 13
 25 were 10 years of age and under
The above figures are attributed to the Northern Armies.
Confederate numbers are a little less, one sample of 11,000
men produced about 8,000, the great majority between
eighteen and twenty-nine years old. There was one of
thirteen, and three of fourteen; 31 were fifteen; 200 were
sixteen; 366 were seventeen; about a thousand were eighteen.
Most of the youths were musicians-drummers, fifers, and
some buglers. Some did actually engage in combat, and many
died for a country that they lived in for less than two decades.
Soon after that Union disaster at Bull Run, both sides urged
their male citizens to enlist to fight for the cause. Enlist they
did, by the hundreds of thousands. However, who were these
people were so eager and willing to fight for their cause?
What was their cause? What enticed their enlistment? The
levels and modes of enticement were certainly numerous.
Some men joined the ranks out of a sense of patriotism and
duty to their country. Honor and the fear of being branded a
coward if they did not enlist served as a powerful motivator
in others. Many in the South joined to defend their home and
land from invasion.
Certainly, the pay was a considerable factor in making this
important decision. In the North, there was significant
unemployment and many men were desperate to find work.
That $13 a month looked rather appealing to the poor and
unemployed. As the War progressed and enlistments began to
fall, the Federal government authorized the 19th century
version of a signing bonus in the form of $100 or more-for
those who would join the fray. In the South men were paid
$11 a month; many poor farmers and laborers saw a monetary
advantage in enlisting.
February 2006
occupation as “gentleman.” The vast majority of Soldiers
were young, unmarried WASPs (white, Anglo-Saxon
Protestants). The average Soldier was 26 years old (give or
take, depending on the source), with some as young as nine
and as old as 80. The average height among the Soldiers was
about five feet seven inches, the shortest Federal Soldier on
record being three feet four inches and the tallest standing
just shy of seven feet.
Civil War Soldiers had wonderful powers of adaptation, but
most of them never acclimated to the lack of quality and
quantity of Civil War rations. One thoroughly disgusted
private spoke for the majority when he informed his brother:
“We live so mean here, the hard bread is all worms and the
meat stinks like hell…. and rice two or three times a week &
worms as long as your finger. I liked rice once but God damn
the stuff now.” Hunger was a regular companion to several
Union Armies and to all Confederate forces in the field. The
problem was not in supply, for both sides had strong
agricultural bases. Transportation breakdowns, corruption,
and bureaucratic incompetence blocked tons of food stuffs
from reaching the front lines. Soldiers therefore resorted to
extreme measures in an effort to calm the gnawing emptiness
in their stomachs.
A Virginian once boiled his greasy haversack in an attempt to
make soup. In 1864, a South Carolina private, overcome by
what he termed his “bold and aggressive appetite,” confessed
that he had “devoured the hindquarters of a muskrat with
vindictive relish, and looked with longing eyes upon our
adjutant-general’s pointer dog.”
Sickness and insufficient medical treatment were the worst
enemies that Confederates (Johnny Rebs) and Union (Billy
Yanks) faced. Midway through the Civil War a Southern
private swore that he “had rather face the Yankees than the
sickness and there is always more men dies of sickness than
in battle.” This Soldier was tragically correct. For every man
killed in action during the Civil War, two died behind the
lines of illness and disease. Existing records show over
6,000,000 reported cases of sickness in the Union Armies
alone. Surgeon Joseph Jones tabulated that every
Confederate Soldier was ill an average of six times in the
course of the war.
Months on months they were without a change of
underclothing, or a chance to wash that which they had worn
so long, hence it became actually coated with grease and dust,
moistened with daily perspiration under the broiling sun.
The Civil War Soldier took on many faces and backgrounds,
Union privates were paid $13 per month. At the start of the
but also carried among them many similarities. Most of the
war: colonels, $212; lieutenant colonels, $181; majors, $169;
Soldiers on both sides were farmers (nearly 50% in blue and
captains, $115.50; first lieutenants, $105.50; and second
67% in gray). Additionally, those who did not come from an
lieutenants, $105.50. Other line and staff officers drew an
agricultural background represented an amalgam of trades.
average of about $15 per month more. Pay for one, two, and
More than 300 different occupations were represented in the
three star generals was $315, $457, and $758, respectively.
Federal Army, and more than 100 in the Confederate. The
most interesting occupational background came from
Southern enlistment stations, where some recruits listed their
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Of the nearly 3.5 million Soldiers involved in the Civil War
only 75,000 were regulars of the United States or Confederate
military forces. The vast majority of Soldiers and Sailors
were volunteers from State organized units.
According to Army regulations for camp rations, a Union
Soldier was entitled to receive daily 12 oz of pork or bacon or
1 lb. 4 oz of fresh or salt beef; 1 lb. 6 oz of soft bread or flour,
1 lb. of hard bread, or 1 lb. 4 oz of cornmeal. Per every 100
rations there was issued 1 peck of beans or peas; 10 lb. of rice
or hominy; 10 lb. of green coffee, 8 lb. of roasted and ground
coffee, or 1 lb. 8 oz of tea; 15 lb. of sugar; 1 lb. 4 oz of
candles, 4 lb. of soap; 1 qt of molasses. In addition to or as
substitutes for other items, desiccated vegetables, dried fruit,
pickles, or pickled cabbage might be issued.
The African Americans saw their share of the military in the
North. More than 180,000 blacks served in the United States
Army and many served in the Navy. In the South, service was
much less considerable, though many free blacks did join the
Southern cause as “cooks, servants, musicians, and teamsters.
Occasionally they even performed picket duty. At times one
of them would grasp a fallen weapon in the heat of battle and
join the fight, but such heroic lapses were frowned upon”.
Some slaves participated in the war in place of their slave
master. A slave could full fill someone's service requirement;
the fee to do so was $ 300.00 to the person being replaced
and paid to the slave.
It is estimated that 200 if not more, women disguised
themselves as men and served in battle. Of course, most were
identified quickly, but there were indeed a few who managed
to continue incognito even for years. One such courageous
lady was one Sara Edmonds, who enlisted in the 2nd
Michigan Infantry in 1861 under the alias Frank Thompson.
“In her account of her war experiences, she related that
General George B. McClellan employed her as a spy during
the Peninsular Campaign in 1862--completely unaware of
Private Thompson's true identity. For her first mission, she
blackened her hair with a wig and slipped behind Confederate
lines at Yorktown dressed as a young male slave”. Edmonds
contracted malaria in 1863 and rather than reveal her identity
through medical examination, she deserted and continued
with her normal life. Loreta Jancta Velazquez of the
Arkansas Grays was the Cuban-born widow of a Confederate
Soldier who died of an accidental gunshot injury early in the
war. She left her New Orleans home in search of adventure,
with the romantic notion of becoming a “second Joan of
Arc.” She created a system of wire shields and braces to hide
her breasts, put on a Confederate uniform, and adopted the
name Harry Buford. She then traveled to Arkansas, and
recruited for her new command. She was elected lieutenant,
and her career as the commander of the Grays began at First
Manassas. Eventually she ended up serving with the Army in
Kentucky and Tennessee, was twice wounded and cited for
gallantry. She did not seem to care for the private behavior of
men, finding that when they were reasonably sure there were
no women around, their conversation became disgusting and
full of “thoroughly despicable” comments about women.
Another daring woman was Jennie Hodgers, a.k.a. Albert
Cashier of the 95th Illinois Volunteers. She fought at
Vicksburg, Nashville, and Red River and was mustered out in
1865. She even continued to collect a government pension by
clinging to her fake identity for years after the War. It was
not until 1911 she was found out, and even then, the Bureau
of Pensions continued her payments, for she was still a
veteran entitled to those benefits.
The period of 1861 to 1865.
The Civil War was the first modern war taking advantage of
technological innovations such as: Telecommunications,
photojournalism, aerial observation (Balloons), submarines
(C.S.S. Hunley), steam and iron-clad ships, railroads, and
rapid-fire weapons. Additionally, the conflict turned into a
war of maneuver rather than pitched battles using strategic
planning. The Civil War became the first major war in which
the balance power was described in terms of technology. The
war telescoped the 19th century into four years; early battles
were fought using “Napoleonic Principles” and by the end we
saw a preview of WWI style trench warfare.
The election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860 and the
secession of South Carolina a little more than a month later
signaled the inevitability of War Between the States. With the
first shot fired on Fort Sumter in April 1861, the Confederacy
officially declared war on the Union. In all the hype
surrounding those opening days of the conflict, especially
following the Union defeat at First Manasses, the South
seemed close to defeating its enemy. Unfortunately for the
Confederacy, however, the North would not be their only foe
in this conflict. The Confederate States of America would
have to battle an equally powerful and destructive force:
economics.
Where the South tended to choose the name of the nearest
town or city, the North referred to their battles by the name of
the nearest stream or river. Thus, the first and second Battles
of “Bull Run” are names coined by the North, while in the
South they are known as first and second “Manasses.”
Likewise, the Battle of Sharpsburg, as it was known in the
South, was referred to as Antietam (Creek) by the North.
At the outset of the War, Confederate officials knew of the
grave importance to become a more industrial society. The
pressure to industrialize in a short period of time placed a
heavy strain on the South. As most white men were off
fighting for their glorious cause, the South depended heavily
on free blacks, slaves, and women to fill in the gaps in both
agriculture and industry. The high demand for labor was
never completely filled in the South and Industry was never
brought up to desired levels, causing the economy of the
Confederacy to falter. The South's number one economic
resource, agriculture, took a serious hit during the War.
Shortages in salt for meat preservation and in food itself
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became prevalent as the War continued into its second, third,
and fourth years.
The causes of these increasingly severe shortages were
manifold. The antebellum South had imported most of its salt
and efforts to develop domestic sources during the war never
caught up with demand. Almost all of the South's railroad
iron and locomotives had also come from the North or
England; without a sufficient industrial base to develop
replacement capacity, the Confederacy's railroads rapidly
deteriorated even when the armies did not destroy them. With
military shipments on rails having priority, food for domestic
consumption rotted in warehouses while women and children
went hungry.
The problem was made worse by Union conquest of major
food-producing lands in 1862, as well as a severe drought
that followed. As the food crisis became worse in 1863, food
riots took place throughout the Confederacy, with the most
destructive in Richmond on 2 April 1863, where the militia
had to be called in to restore order. Malnutrition became a
major problem for Southern citizens and Soldiers alike.
MacPherson emphasizes that the casualties that resulted from
hunger and disease caused by malnutrition among the general
population must be added to the casualty list of this terrible
war.
Probably the most destructive force to the Confederacy was
hyperinflation. After the fall of Vicksburg and the
Confederate loss at Gettysburg, inflation became
uncontrollable in the South. Prices rose 58 percent in the
three months after Gettysburg. Flour at this time was often as
high as $70 a barrel, four months later it reached $250 a
barrel. Due to the complexity of the problem, many Southern
officials knew little, and clearly lacked the means to counter
this high inflation. Printing more money, which was often
done to address the needs of the people, only made matters
worse.
The Confederacy lost for a number of reasons: lack of
manpower and industry, an opponent with nearly unlimited
resources, railroads that only ran in a north to south
direction, competent Union generals who emerged in 1863
and more closely matched their Confederate adversaries, and
so on. However, an equal factor was the economic peril that
the South experienced for nearly the entire conflict; peril that
just got worse as the war went on.
The Percussion Cap ignition system was developed in 1805
by the Reverend John Forsyth of Aberdeenshire. This firing
mechanism was a great step in advancement from its
predecessors because it did not use an exposed flash pan to
begin the ignition process. Instead, it had a simple tube which
led straight into the gun barrel.
The 1861, Springfield Musket became the primary rifle of the
infantry throughout the Civil War. Some were smoothbore
and some were fitted with rifled barrels.
When Jefferson Davis became Secretary of War in 1853, he
strongly urged a larger Army, one that could be expanded to
27,818 men in time of war by enlarging the company to 128
men. The new infantry units were armed with percussion
cap, muzzle-loading rifle muskets instead of smoothbore
muskets. Nineteenth century technological developments had
made possible an accurate, dependable muzzle-loading rifle
with at least as fast a rate of fire as the smoothbore musket.
This was partly due to the application of the percussion-cap
principle to the rife and partly to the adoption in 1855 of the
Minie ball, a lead projectile tapering forward from its hollow
base. The force of the explosion expanded the hollow base of
the bullet to fit the rifling, and the bullet left the barrel
spinning, and thus with considerable accuracy. Its effective
range was about 400 to 600 yards as compared with 100 to
150 yards for smoothbore muskets. Theoretically the rate of
fire was three rounds a minute, though this was seldom
attained in practice.
In 1855, the national armories began making only rifles and
started converting smoothbores into rifles. By the end of
1858, the Springfield and Harper’s Ferry Armories had
manufactured only 4,000 of the new type of rifle called the
Springfield .58. It was a muzzle-loader. Breech loading,
permitting a much more rapid rate of fire, had to await the
development of a tight-fitting buy easy-moving bolt and a
cartridge that would effectively seal the breech. Many
breechloaders were on the market in the 1850’s and the Army
began testing all available modes but did not complete its
tests before 1861. Effective breech-loading rifles required
metallic rather than paper cartridges to prevent escape of
gases at the breech. Metallic cartridges were invented in
1856 but were not produced in large numbers until after
1861.
The 1861 Springfield Rifled Musket became the primary rifle
of the infantry throughout the Civil War. The cost to the
government was eleven dollars for the rifled barrel musket.
A smoothbore musket on the other hand could fire most
available ammunition and would allow the infantrymen to
continue to fight each battle.
The British Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifled Musket has the
distinction of being the second most common infantry
weapon of the Civil War. It was made in England and was
imported by ordinance officers of both North and South to
meet the sudden increase in demand for small arms caused by
the outbreak of hostilities. Originally produced by the Royal
Small Arms Factory at Enfield, England, it was the standard
arm of the British Army at the time. Several contractors later
provided arms for export. It’s .577 caliber bore made it
compatible with .58 caliber ammunition that was very
common in the American Armies. An estimated 900,000 ’53
Enfields were procured for use in the United States.
During the war rapid fire weapons, such as the “Gatling
Gun,” a Civil War development, were used sparingly. It was
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deemed to be a waste of expensive (metallic cartridges)
ammunition. Other rapid-fire weapons appeared on the
battlefield with limited success. One example was the
Williams breech-loading rapid-fire gun (Confederate).
Acceptance of rapid fire weapons grew after the war and
these concepts were greatly improved upon with the
development of the machine gun. This weapon would soon
be the tool used to end the lives of millions of young men in
the First World War.
Artillery was an essential branch of the armed forces during
the Civil War. A battery of booming cannons was a terrifying
sight to an attacking regiment. Most guns had an effective
range of about 1500 yards, although the newer rifled guns
were accurate to well over a mile. Artillery ranged
considerably in size, firing distance, and power. Civil War
artillery was designated by either the diameter of its bore or
the weight of its solid ammunition. Field artillery was
organized into batteries, each having four to six guns, and
commanded by a captain. A lieutenant was charged with a
section of two guns, and each gun had a crew of usually nine
cannoneers who would load and fire the weapons. Each
artillery piece was attached to a limber, which contained an
ammunition chest and was hauled by a six-horse team. A
caisson, which held two more ammunition chests, another
limber, and a spare wheel, supported each gun. The team had
a driver for each pair of mounts. The Civil War artillery piece
worked on the same principle as the musket, using a
cartridge, which contained both powder and a missile. A
good artillery crew could usually get off about two rounds of
ammunition a minute.
Designed to hold 10,000 prisoners, the camp received its first
shipment in February 1864. Prisoners continued to arrive by
train at the Andersonville Depot, from where they would
march 1/4 mile to the prison. During the next few months,
approximately 400 prisoners arrived daily, swelling the
population to more than 26,000 by the end of June and to
more than 32,000 by August. Overcrowding was so severe
that each man had less than four square yards of living space.
Every tree was felled, except two, leaving the prisoners with
no protection from the elements, except for their rude shanty
tents. The men were issued no clothing, so with freezing
winter temperatures and hot summer temperatures, the men's
clothing rotted away, leaving some men naked to the
elements.
Captain Henry R. Wirz, the Confederate commandant of
Camp Sumter, was the only person hanged for war crimes
during the Civil War. His trial and execution remain
controversial to this day, as some believe the truly guilty
parties were his supervising officers, and that he was made a
scapegoat for their incompetence. In a famous trial in
Washington, D.C., before a military tribunal at the first War
Crimes trial, Wirz refused a pardon to implicate President
Jefferson Davis. He was hanged on 10 November 1865, on
the same scaffold which executed the Booth conspirators.
The Confederacy possessed fewer military resources and
pursued a defensive posture by keeping Union forces out and
using its’ surplus of raw materials for trade with European
powers.
The Union strategy was directed at keeping the Border States
of Kentucky, Missouri, Delaware and Maryland within the
Union; starving the South by blockading her coastline from
Virginia to Texas; regaining control of the Mississippi; and
dividing and subdividing the Confederacy.
Manassas, VA, 21 July 1861. Union forces 32,000,
casualties 2,708; Confederates forces 35,000, casualties
1,982. Also, know as First Bull Run, this tactical
Confederate victory left Southerners overconfident and
stiffened Northern resolution.
Wilson’s Creek, MO, 10 August 1861. Union forces 5,400,
casualties 1,235; Confederate forces 12,000, casualties 1,184.
Another tactical victory for the Confederates that almost
stopped Southern momentum in an essential border State.
Seven Days’ Battles, VA, 25 June – 1 July 1862. Union
forces 100,000, casualties 15,849; Confederate forces 90,000,
casualties 20,614. This series of battles drove the principle
Union Army away from the Confederate capital.
Second Manassas, VA, 29-30 August 1862. Union forces
60,000, casualties 13,783; Confederate forces 50,000,
casualties 8,681. Gen. Lee’s Army routed the second prong
of the Union effort against Richmond.
Antietam, MD, 17 September 1862. Union forces 80,000,
casualties 12,410; Confederate forces 40,000, casualties
10,318. In a battle known to the South as “Sharpsburg,” Gen.
George McCellan failed to destroy Lee’s isolated and
weakened army, but stopped the first invasion of the North.
President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation
which made slavery the main issue of the conflict and kept
Europe from recognizing the Confederate States of America.
Over 23,000 causalities were caused in a 12-hour period.
Fredricksburg, VA, 11-15 December 1862. Union forces
105,000, casualties 12,653; Confederate forces 80,000,
casualties 5,000. Two assaults on either end of Lee’s Army
both failed with heavy Union losses and the defeat severely
affected Northern morale.
Chancellorville, VA, 2-4 May 1863. Union forces 90,000,
casualties 16,792; Confederate forces 45,000, casualties
12,754. This classic defeat of advancing Union Army paved
the way for another invasion of the North.
Gettysburg, PA, 1-3 July 1863. Union forces 90,000,
casualties 23,190; Confederate forces 76,000, casualties
27,899. Here the Union Army of the Potomac won its first
real victory over Lee’s Army ending the deepest invasion of
northern territory.
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With a population of over 100,000,000, the USA had the
potential to decide the outcome of the WWI. However,
militarily the USA was a Nobody. In 1914, the country had
no overseas alliances and on 19 August, President Woodrow
Wilson declared a policy of strict neutrality. Although the
USA had strong ties with Britain, Wilson was concerned
about the large number of people in the country who had
been born in Germany and Austria. The U.S. population
additionally had a high percentage of individuals of German
ancestry. Other influential political leaders argued strongly in
favor of the USA maintaining its isolationist policy.
Siege Of Vicksburg, MS, 19 May – 4 July 1863. Union
forces 45,000, casualties 8,765; Confederate forces 32,000,
casualties 32,000 (mostly prisoners). The capture of the
entire Confederate Army spread gloom through the South,
opened the Mississippi River to Union control, and split the
Confederacy in two. It brought a man who could match
Confederate Leaders to the forefront – Ulysses S. Grant.
Atlanta, GA, 6 May - September 1864. Union forces
99,000, casualties 35,000; Confederate forces 60,000,
casualties 30,000. The capture of this important
manufacturing and communication center helped President
Lincoln win reelection.
Bentonville, NC, March 19-21 1865. Union forces 48,000,
casualties 1,527; Confederate forces 18,000, casualties 2,300.
Accumulated fragments of the Confederacy’s western and
southern armies made one last bold attack, but overpowering
Federal reinforcements forced a retreat.
Appomattox, VA, 19-21 March 1865, Union forces 80,000.
Casualties 300; Confederate forces 30,000, casualties 30,899
(mostly prisoners). With the surrender here of its most
powerful and prestigious army, the Confederacy’s doom was
assured.
D. ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
Identify the innovative changes in warfare
Action:
during WWI
Conditions: Without aid of notes or references
IAW instruction and this student handout.
Standards:
The Great War of 1914-1918 can justly be considered to be
the pivotal event of the 20th century. Essentially, both the
conflicts that lay at the origin of the Great War as well as the
newly created enmities resulting from the Great War
remained unresolved and led to a continuation of the great
struggle of nations some 20 years later. Bolshevist
Revolution and Cold War, Fascism and the creation of new
nations and Nationalism, all these are unintended
consequences of the War of 1914-1918. Many of these
problems are still with us to this day, the break-up of former
Yugoslavia into ethnic divisions being but one glaring
example. On the other hand, the war set in motion social
changes that would otherwise have taken much longer to
manifest themselves and gain widespread acceptance. The
idea of equality between the sexes, to give one obvious
example, was given an unintended boost by the necessary
widespread integration of females into the general work
force.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the United States was
the most powerful industrial nation in the world. The world
leader in coal and steel production; additionally, the USA was
also a major producer of raw materials. The most important
crops were wheat and cotton. Together with oil, this
accounted for more than a third of all of the USA's exports.
In 1914, the United States Army comprised 98,000 men, of
whom some 45,000 were stationed overseas. The regular
Army was backed up by the 27,000 troops in the National
Guard. When the USA declared war in April 1917, Wilson
sent the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) under the
command of General John Pershing to the Western Front.
Congress quickly passed the Selected Service Act, drafted by
Brigadier General Hugh Johnson. The law authorized
President Wilson to raise a volunteer infantry force of not
more than four divisions and a standing army to 140,000
men.
All males between the ages of 21 and 30 were required to
register for military service. By 12 September 1918,
23,908,566 men had registered. Around 4,000,000 men were
ultimately drafted into the armed services. Of these, 50
percent served overseas during the war.
By July 1918, over a million US Soldiers had been deployed
to France. General John Pershing deployed US troops to help
the French defend the Western Front during the 3 rd Battle of
the Aisne in May and at the Marne in June. US troops took
part in the Allied attacks at Le Hannel and Cannal du Nord
before Pershing launched his own offensive at St Mihiel and
the Meuse-Argonne region.
More than 2 million troops eventually reached Europe but a
large number arrived too late to see any action. The American
Expeditionary Force suffered 264,000 casualties during the
war. It has been calculated that 112,432 Americans died. Of
these, around 50 per cent died from disease (mainly
influenza). About 200,000 African-Americans served in the
United States Army in Europe, but only 42,000 were
classified as combat troops. Completely segregated, they
fought with the French Army during the war.
Included in the orders General Pershing received from The
Secretary of War before he left for France was a stipulation
“to cooperate with the forces of the other countries…but in
doing the underlying idea must be kept in view that the forces
of the United States are a separate and distinct component of
the combined forces, the identity of which must be
preserved.” This was a requirement that influenced many of
Pershing’s early decisions in regard to the American
Expeditionary Force and was to be for long months a
recurring source of contention between Pershing and Allied
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commanders who were nearing the end of their manpower
resources. Pershing provided clear guidance that American
Soldiers will be led by American officers into battle and not
merely a body count to replace missing Soldiers from other
armies.
Ending the War: The German government of Max von Baden
asked President Wilson for a cease-fire on 4 October 1918.
After talks had taken place, Baden accepted Wilson's
Fourteen Points Peace Program. Wilson had more difficulty
persuading the French and the British to accept this program.
All the major countries involved in WWI objected to certain
points in Wilson's Peace Program. However, when peace
negotiations began in October 1918, Wilson insisted that his
Fourteen Points should serve as a basis for the signing of the
Armistice. Wilson attended the Paris Peace Conference and
supported the Versailles Treaty. However, the Republicans
now controlled the Senate, and they disliked the proposed
League of Nations. When the Senate refused to ratify the
Treaty of Versailles, Wilson began a nation-wide campaign
to win support for the Paris Peace Agreement. While on this
tour, he collapsed (26 September 1919) and was an invalid
for the last three and a half years of his life. After Wilson
agreed to accept changes concerning reparations, the
Armistice was signed at Compiegne in France, on 11
November 1918. All territorial conquests achieved by the
Central Powers had to be abandoned. The German Army also
surrendered 30,000 machine-guns, 2,000 aircraft, 5,000
locomotives, 5,000 lorries and all its submarines.
The Versailles Treaty: The Paris Peace Conference opened on
12 January 1919 and meetings were held at various locations
in and around Paris until 20 January 1920. Leaders of 32
States representing about 75% of the world's population,
attended. However, negotiations were dominated by the five
major powers responsible for defeating the Central Powers:
the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Japan.
Eventually five treaties emerged from the Conference that
dealt with the defeated powers. The five treaties were named
after the Paris suburbs of Versailles (Germany), Sr Germain
(Austria), Trianon (Hungary), Neuilly (Bulgaria) and Serves
(Turkey). The main terms of the Versailles Treaty were:
(1) the surrender of all German colonies as League of
Nations mandates;
(2) the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France;
(3) cession of Eupen-Malmedy to Belgium, Memel to
Lithuania, the Hultschin district to Czechoslovakia;
(4) Poznania, parts of East Prussia and Upper Silesia to
Poland;
(5) Danzig to become a free city;
(6) plebiscites to be held in northern Schleswig to settle
the Danish-German frontier;
(7) occupation and special status for the Saar under
French control;
(8) demilitarization and a fifteen-year occupation of the
Rhineland;
(9) German reparations of 6,600 million;
(10) a ban on the union of Germany and Austria;
(11) an acceptance of Germany's guilt in causing the war;
(12) provision for the trial of the former Kaiser and other
war leaders;
(13) limitation of Germany's Army to 100,000 men with
no conscription, no tanks, no heavy artillery, no poison-gas
supplies, no aircraft and no airships;
(14) the limitation of the German Navy to vessels under
100,000 tons, with no submarines.
Germany signed the Versailles Treaty under protest. The
USA Congress refused to ratify the treaty. Many people in
France and Britain were angry that there was no trial of the
Kaiser or the other war leaders.
Technology Advancements of the First World War: The
development and improvement of weapons, aircraft, and
other technologies produced the most significant change in
our modern Army, more than any other war in American
history. The changes and advancements of technology in
WWI shaped the strategy and doctrine that the Army adopted
and impacted its wartime planning following the war. During
the war there was a total failure to revise tactics to meet new
technology. This lead to mass charges (even Cavalry charges)
against machine gun fire as leaders felt that just one more
push or more willpower would earn victory. The Allies lost
more men on the Somme in one day than the U.S. lost in
Korea. There were desperate attempts by Soldiers in the field
to redefine old concepts of courage and victory. In the end the
war resulted in static trench warfare. The need for advanced
technology produced the requirement of technical experts to
use, maintain, and develop future doctrine.
Chemical Warfare (Gas Attaches): The German Army first
used chlorine gas cylinders in April 1915 against the French
Army at Ypres. French Soldiers reported seeing yellow-green
clouds drifting slowly towards the allied trenches. They also
noticed its distinctive smell, which was like a mixture of
pineapple and pepper. At first the French officers assumed
that the German infantry were advancing behind a smoke
screen and orders were given to prepare for an armed attack.
When the gas arrived at the allied front trenches Soldiers
began to complain about pains in their chests and a burning
sensation in their throats. Chlorine gas destroyed the
respiratory organs of its victims and this led to a slow death
by asphyxiation.
It was important to have the right weather conditions before a
gas attack could be made. When the British Army launched a
gas attack on 25 September 1915, the wind blew it back into
the faces of the advancing troops. This problem was solved in
1916 when gas shells were produced for use with heavy
artillery. This increased the Army's range of attack and
helped to protect their own troops when weather conditions
were not completely ideal.
After the first German chlorine gas attacks, Allied troops
were supplied with masks of cotton pads that had been
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soaked in urine. It was found that the ammonia in the pad
neutralized the chlorine. These pads were held over the face
until the Soldiers could escape from the poisonous fumes.
Other Soldiers preferred to use handkerchiefs, a sock, a
flannel body-belt, dampened with a solution of bicarbonate of
soda, and tied across the mouth and nose until the gas passed
over. Soldiers found it difficult to fight like this and attempts
were made to develop a better means of protecting men
against gas attacks. By July 1915, Soldiers were given
efficient gas masks and anti-asphyxiation respirators.
Development of the Airplane in WWI: Two brothers, Henri
and Maurice Farman, started their aviation company at
Boulogne-sur-Seine in 1912. Two of their planes, the Farman
MF-7 and the Farman MF-II, became popular allied
reconnaissance craft during the early stages of the war. Both
the French Army Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps
purchased them before the outbreak of WWI. They were also
used by the Belgian and Italian Air Forces. The Royal Naval
Air Service used the Farman MF-II for its first night bombing
mission when it attacked a German artillery installation on 21
December 1914. The successful use of the airplane during
WWI led to the development of new concepts for the US
military. Coupled with experiences in WWII it eventually
resulted in the air-land battle doctrine. Other successful
designers were Hugo Junkers and Gabriel Voisin.
Hugo Junkers was born in Rheydt, Germany, in 1859. He was
professor of mechanical engineering at Aachen (1897-1912)
and during WWI became involved in aircraft production. In
1915, he designed the world's first all-metal plane, the Junker
D-1. His ideas were too advanced for his time, and it did not
begin production until 1918. He also produced the Junker
CL-I, the best German ground attack plane of the war.
Gabriel Voisin was one of the most productive aircraft
designers of WWI. On 5 October 1914, the Voisin III
became the first Allied plane to shoot down an enemy
aircraft. Voisin became the standard Allied bomber in the
early years of the war. Successive models were more
powerful and over 800 were purchased by the French Army
Air Service. The Royal Flying Corps and the Russian and
Belgian Airforce’s also used them in the war. The Voisin V
first appeared in 1915. It was the first bomber to be armed
with a cannon instead of a machine-gun.
and King Lynn. The first Zeppelin raid on London took place
on 31 May 1915. The raid killed 28 people and injured 60
more. By the end of May 1916, German Zeppelins had killed
at least 550 British civilians. Zeppelins could deliver
successful long-range bombing attacks, but were extremely
vulnerable to attack and bad weather. British fighter pilots
and anti-aircraft gunners became very good at bringing down
Zeppelins. A total of 115 Zeppelins were used by the German
military, of which, 77 were either destroyed or so damaged
they could not be used again. In June 1917, the German
military stopped using Zeppelins for bombing raids over
Britain.
Development of the Tank: The idea of an armored tracked
vehicle that would provide protections from machine gun fire
was first discussed by British Army Officers in 1914. At the
outbreak of WWI, Colonel Swinton was sent to the Western
Front to write reports on the war. After observing early
battles where machine-gunners were able to kill thousands of
infantryman advancing towards enemy trenches, Swinton
wrote that “petrol tractors on the caterpillar principle and
armored with hardened steel plates” would be able to
counteract the machine-gunner. Winston Churchill was
impressed by Swinton's views and in February 1915; he set
up a Landships Committee to look in more detail at the
proposal to develop a new war machine.
The Landships Committee and the newly formed Inventions
Committee agreed with Swinton's proposal and drew up
specifications for this new machine. This included:
(a) a top speed of 4 mph on flat ground;
(b) the capability of a sharp turn at top speed;
(c) a reversing capability;
(d) the ability to climb a 5-foot earth parapet;
(e) the ability to cross an 8-foot gap;
(f) a vehicle that could house ten crew, two machine
guns and a 2-pound gun.
Count Ferdinand Zeppelin, a German Army officer, began
developing his ideas on airships in 1897. The first Zeppelin
flew on 2 July 1900. The LZ-3 Zeppelin was accepted into
army service in March 1909. By the start of WWI the
German Army had seven military Zeppelins. The Zeppelin
developed in 1914 could reach a maximum speed of 136 kph
and reach a height of 4,250 meters. The Zeppelin had five
machine-guns and could carry 2,000 kg (4,400 lbs.) of
bombs.
In January 1915, two Zeppelin airships, 190 meters long, flew
over the East Coast of England and bombed great Yarmouth
Richard Edgeworth invented the Caterpillar track in 1770. In
the Crimean War, a small number of steam powered tractors
based on this design proved very successful in the muddy
terrain. The development of the modern tank remained
dormant until the arrival of the internal combustion engine, in
1885. In the United States the Holt Company built a tractor
with caterpillar tracks that was used to move over difficult
territory. Although it was suggested that this machine might
be adapted for military use, those in positions of authority
failed to see the significance of this new development.
By the outbreak of WWI, June 1915 the landships committee
under British control produced the first small landship.
Constructed in great secrecy, the machine was given the
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code-name tank. Nicknamed Little Willie, this prototype
tank with its gas engine, had track frames 12 feet long,
weighed 14 tons and could carry a crew of three, at speeds of
just over three miles. The speed dropped to less than 2 mph
over rough ground and most importantly of all was unable to
cross broad trenches.
Although the performance of the first tanks, Little Willie and
Mark I, had proved disappointing in battle, Colonel John
Fuller, chief of staff of the Tank Corps, remained convinced
that these machines could win the war. The tank was first
used at the Battle of Somme. After the Battle of the Somme,
the tank failed due to poor maneuverability, equipment
failures, and the inability to maintain. Fuller still persuaded
Sir Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief of the British Army,
to order another 1,000 tanks.
The British had 60 tanks in service by the spring of 1917.
Improvements were made and the new Mark IV tank was
strong enough to withstand the recently developed German
anti-tank rifles. The Mark IVs were used at the Battle of
Messines, in June 1917 but those used at Passchendaele later
that year tended to get stuck in the mud before they reached
the German lines. Other problems encountered during this
period-included poor visibility, noxious fumes and high
temperatures inside the tank.
In autumn of 1917, a lighter tank called the Mark A was
ready to be used on the Western Front. Nicknamed the
Whippet, it was faster than previous tanks but was still
unreliable and vulnerable to artillery fire. The Mark V tanks
became available in July 1918. It contained a new Ricardo
engine that had been specially designed for the tank. With a
new transmission and better gears, the tank could travel at
nearly 5 mph. At Amiens Colonel Fuller managed to
persuade General Henry Rawlinson to use 342 Mark V and
72 Whippet tanks, followed by Soldiers and supported by
over 1,000 aircraft. The strategy worked and the Allies
managed to breakthrough the German frontline.
Advanced Artillery:
The word artillery was used to describe large-caliber mounted
firearms. The caliber is the diameter of its barrel bore. In the
19th century artillery was divided into light and heavy,
depending on the weight of the solid shot fired. Light guns,
deployed at the battalion level, were usually 4-6 pounds,
whereas heavy guns were 8-12 pounds.
At the beginning of WWI, the main support weapon for the
British Army was the long-barreled field gun. Also available
was a French designed quick-firing field gun that had a recoil
system that bounced the barrel back into firing position.
Another high-trajectory gun was the mortar. The projectile
was dropped into its broad, stubby barrel and was fired by a
pre-loaded explosive charge. By the end of the war some of
these guns were capable of firing shells fairly accurate over
2000m. The stalemate caused by the trench system resulted
in military commanders demanding long-range heavy field
guns. Heavy howitzers (200-400mm) could fire shells
weighing over 900kg over 20km.
Machine Gun: In 1884, Hiram Maxim invented the world's
first automatic portable machine-gun. Maxim used the energy
of each bullet's recoil force to eject the spent cartridge, insert
the next and fire it. The machine-gun would therefore fire
until the entire belt of bullets was used up. The British Army
adopted the Maxim Gun in 1889. The Maxim Gun could fire
400-600 rounds of small-calibre ammunition per minute.
Each gun had the firepower of about 100 rifles. The German
Army's Maschinengewehr and the Russian Pulemyot Maxima
were both based on the same design. The American Army
tended to use the Browning Machine Gun whereas the French
Army preferred the Hotchkiss. Machine-guns were
positioned all along the Western Front. The machine guns in
use in 1914 required a crew of three to six men and were
positioned on a flat trajectory tripod. For added protection,
German machine-guns were often housed inside concrete
blockhouses.
Bolt Action Rifle: Nearly all infantrymen in the First World
War used bolt action rifles. A Scottish immigrant to the
United States, James Paris Lee, had invented this type of
rifle. The magazine was a metal box, into which cartridges
were placed on top of a spring. As the bolt was opened, the
spring forced the cartridges up against a stop; the bolt pushed
the top cartridge into the chamber as it closed. After firing,
the opening of the bolt extracted the empty cartridge case,
and the return stroke loaded a fresh round. Cartridges were
injected into the magazine by means of a clip. They consisted
of open-ended slides or cases within which a number of
cartridges, 3, 5 or 6 were gripped by the spring metal of the
case or a spring incorporated in the base.
Springfield M1903 Rifle: The first Springfield bolt-action
rifle appeared in the United States in 1870. Erskine Allin, the
Superintendent of the Springfield Arsenal, designed it. Later
with the aid of a patent from the German “Mauser Werke,”
using the famous Mauser Action, the M1903 Springfield was
developed. In WWI, the M1903 was the most popular rifle
with the Untied States Army. This rifle remained the US
standard rifle until 1936 and was still used at the beginning of
WWII. M1903s were still popular weapons for long distance
work during Vietnam.
E. ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
Identify the innovative changes in warfare
Action:
during WWII.
Conditions: Without aid of notes or references
IAW instruction and this student handout.
Standards:
An early supporter of strategic bombing and the military
superiority of air forces was General Giulio Douhet. He
argued that command of an enemy's air space and subsequent
bombing of industrialized centers would be so disruptive and
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destructive that the pressure for peace would be
overwhelming.
“I think it is well for the man on the street to realize that no
power on earth can protect him from being bombed.
Whatever people may tell him, the bomber will always get
through.”
Stanley Baldwin, Member of British Parliament, 1932
Adolf Hitler, the Führer (leader) of the German National
Socialist (Nazi) party, preached a racist brand of fascism.
Hitler promised to overturn the Versailles Treaty and secure
additional Lebensraum (“living space”) for the German
people, who he contended deserved more as members of a
superior race. In the early 1930s, the depression hit Germany.
The moderate parties could not agree on what to do about it,
and large numbers of voters turned to the Nazis and
Communists. In 1933, Hitler became the German chancellor,
and in a series of subsequent moves established himself as
dictator.
While other countries were disarming, the Germans were
preparing for war. They trained in mock tanks and flew out
of modified civilian airfields developing new tactics.
(Experiment in Spain)During this time Germany developed a
ar machine that would propel them to victory over most of
Europe
Overview: When World War II began in 1939, Germany was
the aggressor, later joined in June 1940, by Italy, and Japan
in December 1941. Together they formed the major Axis
nations, each having their individual strengths and
weaknesses. From 1900 until the late 1930's, the armies of
the world believed that massed infantry charges, heavy
artillery, and static defenses could dominate and control any
battlefield. But on the morning of 1 September 1939, the
world was forever changed as Germany invaded Poland and
executed its first “Blitzkrieg” or “Lightning attack”, quickly
crushing Polish resistance. From 1939 to 1945, Germany's
military machine struck out and conquered most of Western
Europe, swept into deserts of North Africa and drove deep
into the hinterlands of Russia. In time, however, the Allies
gathered strength and eventually crushed the German Army
and Axis powers with a display of brute force that has
remained unmatched to this day. What started out as a war
based on military technical tactics and blitzkriegs, later
became a war reliant on industry and mass production.
The military doctrine of the new German Army and
“Blitzkrieg” were quite different from the rest of the world.
While other countries were disarming, the Germans were
preparing for war. They trained in mock tanks, and flew out
of modified civilian airfields, as they developed a war
machine that would propelled them to victories over most of
Europe. There were events in other parts of the world that
fueled the flames of the Second World War. In search of
natural resources, Japan annexed Manchuria in 1931 and
moved across the great walls of China. By 1937, Japan’s
aggression against China finally received international
attention. The Italians invaded Ethiopia shortly after the
Asian conflict, and in 1939, Germany set its war machine in
motion. They seized the Sudetenland followed by
Czechoslovakia, and with the conquest of Poland, WWII
began. The German victories in the west were won by the use
of new technology and tactics employed against unprepared
and ill-equipped armies. The Nazis used highly trained
parachute troops to get behind enemy lines and obstacles.
They used Stuka (airplanes) for close air support and tanks to
shock the enemy. They exploited surprise as a psychological
weapon and were able to boost the morale of their troops with
lightning fast advances.
Hitler launched his own expansionist drive with the
annexation of Austria in March of 1938. The way was clear:
Mussolini supported him; and the British and French,
overawed by German rearmament, accepted Hitler’s claim
that the status of Austria was an internal German affair. The
U.S. had impaired its ability to act against aggression by
passing a neutrality law that prohibited material assistance to
all parties in foreign conflicts.
The Sudetenland province of Czechoslovakia was populated
by largely ethnic Germans. At the Munich Conference in
September 1938, Great Britain and France agreed to allow
Germany to annex this area. This consent, and the actual
annexation on 6 October 1938, cost Czechoslovakia its
fortifications and most of its industry.
However, Hitler continued to consider Czechoslovakia a
threat to his southeastern border in the event that Germany
would be involved in war on another front. On 15 March
1939, the Czech president, Emil Hacha, coerced by pressures
and threats, signed over control of Czechoslovakia to
Germany with no need for an act of war, ostensibly to assure
Slovak autonomy.
In September, Hitler announced that “oppression” of ethnic
Germans living in Czechoslovakia was intolerable and that
war was near. England and France meet Hitler (the Munich
Pact) and persuade Czechoslovakia to cede its frontier
districts to Germany in order to secure “Peace In Our Time.”
During March 1939, Hitler seized the rest of Czechoslovakia
by force of arms.
The Wehrmacht enveloped Poland from the west, north, and
south, outnumbering the Polish forces three to one and using
superior equipment.
The German blitzkrieg, showed cooperation among naval, air,
and ground forces to concurrently attack and surround the
enemy extremely rapidly.
France and Great Britain declared war on Germany on 3
September, but took no military measures on Poland’s behalf.
On 27 September 1939, Warsaw surrendered to German
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troops encircling its borders. Massive air and artillery
bombardments left the Poles no choice. Eastern Poland was
occupied by the Soviet Union, while the rest of Poland was
occupied by the Germans. The Germans immediately began
their campaign against the Jews of Poland– herding them to
live in ghettos in big cities. The Red Army entered the
eastern part of Poland in accordance with the secret
agreements between Germany and the USSR in the
Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact.
In a flanking move that made the French Maginot Line
irrelevant, the Germans attacked the low countries. The
Netherlands surrendered in four days, after massive German
attacks on Rotterdam.
The Germans quickly drove into Northern France, dividing
the French and British forces into two.
“. . . the French were spinning at 33-1/3 [while] the Germans
at 78 [rpm] . . . what took the French 2 hours took 10 minutes
for the Germans what the Germans did in an hour took the
French [all] day. Tanks weren’t that much of a factor.”
C. R. Gabel , summary of “The Breaking Point”
Following successful invasions of Denmark and Norway in
April 1940, Hitler turned his attentions on France, Holland,
and Belgium. The invasion started on 10 May 1940, pushing
the allied forces back and leaving them stranded around
Boulogne, Calais, and Dunkirk. Between 27 May and 4 June
1940, a total of 693 ships brought 338,226 people back to
Britain and 140,000 of these were members of the French
Army. All heavy equipment was abandoned and left in
France.
The Germans attempted to subdue Great Britain by utilizing
air attacks. Germany attacked all major cities and military
installations. British preparedness, combined with the valor
of its pilots and a new weapon called “radar,” forced the
Germans to pay a heavy price for their bombing. By the end
of October, when the winter weather made the threat of
invasion unlikely, the Germans had lost 2,375 planes,
compared to 800 British planes lost.
The US forces, newly arrived in North Africa, fought the first
battle of Kasserine Pass and got clobbered. Patton was sent
in with his armored units to take command and won the
second battle of Kasserine Pass.
Required massive arms buildup and deception operation
(Mincemeat), false papers planted on bodies placed in the
ocean would at best knock Italy out of the War, persuade
Turkey to come in on the side of the Allies, set the Balkans
aflame, open Mediterranean up for allied shipping, and
ultimately launch the American and British Armies into
Austria and then the heart of Germany. At worst, it would
hold substantial enemy forces in southern Europe, draw
reserves away from Normandy and the Russian Front, and
bring new hope to nations under Nazi rule.
Lend-Lease was the most visible sign of wartime cooperation
between the United States and the Soviet Union. About $11
billion in War material was sent to the Soviet Union under
that program. Additional assistance came from U.S. Russian
War Relief (a private, nonprofit organization) and the Red
Cross. About seventy percent of the aid reached the Soviet
Union via the Persian Gulf through Iran; the remainder went
across the Pacific to Vladivostok and across the North
Atlantic to Murmansk. Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union
officially ended in September 1945. Joseph Stalin never
revealed to his own people the full contributions of LendLease to their country's survival, but he referred to the
program at the 1945 Yalta Conference saying, “Lend-Lease is
one of Franklin Roosevelt's most remarkable and vital
achievements in the formation of the anti-Hitler alliance.”
The United States government was initially hostile to the
Soviet leaders for taking Russia out of World War I and was
opposed to a State ideologically based on communism.
Although the United States embarked on a famine relief
program in the Soviet Union in the early 1920s and American
businessmen established commercial ties there during the
period of the New Economic Policy (1921-29), the two
countries did not establish diplomatic relations until 1933. By
that time, the totalitarian nature of Joseph Stalin's regime
presented an insurmountable obstacle to friendly relations
with the West. Although World War II brought the two
countries into alliance, based on the common aim of
defeating Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union's aggressive,
antidemocratic policy toward Eastern Europe had created
tensions even before the War ended.
The Soviet Union welcomed Lend-Lease material, and
President Roosevelt attached the highest priority to using it to
keep the Soviet Union in the War against Germany.
Nevertheless, the program did not prevent friction from
developing between the Soviet Union and the other members
of the anti-Hitler alliance. The Soviet Union was annoyed at
what seemed to be a long delay by the allies in opening a
“second front” of the Allied offensive against Germany. As
the War in the east turned in favor of the Soviet Union and
despite the successful Allied landings in Normandy in 1944,
the earlier friction intensified over irreconcilable differences
about postwar aims within the anti-Axis coalition. LendLease helped the Soviet Union push the Germans out of its
territory and Eastern Europe, thus accelerating the end of the
War. With Stalin's takeover of Eastern Europe, the wartime
alliance ended, and the Cold War began.
In 1939, Hitler signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR.
The pact was out of necessity, not admiration or unity. Hitler
was so busy on other fronts; he felt that the only way to
protect the Eastern Front was to sign the pact. The USSR
was in a state of rebuilding after the purges of the 1930’s and
wanted to “buy time.”
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Germany dominated the Continent after its troops swept
through Poland and France. Due to prior agreements many of
the spoils in the east went to the USSR. Unprovoked, the
USSR invaded Germany’s old friend, Finland. Hitler was
infuriated as Stalin took the Baltic States.
The British proved to be more stubborn than Hitler had
calculated. The campaigns in Greece and Crete also turned
out to be more difficult than anticipated. By 1939, Hitler had
decided to attack the USSR, but other fronts had required all
of Germany’s strength. Early in 1941, Hitler decided he could
wait no longer. By late June, Germany and allied forces had
3,000,000 men poised to roll into the USSR. Additionally,
Germany moved 1,945 aircraft to the east for the attack. The
“Red Army” of the USSR numbered 4,5000,000. This
constituted the largest force in the world.
Hitler had his troops in place and set the date of 22 June 1941
as the attack day. The movement of German and Axis Troops
to the eastern front was not unnoticed. The U.S. and British
Intelligence Forces advised Stalin that Germany was
positioning for the attack. Stalin’s own Intelligence Forces
told him that Germany was ready to attack. He chose to
ignore all warnings. Germany launched the attack two days
ahead of schedule. The Soviet Forces were taken by surprise.
Early morning light brought waves of German fighter and
bomber aircraft catching the Soviet Air Force on the ground.
Rows of Soviet aircraft were destroyed on the airfields before
they could even start an engine. The attack was devastating.
It was a well-coordinated combined arms offensive that
pushed the Soviet Forces to within nineteen miles of
Moscow. Close air support was the key in knocking out
heavy resistance in front of the advancing ground forces.
Armor, Infantry, and Artillery rolled forward with precision.
Tough pockets of resistance were bypassed and left for the
troops behind to clean up. Often the supply trains slowed the
advance more than the Soviet resistance.
Soviet troops were stunned and caught off balance. They
found it difficult to organize and regroup against a rapidly
advancing enemy force. 1,800 Soviet aircraft were lost the
first day. Most of the aircraft never got off of the ground.
German losses numbered only 35 aircraft. By mid-July,
thirty-two Soviet Divisions were lost. Armor, Cavalry, and
Infantry Divisions were overrun, cut off, and destroyed. By
Mid-September, the Soviet casualties were numbered over
one million.
The Germans had perfected their combined arms doctrine and
it’s the fine tuned war machine carried out with precision.
Their success was attributed to the perfect timing and
coordination.
The Battle of Kursk: This pivotal battle involved 900
armored vehicles and resulted in a Soviet victory. However,
at what cost? The total number of German losses for the
entire offensive was put at 100,000 men killed or wounded.
The Soviet casualty figures were not released until the end of
the communist regime in the USSR and were recorded at
250,000 killed and 600,000 wounded. They also lost 50% of
their tank strength.
Allied invasion of fortress Europe: 3 years planning,
Deception, Omaha, Utah, Sword Gold and Juno Beaches.
Logistics, Breakout, Hedgerows.
Eisenhower’s Instructions: You will enter the Continent of
Europe, and in conjunction with the other Allied Nations,
undertake operations aimed at the heart of Germany and the
destruction of her Armed Forces.
Discussions and preparations for an Allied invasion across
the English Channel begin in 1942. An earlier raid on the
French port of Dieppe results in heavy losses, convincing DDay planners to land on the beaches. The Germans expected
an invasion along the northern coast of France in 1944, but
they did not know where. They choose to build up their
troops and artillery where the Channel was the narrowest.
The Allies planned to land in Normandy, south of the
German build-up. 5 June 1944 was the day chosen for the
invasion, but rough seas force the Allies to wait until the next
day.
Overnight, about 2,700 ships with landing craft and 176,000
Soldiers crossed the Channel. Minesweepers went ahead to
clear the water, and paratroopers were dropped behind
German lines to capture bridges and railroad tracks. The
landing included more than 5,000 ships and 11,000 airplanes.
About 31,000 Allied airmen flew 7,500 sorties between
midnight and 8 a.m. on 6 June1944. At 6:30 a.m. on 6 June
1944, Allied troops came ashore on a 60-mile front in the
largest seaborne invasion in history. The five beaches that
the Allies landed on were secured by the end of the day.
Omaha Beach:
Naval gunfire and pre-landing air bombardments had not
softened German defenses or resistance along the 7,000 yard
shoreline. The enemy were positioned looking down from
bluffs as high as 170 feet, and water and beach obstacles were
strewn across the narrow strip of beach, stopping the assault
at the water's edge for much of the morning of D-Day.
Utah Beach:
The first wave landed 2,000 yards south of the planned beach,
but within hours the beachhead was secured and the 4th
Division started inland to contact the airborne division
scattered across its front.
Few aircraft are as well known or were so widely used for so
long as the Douglas C-47 or “Gooney Bird” as it was
affectionately nicknamed. The first C-47s were ordered in
1940 and by the end of WW II, 9,348 had been procured for
AAF use. They carried personnel and cargo, and in a combat
role, towed troop-carrying gliders and dropped paratroops
into enemy territory.
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Allied forces led by the French Second Armored Division,
liberated Paris on 25 August 1944. The liberation of Paris
was hastened by an open rebellion by Parisians against the
Nazis in the days leading to the liberation. The next day, US
and British forces entered the city and were greeted by quite
an emotional welcome.
Battle of the Bulge: The battle was fought from 16
December 1944 until 28 January 1945. The location was the
Ardennes Forest of Northern Luxembourg, Western
Germany, and Eastern Belgium. The German Army was
located along a north south line from Emmerich to
Saarbucken, Germany. Allied forces were aligned to the west
of this line fighting a battle of Attrition against Nazi
Germany. Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, and Montgomery
were the primary leaders of the Allied Armies. Their
protagonists were Adolph Hitler, Field Marshall Von
Rundstedt, General Sepp Dietrich, and Field Marshall Walter
Model.
On 16 Dec at 5:40 a.m., the German Army attacked on a 50
to 70 mile front. The weather was freezing cold with snow
and low overcast skies. The terrain favored the defense. One
third of the terrain was covered with dense woods. The
remaining two thirds was varying degrees of open rolling
hills. All roads sooner or later ran through draws or passes
that were easily defended. These defendable avenues of
approach led to many traffic jams. The German Army
attacked with two thousand artillery pieces, twenty three
hundred tanks, and two hundred fifty thousand troops. The
equipment had been secretly stockpiled and much of it was
new. Troops were pulled in from along the entire Western
front and some newly trained replacements. They constituted
thirty-one (undermanned) divisions of which ten were Panzer
Divisions.
These thirty-one divisions attacked three Allied divisions
with total surprise. Within forty-eight hours the Allies
responded with half a million men. Some would not enter the
battle until 3 January 1945 because of logistics and command
and control problems. Intelligence was poor for both sides.
Hitler did get weather reports from U-boats in the Atlantic,
but neither side knew the strengths or weaknesses of their
opponent. Allied leadership had some personality conflicts
but none that caused uncontrolled efforts on their part. The
Nazi leadership was paranoid. Hitler demanded secrecy for
this operation until the battle was forced upon his battle
commanders. Commanders were forced to fight in an
offensive role with little preparation and little knowledge of
the enemy forces.
The German objective was to take the port of Antwerp, deny
the fifty allied divisions adequate supplies, and split their
forces. The Allies were waging a war of attrition against the
German Army. The Russians on the eastern front, and the
remaining Allies on the western front were wearing Germany
out. The Germans were running out of options. Basically
they only had two and neither was destined to lead Germany
to victory. Option one was the offensive action they chose.
Option two would have been to consolidate and fight a
defensive battle.
The attack began with two thousand artillery pieces firing
against the Allies. They thrust through the defenders and
created a bulge in the Allied lines. The Germans intended to
roll over Bastogne and press westward to Antwerp. Bastogne
held, and on 23 December, was re-supplied with 150 tons of
food, clothing, and ammunition by airdrop. Supplies were
delivered regularly after that date. On 25 December, Gen.
Patton started north to counter the attack with two hundred
fifty thousand troops. The Germans made a last desperate
attack on Bastogne on 26 December. During the attack, a
combat team from the 4th Armored Division cut diagonally
through the German lines to join the defenders of Bastogne.
On 3 January 1945, British General Montgomery began a
thrust south toward the base of the bulge. On 16 January, the
bulge was cut off and by 25 January the Germans were
pushed back to their point of departure.
This futile attempt cost Germany dearly and resulted in thirty
thousand killed and seventy thousand wounded. It was a
desperate final attempt to change the tide of war and had
pushed the Allies in the west to the brink of disaster. While
the Germans made this last ditch effort, the Russians were
sprinting to Berlin. The “Victory in Europe” freed the United
States to direct its war efforts to the Pacific Theater.
The Battle of Bastogne:
18 December 1944 - 27 December 1944. Bastogne is a small
town located in East Central Belgium, near the border with
Luxembourg. Rugged hills, high plateaus, deep-cut valleys,
and a restrictive network of roads characterize the area.
Bastogne itself is the hub for seven major roads and a
railroad. The advancing German Army threatened our VIII
Corps, which was headquartered at Bastogne. While VIII
Corps was ordered to pull back, the 101st Airborne Division
was ordered in to defend Bastonge.
By October 1944, the rapid Allied advance toward Germany
had slowed to a crawl. Stiffening German resistance, overstretched supply lines, and communications problems stalled
the Allied advance. In the American sector, Lt. Gen. Omar
Bradley’s 12th Army group occupied an extended front, with
the first and third Armies along the Siegfried Line and the
Ninth Army facing the Roer River. Maj. Gen. Troy H.
Middleton’s VIII Corps occupied the First Army’s southern
sector. Its 88-mile front extended from Losheim, Germany,
notch through eastern Belgium and Luxembourg to where the
Our River crosses the Franco-German border. This was a
relatively quiet sector and the Corp’s mission was to defend
?in place?. Newly assigned divisions could receive a safe
indoctrination, and battle-weary ones could rest and
reconstitute for future operations.
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Adolph Hitler thought he saw an opportunity for a decisive
offensive in the west as the Allied offensive stalled there. He
launched a winter offensive against the western Allies
through the Aisne-Ardennes sector of the front. His purpose
was to recapture the important port of Antwerp while
encircling and destroying the 21st Army Group. Middleton’s
VIII Corps, however, was directly astride the main avenue of
advance of the Fifth Panzer Army. Most German officers
thought preparations were for the defense of the German
frontier until a few days prior to the attack. Hitler’s field
commanders did not completely understand the exact
objectives of their own units.
Hitler had identified Bastogne and the control of the vital
crossroads as essential to his plan. He expressly ordered the
capture of Bastogne. The mission was assigned to the XLVII
(47th) Panzer Corps, which would be attacking through the
Bastogne sector. The Corps’ commander, General Baron
Heinrich Von Luettwitz, specifically asked about Bastogne at
a conference in Kyllburg prior to the offensive. He was told
that it would definitely have to be taken. In his instructions
to his subordinates, he stated: “Bastogne must be captured, if
necessary from the rear.”
Despite such specific guidance prior to the operation, the
Fifth Panzer Army staff did not interpret those instructions
the same way. Chief of Staff, Brig. Gen. Carl Wagener,
stated, “Bastogne would not necessarily have to be taken but
merely encircled. This would avoid any loss of time east of
the Meuse.” In the midst of general confusion, pessimism
seemed the order of the day and vital planning went awry.
Luettwitz himself doubted whether the offensive would
succeed. Perhaps the German columns could reach the
Meuse, but without adequate bridging equipment, there was
little hope that they could push farther.
As many as twenty-five German divisions were used in the
attack that began on 16 December 1944. The German
divisions were undermanned and ill equipped. Many had only
40 to 60 percent of the men and tanks that were authorized.
The Germans struck with surprise and immediately had
success in all sectors. They advanced through the Veteran
28th and 4th Inf. Divisions, as well as the green 106th Inf.
Division, and the inexperienced 14th Cavalry Group. The
only U.S. corps reserve consisted of an armored combat
command and four battalions of combat engineers. Poor,
overcrowded roads and bad weather slowed the German
advance but did not stop it. Resistance by the American
infantry and armor slowed but did stop the advance. The
Allied High Command realized that Bastogne was threatened
and that additional reserves were needed immediately. On 17
December 1944, the 101st Airborne Division, then in camp
Mourmelon, France, was alerted to move to the vicinity of
Bastogne. The VIII Corps defenses were crumbling and the
Germans were within 11 miles of town. Time had become a
critical factor and the race was on.
st
Maj. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor, the Commander of the 101 ,
was in the United States. His deputy, Brig. Gen. Gerald J.
Higgins, was in England, and Command of the division fell to
Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe, the Division Artillery
Commander. He got the division on the road, moving toward
the town of Werbomont, twenty-five miles north of Bastogne
in record time. The advanced party reached Werbomont
during the night of 18 December, and only then discovered
they were meant to report to Bastogne. General McAuliffe
stopped in Bastogne to confer with Maj. Gen. Middleton that
afternoon and learned of his attachment to VIII Corps. He
received orders from Middleton to defend Bastogne and made
immediate preparations to reroute and receive the division.
As McAuliffe’s columns moved toward Bastogne, forty tanks
from CCB, the 10th Armored Division, the 705th Tank
Destroyer Battalion (with 76-MM self propelled guns), and
two Battalions of 155-MM artillery were ordered to Bastogne
st
and were attached to the 101 .
On the night of 18 December, the 101 st collided with the
German advance three kilometers from Bastogne. With VIII
Corps evacuating the area, the defense of Bastogne became
the Division’s task. The Germans intercepted an alert
message by the 101st on 17 December projecting their arrival
on the 18th. Greater pressure was placed on the XLVII
(47th) Corps for a more rapid advance. High water on the Our
River, roadblocks, craters, generally poor roads, few bridges,
and stiff resistance, prevented the Panzer Lehr Division from
arriving on time. Had they arrived on schedule, the 101st
would still have been five kilometers west of the town. The
paratroopers barely won the race for the town; now the
problem was to hold it.
The 101st and its attached units were able to form a perimeter
in the villages around Bastogne. The tide of events began to
turn on the night of 18 December. German troops were near
exhaustion, their losses heavy, and now the Americans facing
them were fresh. The ability of the Americans to resist the
Germans was enhanced by their timely occupation of the
area. The German morale was low, still there was no choice
but to try and sustain the momentum of the offensive at all
cost in accordance with Hitler’s demands. Ultimately,
German commanders who were too far removed from the
action made fateful decisions that would allow the lightly
equipped defenders of Bastogne to survive.
Assessing their actions at Bastogne, German generals
concluded they had failed for a number of reasons. Poor
terrain and a restrictive road caused them to have disastrous
traffic jams disrupting their timetable from the start. After
23 December, Allied air superiority, poor communications,
and inability to move supplies forward, created doubt that the
mission would succeed. To the Germans, the timetables for
reaching their goals were more important than defeating the
enemy along the way. Bastogne was bypassed to continue
the offensive. German Generals also expressed grudging
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admiration for the Americans, who rapidly met the German
offensive with strategic forces. The American tactic of
delaying through the use of successive positions was
highlighted, as was the continuous artillery support made
available to the infantry. Proper credit was given to the
American leadership. Coordinated German attacks in mass,
rather than the small-unit attacks they employed might also
have resulted in decisive German victory over the 101 st and
its attachments.
In the final equation, morale strength, luck, and the “fog of
war” must be considered. The Americans had advantages in
all three of these categories. The right combination of events
and situations (conditions unfavorable to the Germans and
favorable to the Americans) produced the American victory
at Bastogne. A light infantry division, properly augmented by
good artillery and armor support, was able to defeat a
numerically superior and heavier opponent. But the
conditions of that victory were unique, not universal in
application.
The Allied air forces bombed the city of Dresden in repeated
waves. The waves resulted in the creation of a fire storm that
consumed 11 square miles of the center of the city.
On March 7th, US troops reached the Rhine, and found one
of the bridges across it, at Remagen, still standing. As
American troops attempted to cross the bridge, the Germans
set off a charge, but it failed to destroy it, and soon the
Americans were across the Rhine.
The final battle of the Eastern front began on 16 April, as
Soviet troops attempted to capture Berlin. German troops
fought to the last man, but the Soviet victory was inevitable.
On the day before Hitler's death, all of the German troops in
Italy laid down their arms.
On 6 May, Donitz authorized General Alfred Jodl to
“conclude a separate peace with the allied troops in the West
in order to continue their battle with the Russians in the East.
Eisenhower ordered the Germans to surrender
unconditionally the next day. The Germans signed the
surrender document on 8 May, in the French city of Reims.
The Russians insisted that a separate signing take place in
Berlin on 9 May.
The American decision to impose sanctions on Japan, in
response to the Japanese invasion of Indo-China, convinced
Japanese leaders that war with the United States was
inevitable.
While the Japanese continued to negotiate in Washington,
plans went ahead for military actions. They were convinced
that they could not win a war of attrition with the United
States, so they planned a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor,
hoping that a decisive victory would be achieved forcing the
United States to negotiate. The Japanese attack was executed
with precision and, despite having broken the Japanese code,
the Americans at Pearl Harbor were caught unprepared, and
the attack was successful.
“If war with the Japanese does come, we’ll fight mercilessly.
Flying fortresses will be dispatched immediately to set the
paper cities of Japan on fire. There won’t be any hesitation
about bombing civilians--it will be all out.”
Time magazine reporter to his editor after an off-the-record
briefing by the Army Chief of Staff.
The attack came in two waves; the first at 7:53 AM, the
second at 8:55 AM. By 1:00 PM the Japanese Carriers that
launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu
were heading back to Japan.
The bombing at Pearl Harbor left 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed
planes and a crippled Pacific Fleet including 8 damaged or
destroyed Battleships.
On Monday, FDR signed the Declaration of War granted by
Congress. One day later, both Germany and Italy, as partners
of Japan in the Tripartite Pact, declared war on the US.
On 8 December 1941, the Japanese attacked the American
forces in the Philippine Islands, the British holdings of Hong
Kong, and Singapore, on the Malayan peninsula. The
Japanese were conquering new territory rapidly while the
Americans were recovering. Japan continued to conquer
territory throughout the Pacific towards Australia. By May of
1942, the Japanese reached the Coral Sea, where American
ships were waiting for them. The battle was technically a
draw, but it marked the first set-back in Japan’s offensive.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor destroyed the US battle
fleet, the Japanese were by far the most powerful Naval Force
in the Pacific. Between December 1941 and May 1942, the
Japanese enjoyed victory after victory in the North Pacific,
taking and occupying areas virtually unopposed. Flushed
with success, the Japanese high command decided to take the
island of Midway. Their two objectives were to destroy the
American garrison, occupying Midway Island, and to draw
the remaining U.S. Naval Forces to that area to destroy them.
Midway Island is situated one-third of the way from the
Hawaiian Islands to Japan. Its position was strategic for the
American Forces in that it was used as a staging area,
refueling and supply point for the Fleet. Perhaps the most
important development prior to the Battle of Midway was
that the U.S. had broken the Japanese Naval code. With prior
knowledge of the Japanese plans, the Americans were able to
plan their attack and hit the Japanese carriers after the
recovery of the attack on Midway Island when the carriers
would be most vulnerable.
By early morning, 4 June 1942, the Japanese carrier group
consisting of 4 aircraft carriers and their escorts were located
approximately 200 miles NNW of Midway Island. At the
same time, 3 American aircraft carriers, the Yorktown in TF
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16, the Enterprise, and the Hornet in TF17 were located
approximately 250 miles east of the Japanese fleet. At 0445,
4 June 1942, the Japanese carriers launched their first wave
attack consisting of 36 level bombers, 36 dive-bombers, and
36 Zero fighters against Midway Island. That left only 54
fighters to defend the Japanese fleet, and 36 of those were
designated for the second strike on Midway if one was
necessary.
Shortly after takeoff, the Japanese planes were spotted by an
American PBY which radioed the information in the clear,
then followed the planes toward Midway, dropping a
parachute flare above and behind them when they were 30
miles from Midway. The Japanese fighters shot down 24 of
the 26 American fighters that came out to meet them. They
attacked Midway with all bombers intact, and although flying
through heavy anti-aircraft fire, lost only four bombers and
two fighters. There were no planes on the ground, however,
so at 0700 the squadron commander radioed that a second
wave would be needed to catch the U.S. planes on the deck
when they returned to base.
While the Japanese were bombing Midway, the U.S. bombers
and patrol planes from Midway were attacking and harassing
the Japanese carrier fleet. Flying boats would draw the
fighters away from the carriers, then hide in the clouds. Six
torpedo bombers and four B-26 bombers attacked with heavy
losses, but no hits to the ships. At 0800, 14 B-17 heavy
bombers bombed the fleet from 20,000, again with no hits to
the ships and the zeros did not pursue. Shortly afterwards,
sixteen Marine Corps bombers attacked but they were all shot
down, with no hits on the fleet. During this period the
Japanese planes were being loaded with bombs for the second
strike on Midway, and the fleet was waiting to recover planes
from the first strike.
At 0835, the Japanese carriers started recovery of the first
strike, and about the same time a Japanese patrol plane
spotted the Yorktown and her escorts, and notified the
Japanese. The Japanese immediately started to rearm her
bombers from bombs to torpedoes in order to attack the U.S.
fleet. By 0900, the recovery of the first strike was complete,
but refueling and reloading still had to be completed.
Between 0700 and 0900, the American carriers launched 131
dive bombers and torpedo bombers with their fighter escorts
to hit the Japanese fleet. Crew coordination was poor, since
many of the pilots were new, had never flown together or
seen combat. At 0925, fifteen torpedo bombers attacked the
Japanese carriers; all were shot down, with no hits on the
ships. At 0930, 26 more torpedo bombers attacked the
carriers from two directions, suffering fourteen losses with
no hits on the ships. During these attacks, the Japanese
launched all available fighters, and those fighters anchored
overhead the carriers came down to help finish off the
attackers, leaving no fighter cover over the fleet.
At 1024, just as the Japanese fleet turned into the wind to
start launching planes to search for the American fleet, dive
bombers from all three American carriers attacked from
directly overhead, catching the Japanese by surprise, with her
decks loaded with fueled and loaded planes. In a matter of
minutes, three of the Japanese carriers were effectively
destroyed with all aircraft aboard, but the fourth carrier, the
Hiryu, escaped without damage and launched all available
aircraft. The planes from the Hiryu followed the Yorktown’s
planes home, and attacked the carrier, scoring two hits, but
losing 13 of 16 bombers, and 3 of 6 fighters. At 1426, a
second wave from the Hiryu attacked the USS Yorktown,
thinking it was a different ship than the one they had “sunk”
earlier. This strike also scored 2 hits which crippled the
Yorktown, which was sunk that night along with its destroyer
escort by a Japanese submarine.
American losses totaled 10 carrier-based planes, 38 shorebased planes, 1 carrier and 1 destroyer. The Japanese losses
were 332 aircraft, 4 carriers, 1 battleship, 1 cruiser, and 3
destroyers. Lessons learned from this battle by cracking the
enemy code allowed the element of surprise to favor the
American Forces. An over confident Japan had disregarded
the possible need to prepare for an attack by the United
States.
The Japanese began losing ground.
In order to defeat Japan, American forces had to wage a long
campaign of island-hopping, slowly taking back islands the
Japanese had conquered. On 7 August 1942, the 1st Marine
Division landed on Guadalcanal. It took nearly three years
and many hard-fought battles to get U.S. forces within
striking distance of Japan.
In February of 1945, 30,000 U. S. Marines landed in one day
on the tiny island of Iwo Jima. After 36 days of combat, the
U. S. took control of an airstrip within range of Japan itself.
The battle cost nearly 7,000 U.S. lives and most of the
22,000-manned Japanese garrison. Then the bombardment of
Japanese factories and military bases begin. Japan had lost
almost all of its conquered territory.
In April of 1945, more than 180,000 Americans landed on the
island of Okinawa and faced a Japanese Army half their size.
The Japanese fight to the end, losing over 110,000 Soldiers.
American bombing raids heavily damaged the home island
of Japan, but Japan was unwilling to surrender and prepared
to fight to the very end. In order to deal a major blow to the
nation of Japan and force the Emperor to surrender,
President Harry S Truman authorized the use of the atomic
bomb. On 6 August 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped
on Hiroshima. Three days later, the United States dropped a
second atomic bomb over the city of Nagasaki. On 14
August 1945, Japan surrendered.
Lessons learned:
 Japanese - Overconfidence in their plan.
 Americans - The role intelligence had in shaping the
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battle’s outcome and the effective use of bombers in
Naval warfare.
Aviation: This combat force really came into its own during
this war. When air power was used in support of the armored
attack, it made nonsense of the traditional idea of the static
linear defense. Further, aviation adopted many of the roles
we see Army Aviation employing today. The air Armies,
using hundreds of aircraft, were sent to accomplish either
strategic or operational goals unattainable in previous wars.
Additionally, we saw the first use of Jet Fighters in aerial
combat.
Armor: The tank became a centerpiece around which battles
were planned, won or lost. Armor did not replace the
infantry; rather it became a stand-alone tool commanders
used to destroy the enemy. Infantry still provided the final
punch needed to win the day, the tank simply made that goal
easier to attain. Allied tactics were quite different from the
Germans at the beginning of the war. The Allies intended to
use the tank in support of the infantry and would disperse
Armor, whereas the Germans massed armored forces to
spearhead attacks.
Airborne Operations: General Mitchell first suggested this
innovation in tactical operations in 1919. In 1930, the
Germans observed Russian parachute training and adopted
the idea into their doctrine. Their success in Poland, Belgium,
and Crete commanded the attention of our commanders and
we adopted and built on their methods, while Hitler decided
that the casualties suffered by airborne forces were
unacceptable. With this simple technique of delivering
resources to the fight and surprising the enemy, the structure
and doctrine of our military changed forever. Airborne
operations of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions provided
further success to innovation of airborne operations.
Rockets: After taking a back seat to artillery for over a
hundred years, the rocket moved forward and assumed its
place in war. The British Army led the way in rocket warfare
during the War of 1812 with, at times, volatile Congreave
rockets that were quickly replaced by powerful cannons. In
WWII the German’s rockets changed warfare. While the slow
traveling V1 could be shot down by a fighter aircraft, there
was virtually no defense against the modern V2. The age of
ballistic missiles had arrived. V2 technology eventually
helped America to reach the moon.
The Atomic Bomb: This weapon lead to a Revolution in
Military Affairs and changed not only the structure of war,
but also that of the entire world.
During fighting in the Philippines almost 100 years ago, the
Army decided that a handgun with more stopping power was
needed. The insurgent group, the Moors, made fanatical
charges while on drugs and the 38 caliber handgun in use at
the time just wasn't stopping the drug induced charge.
The Army tested several guns to replace the 38 revolver. The
test consisted of first firing 6000 rounds, with 100 rounds
being fired rapid fire, then 5 minutes of cooling allowed. At
every 1000 rounds, the pistols would be cleaned. After firing
the 6000 rounds, a group of misshaped and defective rounds
were fired, and then the guns were soaked in acid and rolled
in sand and mud, and test fired again. The Colt model 1911
pistol, made by John Browning, came through with flying
colors, and was selected as the Army's sidearm in 1911. The
Colt model 1911 served in WWI, WWII, and continues to be
made today, with only small modifications to the original
design.
F. ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
Identify the innovative changes in warfare
Action:
during the Cold War Era.
Conditions: Without aid of notes or references
IAW instruction and this student handout.
Standards:
The Bomb and its Initial Explosive Conditions:
Maximum temperature at burst point: several million degrees
centigrade. Fireball of 15-meters radius formed in 0.1
millisecond, with a temperature of 300,000 degrees
centigrade expanding to its maximum size in one second.
The top of the atomic cloud reached an altitude of 17,000
meters (10.1 Miles). Black Rain: Radioactive debris was
deposited by “black rain” that fell heavily for over an hour
over a wide area. 66,000 Dead!!!
In 1945, following the use of the A-bomb in Japan, Winston
Churchill said, “an iron curtain has fallen across Europe”.
He, among other leaders, had recognized the beginning of the
race for nuclear superiority. A completely different kind of
war was now being waged; the Cold War was on.
Overview of the Cold War, Postwar Estrangement: The
Western democracies and the Soviet Union discussed the
progress of World War II and the nature of the postwar
settlement at conferences in Tehran (1943), Yalta (February
1945), and Potsdam (July-August 1945). After the war,
disputes between the Soviet Union and the Western
democracies, particularly over the Soviet takeover of East
European States, led Winston Churchill to warn in 1946 that
an “iron curtain” was descending through the middle of
Europe. For his part, Joseph Stalin deepened the
estrangement between the United States and the Soviet Union
when he asserted in 1946 that World War II was an
unavoidable and inevitable consequence of “capitalist
imperialism” and implied that such a war might reoccur.
The Cold War was a period of East-West competition,
tension, and conflict short of full-scale war, characterized by
mutual perceptions of hostile intentions between militarypolitical alliances or blocs. There were real wars, sometimes
called “proxy wars” as they were fought by Soviet Allies
rather than the USSR itself -- along with competition for
influence in the Third World, and the arms race between the
superpowers.
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After Stalin's death, East-West relations went through phases
of alternating relaxation and confrontation, including a
cooperative phase during the 1960s and another, termed
détente, during the 1970s. The Soviet Union and the United
States stayed far apart during the next three decades of
superpower conflict and the nuclear and missile arms race.
Beginning in the early 1970s, the Soviet regime proclaimed a
policy of détente and sought to increase economic
cooperation and disarmament negotiations with the West.
However, the Soviet stance on human rights and its invasion
of Afghanistan in 1979 created new tensions between the two
countries. These tensions continued to exist until the push
toward democracy (1989-91) led to the collapse of the
Communist system. This opened the way for an
unprecedented new friendship between the United States and
Russia, as well as the other new nations of the former Soviet
Union.
Relations between the Soviet Union and the United States
were driven by a complex interplay of ideological, political,
and economic factors, which led to shifts between cautious
cooperation and, over the years, often bitter superpower
rivalry. The differences in ideology of the two countries often
prevented them from reaching an understanding on key
policy issues and even, as in the case of the Cuban missile
crisis, brought them to the brink of war.
Korean War: The war that sent U.S. forces back to school.
The impact of the Atomic bomb on the U.S. Army showed its
negative side during the initial stages of the Korean War.
Initially, the U.S. deployed troops piecemeal. They were
poorly equipped, badly trained, and totally unprepared (Task
Force Smith). The most important lesson of the War was the
rudiment of fire and maneuver on foot. The American troops
were too dependent on the support of tanks and artillery. The
lightly equipped North Korean Army utilized fluidity,
surprise, and concealment to compensate for their inferiority
in firepower. Almost pushed off the Korean Peninsula, the
American troops had to take risks in stabilizing the situation.
New equipment and old tactics were necessary; the
equipment came in the form of the helicopter. Initially
employed for observation, its major impact came when it was
used for medical evacuations. The Korean War did not lend
itself to many major changes in how the US fought, but the
introduction of the helicopter to the military set the stage for
the large-scale employment of Army Aviation in Vietnam.
Cold War: Cuban Missile Crisis: According to Nikita
Khrushchev's memoirs, in May 1962 he conceived the idea of
placing intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba as a
means of countering an emerging lead of the United States in
developing and deploying strategic intercontinental missiles.
He also presented the scheme as a means of protecting Cuba
from another United States-sponsored invasion, such as the
failed attempt at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.
After obtaining Fidel Castro's approval, the Soviet Union
worked quickly and secretly to build missile installations in
Cuba. On 22 October, President Kennedy announced in a
televised address the discovery of the installations and
proclaimed that any nuclear missile attack from Cuba would
be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union and would be
responded to accordingly. Soviet diplomats had denied that
installations for offensive missiles were being built in Cuba.
The President imposed a Naval quarantine on Cuba to
prevent further Soviet shipments of offensive military
weapons from arriving there.
During the crisis, the two sides exchanged many letters and
other communications, both formal and “back channel.”
Blaming each other, this was the closest the United States
ever came to an all-out nuclear war. On 28 October,
Khrushchev announced that he would dismantle the
installations and return them to the Soviet Union, expressing
his trust that the United States would not invade Cuba.
Further negotiations were held to implement the 28 October
agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light
bombers also be removed from Cuba, and to specify the exact
form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade
Cuba.
Recently released information, shines a light on how close the
United States came to a nuclear exchange. Three Soviet
submarines had arrived near Cuba undetected. Those
submarines were armed with nuclear tipped torpedoes and the
captains of the three vessels had release authority.
Vietnam War: Following WWII, the French tried to
reestablish their colonial rule in Indochina. Their efforts
failed despite the financial support of our government.
Four-star General Vo Nguyen Giap led Vietnam's Armies
from their inception, in the 1940s, up to the moment of their
triumphant entrance into Saigon in 1975. Possessing one of
the finest military minds of the century, his strategy for
vanquishing superior opponents was not to simply
outmaneuver them in the field, but to undermine their resolve
by inflicting demoralizing political defeats with his bold
tactics.
In 1954, at a place called Dien Bien Phu, Giap lured the
overconfident French into a turning point battle and won a
stunning victory with brilliant deployments. He showed a
great talent for approaching his enemy's strengths as if they
were exploitable weaknesses. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu
occurred between Viet Minh forces under General Giap and
French Airborne and Foreign Legion forces. The battle was
fought near the village of Dien Bien Phu in northern Vietnam
and became the last battle in the Indochina War which had
begun in 1947.
In a major logistical feat, the Viet Minh dragged scores of
artillery pieces up steeply forested hillsides the French had
written off as impassable. Closed off from the outside world,
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under constant fire, and flooded by monsoon rains, conditions
inside Dien Bien Phu became inhuman. The fall of Dien Bien
Phu shocked France and brought an end to French Indochina.
Geneva Accords, 21 July 1954:
 Vietnam divided at 17th parallel.
 Elections to be held in two years.
 300 days allowed for free movement between north and
south.
The French departed Hanoi on 9 Oct 1954. Viet Minh
formally took over Hanoi and North Vietnam on 11 Oct
1954.
South Vietnam's President Diem was overthrown in a
military coup. The coup took place with the tacit approval of
the United States. Diem was killed during the coup, despite
assurances that he would not be. The United States had hoped
that by overthrowing the unpopular Diem, it would
strengthen the opposition to the communist Viet Cong.
Strategy of Revolution. Total war that uses all facets of
power: Military, political, diplomatic, economic, and
psychological. Protracted war (exhaust the enemy’s will to
continue). Move in and out of phases. Revolutionary War as
a “mosaic” of war.
The lack of a political settlement left the door open for the
next Indochina War. The Viet Minh believed the Chinese
forced them to accept a partition of Vietnam rather than a
unified Vietnam under their control. However, they did not
give up on their goal of unifying Vietnam.
Ngo Dinh Diem became Prime Minister of South Vietnam in
1954 just as the defeated French forces left. The peace
accord called for elections in 1956 and unification of the
divided country. With American support, Ngo cancelled the
elections, knowing full well that Ho Chi Minh would have
easily won the presidency. Over the next seven years, he
presided over an increasingly corrupt, nepotistic and
repressive regime.
Vice President Johnson returned to the United States from a
visit to Southeast Asia and gave a report to Kennedy on his
trip. He stated that the US must either help the countries of
Southeast Asia or pull back its defenses to San Francisco.
Fearing a Communist expansion in that region, the US
viewed it as an opportunity to test their policy of
containment.
Following a meeting between South Vietnam's President
Diem and Kennedy, the United States agreed to increase the
number of American advisors in Vietnam from 340 to 805.
The commitment placed the prestige of the Kennedy
administration behind the efforts in Vietnam.
Financial and military aid was increased and by 1961 the
United States was deeply involved in Vietnam. In 1964, the
US had 16,000 troops in country; which increased to 543,482
by 1968. The war in Vietnam added a lot to the art of war. It
placed the US in the first non-linear environment, making it
difficult to find the enemy because of their guerrilla style
tactics. Search and destroy techniques were used in
conjunction with sophisticated equipment. The
unprecedented appearance of the helicopter and the birth of
air assault (Air Cavalry) transformed ground warfare. The
helicopter provided mobility like never before by transporting
troops to and from the fight and providing the ability to kill
while doing it.
On 12 January 1962, the US Air Force launched Operation
Ranch Hand denying the Vietcong the use of the road and
trails. Using a defoliating herbicide named Agent Orange,
over 10% of the vegetation in Vietnam was destroyed during
the course of the war. The defoliant also caused severe
disabilities among Vietnam veterans.
On 2 August, three North Vietnamese PT boats allegedly
fired torpedoes at the USS Maddox, a destroyer located in the
international waters of the Tonkin Gulf, some thirty miles off
the coast of North Vietnam. The attack came after six months
of covert US and South Vietnamese Naval operations. A
second, even more highly disputed attack was alleged to have
taken place on 4 August.
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is approved by Congress on 7
August and authorized President Lyndon Johnson to “take all
necessary measures to repel any armed attack against forces
of the United States and to prevent further aggression.” The
resolution passed unanimously in the House, and by a margin
of 82-2 in the Senate. The Resolution allowed Johnson to
wage all out war against North Vietnam without ever
securing a formal Declaration of War from Congress.
The first American combat troops, the 9th Marine
Expeditionary Brigade, arrived in Vietnam to defend the US
airfield at Danang. Scattered Vietcong gunfire was reported,
but no Marines were injured.
In early 1965, Barrel Roll was to conduct air operations in
support of the interdiction of enemy supplies moving through
northern Laos, and providing air support for Laotian ground
forces fighting the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao.
Following a Vietcong attack on the US base at Pleiku,
President Johnson ordered air raids against North Vietnam
and the beginning of a new round of escalation in the war, in
what was named Operation Flaming Dart. Sustained
American bombing raids of North Vietnam, dubbed
Operation Rolling Thunder, began in February. The nearly
continuous air raids went on for three years.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail was a complex web of different
jungle paths that enabled communist troops to travel from
North Vietnam to areas close to Saigon. It was estimated that
the National Liberation Front received sixty tons of aid per
day from this route. Most of this was carried by porters;
however, occasionally bicycles and ponies were used.
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decision not to run for re-election. In May, peace talk’s
began in Paris as the anti-War sentiment in the U.S. grows.
Air Cavalry was born during the “Ia Drang Campaign” in
Nov 1965. In addition to the helicopter, the United States
added other new technologies to their arsenal.
 The Smart bomb, laser guided with pinpoint accuracy.
 Infrared scopes that could see and kill the enemy in the
dark.
Vietnamization Actions: Increased size of RVNAF, with
equipment and force modernization in partnership with U.S.
Units. Improved advisory efforts. OBJ: Turned the War
over to the SVN forces as U.S. Troops departed.
Veterans from World Wars I and II, along with veterans from
the Korean War staged a protest rally in New York City.
Discharge and separation papers were burned in protest of US
involvement in Vietnam.
30,000 combined American and South Vietnamese troops
began Operation Cedar Falls, an offensive against enemy
positions in the “Iron Triangle.”
Operation Junction City, the largest US operation of the War,
was launched. Four US divisions as well as additional
brigades were involved in a massive search and destroy
mission along the Cambodian Border.
Khe Sanh was a special forces base until NVA activity in the
area heated up. The Battle of Khe Sanh began on 20 January.
The North Vietnamese, hoping to recreate their 1954 victory
over the French at Dien Bien Phu, began intense shelling of
the US base camp, located 14 miles below the DMZ. The
Marines base could only be reinforced by air, and the
Americans landed 5,000 bombs daily in defense of the troops.
In early April, Operation Pegasus was launched to relieve
Khe Sanh, finally lifting the siege on 14 April. After 12 days
of battle, 168 Marines and Navy corpsman were KIA, and
443 were wounded. There were also 2 Marines that were
MIA. The NVA lost 824 dead and 551 probably killed.
In a show of military might that catches the US military off
guard, North Vietnamese and Vietcong forces swept down
upon several key cities and provinces in South Vietnam,
including the capital, Saigon. Within days, American forces
turned back the onslaught and recaptured most of the area.
From a military point of view, Tet is a huge defeat for the
Communists, but turned out to be a political and
psychological victory. The US military's assessment of the
war was questioned and the “end of tunnel” seemed very far
off.
ARVN and U.S. forces initially were hard pressed, then
forced into costly battles of attrition to retake political
objectives, most notably in Hue, Saigon, etc.
U.S. losses = 1,001 KIA.
Allied losses = 313 FWMF KIA; 2,082 RVNAF KIA.
People’s Liberation Army and PAVN = 40,000 KIA.
14,300 South Vietnamese civilians were killed.
US: Johnson administration’s total loss of credibility. On 31
March, LBJ announced the unilateral bombing halt and his
Nixon was counting on an incursion into Laos in operation
LAMSON 719 to achieve two political objectives and meet
the military goal of handing over military operations to the
ARVN. One - Show the Communists that Vietnamization
was working. Two - Pressure Communist officials in Paris to
respond more favorably to Kissinger's peace initiatives.
Due to Nixon's accelerated withdrawal program,
Vietnamization failed at all levels. Nixon responded by
increasing air assets into the theater.
Results of the Easter offensive: NVA invasion defeated.
ARVN morale high. 100,000+ NVA casualties. NVA lost
50% of their tanks and heavy artillery. NVA occupied 10%
of the SVN territory. Nixon proclaimed Vietnamization a
success!
On 18-29 Dec 1972 (Christmas Bombings), 742 B-52 sorties
and 640 fighter-bomber sorties were targeted against Hanoi
and Haiphong. 1,318 killed in Hanoi. The U.S. Air Force
and U.S. Navy aircraft encountered intense enemy antiaircraft fire resulting in the loss of twenty-six aircraft in the
twelve-day period.
On 23 Jan 1973, Kissinger and Le Duc Tho reached an initial
agreement ending the War. The provisions: “ceasefire in
place,” U.S. to cease all military operations against DRV;
withdrawal of all U.S. troops within 60 days; repatriation of
all POWs; and the U.S. to “contribute to healing the wounds
of war and to postwar reconstruction of DRV.”
After the US departure, the South Vietnamese Army lost
twenty planes in a failed effort to defend Phuoc Long, a key
province just north of Saigon. North Vietnamese leaders
interpret the US's complete lack of response to the siege as an
indication that they could move more aggressively in the
South. The North Vietnamese initiate the Ho Chi Minh
Campaign - a concerted effort to “liberate” Saigon.
Ford calls the Vietnam War “Finished”: Anticipating the fall
of Saigon to Communist forces, US President Gerald Ford,
speaking in New Orleans, announces that as far as the US is
concerned, the Vietnam War is finished.
Technology was not enough to win the War in Vietnam, but it
did mark a significant new course in the evolution of
conventional warfare. Following the War in Vietnam, the US
military focused its attention on the defense against Soviet
aggression. The result was the strongest military force the
U.S. had ever seen. Highly trained units combined with
major developments in weapons kept both sides pushing the
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“Arms Race,” eventually putting the Soviet Union out of
business. The U.S. Army was capable, only on paper,
because its strength had not been tested. But in 1990, a
foolish act of aggression offered the US the testing ground
and they accepted.
G. ENABLING LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
Identify the innovative changes in warfare
Action:
during the Gulf War
Conditions: Without aid of notes or references
IAW instruction and this student handout.
Standards:
On Aug. 2, 1990, Iraqi military forces, on orders from
President Saddam Hussein, invaded and occupied the small
country of Kuwait. In a bold operation, Iraqi forces seized
control of Kuwait, its rich oil fields and drove the emir of
Kuwait into exile. With only 20,000 troops, thirty-six combat
aircraft, and 275 tanks, Kuwait was no match for the Iraqis.
Iraq had the 4th largest Army in the world. This Army was
battle hardened and had modern equipment. The attack
caused the United Nations Security Council to pass several
resolutions (9 Aug) to block Iraq from International trade.
Led by Egypt, the Arab governments in the region sought an
“Arab solution” to ease Iraq out of Kuwait, but on August 8
Iraq announced the annexation of Kuwait, dashing any hopes
of a peaceful resolution of the crisis. In response, the largest
coalition force ever assembled was forged; in addition,
several technologically advanced weapon systems were
introduced to the battlefield during the Gulf War. These
included Satellites (GPS, Communications), Computer
Viruses, and Stealth Technology.
Acquiring Kuwait would greatly improve Iraq’s access to the
sea. In addition, Kuwait was Iraq’s principal creditor, having
lent enormous sums during the Iran-Iraq War (lasting eight
years). Iraq had emerged from that war with a paper victory,
but now unable to repay its debts. Iraq owed Kuwait $17
billion and another $25 billion to Saudi Arabia and the other
Gulf States. Annexing Kuwait would cancel the debt and
suggest to the Saudis and Gulf Arabs that they not to press for
repayment of their loans.
February 2006
Within 48 hours the commander of CENTCOM, General
Schwarzkopf, was briefing the President on military options.
Meanwhile elements of the Air Force, Special Forces,
elements of the 82nd Airborne Division and a Brigade of
Marines were en route. Two coalitions were quickly formed.
The U.S. was able to form and keep a UN-Arab coalition
together through the entire conflict. Thirty-seven countries
were involved with 11 providing combat troops (U.S., U.K.,
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates,
Egypt, and Syria). Fourcountries (Yemen, Sudan, Libya, and
Jordan) provided support to Iraq, but none of these provided
combat troops.
The Plan: The rapid buildup of U.S. combat aircraft initially
focused General Schwarzkopf’s attention on the use of air
power. Within days, the Pentagon produced a plan called
“Instant Thunder”. Air planners believed that such a
campaign would prevent a costly ground war and in six to
nine days could achieve American national objectives,
including “the immediate, complete, and unconditional
withdrawal of the Iraqi forces from Kuwait.” As events
unfolded, however, General Schwarzkopf conceived of the
campaign against Iraq in four phases. In phase I, air attacks
would strike Iraq. In phase II, coalition aircraft would gain air
superiority over Kuwait. In phase III, air attacks would
reduce Iraqi ground forces and destroy their ability to use
chemicals. Phase IV, ground forces with support from air
forces would eject Iraq from Kuwait.
Weapons: Many of the weapons in the US inventory were
never actually used in combat. Weapons like the M-1 tank,
F117 stealth bomber, and the patriot missile were in the
arsenal, but during the Gulf War, weapons like the computer
virus that disabled the Iraqi air defense system were
introduced for the first time. The GPS was used on a large
scale, and J-Star provided information about enemy
movement, which took operational planning to another level.
Campaigns:
The Coalition’s Aerial Attack: The coalition had a distinct
advantage in air power, concentrating 2,614 aircraft in the
Persian Gulf area, 1990 of which were American. Shortly
before 0300 hours on 17 January 1991, the coalition’s air
plan unfolded when Army AH-64 Apache helicopters
attacked several frontier early-warning radar sites. The
destruction created a corridor through which F-15Es were
able to strike at Scud missile bases in western Iraq. F-117A
Stealth aircraft, undetected by Iraqi radar, arrived over
Baghdad and other targets and began dropping precisionguided munitions. Meanwhile, “Tomahawk” cruise missiles
from Naval vessels and missiles from B-52G bombers hit
targets in Baghdad. The strikes caught the Iraqis completely
by surprise, as they did not possess any means of detecting
the in-bound missiles or Stealth aircraft. When dawn came,
the coalition had lost only one aircraft during the night. Since
coalition aircraft at heights above 10,000 feet could operate
beyond the effective range of enemy anti-aircraft guns,
The Coalition Defense and Attack: In a sense, planning for
the Gulf War began in 1974. As a result of an oil embargo
imposed by OPEC in the wake of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War,
the Armed Forces began studying possible operations in the
event of a threat to oil supplies created by Iranian or Iraqi
intervention. Then came the Israeli-Egyptian peace accord,
which helped focus the Army’s attention more clearly on the
problems of operating in a desert environment, which lead to
the “Bright Star” exercise. Then in 1983, CENTCOM
(Central Command) was created from all service branches to
develop plans for a speedy movement of U.S. ground, naval,
and air forces to the Middle East. By 1989, CENTCOM had
developed an extensive contingency plan to counter possible
Iraqi attacks on Kuwait and/or other Gulf States. As a result
of the planning by CENTCOM, preliminary movement of
U.S. forces began on the very day that Iraq invaded Kuwait.
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U.S. Army Officer Candidate School
1776 Military History
subsequent attacks suffered only minimal casualties. The
coalition now had the luxury of continuing air attacks almost
indefinitely.
The Hundred-Hour Ground Battle: The Americans had
527,000 troops in the Persian Gulf region, consisting of seven
U.S. Army divisions, three brigades from other divisions, two
U.S. Marine divisions, and elements from Great Britain,
France, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The
coalition initially credited the Iraqis with having about
545,000 troops in southern Iraq and Kuwait, but by the time
the ground assault began, the Iraqis may have had no more
than 350,000 troops. Due to desertion and casualties, some
Iraqi frontline divisions had less than 50 percent strength and
those in the second line had somewhere between 50-70
percent strength.
On 24 February at 0400 hours, the “left hook” began. VII
Corps had the mission of advancing roughly one hundred
kilometers into Iraq and then turning east into the rear and
flank of the Iraqis. XVIII Airborne Corps was on VII Corps
left and had the mission of protecting the flank of the
coalition’s forces as they moved into Iraq. XVIII Airborne
Corps raced north toward the Euphrates River when the
ground attack began. The Corps consisted of the 101st
Airborne Division, 24th Infantry Division, 82nd Airborne
Division, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, and the French 6th
Light Armored Division. In the largest air assault operation
since Operation “Junction City” in the Vietnam War, the
101st Airborne Division flew 275 kilometers through driving
rain to cut off the main highway between Baghdad and
Kuwait. As the 101st moved forward, a brigade from the
82nd Airborne Division establish a screen to cover the flank
of the 24th Infantry Division and the 3rd Armored Cavalry
Regiment linked up with 101st and secured the only highway
the Iraqi Army could retreat on. The VII Corps had the
responsibility for delivering the knockout blow to the
Republican Guard by drive through Kuwait and forcing the
Iraqi Army back into Iraq. The VII Corps consisted of 1 st
Armored, 3rd Armored, 1st Infantry, and the British 1st
Armored divisions, as well as 2nd Armored Cavalry
Regiment. It numbered more than 145,000 and had 48,000
vehicles and aircraft. The magnitude of the logistical effort
can be seen in the Corps’ expecting to consume more than 5.6
million gallons of fuel, 3.3 million gallons of water, and
6,075 tons of ammunition each day.
February 2006
day of the attack, they met alternating pockets of Iraqi
Soldiers either ready to fight or to surrender. Around 1800
hours on the 27th the cavalry squadron of the 1 st Infantry
Division reached the Basra-Kuwait City highway; the bulk of
the division was about ten kilometers to its rear. Throughout
the night of 27-28 February, elements in the Corps wiped out
the pockets of resistance left in the rear until the “cessation of
offensive operations,” proposed by Washington and accepted
by General Schwarzkopf, occurred at 0800 hours on the 28th.
Assessing the Victory: The magnitude of the coalition’s
victory after forty-two days, however, can be seen in the
estimates of the damage done to the Iraqis. One month after
the cease-fire, U.S. intelligence agencies estimated that 85
percent of the Iraqi tanks, 50 percent of the armored
personnel carriers, 90 percent of the artillery in southern Iraq
or Kuwait were damaged or destroyed. More than 10,000
Iraqi prisoners were taken in the first twenty-four hours of the
ground battle, and more than 70,000 by its end. Although no
final figure could be obtained, the Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA) estimate several months after the end of the
War that the Iraqis suffered 100,000 Soldiers killed and
300,000 wounded, and that 150,000 had deserted. Eightynine Americans died in the War, including 38 in the ground
battle, and 324 were wounded, including seventy-eight in the
ground battle.
Throughout history, we have seen examples of Armies being
reorganized after major wars, post Gulf War was no different.
The lessons learned in Dessert Shield/Storm were
instrumental in moving us into the twenty-first century and
bringing Force Twenty-one on line. An army that is much
smaller yet stronger than ever before, an army that is capable
of fighting successfully on two fronts (strategic agility) with a
minimum lost of casualty.
Pounded by the coalition Air Force for weeks, the Republican
Guard at times still occupied strong defense positions, but the
superiority of the M1A1 tank proved decisive. The M1A1
could fire at and hit armored vehicles three kilometers away,
well beyond the effective range of the Iraqi T-72s. As the
final thrust of “left hook” continued forward, elements from
the 24th Infantry Division and 3rd Armored Cavalry
Regiment attempted to close on VII Corps’ flank. As the
coalition forces moved forward on 27 February, the fourth
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