Hell by the Acre, a book about the Stones River Campaign

I recently read “Hell by the Acre”,  a new history of  the Stones River Campaign. It’s a deep dive into the story. Most histories contain some accounts by participants. This one has  way more of them  than usual.

 

Those accounts confirmed some notions I’ve had about the Civil War. First, in the west, the standard position for infantry in combat was prone. Sometimes units would stand up to open fire, usually startling the target. If terrain offered some cover, they would remain standing. One account featured a firefight with a Union regiment standing while the Confederates lay prone. I assume the Union troops had some cover from the shape of the ground, since in most accounts all lay prone. Reloading while prone must have taken more than 15 seconds.

 

Second, accounts of the time almost always refer to enemy “columns”. It becomes clear in this book that “column” means a body of formed troops, not skirmishers. One account even says a “column” is in line formation. When a specific type of column is mentioned, as in column on the right division, then you can be assured the unit isn’t in line. But otherwise, it’s a body of formed troops.

 

The Union advance was slowed by the multi-day delaying action fought by the Confederates to allow Hardee’s corps time to concentrate with the rest of the army.

 

One interesting account of a delaying fight was the action by Captain Edgarton’s Union battery. Called upon to help another battery under artillery fire, he paused his guns in a wood and rode out with his section commanders. They all had their watches out. Each time the Confederate guns opened, they all noted how many seconds passed before the rounds hit. With the range calculated, they rode back into the wood. The battery was ordered out at the gallop. They rapidly deployed and opened fire. One percussion shell struck an enemy gun wheel, disabling the piece. Another struck just under another gun’s axle and exploded, throwing the gun end over end. Edgarton had a reputation as one of the most scientific gunners in the army.

If you’re looking for a detailed account of Stones River, this is the book for you. I have a Stones River scenario for Bloody Big Battles and this will help me update it.

 

The American Invasions of Canada

 

Since there has been buzz about annexing Canada recently, I thought it timely to post a brief summary of our previous efforts to annex Canada. And yes, those of you who know these wars well, I have left a lot of stuff out. It's a summary.

 

In 1775, before we even declared independence, a two-pronged invasion of Canada was launched. General Montgomery led the western force up the traditional Hudson River/Lake Champlain route, capturing the fort at St. Johns and Montreal on the way to Quebec. Benedict Arnold led about 1,000 troops up the Kennebec River and then down the Chaudière River to Quebec. His expedition suffered extreme hardship. Over a third of them turned back. The others had to dine on boiled cartridge box belts and candle tallow. An ancestor of my wife went up the Kennebec with Arnold. The two forces combined to storm the city on New Year’s Eve. 

 

Montgomery was shot dead; Arnold was hit in the leg. The assault failed, losing heavily in killed, wounded and prisoners. The attacking force was driven back to New York in the following Spring, since British reinforcements arrived once the ice melted on the St. Lawrence River. That was it for the rest of the 18^th century.

 

During the War of 1812, the War Hawks coveted Canadian lands. Others thought captured territory would make useful bargaining chips at the eventual peace conference. Ex-President Jefferson boasted that taking Canada would be “a mere matter of marching”. His administration and the succeeding one of his protégé Madison had starved the budgets of the Army and Navy, assuming that militia would suffice for any military needs. It was felt that professional military were tools of the opposition Federalist Party. The small, threadbare US army would start the war badly. Undisciplined militia would be found wanting when invading foreign soil, as would feeding and equipping forces with amateur supply troops.

 

The first action was an invasion from Detroit, led by General William Hull. British General Isaac Brock boldly ran circles around Hull with his smaller force of British regulars, Canadian militia and Native warriors led by Tecumseh. He bluffed the cautious Hull into surrendering his entire force of 2,000 troops and Detroit, with very few shots fired.

 

Next, Major General Stephen Van Renssalaer led 3,500 troops to the Niagara River. Brock dashed back east to face this threat, gathering some 1,300 Regulars and Canadian militia. The American regulars and some militia crossed the river in a badly planned move; no one had assigned people to row the empty boats back across. A few did, some to escape the fighting. As the sound of gunfire erupted from the British side of the river, the militia waiting on the south bank suddenly discovered that their terms of enlistment didn’t include crossing into Canada. Stranded on the north bank, those who crossed were defeated in a tough fight, losing nearly 1,000 prisoners. The intrepid Brock was shot dead during the battle.

 

Those were the only two serious efforts to invade in 1812.

 

1813 saw the inept, corrupt and traitorous General James Wilkinson lead a force of 8,000 troops towards Montreal. Posthumously, Wilkinson was  discovered to have been on the payroll of Spain while he commanded the US army before the war.

 

Another force of 4,000 under General Wade Hampton was defeated by a much smaller Canadian force and fell back before joining with Wilkinson. Wilkinson then contrived to get only 2,500 of his force into contact with some 800 British and Canadian troops under Lt. Colonel Joseph Morrison, and was defeated, ending the invasion. Superior knowledge of the terrain by locals combined with insufficient training, discipline, supplies and leadership by the invading forces helps explain the continued defeats at the hands of smaller forces.

 

An attempted invasion further west by General William Henry Harrison ended in a stalemate after heavy fighting on both sides.

 

Late 1813 saw Harrison invade Ontario and defeat a smaller British and native force. Tecumseh was killed (and cut up for souvenirs). This was the only  Canadian territory of note held by the end of the war.

The US Army slowly expanded and improved, under the pressure of defeats. Incompetent generals were weeded out.

 

In 1814 General Jacob Brown led an invasion over the Niagara River, which saw some success before finally having to fall back to their starting positions. At the US victory of Chippewa, well-trained US regulars were dressed in grey uniforms, due to a shortage of blue cloth. The British commander Riall assumed they were Buffalo militia and was surprised when they fought like disciplined troops. “Those are regulars, by God!” he exclaimed and that is why the West Point cadets wear grey to this day.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte was forced to abdicate in April, freeing Britain to send veteran reinforcements across the Atlantic. Later in the year the US was on the defensive. A British offensive into New York failed when the US Naval victory on Lake Champlain cut their supplies.

 

A British amphibious invasion led by the bold General Ross routed a larger force of mostly militia, some regulars and Navy sailors at Bladensburg Maryland. Ross went on to capture Washington DC, where he burned the White House and other government buildings. He then went by sea and moved against Baltimore. Ross was killed by a sharpshooter early on. His cautious replacement decided to wait for the Royal Navy to silence Fort McHenry. This failed, giving us the Star Spangled Banner. The invasion force went back to their ships.

 

In time, this force was reinforced and sent to attack New Orleans, failing badly. It is often said that battle was fought for no purpose, since the peace treaty had been signed. I disagree. If you want to know why, my earlier post about it is here. 

 

Finally, after the American Civil War, a group of Fenian veterans of that war invaded Canada in 1866. They hoped to trade Canadian real estate for Irish independence. After they won a battle against Canadian militia, the startled US government shut down their Buffalo supply center and with it, the invasion. The Wikipedia article can be found here. Here's hoping that it was the last invasion of Canada.