Observations from Battlefield Visits

Visiting battlefields has often led to insights beyond those gleaned from reading.

Most recently, a visit to Bunker Hill (yeah, I know it was fought on Breed’s Hill) was helpful even though it is an urban area these days. The hill is steep, enough to stop all but the most fit person from running up it. Set your parking brake. The excellent small National Park Service museum revealed that during the first two assaults, the redcoats were wearing their packs, to further impede them. For the last assault, Howe had the troops drop packs. That and the dwindling rebel ammunition did the job.

More details can be found here: https://corlearshookfencibles.blogspot.com/2025/09/bunker-hill-national-park.html

 

I had a fine visit at the Lexington-Concord Battle Road AKA Minuteman National Park. A great program was put on by volunteers in period dress, and a park ranger led us to the Bloody Angle, where recent archaeology has revealed where most of the fighting there happened. Not at the actual angle as you might suppose.

More detail here: https://corlearshookfencibles.blogspot.com/2025/09/minute-man-national-park-and-bloody.html

 

A trip to Omaha Beach in 2019 was enlightening. I was at the American right flank and got to see the devilish defenses at the draw leading up from the beach. A camouflaged concrete 88 pillbox enfilading the beach, covered by two concrete machine gun pillboxes further uphill revealed just what a killing ground it was. The buildings in the draw were all fortified. The landing was intended to take the draw. In the end, the more formidable looking cliffs were scaled and the draw was flanked. Looking at it from the ground made it all that much clearer. The “easier” ground was too well defended. We also went to Point Du Hoc. The Rangers didn’t suffer that much getting up the cliffs. Germans had to look over the edge, exposing themselves to fire from below and from supporting Navy ships. But the rangers were cut off from the rest of the invasion force for a couple days and faced unrelenting attempts to retake the position. That’s when heavy losses were taken. I've forgotten the name of the British guide I used but he was excellent.

 

A visit to Champion Hill was another fine outing. This is privately owned. I employed Sid Champion V to guide me across his family’s field. He has a dry sense of humor. The rugged nature of the Mississippi countryside is informative. The position Hovey chose for his artillery was inspired. The north side of Champion Hill where Bowen’s counterattack came down looks like a shooting gallery from the gun line. Not a shred of cover from the 16 pieces at a few hundred yards. The choice of ground for the final Confederate rearguard action is also clear, a slight rise and a good field of fire.

 

Not much of Fort Fisher remains but enough of the extreme left flank fortifications lets you imagine the works stretching east and then south above the beach. A restaurant in town featured Colonel Lamb’s pecan pie, saying the Yankees got the colonel but not his pie. Perhaps the price per slice put them off.

 

Chattanooga was informative and beautiful. The usual tales of guns not being able to cover the ground sufficiently seemed poor. A closer look revealing inept tactical decisions by the defending generals was more satisfying.

Details are here: https://corlearshookfencibles.blogspot.com/2023/09/myths-of-lookout-mountain-and.html

 

Chickamauga didn’t reveal that much to me, being wooded and jumbled. One can see how confused the battle was. Very pretty and worth the detour.

 

Shiloh revealed that the sunken road at the Hornet’s Nest wasn’t so sunken, not much cover at all. I suspect it had two things to recommend it as a place to make a stand. One, a clear field of fire across Duncan and Review fields, fairly rare at Shiloh. Since it was where the troops had practiced drill, everyone knew well how to get there, making it a logical place to muster troops. Perhaps allow your little tin guys to get there without problems, or move faster towards it if you don't have movement rolls?

 

Stones River has some rough terrain indeed in the woods, and the Union left flank has another fine artillery position where Mendenhall massed his guns to abort Breckinridge’s breakthrough.

 

Franklin is a pretty town in the process of expanding public access to parts of the battlefield. The many bullet holes in the Carter House show the tendency to fire high. I suspect the battlefield has gotten better access in the decade plus since I was there.

 

Antietam’s Bloody Lane was a revelation. The sunken road is shallow. Troops in it had to crouch down on all fours to get cover, an uncomfortable position to hold for a while. It is too shallow to give cover to kneeling troops, and too deep for prone troops to use it well. It is also in low ground. Union attacks came over a rise within easy musket range. As each was bloodily repulsed, they recoiled over the rise and some fired back using the crest as partial cover. DH Hill’s Confederate division, minus some elements sent north to the left flank, held that position against repeated assaults. Anderson’s division was sent in to reinforce them and the defense fell apart. Why? Standing on the Union rise made the answer apparent. The Union troops, after trading fire with enemy in cover,  suddenly had targets in the open. They could fall back a little and be invisible to the enemy in the sunken road. Using the crest as partial cover, they could blast away at Anderson’s troops descending the opposite rise and get some measure of revenge. Anderson went down wounded, leaving his inept senior brigadier Pryor in charge. Many of his troops never got into the road. Those that did ran in under heavy fire, disorganizing those already there. Soon a blunder left their right open. It was exploited on the spot, causing heavy losses and the collapse of the Confederate center. I haven’t read of how the terrain affected this before, but seeing it was obvious. Fresh troops would have ended the career of RE Lee and his army, but of course McClellan didn’t send any.

I can’t recall wargame rules that allow a reinforcement to disorganize the troops being reinforced, though that happened in spades at the Mule Shoe during Spotsylvania. Well, we can’t have everything.

 

Gettysburg, so much to say. One thing I recall: the place where Chamberlain bent his line back is on a rock outcrop, just steep enough to make a rush at that point difficult, especially with armed folks on top waiting. There are more things. Been there twice and need to go again, since my last visit was in the early 90s.

 

Bull run had one major revelation. As defeated Confederates retreated to Henry House Hill, their attached artillery coalesced around Jackson’s waiting brigade. Most brigades had an attached artillery battery at this time of 4 or 6 guns. Between his own guns and those rallied to him, Jackson had 13 guns, all represented on the field. It goes some way to explaining the tough stand Jackson made. Stonewall had two to three times the artillery of a normal brigade.

 

I’ve probably overlooked some things. I don’t recall Saratoga or Stoney Point revealing things but they were both in pretty places. Stoney Point is along the Hudson and has picnic tables. Must have a picnic  there sometime when the weather permits.