Anaxagoras
Banned
During the 1864 Atlanta Campaign, as Confederate General Joe Johnston retreated slowly towards Atlanta in the face of Union General William Sherman's advance, Johnston planned an ambush of the Union forces at the town of Cassville.
Using clever tactics, Johnston was able to concentrate two of his three corps against a Union force of two corps (Confederate corps were much larger than Union corps), in such a way as to pin the Union forces in the front while preparing to launch a devastating attack on the Union left flank. Had the attack gone off, about a fourth of Sherman's army could have been destroyed.
Unfortunately for the Confederates, the attack was ruined by the unexpected appearence of a Union cavalry force, which happened to bump into the attacking corps just minutes before the attack was to be launched. As it happened, this cavalry force was lost and not anywhere near where it was supposed to be.
Suppose, however, that the Union cavalry force had not gotten lost and the Confederate attack had gone off as planned. What might the results have been?
With a quarter of his army wrecked and Confederate morale soaring to new heights, could Sherman have continued the campaign against Atlanta? Would this victory have caused President Davis to agree to Johnston's repeated request that Nathan Bedford Forrest be sent to attack Sherman's supply lines? Could it have impacted the war in other theaters, and influenced the results of the 1864 elections in the North?
Using clever tactics, Johnston was able to concentrate two of his three corps against a Union force of two corps (Confederate corps were much larger than Union corps), in such a way as to pin the Union forces in the front while preparing to launch a devastating attack on the Union left flank. Had the attack gone off, about a fourth of Sherman's army could have been destroyed.
Unfortunately for the Confederates, the attack was ruined by the unexpected appearence of a Union cavalry force, which happened to bump into the attacking corps just minutes before the attack was to be launched. As it happened, this cavalry force was lost and not anywhere near where it was supposed to be.
Suppose, however, that the Union cavalry force had not gotten lost and the Confederate attack had gone off as planned. What might the results have been?
With a quarter of his army wrecked and Confederate morale soaring to new heights, could Sherman have continued the campaign against Atlanta? Would this victory have caused President Davis to agree to Johnston's repeated request that Nathan Bedford Forrest be sent to attack Sherman's supply lines? Could it have impacted the war in other theaters, and influenced the results of the 1864 elections in the North?