Battle Of Chickamauga - Research Paper Example

Battle of Chickamauga Introduction The battle of Chickamauga occurred in North Georgia. It is considered as the largest war which took place in Western Theater. Battle of Chickamauga was a part of American Civil War. This war occurred in 1863 on 18th September. The Army of the Cumberland and the Army of Tennessee fought against each other in this war for occupying Chattanooga. MG William Starke Rosecrans was the commander of Cumberland Army and MG Braxton Bragg was the commander of Tennessee Army. MG Rosecrans played a significant role in the battle. He used mission command in the battle which is considered as an important tactic for fighting a war. With the help of operation process the commander implemented mission of command. In this battle both the commanders gave direction, support and guidance to the army working under him. As per ADRP 5-0, during this war MG Rosecrans was unable to describe, understand and direct his army properly. The main roles of a commander are to analyze its operations, utilize its resources and communicate effectively with the army for implementing decision properly. MG Rosecrans used cavalry for delivering messages and establishing courier lines which failed miserably. He focused more on La Fayette Road for reaching Chattanooga. But if he had used Dry Valley and Vittetoe roads then he could have gained various opportunities to win the battle. MG Rosecrans was highly involved in managing different small issues of army. He was not concerned about the end result and was generating feasible options. He did not understand the operational environment of the war. Moreover MG Rosecrans failed to deliver his command properly on 20th September which made his army weak in the war. II. Development C. Major Reason Calvary was used in the war for delivering message and developing courier line. MG Rosecrans used cavalry for managing the army during the war. The misuse of cavalry made the Army of the Cumberland weak. The commander was unable to important information through cavalry. If the commander used cavalry for gathering intelligence then he could have gained strong position in the war. The commander should have focused on exploring various routes for conducting surveillances by using cavalry1. MG Rosecrans relied mainly on couriers for communicating information. He did not used Signal Corps effectively for communicating with its subordinates. There was a need for improved communication in the war. But lack of planning and inefficient use of assets made the communication process weak. During the war it was difficult for the courier to deliver its dispatches on time. For this reason information was not properly sent to the Department Headquarters. Courier from 15th Pennsylvania took eight hours for carrying dispatch to Sheridan which was seven miles away. It was impossible to maintain adequate interacting by using courier2. MG Rosecrans became personally involved in managing its staffs at depots. He provided strong guidance and support to the army. He also got involved in performing different functions and administrative works. As a result of this the primary focus of the commander shifted to managing the staffs and their problems. The operation of capturing Chattanooga became second priority for him. Poor condition of railroad became a barrier for the commander to capture Chattanooga. For this reason he focused on improving railroad which distracted him from his duty3. Many of MG Rosecrans staff officers failed to provide administrative and functional support which he provided to his army. During the war MG Rosecrans mainly focused on La Fayette for capturing Chattanooga. According to the commander the rout of La Fayette was considered as appropriate avenue for seizing Chattanooga4. Rosecrans assumed that by using this rout he will be in a good position to capture Chattanooga. But there were two other important routs which the commander forgot. Dry Valley and Vittetoe road were two other alternative routes for reaching Chattanooga which were not considered by the commander. D. Main Reason 2- Describe The operation and the activities of a battle highly depend on the commander. Direction and guidance is provided by the commander for maintaining disciplined army. The framework of mission command was used in the operation process. In this process the role of the commander was to conduct activities which were associated with describing, visualizing, understanding the operations of army. But MG Rosecrans failed to do these activities which weakened the position of his army. For handling various situations in the battle, a commander needs to make effective decisions by using resources and analyzing the environment properly5. Communication is an important factor in battle. MG Rosecrans focused more on courier for communicating with the headquarters and army. This communication process was very slow which created complex situations. MG Rosecrans intent was clear but still he failed to convey his intent properly during the war. By following MG Rosecrans intent, the army could have could have achieved desirable results. The poor communication between Rosecrans and his staffs interpreted the commander’s intent in wrong sense. The doctrinal term used by the MG Rosecrans confused his subordinates for which the intent was not followed properly. The commander used the doctrine terms “plug the gap”, “close up on”, “support” etc which were misinterpreted by Thomas Wood. Without analyzing the situation Wood followed the unclear order of MG Rosecrans. Wood did not even check the meaning of those doctrine terms and thought the order of the commander as superior. The commander expected many things will happen within a short span of time and for that he issued orders in complex and complicated situations. That time his staffs were busy in understanding the intent solving the confusions6. As a result the army faced unforeseen situations and threats. All of these reasons caused failure of the MG Rosecrans army and his operation. E. Major Reason 3 – Direct It is the job of the commander to place the key leaders in critical places on appropriate time for supervising and allocating resources effectively. This strategy helps in reducing threats and exploiting new opportunities in the battle. But MG Rosecrans failed to do this job properly. On 20th September he got message from his staff that Federal line was broken. The commander without verifying the message MG Rosecrans ordered General Thomas for moving to left and to support Reynolds. General Thomas followed the order of the commander but that made the situation bad. By giving such order the commander violated the basic regulation of war. MG Rosecrans was not supposed to shuffle his force by getting influenced by small issues. By this way he facilitated the enemy to attack them. The wrong assumption of the commander mismanaged the Army of Cumberland which developed a gap among their different troops of army7. Through this gap three division of LTG Longstreet penetrated in and attacked the Army of Cumberland. Signal Corps were not effectively used by MG Rosecrans. He was unable to provide right direction to the Signal Corps. The commander used courier for communicating with its army. This process of communication was dangerous and difficult for dividing army in that situation. Relying on courier became a factor for the failure of Army of Cumberland. On an average the courier took almost 28hours for passing information from the commander to his subordinates. In that critical situation the courier department did its job effectively but it had various shortcomings. Communication through courier was slower than aerial and electronic modes of communication. The information processes through courier was likely to reach to specific destinations very late that the expected time or could be lost easily. Terrain was established for using Signal Corps. But the commander did not focused much on Signal Corps. As a result of these issues the commander was unable to strengthen the position of his army. Moreover he did not used the resources properly which resulted in the failure of Federals in the battle of Chickamauga. The inefficiency of the commander caused huge loss for the army. Large number of military in the Army of Cumberland lost their lives in the battle for the mismanagement of the operations and activities8. F. Major Reason 4 – Lead In a battle it is the duty of the commander to define the purpose of the war clearly to its subordinates. The direction of the war is provided by the commander. He motivates his subordinates by guiding them properly. His effective leadership style helps to manage critical situations and issues which occur during the war. Physical presence of the commander is essential in many situations for achieving success in the war. Problems and complex situation can be managed effectively with the help of the commander. But the commander of Army of Cumberland, MG Rosecrans was not an effective leader. He failed to manage his military force properly. He was not able to manage his soldiers after the force of LTG Longstreet’s came into the Union line. When Union force was busy in strengthening its position in Horseshoe Ridge and Snodgrass Hill, the commander MG Rosecrans ordered to move to Chattanooga for preparing the defense force9. For following the order of MG Rosecrans, Garfield tries to communicate Thomas but the commander did not help them in communicating with each other or in preparing defense force. MG Rosecrans should have visited the battle field or gone to the front for understanding the operational environment properly. His presence could have changed the situation and provided good opportunities to the army. If the commander motivated, guided and directed his army efficiently then that would acted as a turning point for the Army of Cumberland. All these factors would have facilitated the Army of Cumberland to win the battle. The soldiers had to fight the battle in very critical situation. For this reason they were required to be motivated by the commander for achieving the purpose of the battle. But as a commander MG Rosecrans was unable to motivate the soldiers. The commander should have controlled the army from the front for getting the desired results10. This would have provided right direction to the soldiers. With the strong guidance of MG Rosecrans, the army would be able to manage critical situations efficiently. Balancing time is an important responsibility of the commander. He must analyze the operational environment properly for implementing different activities and functions on time. But MG Rosecrans was not able to manage time. He quickly changed his decision without analyzing the environment for which he wasted huge time during the war. Message and information were not communicated properly for which the soldiers of the Army of Cumberland were not able to do their activities and functions on time11. Conclusion This research paper focused on the battle of Chickamauga. MG Rosecrans was the commander of the Army of Cumberland. He was responsible for handling the entire army and achieving the purpose of the battle. But the ineffective management of this commander weakened the army which cost their victory. Huge number of people was killed in that war. The battle of Chickamauga was considered as second bloodiest Civil War. The Army of Cumberland and the Army of Tennessee were fighting for seizing Chattanooga for betting the benefits for four major railroads which were present in that place. This paper highlighted various mistakes which were done by MG Rosecrans while performing his responsibilities and duties during the war. For those mistakes the commander lost many opportunities which could have helped the army in capturing the Chattanooga. The four major mistakes of MG Rosecrans created huge gap between the plans designed and the activities performed during the war. As a result of this the purpose and the objectives of the war was not achieved by the Army of Cumberland. The commands of MG Rosecrans were not considered as appropriate based on the situation. The mismanagement of army and ineffective command activities were the main reasons behind the failure of the Army of Cumberland. In this paper it is also highlighted that the commander did not used Signal Corps for which communication process among the soldiers became very slow and that caused huge confusion. Bibliography Arnold, James. Chickamauga 1863: The River of Death. London: Osprey Publishing. 2012. Baker, Philip. Command and Control Mechanisms In The Chickamauga Campaign: The Union Experience. Kansas: U. S. Army Command and General Staff College. 1989. Bowers, John. Chickamauga and Chattanooga: The Battles That Doomed the Confederacy. London: HarperCollins. 2001. Cozzens, Peter. This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. 1996. Department Army. The Operations Pro12cess (ADRP 5-0). London: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 2012. Jones, Robert. The Battle of Chickamauga: A Brief History. London: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. 2011. Mendoza, Alexander. Chickamauga 1863: Rebel Breakthrough. California: ABC-CLIO. 2013. Reaves, Stacy. 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