The US Civil War provided numerous examples of how frontal assaults can be disasters in the wake of an entrenched enemy and the value of tactical defenses. However, at the Battle of Shiloh in April of 1862, the frontal assault by Confederate troops under the command of General Albert S. Sidney was a near success because he used the element of surprise. The battle was saved for the Union when reinforcements arrived before the dawn on April 8, 1862.
Reporting to commanding General Sidney S. Johnston, General Beauregard submitted his plan to Johnston for the frontal assault on Union troops at the Battle of Shiloh in April of 1862.
As the epic US Civil War Battle of Chickamauga developed General Rosencrans countered Confederate Bragg's plan to overlap his north flank causing the Confederates to resort to frontal assaults. One assault led by General James Longstreet was a success because Rosencrans had made the error of leaving a gap in one of his lines. This caused Rosencrans' right wing of his army to collapse. On September 22, 1863, Rosencrans was forced to retreat to Chattanooga.
It was the Confederates!
Confederates!(:
At the Battle of Shiloh, the Confederates first deployed heavy artillery in a meaningful way in the first day of the battle. The Confederate artillery was under the command of General Daniel Ruggles. This was instrumental in reducing the Union position in the so-called Hornet's Nest. This was the largest artillery attack at that time in North America.
the frontal assault
Reporting to commanding General Sidney S. Johnston, General Beauregard submitted his plan to Johnston for the frontal assault on Union troops at the Battle of Shiloh in April of 1862.
the battle of Gettysburg
As the outcome of the battle led to the evacuation of the whole Northern Virginia by the US forces it was a decisive tactical and strategical success for the Confederates
Meade's Federal forces took the high ground, forcing the Confederates to waste their efforts of futile frontal attacks.
Although the Confederates had caught Union General US Grant off guard at Pittsburg Landing on the morning of April 6, 1862, military theorists believe that Confederate General Albert S. Johnston's frontal assault was to risky. This assault was the beginning of the Battle of Shiloh.Even though Grant's army had its back to the Tennessee River, military historians, basing their opinions on the works of military theorists Clausewitz and Jomini, a frontal assault against an enemy army of equal strength with powerful reinforcements at hand would have counseled against Johnston's assault as being too risky.
The Union seized and held the high ground, forcing the Confederates to assault from a tactically disadvantageous position.
The Battle of Fredericksburg was a prime example of how dangerous it was to make a frontal assault on a well entrenched enemy. In this battle, the Army of the Potomac, under its new commander, General Ambrose Burnside made repeated frontal assaults against well entrenched Southern infantry and artillery. Although this significant result was seen by everyone, frontal assaults continued throughout the war.
The best example of an offense succeeding against an entrenched enemy was at the Battle of Missionary Ridge. In fact the Confederates also had the advantage of being entrenched on high ground. The main problems of the defending Confederates were confusion, bad luck, and a lackluster performance. Nevertheless, the Southern forces led by General Braxton Bragg were forced to retreat.
A big frontal assault that would utilise superior numbers to overpower the enemy and end the war quickly. It failed spectacularly, and Grant never tried this again. He settled down to a long siege of nearly ten months, calmly watching the Confederates run out of manpower.
The Confederates called Antietam the Battle of Sharpsburg.
As the epic US Civil War Battle of Chickamauga developed General Rosencrans countered Confederate Bragg's plan to overlap his north flank causing the Confederates to resort to frontal assaults. One assault led by General James Longstreet was a success because Rosencrans had made the error of leaving a gap in one of his lines. This caused Rosencrans' right wing of his army to collapse. On September 22, 1863, Rosencrans was forced to retreat to Chattanooga.