The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Battle of Yellow Tavern (5/11/1864) - Jan. 19th, 2005

Civil War Times | November 1966 | William W. Hassler

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

.................................................................. .................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer.

If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions.

We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

Yellow Tavern

Here the South lost an important cavalry battle -- and one of its greatest generals.

As the Army of the Potomac raced the Army of Northern Virginia from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania Court House on May 8, 1864, dyspeptic Major General George Gordon Meade fretted at Phil Sheridan's delay in clearing the path for the infantry. When Sheridan drew rein at Meade's headquarters just before noon, Meade impatiently upbraided the 33-year-old bantam Irishman for letting the Cavalry Corps impede the march of Warren's V Corps.

General J.E.B. Stuart

Sheridan doughtily barked that Meade had only himself to blame for the holdup since he had countermanded Sheridan's orders to the cavalry. Realizing he had spoken hastily and unfairly, Meade put his hand on Sheridan's shoulder in a conciliatory gesture and said, "No, I don't mean that." But Sheridan was in no mood to be mollified. Shrugging off Meade's friendly hand, he arched his bushy eyebrows and snorted, "If I am permitted to cut loose from this army, I'll draw Stuart after me and whip him too."

Sheridan's prophetic statement, uttered in a burst of anger, expressed his conviction that the cavalry should constitute a compact striking force rather than a nondescript appendage of the infantry for such chores as picket escorts, wagon train guards, and courier duties. In April, Sheridan had called on Lincoln prior to taking command of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac and informed him, "I'm going to take the cavalry away from the bobtailed brigadier generals. They must do without their escorts. I intend to make the cavalry an arm of the service."

When Meade repeated to Grant Sheridan's boast about whipping Stuart, the commander in chief, who had learned to respect Sheridan in the West, quizzically replied, "Did Sheridan say that? Well, he generally knows what he is talking about. Let him start right out and do it." And losing no time, the cigar-puffing Grant found Sheridan and gave him oral orders to cut loose from the Army of the Potomac with his cavalry, pass around Lee's right, threaten Richmond and in so doing draw off and attack Stuart. Then, after exhausting his rations and forage, he was to replenish his supplies from Ben Butler on the James. Upon completion of his mission, he would rejoin the Army of the Potomac. Grant anticipated that Sheridan's expedition would disrupt Lee's communications and draw off Stuart's cavalry which had harassed his overland campaign.


General Phillip Sheridan

Sheridan assembled his division commanders, Gregg, Merritt, and Wilson, and briefed them on their mission against Stuart. "I know we can beat him," Sheridan confidently asserted, "and in view of my recent representations to General Meade I shall expect nothing but success." Sheridan indicated that the three cavalry divisions would move in a single column around Lee's right flank unless Stuart successfully interposed in which case the Federal cavalry would rejoin the Army of the Potomac by making a wide sweep around Lee's left via Gordonsville. The magnitude of the maneuver pleasantly surprised his lieutenants who were accustomed to hit-and-run forays against limited objectives.

Following this council, the horde of bluecoat troopers cooked three days' rations and packed half a day's forage on their saddles. To increase their mobility, the officers stripped the command of unserviceable animals and cumbersome equipment such as wagons and tents. The only bulky impedimenta taken were the indispensable ammunition trains, two ambulances per division, and a few pack mules to lug the baggage.

At daylight on May 9, Sheridan's well-closed column of fours proceeded to Hamilton's Crossing beyond Fredericksburg and thence southward on Telegraph Road toward Richmond. Sheridan, astride his great black charger, rode in the vanguard accompanied by his headquarters flag bearing red and white twin stars. The scrappy cavalry commander set a leisurely pace for his thirteen-mile column which residents in the area reported took four hours to pass a given point. Little Phil's initial objective was the north bank of the North Anna River just south of Chilesburg where his troopers could forage before meeting Stuart.


Sheridan at Yellow Tavern

Sheridan's 10,000 troopers had been moving at a walk for about two hours and had passed Massaponax Church, ten miles south of Fredericksburg, when Jeb Stuart learned that his new cavalry adversary was initiating a large-scale maneuver. The fact that Sheridan was heading south with his entire corps warned Stuart that the expedition's objective must be a major one: Richmond, the railroads, or both.

Jeb himself had spent the last few days fending off Union infantry and cavalry to enable Lee's advance First Corps under R.H. Anderson to get into position at Spotsylvania Court House. With Grant threatening to outflank the Army of Northern Virginia, Stuart felt obliged to leave Rosser's and Young's brigades of Wade Hampton's cavalry division to cover Lee's flanks.

To cope with Sheridan, Jeb dispatched Wickham's cavalry brigade of Fitzhugh Lee's division, which galloped toward Sheridan's rear. Then after informing General R.E. Lee of what was happening with the cavalry and promising to notify him "if it amounts to anything serious," he rode off toward Telegraph Road with Fitzhugh Lee and the cavalry brigades commanded by James Gordon and Lunsford Lomax. Altogether, Stuart had 4,000-5,000 troopers to intercept Sheridan's 10,000. Late in the afternoon Wickham caught up with Sheridan's rear guard, the 6th Ohio of Brigadier General Henry Davies' 1st Brigade. Wickham attacked and took some prisoners. The main Federal column shrugged off this jab without halting, turned off Telegraph Road, and proceeded toward Beaver Dam where R.E. Lee had located his advance supply depot on the Virginia Central Railroad.


JEB Stuart at Yellow Tavern

At Mitchell's Store, Wickham again spiritedly charged the rear guard, which firmly stood its ground on a hill. After one or two of his regiments had been repulsed, Wickham ordered Captain George Mathews to break the formidable line of bluecoats with a squadron from the 3d Virginia. Confident that "he will go through," Wickham admiringly observed Matthews' column of fours pierce the opposing lines only to have the bluecoats close ranks behind the attackers and maul them. In the ensuing scuffle, Matthews lost eighteen men and was himself mortally wounded while fighting on foot with drawn saber.

At this juncture Stuart rode up to a chorus of huzzas from his weary veterans. After conferring hurriedly with Wickham, Jeb decided to divide his forces. He would take Gordon's brigade westward to Davenport's Bridge where he could move in any direction to probe Sheridan's intentions. Fitz Lee was to follow Sheridan with the remaining troopers in case the bluecoats doubled on themselves to rejoin Grant or to strike out in a different direction.

About dark, Merritt's division crossed the North Anna River at Anderson's Ford while Gregg and Wilson encamped on the north bank, having engaged Wickham, who boldly struck the rear guard. While Merritt's troopers bivouacked, Brigadier General George A. Custer's brigade captured Beaver Dam Station. Charging into the lightly defended depot, the cavalrymen liberated 378 Union prisoners packed into two trains just about to pull out for Richmond. The Confederate custodians of the depot, apprehensive lest their stores fall into enemy hands, set the torch to the warehouses, which held about a million rations of meat and half a million of bread. Custer's men completed the job by destroying precious medical supplies for Lee's army together with 100 railway cars and two locomotives. The Michigan troopers also tore up the railroad tracks and telegraph lines for ten miles.

[alfa6]

I've seen the term enfiladiing fire a few times, but have no idea what it means.

enfilading fire - A type of engagement where the beaten zone of the firing weapon is on the long axis of the target being engaged. This usually occurs from the flank of the target. See FMs 7-7, 7-8 and 7-10.

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/army/docs/fm101-5-1/f545-e.htm

BTW, did you see where the gizmologist is building a British Mk V* for R/C tank Combat? Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Professional Engineer]

Howdy ma'am

[Iris7]

Shoot, I liked "They Live", and thought "Rowdy Robby" did OK. Of course, I have a quirky taste in movies, finding them silly, pretentious, and boring.

Liked the old Bogart - Bacall "The Big Sleep", but there is one really annoying continuity error.

[alfa6]

Y'all might wanna lookee here, a flash presentaion with sound of our folks over there. Turn up the speakers okay

http://www.clermontyellow.accountsupport.com/flash/UntilThen.swf

More tributes here...http://www.gcsdistributing.com/?pv=tr

Off for a nap as I have to work tonight, y'all have a great day

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[Professional Engineer]

1736 James Watt Scotland, inventor (steam engine)

I tell ya', this whole Industrial Revolution thing just might lead somewhere.

[Iris7]

Actually, those are important movies. Whatever that original zombie flick was (Day of the Dead?) and all of the sequels, Freddie, Friday 13, slasher stuff, I find obnoxious, rather sad, depressing, but important. Popular culture, hey, the bedrock of Democracy.

Anyway, liked "They Live". If you want a movie that has caused real damage to Western Civilization, try Jackson's "Lord of the Ring" cycle.

[Professional Engineer]

Hi miss Feather

[Professional Engineer]

Aha, thanks kind sir.

[Iris7]

First I thought the engine nacelles were for a centrifugal compressor engine, but were too skinny in the front (?). Curiosity aroused, googled, those fat parts are combustion chambers.

http://www.lancastermuseum.ca/engine_orenda.html

Interesting.

AVRO Canada was quite a place in those days.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! I sorta liked it, they had a good idea just didn't pull it off well.

[Iris7]

The "Industrial Revolution" so far has been figuring out how to use fossil fuels. Ran out of wood to make charcoal to make steel, steel needed for weapons, substituted coal, which was on the surface in Britain in those days. Coal substituted for wood as a fuel for general use, space heating, etc., mines got deep, had to be dewatered, Newcomen, then Bolten-Watt, and shift to steam for spinning and weaving from water power, cheaper cast iron and steel because of cheaper fuel replaced wood and hand wrought iron in machine (weapon) making, and so big fabric plants could be built, etc.

[SAMWolf]

Basically it's flanking fire. You're not firing at the front of the unit you're firing at it's flank. this is usually a good thing. :-)

[SAMWolf]

Now drop and give me 1200, or something like that, right?

Now drop and give me 1/2, or something like that, right?

That's closer to my capabilities :-)

[SAMWolf]

Shoot, I liked "They Live"

That's accounts for the 2 tickets sold :-)

[SAMWolf]

"Night of the Living Dead" A classic!! Liked "Dawn of the Dead", the original, not the remake, better.

"Return of the living Dead" is a great "tongue in check" take off on the original "Night of the living Dead".

"More brains!!"

[Iris7]

Not wild about pedantic Army definitions, enfilade means that the folks you want to kill are looking for you to attack them from a certain direction, and so have their defenses and attention focused that way. So, you try to maneuver so that your fire is not blocked by their defensive works, which means from the side and somewhat above, usually, which causes fear and panic in the enemy. That is, "surprise" in the military sense of the word.

From above more than from the side is called "plunging" sometimes.

These definitions are for direct fire, where you can see the enemy through your sights. Before WWI even artillery was direct fired, because there was no other way to aim because forward observers had no way to communicate with artillery batteries. In WWI a field piece battery commander had to run a telephone line cross country between his battery and some spot where he could observe his hits. No other way to do it.

You will see a lot of combat telephone switchboards in WWII, which is how Americans approached this problem. Communication wire everywhere. The wire, by the way, was a multistrand copper plated high tensile drawn steel "music wire" type stuff, just so hard to cut you would hardly believe it. The phones were generally sound powered, hand cranked magneto to ring, single wire with an earth return.

[Iris7]

Thanks, Snippy. Hope your virus gets better soon.

[Iris7]

Yeah, that's the one, the original "Dawn of the Dead". That is an important movie. What's his name, (looking it up, good old google), Romero?

Me, I thought it was strange, but very mythic, archtypical, appeals to deap fears indeed (you too can talk like an English major, just short out whatever common sense you were born with), but the dead are no more scary than a piece of spoiled beef steak.

[SAMWolf]

Yep, George Romero.