History List -Greatest Battlefield Blunders

[MarchHare]

Originally Posted by AltaGuy

During the three day battle of Gettysburg - possibly the bloodiest ever battle - General Lee tried to build on the recent successes of the Confederates by launching a foray north into Union territory. After a series of small victories for the Confederates, the Union army had dug in on a steep hill above Gettysburg in a “U” formation. Believing victory to be imminent, a cavalry assault was led by General Pickett up a steep hill on the center of the Union position. 12,500 cavalry charged into a hail of cannon, artillery, and gun fire leading to almost 12,000 dead Confederate cavalry and fewer than 1,000 dead Union soldiers. Although there was some fierce hand-to-hand fighting on the ridge, riding horses up a steep incline into heavy artillery has never made much sense since.

The failed assault led to Lee retreating and ultimately a complete reversal of fortunes in the Civil War.

Small correction: Pickett's Charge was attempted by infantry not cavalry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickett's_Charge

[MarchHare]

And if we're talking about Civil War blunders, the Battle of the Crater has to be near the top of the list.

Summary of the battle: In the spring of 1864, Grant's army was chasing Lee through Virginia. The Confederates won tactical battlefield victories at Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, but this was all part of Grant's strategy to win the war through attrition: the Union could replace lost men and materials at a much faster rate then the Confederates could. Grant continually maneuvered his army to try to outflank Lee and threaten the Confederate capital of Richmond, and Lee was eventually forced to dig in at Petersburg, a vital rail hub. The ensuing Siege of Petersburg lasted for nine months and was an early preview of the immobile trench warfare that would become infamous on WWI's Western Front 50 years later.

To break the stalemate, a Union engineer devised a plan to dig a mine underneath the Confederate fortifications, pack it with explosives, and then blow a huge hole in the rebel lines. Union troops would then use the ensuing chaos to rush through the breach and make rapid territory gains. A unit of African American soldiers was trained specifically for this assault, but at the last minute, General Meade replaced the black troops with white soldiers who had not been trained for this task (he feared that if the assault failed, the Confederates would murder the African Americans instead of taking them prisoner, which would cause political blowback against Lincoln in the North just a few months before the 1864 presidential election).

The mine explosion went off exactly as designed, and a huge hole was blown in the Confederate lines. However, the replacement soldiers weren't familiar with the assault plan. Instead of attacking around the crater, they stormed into it, where they were picked off like fish in a barrel by rebel troops as soon as they recovered from the initial shock of the explosion. Union casualties were 3,800, compared to only 1,400 for the Confederates. The Siege of Petersburg would continue for another eight months. General Grant later said of the debacle, "It was the saddest affair I have witnessed in this war."

The crater is still visible to this day.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Itse

WW2 Battle of Kursk, AKA "Greatest Land Battle in History" is a sad example of pure military waste.

Germans threw away essentially the remains of their land army on an attack against a massive, well entrenched, well informed enemy that they knew had had all the time they could ever need to prepare, for a goal of relatively little real military significance.

The battles relative obscurity relative to it's size is telling of just how pointless it all was. There's no real speculation among military enthusiasts about possible alternate histories had the Germans won in Kursk, simply because there's no reason to think it would have mattered much. The loss in men and material was always going to be more than anything the Germans could possibly have hoped to achieve.

A lot of times people forget that the Soviets knew the intentions of the German's at Kursk due to the UK's Lucy Spy Ring.

Guderian campaigned against Kursk, he believed that the German's needed to preserve what was left of their military, and that no good would come from this battle. Even Hitler had his reservations, but he decided that they needed to engage in the battle, by that point he was beyond batshyte crazy anyways.

Zhukov who was really the Soviet Unions version of Patton in that he was extremely offensive minded, changed his tactics and decided that the Soviets needed to start in a defensive posture, soak up the German attack and then go to the offense. I watched a documentary where Zhukov ordered false fortifications and tank traps built to slow down the German's speed offense.

The Russian's outnumbered the German's by a 2-1 ratio in Tanks and a 3-1 advantage in men and a 4-1 ratio in heavy guns during the defensive phase. Anyone can tell you that the German's attacking the Russian's was sheer madness. When the Soviets shifted to offensive operations and threw their strategic reserve group into the battle the Russians had a 3-1 advantage in tanks a 4-1 advantage in men, and a 5-1 advantage in guns. Not only was this an extreme blunder by the German's but it outlined how bad their Military Intelligence had gotten.

[afc wimbledon]

Anzio would have to be high on the list, the allies made a perfect landing unopposed completely catching the axis off guard, then sat on the beach for days doing nothing, by the time they were ready to move in land the Germans had moved up reserves and the ensuing battle was another pointless slog up the 'soft underbelly of europe'.

[afc wimbledon]

Talking of Winston Churchill and his obsession with the 'Soft Underbelly of Europe' I'd also have to nominate Gallipolli, a complete waste of lives

[CaptainCrunch]

I would add Hitler's sleeping in on D-Day prevented the German's from releasing their reserve force of Tanks.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

The Austro-Hungarians invading Serbia in 1914...that really didn't end well for them.

[edslunch]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

A lot of times people forget that the Soviets knew the intentions of the German's at Kursk due to the UK's Lucy Spy Ring.

Guderian campaigned against Kursk, he believed that the German's needed to preserve what was left of their military, and that no good would come from this battle. Even Hitler had his reservations, but he decided that they needed to engage in the battle, by that point he was beyond batshyte crazy anyways.

Zhukov who was really the Soviet Unions version of Patton in that he was extremely offensive minded, changed his tactics and decided that the Soviets needed to start in a defensive posture, soak up the German attack and then go to the offense. I watched a documentary where Zhukov ordered false fortifications and tank traps built to slow down the German's speed offense.

The Russian's outnumbered the German's by a 2-1 ratio in Tanks and a 3-1 advantage in men and a 4-1 ratio in heavy guns during the defensive phase. Anyone can tell you that the German's attacking the Russian's was sheer madness. When the Soviets shifted to offensive operations and threw their strategic reserve group into the battle the Russians had a 3-1 advantage in tanks a 4-1 advantage in men, and a 5-1 advantage in guns. Not only was this an extreme blunder by the German's but it outlined how bad their Military Intelligence had gotten.

Fighting and winning under significant numerical disadvantage was common for the Germans in Russia. Attacking well prepared defensive as and giving up their superior tactical manoeuvring advantage was what really did them in.