20 000 Union Soldiers Breach the Rebel Defenses at the Muleshoe!
943Back with some Americal Civil War action using the BITFA (Born in the Fire: America) mod! Today we're reenacting the second part of the Union attack on the Muleshoe, a bulge in the arc of Rebel works around Laurel Hill. This all took place during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House.
Leaving a brief description of what we're about to witness down below:
"Upton’s gambit was so nearly a success on May 10 that Grant decided it was worth trying again two days later with four times the force and far superior coordination. On May 12, General Grant ordered II Corps commander Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock to lead the attack on the Muleshoe, this time from the north, near its tip, where in theory it should have been most vulnerable. A heavy rain fell as Hancock lined up his divisions, realizing that he and his commanders had only a vague idea of how strong the Confederates were at the expected point of attack or even what the ground in front of the north side of the Muleshoe was like. No reconnaissance had been possible because a ridge had blocked the view of Hancock’s staff officers.
At 4:35 a.m. Hancock started his men toward the Muleshoe, the division of Brig. Gen David B. Birney on the right and that of Brig. Gen. Francis Barlow on the left. During the night Confederate pickets heard a rumbling that sounded like troops moving, and Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson alerted his brigade commanders. The Union’s surprise element was shot when the Rebels heard hundreds of Federals let out a loud cheer in the morning fog, thinking they were close to the Rebel works.
Once they reached the earthworks, abatis blocked the way. The Union’s front worked feverishly to clear them away. Within the works Rebels got the order to fire, but in the damp morning air many powder charges failed to ignite. The Yankees poured over the Confederate works by the hundreds, fighting hand-to-hand with bayonets and clubbed muskets. The Federals captured 4,000 prisoners including General Johnson and Brig. Gen. George Steuart, who refused to shake Hancock’s hand when taken to him. Johnson, who accepted Hancock’s courtesy, was taken to breakfast by a member of Meade’s staff. Birney’s troops, meanwhile, captured most of the Stonewall Brigade. Hancock’s attack, plunging into the heart of the Muleshoe, was close to splitting Lee’s army in half."
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/unions-bloody-miscue-spotsylvanias-muleshoe
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