On the 17th of September, 1862 at approximately seven o’clock in the morning, Brigadier General Willis Gorman of the Union army began mobilizing his units as part of Major General Sedgwick’s division to assault the Confederate defenses in the West Wood. Gorman’s brigade was the first brigade of the second division under Major General John Sedgwick who was under the command of Major General Edwin V. Sumner, commander of the Second Army Corps. This narrative will discuss the events that took place with Gorman’s brigade by discussing the task and purpose of the brigade, including the individual regiments in Gorman’s brigade. The unit’s disposition in accordance with the enemy and friendly units in the same area of operations. This narrative
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Due to the mostly level terrain, efforts to secure higher ground was not a significant factor for this particular engagement at the strategic level. The presence of man-made obstacles such as haystacks, fences, and stone structures did, however slow down movement during Gorman’s initial assault through the Cornfields and into the West Wood. Once Gorman’s forces had entered the West Woods, they maneuvered past large trees and thick vegetation. This would have slowed their movement and would have made it difficult to spot the defending enemy combatants and artillery batteries firing just west of them. After they retreated back to the North Wood, they were able to use a stone structure to provide cover as they moved back.
During the moments prior to the battle, Gorman’s brigade was placed as the lead element in Sedgwick’s formation and positioned at the East Wood from where they would begin their assault on to the West Wood. Gorman’s Brigade was followed by BG Napoleon Dana’s 3rd Brigade as second, and BG Oliver Howard’s 2nd brigade as third in the order of march. Gorman’s brigade was formed in a line with the 1st MA was on the right of the brigade, the 82nd NY in the center of the brigade, and the 15th MA on the left. The 34th NY was on the far left with the 125th Pennsylvania …show more content…
the Confederate forces were able to reinforce their ranks and begin a counter measure on the Union ranks. Walker’s Confederate brigades managed to break through the left of the 15th MA and begin to flank around Gorman. By then the second and third brigades to Gorman’s rear had started to retreat, as ordered by Sumner to prevent the enemy from flanking around them. Gorman had then ordered COL Sully to retire his unit once the rear brigades retreated allowing for artillery to cover their retreat into the North Woods. As Gorman’s brigade retreated, they were ordered to about face at about 200 yards of their retreat to return fire on the flanking force. They had taken cover behind a stone wall before continuing their retreat another 300 yards. Although the 15th MA was unaware of the retreat, they were still able to successfully move back 500 yards were the rest of the brigade was regrouping at the North Woods. While in the North Woods, the brigade was able to hold position and suppress the Confederate flanking element with the help of artillery positioned just east of Gorman’s formation.
On the far left side, Suiter’s 34th NY formation was under heavy fire from BG Barksdale’s brigade. Due to the unplanned positioning, the 34th NY did not have artillery or adjacent unit support. As the enemy began flanking around Suiter’s left, Sedgewick gave the order for the 34th NY to retreat so as to avoid further casualties. They moved 400 yards north of their
Due to the mostly level terrain, efforts to secure higher ground was not a significant factor for this particular engagement at the strategic level. The presence of man-made obstacles such as haystacks, fences, and stone structures did, however slow down movement during Gorman’s initial assault through the Cornfields and into the West Wood. Once Gorman’s forces had entered the West Woods, they maneuvered past large trees and thick vegetation. This would have slowed their movement and would have made it difficult to spot the defending enemy combatants and artillery batteries firing just west of them. After they retreated back to the North Wood, they were able to use a stone structure to provide cover as they moved back.
During the moments prior to the battle, Gorman’s brigade was placed as the lead element in Sedgwick’s formation and positioned at the East Wood from where they would begin their assault on to the West Wood. Gorman’s Brigade was followed by BG Napoleon Dana’s 3rd Brigade as second, and BG Oliver Howard’s 2nd brigade as third in the order of march. Gorman’s brigade was formed in a line with the 1st MA was on the right of the brigade, the 82nd NY in the center of the brigade, and the 15th MA on the left. The 34th NY was on the far left with the 125th Pennsylvania …show more content…
the Confederate forces were able to reinforce their ranks and begin a counter measure on the Union ranks. Walker’s Confederate brigades managed to break through the left of the 15th MA and begin to flank around Gorman. By then the second and third brigades to Gorman’s rear had started to retreat, as ordered by Sumner to prevent the enemy from flanking around them. Gorman had then ordered COL Sully to retire his unit once the rear brigades retreated allowing for artillery to cover their retreat into the North Woods. As Gorman’s brigade retreated, they were ordered to about face at about 200 yards of their retreat to return fire on the flanking force. They had taken cover behind a stone wall before continuing their retreat another 300 yards. Although the 15th MA was unaware of the retreat, they were still able to successfully move back 500 yards were the rest of the brigade was regrouping at the North Woods. While in the North Woods, the brigade was able to hold position and suppress the Confederate flanking element with the help of artillery positioned just east of Gorman’s formation.
On the far left side, Suiter’s 34th NY formation was under heavy fire from BG Barksdale’s brigade. Due to the unplanned positioning, the 34th NY did not have artillery or adjacent unit support. As the enemy began flanking around Suiter’s left, Sedgewick gave the order for the 34th NY to retreat so as to avoid further casualties. They moved 400 yards north of their