I always answer the call, "Onto Richmond!" My trip was a resounding success as I gathered more archival material on the Battle of Fort Harrison and soldiers' opinions and experiences with Ulysses Grant. I met some wonderful people and caught up with Chris Mackowski. One of the most exciting aspects of my time there was walking around the old battlefields of First and Second Deep Bottom. I did not realize how close Grant had come to breaking through Confederate lines, especially during the Second Battle of Deep Bottom. It seems that 1864 was a year of "lost opportunities," but they were opportunities nonetheless.
Upon reading B.A. Freidman's On Operations, I found that attrition is almost unavoidable in unlimited wars. Before proceeding further, I will explain the difference between the two. Limited Wars establish goals and or objectives that are restricted in some way. For instance, the Confederates did not aim to subdue the North. They only wanted to achieve independence in the states that seceded to preserve the institution of slavery. Their aims concentrated on only those states. Unlimited Wars refer to the unrestricted use of arms against a force to achieve total victory against a country and government until its collapse. Therefore, the Federal government had a more difficult task in subduing the Confederate States of America as it forced them to utilize their total economy of force to achieve total victory. Therefore, the Confederates focused primarily on victory by utilizing superior terrain and fortifications to force the Federal government and populace to give up after useless and costly assaults. It mainly worked in the Eastern theater until 1864.
In such cases, those fighting unlimited wars must develop new theories, technology, and strategies to achieve total victory. In World War I, the Germans created the Hindenburg Line, which was almost impregnable given the amount of barbed wire covering the landscape. As a result, French and British forces had a difficult time crossing these areas of defense. When the Americans arrived, they came up with using chicken wire to cross over that ground. Another example during the Civil War was when Grant was stalled on the battlefield at Cold Harbor on 3 June. He ordered his men to use "regular approaches" to keep up the pressure against the Confederate line without retreating. It began trench warfare and forced the Confederates to withdraw from Edgar's Salient. Nevertheless, many of these "trials" create further casualties or cause the attrition of armies.
It is up to Republican administrations and armies to encourage the public to pursue long-term war goals while fighting for total victory. Such as the case of the Dutch Republic and its independence. Despite the attrition and loss of territory, there was no such thing as "loss" for the "Orange Protestants." Their faith commanded that they fight until given their independence from Spain no matter the cost. That is why the war carried on for over a hundred years. Authoritarian governments have it easier fighting such wars because the opinions of the public or soldiers hardly matter unless desertion and civil war take place like that of the Russian Empire during World War I.
Furthermore, more authoritarian governments benefit from limited war aims, such as the case of Prussia in the 19th century, fighting short and quick wars. Their economy of force did not expend enough lives or supplies for them to fail. Confederate armies are a unique example of limited war aims costing too much. Many reasons support this idea, including the fact that there was no clear strategy among all the armies of the Confederacy. Robert E. Lee focused strictly on the offensive, losing men that he could not sustain between 1864 and 1865. Davis's failure to align a strategic plan among his generals was more problematic.Furthermore, the territory that required the defense of armies was too large to hold, given the manpower provided. Unlike George Washington, who simply traded space for time, Jefferson Davis believed in the protection of all Confederate states.
Question of the Week: Do you think the Confederate works at Cold Harbor could have been carried if Finnegan's Floridians had not camped behind Edgar's salient the night before or if the Union had proper reserves?
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