Battle Tactics Unchanging: Civil War and Today
Overview
Shock and awe was a battle tactic that was used in the Civil War and theorized by Richard Sherman. It was meant to:
Civil War
In the Civil War, shock and awe was described by one of Richard Sherman's subordinates:
“This Union and its Government must be sustained, at any and every cost. To sustain it, we must war upon and destroy the organized rebel forces,--must cut off their supplies, destroy their communications…and produce among the people of Georgia a thorough conviction of the personal misery which attends war, and the utter helplessness and inability of their ‘rulers’ to protect them…If that terror and grief and even want shall help to paralyze their husbands and fathers who are fighting us…it is mercy in the end.”
As can be told from this quote, shock and awe was meant to cut the supplies of the rebels, destroy any communications and ties to the outside world that they may have had, and absolutely crush the very will to fight. This battle tactic was most famously used in the siege of Atlanta. Richard Sherman sent out reconnaissance troops with paper and pencils to make rough maps of Atlanta. Then, he and his troops set out for Atlanta, starting with burning down government buildings. After he took over Atlanta, "Sherman's March" took place. This was a month-and-a-half long shock and awe battle. Sherman and his men burned down everything in their path all the way from Atlanta to Savannah. They snuck up on small towns and villages and burnt them to the ground before anyone even knew what had happened.
Shock and awe was a battle tactic that was used in the Civil War and theorized by Richard Sherman. It was meant to:
- Overwhelm the enemy with great power
- Use dominant maneuvers on the battlefield
- Use battlefield awareness as an advantage
Civil War
In the Civil War, shock and awe was described by one of Richard Sherman's subordinates:
“This Union and its Government must be sustained, at any and every cost. To sustain it, we must war upon and destroy the organized rebel forces,--must cut off their supplies, destroy their communications…and produce among the people of Georgia a thorough conviction of the personal misery which attends war, and the utter helplessness and inability of their ‘rulers’ to protect them…If that terror and grief and even want shall help to paralyze their husbands and fathers who are fighting us…it is mercy in the end.”
As can be told from this quote, shock and awe was meant to cut the supplies of the rebels, destroy any communications and ties to the outside world that they may have had, and absolutely crush the very will to fight. This battle tactic was most famously used in the siege of Atlanta. Richard Sherman sent out reconnaissance troops with paper and pencils to make rough maps of Atlanta. Then, he and his troops set out for Atlanta, starting with burning down government buildings. After he took over Atlanta, "Sherman's March" took place. This was a month-and-a-half long shock and awe battle. Sherman and his men burned down everything in their path all the way from Atlanta to Savannah. They snuck up on small towns and villages and burnt them to the ground before anyone even knew what had happened.
War on Terror
The United States government starts to fight the war much earlier than anyone even knows. According to an inside military source (Rochester Community High School principal Mr. Jason Snyder), there were high-ranking military officials on the ground in the Middle East even before Operation: Desert Shield came about. Green Berets and Navy Seals worked undercover to unearth where the enemy was stockpiling weapons, massing troops, and gathering planes and helicopters. During and interview with United States military veteran Jason Snyder, he said that shock and awe is a term that is still used today. Taking out air force bases, communications towers, and other vital things were all main points of interest for the government when he was serving in the military.
The United States government starts to fight the war much earlier than anyone even knows. According to an inside military source (Rochester Community High School principal Mr. Jason Snyder), there were high-ranking military officials on the ground in the Middle East even before Operation: Desert Shield came about. Green Berets and Navy Seals worked undercover to unearth where the enemy was stockpiling weapons, massing troops, and gathering planes and helicopters. During and interview with United States military veteran Jason Snyder, he said that shock and awe is a term that is still used today. Taking out air force bases, communications towers, and other vital things were all main points of interest for the government when he was serving in the military.
Because of the abundance of technology that the government can use to gather information, the battle tactics that Richard Sherman theorized have been reborn and proved to be even more effective that anyone, especially Sherman himself, could have every imagined. We now have satellites to take pictures, unmanned drones to scope out potential battlefields and even drop bombs, reconnaissance aircraft that are flown to check all dynamic conditions of the battlefield, and aircraft such as the stealth bomber to go undetected while flying over the country.