A new technique for infantry tactics
Upton realized the need for a change, and he devised a new tactic that concentrated his Soldiers’ into a human battering ram. This tactic required the Soldiers to be formed into a tight column that would surge by running at double time pace at their objective without stopping to fire a shot or even assist any wounded or fallen comrades in arms. The objective of this human battering ram was to overwhelm the enemy by concentrating his forces into a specific area to breach the defending forces entrenchments. Once the battering ram method breached the enemy’s entrenchments, the attacking force would be behind the enemy lines; this would then create confusion within the defending Confederate lines. After the human battering ram method breached the entrenchments, this enabled the supporting forces to follow through the breach created and overtake the enemy position. This tactic…show more content… Grant for his unconventional tactics and his success at Rappahannock Station six months earlier. The Civil War had now continued for several years and Grant needing a quick and efficient win and thought Upton’s new tactics might just deliver a clean victory. On 10 May 1864, Colonel Upton led twelve regiments; some 5,000 men with bayonets fixed over 200 hundred yards of open field in an attempt to beach the Confederate line at Spotsylvania. Upton men stood in three ranks and received specific instruction not to stop for anything until they breached the enemy entrenchments. Upton was convinced that speed and momentum of the human battering ram was vital in punching through the mule shoe successfully. The mule shoe is a U shaped defensive perimeter used in the Civil War. After Upton’s battering ram breached the entrenchments, success would rely on the supporting forces and Brigadier General Gershom Mott received the task to support Upton’s
