Battle of Columbus 16 April 1865
Battle of Columbus 16 April 1865
Introduction
The Battle of Columbus happens to be the final battle of the Civil War. On the Easter of 1865, a day after the assassination of President Lincoln by a Marylander, the Battle of Columbus took place in Columbus, Georgia. The Civil War revolved around the idea of white supremacy and privilege and the need to justify the rights of the slaves in the nation. The Union triumph in the Battle of Nashville allowed for the General George H. Thomas to order General James H. Wilson to rally forward into the Deep South and defeat the Confederates by taking hold of their manufacturing and supplier areas at Selma, Alabama and in Columbus, Georgia. After Wilson had left Alabama on the 22nd of March 1865, he headed for Selma which was a major supply and manufacturing center for the Confederates (Causey, 2017). Under the capable guidance of General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Battle of Selma led to the fall of the General by the invaders outnumbering them. This incident occurred on the same day when Richmond was taken down by the army of General Ulysses S. Grant. Forrest was able to defeat the opposing end, but Wilson’s invaders were capable of breaking all the military protection and being able to capture Selma. Moreover, before moving forward, Wilson’s men ruined and ended all the supplies and military baggage. Then, on the 9th of April, 1865 it was General. Lee who submitted to the U.S Grant Appomattox Court House however Confederate General Johnston’s army was still whole, along with the army in the Mississippi area (Causey, 2017). However it was miscommunication caused by a failure of the telegraph in the South, which made the battle greatly flawed and General Wilson was uninformed of Lee’s submission, which is why they sustained their devastation.
Communication with Headquarters and the Battle
After the devastation at the Battle of Nashville in December 1864, the scattered armies of the Southerners were still adamant in controlling and maintaining the military resistance of the Confederate. The Union forces had particularly targeted Alabama, Selma, and Georgia, Columbus, as these were going to be troublesome as far as the opposition was concerned. General James Wilson arrived in Northern Alabama on the 12th of April, 1865, with thirteen thousand Federal forces in the capital of the Confederate in Montgomery (Causey, 2017). These forces were able to overcome the opposing forces with least resistance before them. However, in the war-torn and destruction-ridden Alabama, it was not known by General Wilson that General Lee had already surrendered on the 9th. This miscommunication or rather lack of communication which had occurred during the war was a major mishap which led to a huge loss of lives unnecessarily. The planning carried out by either side was commenced in the same manner. The Battle of Columbus happened to be the final battle of the Civil war where a few Confederates fought loyally although the war was not going to bring them any victory (Causey, 2017).
The Union forces of General Wilson kept encroaching Columbus, and on the other hand, Confederate General Cobb was strengthening the resistance of the Columbus from his part. The 3,500 forces remaining at his end, and a majority of them were the local military (Causey, 2017). There had already been a huge loss of life at the Confederates end. The rest of the military consisted of the guard troops from home that had come from Alabama and Georgia which were occupying the forts, parapets and temporary defenses and soil embankments. There was an utter numerical imbalance at this end since the Confederates were being outnumbered. General Cobb turned to increasing the defense on the inner side of the state as compared to the outer (Causey, 2017). The arrangement of the military surrounding and protecting was mainly placed on the Chattahoochee River. Although the River was prone to providing some degree of exposure and weakness to Wilson’s forces, it could, however, not stop them from approaching from the higher ground that was adjacent to the river and it was present at Alabama’s end of the region. There were also various rumors that spread around before the invasion such as heavy shelling upon the city, which warned all the citizens to seek protection and move away from the site as far as possible. The importance of Columbus also happened to be a factor that needs to be understood. It was believed that Columbus was united in supporting the Confederacy and wanted it to succeed (Wordpress, 2016). However, Columbus was actually a site which was divided over the whole matter. The newspapers of the city were also at odds with each other as one of them was favoring the Unionists while the other supported the War and some supported the confederation. It was thus Columbus that stood as a decisive town in handling the situation and deciding the fate of the war. However, it was all weak logic and reason which was not worth the war to be fought in it. The area over which the war was taking place was not secure enough, and the war was not going to benefit either side of the field. It was opposite Columbus that the western bank of the river sustained a town called Girard. General Upton, who belonged to the forces of Wilson Fourth Division emerged and launched his offensive on the southwest end of Girard on the Easter of 1865. The exact moment of the attack had not been anticipated by the forces. The Confederates had taken steps to ensure their protection and the towns of Columbus and Girard were embanked with four paths that led to the river. The Confederates had removed the planks from the bridge. They had also happened to soak cotton in turpentine which was placed all around the floor of the planks of the bridge (Wordpress, 2016).
This was done to cover the superstructure of the bridge. This bridge was blown up by the Confederates when the opposing army’s cavalry reached the bridge, and it was set alight, and fire accompanied the arrival of the forces. The Union cavalry had spotted the fire on the bridge and broke off from their assumed plan. The assault on the bridge had actually averted the assault that was going to be held in Columbus (Videos4publicview, 2011). The importance of attacking Columbus lay in the several factors which made it an important place. Firstly, it was a major railroad as well as a shipping center. Moreover, it was an important industrial area which stood as a major stronghold of the South. The major factories of the region produced cotton, clothes, woolen materials, shoes, rifles, cannons, and knapsacks. There were also many small shops, store, and depots and there was a naval yard in the city. Columbus stood as the sole industrial center in the South after the destruction caused by the civil war in the south (Causey, 2017).
The battle of Columbus could be avoided if the troops would either surrender from each end or the destruction and fighting would occur in Selma or Alabama or even in Girard, and the battle would end. However since the Union forces outnumbered the Confederates, it was not possible for the Confederates to fight them off and their only stronghold remained in the face of the city of Columbus (Videos4publicview, 2011). Its containment of the South’s military stock and industrial and shipping material made it the ideal target for the North to end the battle and attain victory. However, that was not happening, and the South was not backing off from a fight even after being outnumbered. Hence, the battle could be avoided if a negotiation would have struck or of the Union forces could have been destroyed by the explosion at the bridge. Their strategic planning saved them however it was again the lack of communication by the forces which led to the loss of life and immense destruction at both ends of the field.
The battle carried out at Columbus was not necessarily needed for the forces of the Confederates were not as strong as the Union forces. They were, however, stronger than the forces found in Selma and Alabama. It is described that the last battle of the civil war was a mixture of blind luck and confusion which was present at both ends of the armies. The Federals who were moving in the region were not unaware of how to move about in the area (Videos4publicview, 2011). They were able to cross the River at West Point, Georgia and were moving forwards. As they were able to see more clearly in daylight, they descended on the town in a northwest direction.
General Cobb decided that it was wise to set up a ring around the city, which was a miscalculated decision on his part. The higher positions had been abandoned in the north and the east and this accompanied with the evening darkness, gave way to Union troops to move about easily. GeneralsWilson and Upton then decided to focus on occupying the 14th street bridge up north of the river. The decision was carried out carry out a raid at night upon crossing Summerville Road. The attack was commenced by General Wilson. His troops were able to overcome Cobb’s troops by surprise, and they thought they had overcome two major positions of the Confederates. They dispatched two companies to take over the 14th street bridge, and this was a point of extreme fighting and bloodshed where John Pemberton was also found injured in the battle (Videos4publicview, 2011). The Union troops attacked again, and their defense was able to overcome them. The unnecessary loss of life was accompanied by the unskilled fighting squad at the Confederates end which made them cross the bridge alongside the union forces, and this caused the men holding on to the artillery end, not to shoot because they could kill their own men in the chaos. The Union troops possessed the east side of the bridge, and one of the men in Cobb’s forces was trying to reclaim the power at the bridge’s end. He was killed in the skirmish when he refused to surrender. Within two hours of the battle, the firing ceased. General Wilson was able to cross the 14th street bridge meanwhile taking over his headquarters in the Mott House, which was just beside the eastern end of the bridge. The battle led to 1,500 Confederates ending up in captivity. General Cobb took shelter at Macon, Georgia with some of his staff. The casualties are uncertain but have been reported to be around 145 killed and injured on either ends after the war. There was large-scale destruction caused by the war, and nothing was able to be salvaged, such as the ships, trains and industrial goods as well as the major gunboat called the CSS Jackson, which was a successful invention of Columbus (Videos4publicview, 2011). This was an unnecessary battle because, with the surrender of General Lee, the Confederacy was already a failure even if Georgia or Columbus were captured or not. The battle, however, was resultant of the lack of communication which caused a loss of property, economic loss and the loss of lives on both ends. General Wilson himself stated that had he known of Lee’s surrender, the battle of Columbus would never have been fought. The battle was definitively a nail in the coffin which established the victory of the North over the South. However, the outnumbering of the Union over the Confederates meant that they were already successful.
Counterargument
Conclusion
Conclusively, the Battle of Columbus happens to be a fight which was unnecessary and a deeply flawed battle which was caused by the severe miscommunication between the Generals. Had General Wilson known of General Lee’s surrender, he would never have attacked Columbus. However, his lack of knowledge of the surrender occurred due to the failure of the telegraph lines which had led to the lack of communication. The battle caused a loss of life in the cities of Selma, Alabama and then Columbus, Georgia. The fire lit at the bridge caused a great loss of life, and the Union forces were capable to gain advancement of the territory and nightfall hence they attacked the outnumbered Confederates and took over them as immediately as they could. The loss of life, prisoner of war and the accompanying loss of industry, ships, and goods came to a huge blow to Columbus. It was an unneeded fight, which was resultant of a communication flaw.
References
Causey, V. (2017, January 14). The last battle? Retrieved January 18, 2017, from
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/opinion/op-ed/article29441857.html
Videos4publicview (2011, May 10). The battle of Columbus: The last battle of the civil
war Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkzl3tPL09w
Wordpress. (2016, March 19). The bitter, lingering taste of “The last battle:” Columbus,
Georgia, April 16th, 1865, and its unseen aftermath. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from https://npsgnmp.wordpress.com/2016/03/19/the-bitter-lingering-taste-of-the-last-battle-columbus-georgia-april-16th-1865-and-its-unseen-aftermath/
