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Advances in Military Geosciences
Scott Hippensteel
Rocks and
Rifles
The Influence of Geology on Combat and
Tactics during the American Civil War
Advances in Military Geosciences
Series Editor
Peter Doyle
University College London, Essex, UK
Judy Ehlen
Haytor, Devon, UK
Francis Galgano
Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA
Russell Harmon
ERDC International Res Office, Ruislip, UK
Edward P. F. Rose
University of London, Christchurch, Surrey, UK
Military activities are almost always strongly integrated within a wide spectrum of
geoscience. The decisive outcomes of land battles throughout history have been
dictated in large part by the terrain and environmental setting. Modern military
operations rely on a wide range of land-, air-, sea-, and space-borne intelligence and
knowledge of dynamic terrain processes and conditions. In addition, the study of
geo-based environmental science is critical to both the sustainable management of
military reservations and installations, as well as the evaluation of how terrain and
environmental conditions may impact military equipment and operations.
Advances in Military Geosciences contains single and multi-authored books as
well as edited volumes. Series Editors are currently accepting proposals, forms for
which can be obtained from the publisher, Ron Doering ([email protected]).
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15030
Scott Hippensteel
Rocks and Rifles
The Influence of Geology on Combat and
Tactics during the American Civil War
Scott Hippensteel
Department of Geography and Earth Sciences
University of North Carolina
Charlotte, NC, USA
ISSN 2522-8315 ISSN 2522-8323 (electronic)
Advances in Military Geosciences
ISBN 978-3-030-00876-5 ISBN 978-3-030-00877-2 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00877-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018956737
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Preface
I grew up on South Mountain, Pennsylvania, about 20 km from Gettysburg. Legend
had it that the members of my mother’s family hid in their attic and watched Lee’s
army march by their Cumberland Valley farmhouse during his famous invasion. As
a young man, I spent countless hours hiking and biking around the nearby battle-
field. My favorite place to visit was Little Round Top and Devil’s Den, at daybreak
in the spring and fall, when I could have the battlefield to myself.
As an undergraduate in college, I was torn between history and science. I knew I
wanted to be a college professor, but could not decide on a field of study. My father,
a mathematics professor, convinced me to pursue the natural sciences, largely out of
concern for my future job prospects. And so I became a geologist, pursuing my
Master’s and Doctoral degrees at the University of Delaware.
During much of my 22 years in graduate school,1 I commuted weekly between
Richmond, Virginia, and Newark, Delaware. This travel provided many opportuni-
ties for half-day visits to the numerous Civil War battle sites of Northern Virginia,
solidifying my fascination with my two favorite subjects of study: military history
and geology. I was especially interested in the intersection between the two—how
geology influenced the tactics and strategy of the American Civil War. Each of these
battlefields provided a different example, or many examples, of how the rocks influ-
enced the fighting. This book explores these examples at different scales.
I concede that I am a geologist first, writing from a natural sciences perspective
about history. I am not a military historian, although I have always chosen to read
books about military history over earth history. As a geologist, I choose to organize
this text around the three primary types of rocks, with individual chapters focusing
on battles in chronological order. I selected battles where the influence of geology
on the combat and tactics was straightforwardly demonstrated. Many important
battles, where the rocks played a lesser role, are mentioned only in passing (i.e.,
Chancellorsville, Wilderness, Shiloh).
Each battlefield chapter discusses the strategic situation prior to the campaign
and then explores the geology of the battleground, followed by the history of the
1
Duration of my time in graduate school provided by my wife
v
vi Preface
fighting. The final portion of each chapter is the most important—an analysis of
how the rocks influenced the strategy, tactics, and combat. As organized, the discus-
sion of geology and fighting shifts from larger-scale, strategic influences to smaller-
scale, battlefield tactics. The final portion of each chapter discusses geology on the
smallest (individual) scale, ranging from rock-throwing to the influence of sand on
weapons and fortifications. Other than the Introduction and Conclusion chapters,
only one chapter of the book varies from this organizational scheme. I found the
research on geology and Civil War photography to be wholly fascinating and thus
choose to include it—despite the variance from the organizational tenets of the
book—as the second chapter on Gettysburg.
Perhaps the most important contributions of this book are the numerous illustra-
tions. The Library of Congress was a terrific resource for extremely high-resolution
images from 1861 to 1910, and I have enlarged, cropped, and sharpened the details
of many of these negatives to add to the narrative. The block diagrams included in
each battlefield chapter are a first of their kind. They are inserted to provide the
reader with a geologic framework for the battleground—a schematic understanding
of how the rock types influenced the landscape. Vertical exaggeration is great in
these three-dimensional drawings and varies between battlefield illustrations; nev-
ertheless, a comparison of these diagrams and the later included maps of troop posi-
tions and movements best illustrates the influence of the underlying geology on the
combat.
Finally, this book would not have been possible without the patience, support,
and encouragement from my wife Kyra. Over the years her critiques of my manu-
scripts (too many parentheses) have made me a better writer. Twenty-five years ago,
I took her on a hike through Devil’s Den and the Valley of Death at Gettysburg, for
our second date. I will always be indebted to her for her willingness to share so
much time with me on these battlefields and to tolerate so many dinnertime discus-
sions (lectures) on everything from artillery trajectories to differential weathering of
igneous rocks.
Charlotte, NC, USA Scott Hippensteel
August 2018
Contents
1 Introduction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1
1.1 Geology and the Combat Experience of Union Private
William Tritt�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1
1.2 Rock Types and Resulting Terrain���������������������������������������������������� 5
1.3 Geological Provinces of the Eastern United States�������������������������� 10
1.3.1 Eastern Theater of War���������������������������������������������������������� 10
1.3.2 Western Theater of War�������������������������������������������������������� 14
1.4 A Brief Geological History of the Eastern United States ���������������� 18
1.5 The Great Valley ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 22
1.6 Strategy, Tactics, Combat, and Scale������������������������������������������������ 23
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 27
Further Reading ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 27
Part I Igneous Rocks
2 Second Manassas�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31
2.1 Introduction and Background ���������������������������������������������������������� 32
2.1.1 The Strategic Situation in the Eastern Theater
in the Late Summer of 1862������������������������������������������������� 34
2.2 The Rocks: Geology of the Second Manassas Battlefield���������������� 36
2.3 The Rifles: The Battle of Second Manassas������������������������������������� 39
2.4 Geology and Tactics at the Battle of Second Manassas�������������������� 45
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 48
Further Reading ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 49
3 Gettysburg������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 51
3.1 Introduction and Background ���������������������������������������������������������� 52
3.1.1 The Strategic Situation in the Eastern Theater
in the Early Summer of 1863������������������������������������������������ 53
3.2 The Rocks: Geology of the Gettysburg Battlefield�������������������������� 55
3.3 The Rifles: The Battle of Gettysburg������������������������������������������������ 59
vii
viii Contents
3.4 Geology and Tactics at the Battle of Gettysburg������������������������������ 68
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 76
Further Reading ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 77
4 Geomorphology and Civil War Combat Photography ������������������������ 79
4.1 Introduction and Background ���������������������������������������������������������� 80
4.2 The First Photographers on the Gettysburg Battlefield�������������������� 81
4.3 Locating “A Harvest of Death”�������������������������������������������������������� 83
4.3.1 Systematic Jointing and Spheriodal Weathering
of the Diabase at Gettysburg������������������������������������������������ 85
4.4 Geology and the Moving Dead Sharpshooter ���������������������������������� 88
4.5 Complications from Human Induced “Weathering”������������������������ 92
4.6 The Durability of Diabase���������������������������������������������������������������� 94
4.7 Final Analysis and Conclusion��������������������������������������������������������� 99
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 102
Part II Metamorphic Rocks
5 South Mountain���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 105
5.1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 106
5.1.1 The Strategic Situation in the Eastern Theater
in the Late Summer of 1862��������������������������������������������������� 106
5.2 The Rocks: Geology of the South Mountain Battlefield������������������ 107
5.3 The Rifles: The Battle of South Mountain���������������������������������������� 110
5.4 Geology and Tactics at the Battle of South Mountain���������������������� 113
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 115
Further Reading �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 116
6 Spotsylvania Court House���������������������������������������������������������������������� 117
6.1 Introduction�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 118
6.1.1 The Strategic Situation in the Eastern Theater
in the Spring of 1864������������������������������������������������������������ 119
6.2 The Rocks: Geology of the Spotsylvania Battlefield������������������������ 120
6.3 The Rifles: The Battle of Spotsylvania �������������������������������������������� 123
6.4 Geology and Tactics at the Battle of Spotsylvania���������������������������� 128
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 131
Further Reading �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 132
7 Kennesaw Mountain�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 133
7.1 Introduction and Background ���������������������������������������������������������� 134
7.1.1 The Strategic Situation in the Western Theater
in the Early Summer of 1864������������������������������������������������ 135
7.2 The Rocks: Geology of the Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield ���������� 139
7.3 The Rifles: The Battle of Kennesaw Mountain�������������������������������� 142
7.4 Geology and Tactics at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain �������������� 149
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 153
Further Reading �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 153
Contents ix
Part III Sedimentary Rocks
8 Antietam���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 157
8.1 Introduction and Background ���������������������������������������������������������� 158
8.1.1 The Strategic Situation in the Eastern Theater in the Late
Summer of 1862�������������������������������������������������������������������� 160
8.2 The Rocks: Geology of the Antietam Battlefield������������������������������ 162
8.3 The Rifles: The Battle of Antietam �������������������������������������������������� 167
8.4 Geology and Tactics at the Battle of Antietam �������������������������������� 180
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 189
Further Reading �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 190
9 Fredericksburg ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 191
9.1 Introduction and Background ���������������������������������������������������������� 192
9.1.1 The Strategic Situation in the Eastern Theater
in the Early Winter of 1862�������������������������������������������������� 192
9.2 The Rocks: Geology of the Fredericksburg Battlefield�������������������� 196
9.3 The Rifles: The Battle of Fredericksburg������������������������������������������ 201
9.4 Geology and Tactics at the Battle of Fredericksburg������������������������ 207
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 212
Further Reading �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 212
10 Stones River���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 213
10.1 Introduction and Background �������������������������������������������������������� 214
10.1.1 The Strategic Situation in the Western Theater
in the Early Winter of 1862���������������������������������������������� 215
10.2 The Rocks: Geology of the Stones River Battlefield���������������������� 217
10.3 The Rifles: The Battle of Stones River ������������������������������������������ 220
10.4 Geology and Tactics at the Battle of Stones River�������������������������� 226
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 233
Further Reading �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 233
11 Petersburg������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 235
11.1 Introduction and Background �������������������������������������������������������� 236
11.1.1 The Strategic Situation in the Eastern Theater
in the Early Summer of 1864�������������������������������������������� 238
11.2 The Rocks: Geology of the Petersburg Battlefield�������������������������� 241
11.3 The Rifles: The Battle of Petersburg���������������������������������������������� 244
11.4 Geology and Tactics at the Battle of Petersburg ���������������������������� 251
References�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 263
Further Reading �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 264
12 Morris Island�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 265
12.1 Introduction and Background �������������������������������������������������������� 266
12.1.1 The Strategic Situation along the Southeastern
Atlantic Coast in the Spring of 1863�������������������������������� 267
12.2 The Rocks: Geology of Morris Island�������������������������������������������� 273
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