Video
The Confederate Battle Plan
Transcript
The Confederate plan is actually elegantly simple. General John Wharton's cavalry has informed Bragg and the evening of the 30th that, in fact, already the Confederate lines extend well out beyond the right flank of the Union lines down there, McCook's right wing. But they go well past Gresham Lane, that intersection of Gresham Lane and the Franklin Pike.
And Bragg has shifted gears. He had gone into this campaign thinking in terms of a defensive battle. But by the evening of the 30th, he's decided he's going to go on the offensive as well. Orders are very simple-- when the sun comes up, attack. Come up, hit the enemy's line, wrap around behind him. While you're doing that, you'll start to crush that line and ring it up.
We all know that soldiers fight shoulder to shoulder, two ranks deep like you guys are standing here. Anybody out here can be hit by every musket. Anybody over here, you're on your own now, pal. And your decision will probably be then run. And then you go and then you go, and it's like tipping a line of dominoes. The whole line will start to roll up.
Once they make contact, McCown, with Cleburne in support, will swing like a door behind. The units to the north will begin attacking and join that door as it gets ever bigger and bigger and bigger until it slams shut across the Nashville Pike-- back up where we were at the visitor center-- cutting the Union Army off from its base in Nashville and pinning them to the north up against the big bend in the Stones River where, again, it's running up near flood stage. And they'll essentially be trapped.
So it's a pretty excellent plan too. We're right sitting smack dab in front of Negley's division of Thomas's center wing. To our north is Palmer's division, and then Woods division, and then Van Cleve's division of the left wing. To our south starting at the road, the Wilkinson Pike which we're heading to, which you can just see at that gate down there, is Sheridan's division, Jefferson C. Davis's division, and Richard Johnson's division to the south with a slight curl down at the bottom at the end of Johnson's division, lines running essentially parallel.
Description
Ranger Jim Lewis lays out the Confederate plan of attack at the Battle of Stones River.
Video filmed and edited by VIP Mike Browning.
Duration
2 minutes, 11 seconds
Date Created
12/28/2012
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