Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage

Describes tactical theory in the 1850s and suggests how each related to Civil War tactics

Why did the Confederacy lose so many men? The authors contend that the Confederates bled themselves nearly to death in the first three years of the war by making costly attacks more often than the Federals. Offensive tactics, which had been used successfully by Americans in the Mexican War, were much less effective in the 1860s because an improved weapon—the rifle—had given increased strength to defen...