Through the Smoke: Civil War Guerrillas
Introduction
In the modern military perception, the tactics used by guerrillas can be explained as being primitive due to the fact that, a good number of the strategies employed by guerrillas are unconventional and contrary to regular soldiers, guerrillas do not operate under any strict code and as a result they act as they want. This is brought about by their desperation to gain freedom and any other thing they were fighting for, taking into consideration that most of these guerrillas do not have any proper military training. Since guerrillas mostly fight from their own territories, they take advantage of the extensive knowledge of the terrain and other aspects such as weather patterns to frustrate the enemy .
From the weapons and the tactics they employ, guerrillas establish themselves as discernible and ensured that the communities from where they hail provide support in terms of intelligence and knowledge of the terrain. There is an argument amongst the historians regarding whether the guerrilla groups were necessary and whether they contributed towards the civil war positively or negatively. This is the root that this paper seeks to define i.e. the various aspects brought out by guerrillas during the American civil not just on the Confederate side but also on the Federal side and the perception that various groups had on the guerr
The Guerrilla Aspect in the American Civil War
The civil war was a period where several American states sought to establish superiority brought about by ideological and political differences. The America civil war was about individuals who advocated for overall union among the American states, some agreed with this concept while others disagreed. The political ideological differences had tremendous implications. On the subject of the guerrilla war, the American civil war was exclusive in the perspective that it involved the situation of a fellow citizen fighting against another fellow citizen. The guerrilla war that was during the American civil war was a state of affairs where individuals who varied in their opinions observed the rules concerning war. The several groups that organized themselves during the civil war were scattered in and diverse in both politics and thought . During the American civil war there were organized groups fighting against each other because of ideological differences. An example was a group of Quantrill Raiders who extensively fought soldiers who were for the formation of the union in areas around Missouri. The aspect of guerrilla warfare brought abject disorganization during the civil war because in some instances the fighting groups were not objective in their course but used the state of war as an excuse to terrorize innocent civilians . The country side became dangerous due to these groups because the tactics they employed were unconventional and in most instances they used fear and coercion to compel people to agree with them and support their course. There were also partisan units supported by the Confederation. Concerning the support for the partisan groups the confederate passed the Partisan Ranger Act which allowed the existence of groups with allegiance to the confederation. Although the groups did not formally serve in the army they were very important to the confederation. Such groups included the Comanche, the McNeill Rangers and the Blazer Scouts. They served as irregular units that operated independently but they were also very important for the Confederate which needed such groups since they were disadvantaged in terms of numbers and in terms of experience.
The guerrilla groups were sometimes led by leaders who had other interests apart from their support on the course of the war. Additionally, due to the inexperience and apparent lack of discipline among these groups, the position they operated in was both precarious and unstable because their loyalty and allegiance was not definite . An example of such a group was led by John Morgan and fought alongside the confederate soldiers and also4 fought in the areas around Tennessee. Their main tasks included destroying facilities such as bridges to prevent communication and movement of the enemies and therefore sabotaging its operations. This act of sabotaging enemy operation by destroying infrastructure is a major characteristic of guerrillas in any part of the world. Confederate soldiers could not have used such tactics because they operated with certain codes that prevented them from employing such desperate tactics. Guerrillas do not always operate using a particular code because they are not cooperatively trained and therefore each member can have their own personal interests aside from the collective interest held by the group. The group could not also guarantee the discipline of each member. The confederate army was disciplined and operated in a manner that showed a particular code that ensured their discipline. However the guerrillas did not operate using any particular code and their discipline depended on the values of their leaders and how much the members respected their leaders . The aspect of indiscipline was brought out when the Morgan group defied orders by the confederate not to fight beyond the Ohio River.
Morgan had the dream of compelling the northern states to join the war and therefore decided to defy the directives by the confederate and made several campaigns beyond the Ohio River. The Morgan group mostly used tactics such as the destruction of bridges and the confiscation of livestock belonging to the enemy. Although the confederation did not fully agree with most of the tactics employed by the guerrilla groups it had no choice but to continue to use their services because they were materialistic in determining the course of the war because they were both large in number and influential . Guerrillas use various tactics such as the knowledge of terrain and weather conditions to gain advantage over the enemy. Although guerrilla warfare mostly emerged as a small group that that supported the views of the confederate, they eventually joined the confederate army and their triumph could not be doubted.
The guerrilla warfare during the civil war was unique both in terms of the political motivation and the strategies employed. Most guerrilla wars are characterized by groups that fight for the overall freedom of a particular country, however during the civil war it was states fighting against each other due to the ideological differences. The civil war was characterized by a national policy which advocated for unification of the various states and establishment of a confederation. The Confederate and the Federal were organized and objective in their operations in spite of the fact that it involved several semi-autonomous groups. The Guerrillas however were not professional in their tactics and it was apparent that the lack of organization and coordination would eventually threaten the support that they enjoyed from the people. In any circumstance guerrilla warfare needed to be motivated by a political goal which was to be well defined and elaborate otherwise it would fail. Guerrilla war mostly appeals to civilians because it mostly consists of members drawn from the community and who belief that they are fighting for a noble cause. They gain much support from the people, by eliciting sympathy by virtue of the sacrifice that they make and they therefore gain privileges such as guidance concerning the terrain, confusing the enemies and also acquiring intelligent information concerning the enemy . Regardless of whether the guerrillas are untrained and inexperienced do not matter but just the fact that they are fighting for a noble cause makes people support and agree with them. The Federal did not support the formation of military groups because it denied the Union of recruits. The Confederate did also not support most of the activities by guerrilla groups but knew that they needed them and apparently decided to turn a blind eye.
In the same perspective guerrilla war was also brought out when the occupants of the south formed several groups to fight against the forces of the union. Their strategies included surprise attacks followed by periods of hiding to prevent the enemy from studying and understanding them. Their major objective was to disrupt and frustrate the efforts by the union solders. Due to the fact that they did not operate under any particular code the southern guerrillas also attacked those members of the community who sympathized with the union. During their attacks they would take hold of property or destroy it completely but in most instances they used their loot from the union sympathizers to replenish their supplies. According to the confederate, the guerrilla groups were placed in categories with some being referred to as the Partisan Rangers.
The government knew that the guerrillas regardless of where their allegiance lay would eventually become menace because of their lack of training in terms of military operations and discipline. Therefore the government initiated policies that would ensure that the support that the guerrilla groups enjoyed from the local communities would be reduced and that these policies would also prevent new recruits . However this was a difficult and frustrating task for the union troops and it became apparent that they had to use military force to ensure that the guerrillas were completely suppressed. The government became more and stricter in places like Missouri and Kentucky in terms of anti-guerrilla policies. The government employed the strategy of ensuring that most parts had small posts which would be manned by union forces so that it would be easy to monitor the movements and operations of the guerrillas. These posts were mostly placed in volatile regions and this had the effect of reducing the union’s capacity and strength in battle zones. There were also troops who were given the task of conducting constant raids against the guerrillas in order to weaken and eliminate them completely where possible.
The various policies employed by the government included such as issuance of orders that either scared away the guerrillas or ensured that they could no longer enjoy support from the surrounding communities. For instance in 1862 Major General Henry Halleck passed a policy that warned that anybody found conducting guerrilla activities would immediately be shot dead or declared an outlaw. Another similar order was by General Thomas Ewing who was the commander to the District bordering Missouri Kansas this order was named Order No. II and it sought to reduce the population in places such as Jackson in order to deny the guerrilla groups new recruits .
The irregular warfare that was a characteristic of the guerrilla war during the American civil war was similar to the ones witnessed in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world regardless of the scope or the major objective. According to Goodrich (2004) guerrilla warfare can be characterized into three types which include People’s war, partisan war and raiding war. The American civil war can be mostly categorized as people’s war because it involved a situation where people turned against each other due to political and ideological differences. The parts where guerrilla war was mostly concentrated included places like Missouri Arkansas and Kentucky among others . One particular fault of the guerrilla groups was that as much as they claimed that they were fighting for the overall cause of America or their individual states their tactics sometimes included activities that demoralized and endangered the general population and as a result they were sometimes regarded as bandits. One example of such a group was the Quantrill Raiders who fought against the union troops and also terrorized civilians who supported the union soldiers. There were also other small groups that were formed to fight during the civil war and it was not until the civil war ended that these groups were completely eliminated.
The guerrilla war during the civil war was also characterized by what became known as partisan warfare. The partisan groups were formed and encouraged by the government and they usually assisted the union troops by conducting operations behind the enemy lines. In 1862 the Confederate Congress passed a law which sought to allow the formation of the Partisan Rangers which were small groups. The law was provided for under the partisan Rangers Act. Although the Partisan Rangers were categorized differently from other guerrillas or as they were famously known the bushwhacker, the tactics employed by both the groups were similar in many perspectives.
One famous and successful partisan unit was the one formed by John Mosby and which assisted the union soldiers during the periods just before the end of the civil war. The partisan groups in most instances helped the confederation forces by destroying railways and bridges in order to sabotage the activities of the enemies. The use of partisan groups by the confederation was so much important and this fact was demonstrated when the partisan group led by John Morgan was eliminated in 1863 it became difficult for the confederation to conduct serious attacks using units which was made up of experienced horsemen . The federal government also employed guerrilla like tactics to counteract the Confederate Guerrillas. The tactics employed by the federal included the use Arkansas Unionist troops and use of river based forces who were charged with the task of ensuring that the water ways were manned to prevent communication or transport of the Confederate guerrilla. The Federal also used the provost marshal to conduct spies on their enemies and protect strategic points.
However the attempt by the Federal to wipe out the guerrillas became futile because most of the groups were small and scattered in places where their sympathizers and supporters were localized. A group like the Mosby partisan consisted of only 10 and sometimes fifteen men and mostly fought in remote areas. Another group, known as the Thomas Legion was made up of Cherokee Indians and it was completely against the union. Even after he surrender of general Lee the group continued to fight and it was never actually eliminated by the Union forces but momentarily left their violent ways after the capture of Waynesville in 1865 . There were individuals who used the guerrilla war as an excuse to support the idea that the war should have continued for much longer time. One such person was Jefferson Davis who argued that guerrilla war was better than surrendering. Some Generals such as Robert Lee differed with him greatly. The guerrilla war created much concern from the Federal due to some of the violent tactics used by the guerrillas. For instance the Quantrill group led by Clarke Quantrill constantly treated those who were opposed to their course and supported the Union troops. These violent attacks on civilians mostly took place along the Missouri and Kansas border. The most outstanding and violent of the attacks was the Quantrill raid on Lawrence, Kansas which was conducted in 1863. The group launched an attack which was made up of around 450 guerrillas who assaulted and subsequently killed around 150 people in Lawrence while at the same time injuring many and destroying much property. These kinds of attacks regardless of whatever reason or justification violated the codes of war and could therefore not support by the Federal. This is because they involved the attack of innocent civilians just because they supported a different group. These are most of the tactics that are common of guerrillas because they always aim to gain advantage over their enemies sometimes using unconventional methods such as spreading fear among innocent civilians who might sympathize or even join the enemy.
In some parts of Africa the guerrillas go to the extent of amputating hands to prevent participation of civilians in a war. Another fear o the Federal was that the guerrilla groups were not stable and their activities depended on the strength of their leadership. Disagreements could easily lead into the splitting of the groups and the resulting smaller groups may turn against each other. For instance when Quantrill was perceived as weak and therefore lost control of the Quantrill group, the group was split in which an example of an offshoot was the Bloody Bill which was led by George Todd and Anderson .
The groups led by George and Anderson were even worse in terms of discipline and terrorized people with much violence than the former group. In the year of 1864 the splinter groups plunged the valley of Missouri River in terror as they continued launching attacks by destroying lines of communication as a way of sabotaging the activities of the Federal forces in the Valley. The Confederation was also fighting in the area and had several successes especially the Camden expedition and the Red River assault. The Confederates needed to use the services of the guerrillas in order to capture Missouri by force and they therefore rallied the guerrillas behind them to make quick attacks and seizures which were very important for them because it would prevent the reorganization of the Federal troops and to capture important regions. However it was during this attack that Anderson and George were killed by the Federal forces a situation which most probably led to the defeat of the Confederates. After the defeat of these two leaders it was apparent that the groups would not survive and furthermore the Confederates had also been defeated . Due to the terror that the groups had spread it would have been difficult for them to rejoin the communities and as a result they were forced to flee in areas such as Texas and Kentucky where they were not very well known. The guerrillas were not however able to reorganize themselves once again and even when they later returned to Missouri it was apparent that they could not have survived the attacks launched by the Federal forces.
The guerrillas had lost support both from the Confederate and from the citizens and it were now easier for the Federal government to organize attacks against the guerrillas without threatening to start war with the Confederate. Furthermore the citizens could no longer provide the support they had previously accorded the guerrillas therefore the guerrillas were cornered. As the Confederate forces began to surrender slowly, guerrillas were also forced to surrender and this marked the end of a violent war along the borders of Missouri.
The success of many attacks launched depended a lot on the guerrillas and together the regular confederate soldiers fought alongside the irregular guerrilla troops. This came to be distinctively known as a compound warfare. This is an example of guerrilla tactics where a particular small group aware that it is fighting against a much mightier enemy who is advanced in terms of numbers, weapons and experience reverts to much desperate tactics. These desperate tactics include the use of small guerrilla groups to strengthen their attacks even if the smaller groups mostly consist of untrained and inexperienced people . The advantages enjoyed in this case are that the guerrillas groups enjoy much knowledge of the terrain and in most instance either enjoy support from the communities or they can coerce communities to support them. This was the strategy that was employed by the apparent minor forces of the confederate and which ensured that they continued to gain much success. The existence of regular and irregular forces also presented a much difficult task and in order to ensure success, they first had to defeat the regular confederate forces before dispersing the guerrillas.
The importance of the irregular guerrilla forces was obvious and direct. It was aimed at frustrating the efforts of the Federal and although the Confederate did not fully agree with some of the tactics used by the guerrillas it was apparent that they were not also ready to lose their support. The Confederate used the guerrillas to strengthen their dominance of a particular area and even if defeat of the Federal was not possible they would at least frustrate their efforts of attack by ensuring that they had secured the dominance. The Confederate therefore hoped that they would hold this position long enough and that eventually the Federal would be frustrated and give up. The Confederate’s regular forces also needed people that they would use as pawns so that in the event of an attack they would not sustain much causality.
The knowledge by the Federals that smaller irregular guerrilla forces rallied behind the Confederates, would also serve to make them more fearful, and the Confederates gave their shot on this fact. The combined force of the conventional Confederate forces together with the irregular guerrilla forces became more and more powerful and this ensured that they were successful in several campaigns. It was also difficult for the Federal to defeat both groups at the same time and it was like fighting two enemies who have formed an alliance and are fighting alongside each other.
It is the employment of compound warfare that resulted into the success of the smaller and minor Confederate forces. However the use of compound warfare requires much coordination and if there is no synchrony in the attacks and cooperation, compound warfare cannot function effectively and this may result in defeat . Major General Sterling Price failed to ensure coordination and synchrony and as a result he never took full advantage of the compound warfare. In most instances the allegiance of guerrilla groups may change suddenly and Price was not aware of this and that is why he never took his time to formally rally the guerrilla groups behind his forces. Price did not also tactically organize the irregular forces and most instances they fought alongside each other this was dangerous because if the Confederate forces were for instance overwhelmed the irregular forces could not manage not manage to hold the Federal troops. It this failure that eventually led to the defeat of the Confederate, however had the Confederate taken full advantage of the irregular forces the war could have lasted much longer.
Discussion
Guerrilla warfare was a very important determinant during the civil war in that it determined both the duration and the direction of the war and several battles. The guerrilla consisted of small groups that had a maximum of about four hundred people who were most probably drawn into the war in what seemed as a need to protect themselves. During civil wars it is inevitable that such groups will form because when two groups or more groups are fighting for each other the very smaller communities may feel that neither of the groups will defend their interests and therefore the groups may organize themselves into military units. The purpose of the military units is not to fight either of the other groups but to ensure that they have the will and the freedom to choose who they would support. In most the two major fighting groups will use force to compel other people to support them and therefore the people will form military groups to protect them from this kind of coercion. Furthermore when the larger groups realize the existence of the guerrilla groups they will definitely want to rally the guerrillas behind them most specifically the smaller of the two major groups and this is what happened during the civil war.
The guerrillas in most occurrences fought against the Federal which meant that they had the same common enemy as the Confederates and it was by fact that they were fighting together. That is why the Confederate was quick to pass the Partisan Rangers Act which encouraged the formation of the small groups because they knew that they were already at a military disadvantage to the Federal troops. The emergence of the guerrilla groups was therefore both a circumstantial and deliberate act. However just like most guerrilla groups in other parts of the world the untrained and inexperienced guerrillas employed violent tactics that would eventually ensure that they not only lost support from the citizens but also from the Confederate and it meant therefore that they were destined for extinction.
As outlined by Nichols (2004), however much the Federal Government discouraged the formation of guerrilla groups some of the actions by some governors more specifically the governor of Missouri encouraged the formation of guerrillas. Missouri was already state in the Union and the Federal government saw that it was wise not to have many experienced solders there because the state could take care of itself against small groups of bushwhackers . The withdrawal of Federal troops from Missouri prompted the governor to start a recruitment of local militia to provide protection for the state. The Militia came to be famously known as Enrolled Missouri Militia (EMM). This was done despite the fact that few years earlier the Federal government had outlawed the formation of militias. This did not go well with the locals who according to Nichols preferred joining the guerrilla groups rather than fight alongside the Yankees. Therefore the guerrilla groups experienced an influx of members. These explain other issues that existed during the guerrilla war and that led to the establishment of strong guerrilla groups.
During the American Civil War different sentiments were brought out concerning the existence of guerrillas. In an article in New York Times (1862), 4,000 Union Indians were reported to have been attacked by guerrillas from Texas. The article clearly brings out the perception of the government concerning the guerrillas. The rebels are also reported to have stolen stock belonging to the Federal government. The article also brings out the extent to which some of the guerrilla groups were because in this case they were able to defeat 4,000 Indians causing them to retreat in Kansas. In contemporary military perception, the tactics used by guerrillas can be described as being primitive due to the fact that most of the strategies employed by guerrillas are unconventional . This is mostly borne out of desperation to gain freedom or whatever other aspect that the guerrillas are fighting for. Since guerrillas mostly fight from their own territories they take advantage of this fact and use various strategies to confuse the enemy. From the clothes they wear and the tactics they use, guerrillas establish themselves as distinguishable and ensure that the communities from where they hail provide support in terms of covert intelligence and knowledge of the terrain.
Conclusion
In any revolutionary war characterized by a situation where a particular people have been oppressed and seek to gain freedom, guerrilla warfare tactics are inevitable. Guerrilla warfare is a situation created by necessity where people are forced against an enemy that is more experienced and has advanced weapons of war. Guerrilla warfare is an art of war that is always motivated by sheer determination to gain freedom. The tactics employed in guerrilla warfare revolves around the determination of a small group to gain military advantage and defeat a larger group. Guerrillas is a term used to describe the persons fighting in a guerrilla war and they always organize themselves in small groups obtained from members of the community who are willing to offer themselves towards a communal course. The main objective of guerrillas is to reduce the number of their members who die in action while at the same time overwhelming the enemy with repetitive surprise attacks.
Since defining and categorizing guerrillas is difficult it becomes a challenge for the enemy to distinguish between who is enemy and who is friend and this is the major objective of guerrillas; the aspect of confusion and to spread fear while at the same time taking advantage of their extensive knowledge of the terrain. It is an argument among historians whether the guerrillas were heroes or they were just villains who took advantage of the state of war to harass and oppress civilians. Some historians have written heroic stories about the guerrillas while other still view them as menace. However one outstanding fact is that they had an extensive influence during the American Civil War.
References
Granite Island Group. (2009). CIA Textbook on Psychological Operations In Guerrilla Warfare. Retrieved on December 4, 2009 from http://www.tscm.com/CIA_PsyOps_Handbook.html
Burch, J. (2005). Charles W. Quantrell: A History Of His Guerrilla Warfare On The Missouri And Kansas Border During The Civil War. Kessinger Publishing, LLC
The New York Times (1862). Kansas and Missouri. Union Indians Defeated by the Texan Rebels Guerrilla Warfare in Western Missouri, & c. Retrieved on December 5, 2009 from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9502E1DA113FEE34BC4F52DFB76683 89679FDE
Nichols, B. (2004). Guerrilla warfare in Civil War Missouri, 1862.
Goodrich, T (2009). America at War: The Guerrilla War. Retrieved on December 4, 2009 from http://www.jcs-group.com/military/war1861guerrilla.html
