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    Taming The Tar Heel Department: D.H. Hill And The Challenges Of Operational-Level Command During The American Civil War
    Taming The Tar Heel Department: D.H. Hill And The Challenges Of Operational-Level Command During The American Civil War
    Taming The Tar Heel Department: D.H. Hill And The Challenges Of Operational-Level Command During The American Civil War
    Ebook78 pages1 hour

    Taming The Tar Heel Department: D.H. Hill And The Challenges Of Operational-Level Command During The American Civil War

    By Major Brit K. Erslev

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    About this ebook

    The purpose of this monograph is to identify skills and capabilities required by commanders to excel at the operational level of war and in the practice of operational art. The author evaluated the performance of Confederate Major General Daniel Harvey Hill in his role as a department commander during the American Civil War. Department commanders were responsible for sequencing tactical operations to support the accomplishment of their government’s strategic objectives but received little guidance on how to fulfill their missions. The monograph concludes that twenty first century American military officers in similar command positions must be able to make decisions given ambiguous guidance and a fluid operational environment, be creative and active in developing innovative techniques to better understand the operational environment, and be able to craft holistic campaign plans that go beyond offensive and defensive operations.
    An examination of Hill’s tenure as commander of the Confederate Department of North Carolina from February to July 1863 found that he was uncomfortable translating discretionary orders into action, he was unable to adequately visualize his operational environment, and he did not construct a coherent campaign plan to accomplish disparate missions and support Confederate strategic aims. Some of Hill’s struggles were due to the inability of the Confederate high command to articulate strategic priorities, the actions of the Union forces, and lack of experience in higher level commands. Previous tactical-level experiences in the war made Hill more cautious about committing force when presented with ambiguous situations and in his capacity as department commander he did not grasp his responsibility to provide recommendations to strategic-level decision makers regarding force disposition and types of combat operations.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGolden Springs Publishing
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781786255860
    Taming The Tar Heel Department: D.H. Hill And The Challenges Of Operational-Level Command During The American Civil War

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      Book preview

      Taming The Tar Heel Department - Major Brit K. Erslev

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 1998 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      TAMING THE TAR HEEL DEPARTMENT: D.H. HILL AND THE CHALLENGES OF OPERATIONAL-LEVEL COMMAND DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

      BY

      MAJ BRIT K. ERSLEV, U.S. ARMY

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      ABSTRACT 5

      INTRODUCTION 6

      CONFEDERATE STRATEGY AND THE DEPARTMENT SYSTEM 10

      D.H. HILL: BACKGROUND, HISTORIOGRAPHY, AND ARRIVAL IN NORTH CAROLINA 13

      ADJUSTING TO OPERATIONAL-LEVEL COMMAND: STRIKING THE BALANCE BETWEEN INDEPENDENCE AND OVERSIGHT 16

      THE FIGHT FOR INFORMATION: MAINTAINING VISUALIZATION OF THE OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT 24

      THE DILEMMA OF PLANNING AND EXECUTING MULTI-FACETED CAMPAIGNS 28

      CONCLUSION 34

      BIBLIOGRAPHY 38

      Manuscript Collections and Archives 38

      Published Primary Sources 38

      Government Publications 38

      Secondary Sources 38

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 41

      ABSTRACT

      The purpose of this monograph is to identify skills and capabilities required by commanders to excel at the operational level of war and in the practice of operational art. The author evaluated the performance of Confederate Major General Daniel Harvey Hill in his role as a department commander during the American Civil War. Department commanders were responsible for sequencing tactical operations to support the accomplishment of their government’s strategic objectives but received little guidance on how to fulfill their missions. The monograph concludes that twenty first century American military officers in similar command positions must be able to make decisions given ambiguous guidance and a fluid operational environment, be creative and active in developing innovative techniques to better understand the operational environment, and be able to craft holistic campaign plans that go beyond offensive and defensive operations.

      An examination of Hill’s tenure as commander of the Confederate Department of North Carolina from February to July 1863 found that he was uncomfortable translating discretionary orders into action, he was unable to adequately visualize his operational environment, and he did not construct a coherent campaign plan to accomplish disparate missions and support Confederate strategic aims. Some of Hill’s struggles were due to the inability of the Confederate high command to articulate strategic priorities, the actions of the Union forces, and lack of experience in higher level commands. Previous tactical-level experiences in the war made Hill more cautious about committing force when presented with ambiguous situations and in his capacity as department commander he did not grasp his responsibility to provide recommendations to strategic-level decision makers regarding force disposition and types of combat operations. Today’s senior officers must take advantage of a decade’s worth experience of war as well as an educational system which did not exist in the nineteenth century to embrace operational-level responsibilities, ask pertinent questions, and be able and willing to act given vague guidance.

      INTRODUCTION

      History is replete with examples of generals who excelled at brigade and division-level command, only to falter when promoted to positions of higher responsibility. Identifying skills and capabilities that these men lacked or did not develop to full advantage can aid current Army leaders in preparing themselves for the transition from tactical-level command to operational-level command. This ability to adjust is crucial in today’s joint and multi-national operational environments where general officers command geographically large areas of responsibility encompassing multiple actors and complex political, military, economic, and social situations.

      During the American Civil War, both the Union and the Confederate States of America used a department command system to assist in meeting each side’s respective strategic objectives. In early 1863 the Confederacy established four main departments comprising broad swaths of territory commanded by full generals who reported directly to President Jefferson Davis.{1} Davis charged the four generals with overseeing and coordinating operations in their departments to support a defensive-offensive strategy. These generals fulfilled administrative duties and commanded field armies on campaigns. Each of the departments, particularly in the east, consisted of various smaller departments and districts, typically overseen by major generals or brigadier generals, the size of which varied over time according to the enemy threat, subordinate commanders’ skill level, and how the four commanding generals envisioned their subordinates’ support to Confederate strategic aims. In essence, all of these commanders worked at what we today define as the operational level of war. As U.S. Army

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