Upton’s Attack, 2017

Upton 2017

From the Confederate perspective at Doles’ Salient, the Mule Shoe, Spotsylvania Court House.

On May 10, 1864, Col. Emory Upton led a hand-picked assault force of about 5,000 men against this position. After initial success, Upton’s men were forced back, although General in Chief Ulysses S. Grant adapted Upton’s attack plan for a larger assault on May 12.



2 Responses to Upton’s Attack, 2017

  1. Chis:

    Upton showed how it was done and the lesson was not lost on Grant and Hancock, who used the columnar assault, successfully, in the May 12 attack. The initial success of that attack (the divisions of Rodes and Johnson were overwhelmed and Anderson’s and Early’s Corps were effectively neutralized) might have ended the war, but for Gordon’s counter-attack. Who can fail to appreciate the irony of Gordon’s division astride Barlow’s path, the former having saved the life of the latter 10 months earlier at Gettysburg. The counter-attack, preceded by Gordon’s dramatic meeting with Lee, is the stuff of legend. Who needs fiction?

    John

  2. My Great-Great Grandfather was part of this assault with the 49th Pennsylvania.
    One of my most emotional moments on a Civil War battlefield was walking in his footsteps led by tour guide Will Greene. Something I’ll never forget.

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