THE PROFESSIONAL JOURNAL OF THE US ARMY Published by us ARMY COMMAND AND GENERAL STAFF COLLEGE Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 66027·6910 HONORABLE JOHN O. MARSH JR. secretary of the Army LIEUTENANT GENERAL CARL E. VUONO Commandant MAJOR GENERAL DAVE R. PALMER Deputy Commandant MILITARY REVIEW STAFF Lieutenant Colonel Dallas Van Hoose Jr., Editor in Chief Mrs. Patricia L. Wilson, Secretary FEATURES: Mr. Phillip R. DavIs, Books Editor/German Trans· lator PRODUCTION STAFF: Mrs. Dixie R. Dominguez, Production Editor; Mr. Charles Ivie, Art and Design; Mrs. Betty J. Spiewak, Layout and Design; Mrs. Patncia H. Norman, Manuscript/Index Editor; Mrs. Sherry L. LewIs, Books/ Editonal Assistant; Mr. Amos W. Gallaway, Printing 01· ficer LATIN·AMERICAN EDITIONS: Lieutenant Colonel Gary L. Hoebeke, Editor SPANISH·AMERICAN EDITION: Mr. Raul Aponte and Mrs. Alxa L. Diaz, Editors; Mrs Winona E. 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US Army 22 KERMIT ROOSEVELT LECTURE: OFFICER TRAINING AND EDUCATION by General William R. Richardson. US Army 35 TERRORISM: A MODE OF WARFARE by Major Jeffrey W. Wright. US Army 46 CASE STUDIES IN THE LAW OF LAND WARFARE II': THE CAMPAIGN IN THE FALKLANDS by Major Robert D. Higginbotham. US Army 61 SOVIET GENERAL STAFF'S NEW ROLE by Malor Kenneth CUrrie. US Air Force 75 IN DEFENSE OF US STRATEGIC NUCLEAR STRATEGY by John M Weinstein 80 LETTERS 81 NEWS 88 BOOKS contemporary reading for the professional MILITARY REVIEW,s published monthly in EnglIsh and Spanish and quarterly m Portuguese. Use of funds for pnntmg thIS publIcation approved by the secretary of the Army. 1 December 1983. en accordance with the provisions of Army Regulation 310·1 Second-class postage paid at Leav~n· INorth. KS 66048 S998 and additional entry offices. 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KS 66027 6910 MILITARY REVIEWtUSPS 1.23·830) US ISSN 0026·4148 RIVER OF DEATH This article. by a member of the 1983-84 class of the US Army Command and General Staff College (USACGSC). won the 1984 Arter-Darby Military History Writing Award for excellence in professional scholarship. Competition is open to all members of each USACGSC regular c/fUlS. Students are invited to write a historical essay on a military topic that is selected annually. Entries arejltdged on originality. scholarship. style and overall value to the literature of the military profession. The 1984 win­ ning article examines the employment of cavalry in the Chickamauga Campaign. the opportunities been fully appreciated Introduction at the time by the opposing commanders, either one might have snatched a stun­ ning victory. Instead, the Federal commander, Major HE American Civil War's bloodiest General William S. Rosecrans, after bril­ T two days occurred on 19 and 20 Sep­ liant early maneuvering. was relieved of tember 1863 along a sluggish creek south command, while Confederate General of Chattanooga. Tennessee. Ironically. Braxton Bragg settled for a bloody, mar­ that creek's Cherokee Indian name trans­ ginal triumph which only prolonged the lates as the "River of Death.'" At the tac­ Confederacy's agonized death throes. tical level, this vicious fight through the Beyond that. this campaign, which saw thick woods bordering Chickamauga both success and failure of cavalry doc­ Creek was a classic infantry struggle of trine. serves as a striking example of the desperate assaults against hastily differences between the tactical and prepared breastworks of felled trees and operational levels of war. shallow trenches. Cavalry was unsuited for free oper ation in this tangle of brush and trees and. in its traditional role. had Civil War Cavalry Development. little effect on the outcome of the two-day Organization and Doctrine slaughter. Those troopers involved in the fight on 19 and 20 September were not on horseback and functioned as infantry. To fully appreciate the role of the But, when the Chickamauga Campaign cavalry during the Chickamauga Cam­ is examined at the opecational level. the paign. it is necessary to briefly review the opposing armies' movements fro~ cavalry's previous development, organi· January through September 1863 clearly zation and employment. In the opening incorporated cavalry operations and were months of the ,war, the Confederacy en­ significantly influenced by the mounted joyed an advantage in having effective arm. Opportunities for decisive moves cavalry units. The reasons for this were were available on several occasions as a more of necessity and lifestyle than of result of the actions of the Federal and design. Confederate cavalry corps. Indeed. had Although all Southerners were not born CoPyn9ht '\l 1984 by Major Jerry D. Morelock. US Army. 3 MILITARY REVIEW horsemen, the exigencies of daily life in winter, without tents or wagons, opera­ the rural, agrarian South led more to the ting ill a country poorly supplied with everyday use of the horse as a mode of forage, combating for the most part velY­ transport. Therefore, a greater proportion superior numbers, from the feeble begin- I of Southern soldiers were familiar and nings of one year ago, when its operations comfortable with horse travel. The life­ were mostly within the· infantry lines, it style of the South's upper classes-in has become master of the field, and which riding and horsemanship were inte­ hesitates not to attack the enemy wher­ gral parts-helped to produce a corps of euer it finds him. This great change, due leaders uniquely adapted to commanding chiefly to the joint efforts of both officers large bodies of high-spirited horsemen.} and men, has been greatly promoted by During the early days, Confederate caval­ giving them arms in which they had confi­ ry units-most of which were organized dence, and by adoption of the determined and employed as large units-literally use of the saber." rode rings around the smaller, poorly The Federal and Confederate cavalry trained, poorly led Federal detachments. forces were organized into troops (or com­ As the war progressed, however, the panies), regiments, brigades, divisions South began to lose its early advantage. and corps (see Figure 1). A Federal regi­ General Joseph "Fighting Joe" Hooker ment usually comprised 12 troops of 80 to organized the cavalry of the Army of the 100 men each. Four to six regiments con­ Potomac into a corps, thereby enabling it stituted a brigade, and two or three bri­ to compete on an equal basis with the gades made a division. Two or three divi­ large Confederate units. Other Federal ar­ sions formed a cavalry corps that consti­ mies soon followed suit. With better or­ tuted the cavalry for a field army. The ganization and hard-won battles, the Fed­ Confederate organization was similar ex­ eral cavalry improved rapidly. cept that regiments usually contained 10 This, coupled with the fact that the companies of 60 to 80 men each. Brigades Federal cavalrymen were always better could have from two to six regiments, and equipped than the Confederates, meant divisions might have up to six brigades. that, by 1863, Federal horsemen were Like their Federal counterparts, Confed­ equal if not better than those of the Con­ erate cavalry corps were made up of two federacy.' During this same period, the or three divisions.' South experienced an inevitable decline in Cavalry doctrine, at that time, pre· the quantity and quality of remounts, as scribed three major missions: scouting well as an inconsistent supply of good and screening, raids and fighting. As an weapons and accouterments.' Rosecrans, army's traditional "eyes," a cavalry the commander of the Army of the unit's primary responsibility was to ag­ Cumberland, discussed this dramatic gressively conduct the reconnaissance turnaround in his official report at the necessary to keep the commander in­ conclusion of the Chickamauga Cam­ formed of enemy movements, strength paign: and dispositions. Without this crucial and I cannot forebear calling the special at­ essential information, the army com­ tention of the General·in-Chief . .. to the mander was virtually blind. Additionally, conspicuous gallantry and laborious serv­ the cavalry force was to screen friendly ices' of ,this arm [cavalry]. Exposed in all movements from enemy observation, as weather, almost always moving, even in well as deceive the enemy commander 4 October Civil War Cavalry Organization Federal and Confederate xxx 2 to 3 Corps dlvlsrons xx 1 to 3 brigades 0""'''" x x 4 to 6 regiments 1 to 6 [2r"" 00 r-----'--.,.