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Thread: Best/Favorite Brigades of the Civil War.

  1. #1

    CSA Major

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    Best/Favorite Brigades of the Civil War.

    I know this is subjective and has been talked about for ages, but I'm bored and thought it be an interesting discussion.

    In your opinion what brigades/units are the best (or your favorite) brigades in the civil war and why?


    My personal pics:

    Union:
    US Regulars.
    True professional soldiers that were confident and steadfast in battle, of all the union units that served in the civil war none could hold a candle to the US Regulars imo. Their courage and professionalism during the war in pretty incredible imo, especially after hearing their account at Gettysburg.

    One of my favorite quotes of the war was by some unknown soldier at Gettysburg who stated:
    “For two years the U.S. Regulars taught us how to be soldiers. In the Wheatfield at Gettysburg, they taught us how to die like soldiers.”


    CSA:
    So many choices for the Confederacy but imo the two best units were Hoods Texans and Hays Louisiana Tigers, no units in Confederacy (in the ANV at least) are as famous as these two Brigades (except for maybe stonewall).
    I wont say much about these two brigades since their reputation is well known but the heroism and fighting spirit of these two brigades pretty much define what I think of Confederate soldiers.


    My favorite regiment of all time due to personal bias is the 20th Georgia of Bennings Brigade.
    This was my 3rd Great Grandfathers regiment and the more I read about what they did the more I like them.

    Their actions at antietam was nothing but heroic and a David vs Goliath type event. They held of Burnside long enough (for over 3-5 hours) for confederate reinforcement to arrive, only reason they retreated was due to running out of ammunition.

    After Antietam they served with honor in battles such as Gettysburg fighting alongside Texans at triangular field/devils den and in the slaughter pen (my grandfather was wounded during the fighting at devils den). They also served honorably alongside the Texans again at Chickamauga and the Wilderness (where my ancestor lost his leg).

    Overall the 20th Georgia is my favorite unit of the Civil War, this is mostly due to it being my direct ancestors regiment but also because of their actions in battles such as Antietam and Gettysburg.
    My second favorite has to be 9th Louisiana from Hays Brigade followed by the 1st Texas.
    Jesse S. Crosby, 20th Georgia Infantry, July 15, 1861 - May 6, 1864

    Samuel T. McKenzie, 20th Georgia Infantry, July 15, 1861 - September 2, 1862

    Joseph C. McKenzie, 20th Georgia Infantry, July 15, 1861 - October 1, 1863

    Henry C. McKenzie, 3rd Georgia Infantry, June 1, 1861 - January 28, 1863

    Charles R. Beddingfield, 38th Alabama Infantry

    Samuel L. Cowart, Cobb's Legion

  2. #2

    USA General of the Army

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    Why settle for a Brigade, when you can have a Division?

    The Light Division, of course.

  3. #3

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    Hands down it's the Irish Brigade for me. Even though they were never quite the same after Fredericksburg, it's hard to find a unit that quite liked fighting as much as they did. If you elect to keep smoothbores because rifled can't fire buck and ball...then you're men to be feared.
    ''I'm here to play an American Civil War era combat game, not Call of Duty with muskets.''.

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    I'm not really interested in making the 'best brigade' argument, but I will say who my favorite is.



    For me, it's Kemper's Brigade. Something about James Kemper being a popular politician and Speaker of the House of Virginia while simultaneously leading a brigade always attracted me. He was against secession before the start of the war, but like many, couldn't bring himself to fight his own state. It's probably not that far-fetched to see him as an opportunist that was just in it for the votes.

    His brigade was eventually (and unfortunately) assigned to George Pickett's division and participated in the charge on the third day of Gettysburg in probably the worst position of the advancing body, the extreme right, where they took enfilade fire from the Round Tops and the South end of Cemetery Ridge. Needless to say, he was wounded badly. He survived the war and returned to state politics.


    Last edited by yoyo8346; 12-21-2018 at 03:46 PM.

  5. #5
    For me it's rodes brigade. Smart aggressive fighting.
    Richmond Howitzers, 3rd Company

  6. #6

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    All these brigades are featured in the Napoleon Total War American Civil War mod by the way.
    Napoleon Total War American Civil War Multiplayer Mod Discord Community - https://discord.gg/J3xJ4DU

    TUNNELLS ARE USELESS....so why bother anyway - Henry Wirz (Andersonville film quote)

  7. #7
    1st New Jersey Brigade for me. Can’t wait for south mountain to be added to this game in the far future

  8. #8
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    The Philadelphia brigade for me. has a bunch of irish in it that were treated like shit but on the battle field they proved to be one of the fierce fighting force and one of the reasons why pickets charge failed. The 69th PA part of the Philly brigade. Single handed held back a good portion of pickets charge much so that all the other regiments around them thought they were destroyed. They are the only monument at the angle at Gettysburg to have a chain where their line was because they didn't break. Those damn stubborn Irish.

  9. #9
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    My choice, as a proud Texan, is Hood's Texas Brigade.

    When a British journalist remarked about the ragtag uniforms worn by Civil War soldiers of Hood's Texas Brigade, General Robert E. Lee replied:

    "Never mind the raggedness. The enemy never sees the backs of my Texans."

    ---- from "Texas: An Album of History," James Haley, 1985

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by T_Patch View Post
    My choice, as a proud Texan, is Hood's Texas Brigade.

    When a British journalist remarked about the ragtag uniforms worn by Civil War soldiers of Hood's Texas Brigade, General Robert E. Lee replied:

    "Never mind the raggedness. The enemy never sees the backs of my Texans."

    ---- from "Texas: An Album of History," James Haley, 1985
    You should feel proud. I just started reading... Texans at Antietam: A Terrible Clash of Arms. So far so good and the 1st, 4th and 5th Texas really showed up that day even though they were largely outnumbered at that point. The 1st Texas in particular fought bravely out ahead of the rest of the brigade and took horrific casualties at 80+%.

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