Existing comment:
Blasted and Blamed -- Jackson's Flank Attack:
Jackson's May 2, 1863 flank attack devastated the Union Eleventh Corps. The corps included large numbers of European immigrants, many of them Germans with names like Kaufholz and Baumeister. Not long before the battle, Hooker appointed a pious, teetotaling American named General Oliver O. Howard to command the corps -- a man the Germans resented intensely.
When Jackson struck, the Eleventh Corps performed no better or worse than any other unit might have in that position. They collapsed and rushed back in panic. American-born troops righteously blamed the "Flying Dutchmen" for the rout, capitalizing on anti-immigrant sentiment to create a scapegoat for defeat.
Jackson's attack caught the Eleventh Corps' lines faced the wrong way and then men gathered around campfires and shelter tents. As Union troops retreated, Confederates could not resist plundering their campsites, enjoying Union rations, coffee, and even cigars. |