The 1950 Retrograde Operation of the 10th Corps in the Korean War. “Despite Horrific Conditions, The US 10th Was Able To Preserve Soldiers And Equipment In A Remarkable Operation.”
As in any mission, the execution of a withdrawal is not a lock-step process. As highlighted earlier, in a retrograde operation the change from the various types of retrograde (withdrawal, delay, retirement) can occur quickly. In fact, depending on the size of the unit, it is likely different elements within the unit can be conducting different types of the retrograde.
For the purposes of this article, we thought we would provide you a sequence of a withdrawal (one going as planned!) so you can see how the pieces connect.
A small group of forces maneuver to the planned assembly area. Their purpose is to initially secure the assembly area. Once secured, they will conduct reconnaissance to better prepare the area for future occupation.
Once the assembly area is secured, quartering parties from the main body units begin maneuvering from their forward positions into the assembly area. The purpose of the quartering parties (small elements – 1 to 3 vehicles from each principle main body unit) is to set the conditions for a smooth occupation of the rest of the main body. These tasks can include marking positions for occupation, formulating a rough defensive plan, pre-planning indirect fire targets, and preparing the incoming unit for logistical resupply. The best way to maneuver quartering parties into the assembly area is through infiltration (a few vehicles at a time). Moving all the quartering parties at once can make for a large target and show your hand early to the enemy.
As quartering parties begin moving to the assembly area, portions of the security force should begin moving rearward as well. The timing and number of forces that will maneuver rearward is obviously situation dependent. These forces will normally move to the forward trace of the main body.
Based on the plan, begin maneuver of your main body forces to the assembly area. As we discussed earlier, get your non-essential units out first. As these forces arrive at the assembly area, they are met by their quartering parties to ensure a smooth occupation into their positions. The reason why non–essential units move first is in case your security force can’t delay a pursuing enemy, you have available forces to assist. When maneuvering the main body, utilize as many routes as possible. As the maneuver begins, command and control must reign supreme. The Commander must ensure there are no bottlenecks or vice versa a lag in maneuver to the assembly area. Either situation can have disastrous impact on the withdrawal.
As the main body begins the withdrawal, the reserve must be prepared to assist the security force in delaying the enemy or main body units in their withdrawal. Consequently, the reserve must be positioned to meet these contingencies.
As the initial elements of main body enter the assembly area, the forward elements of the main body will begin maneuver rearward. As they depart their positions, elements of the security force will withdraw and can occupy those vacant positions. As this occurs, the reserve will occupy a new position closer to the assembly area.
As the preponderance of the main body enters the assembly area, the most challenging phase of the retrograde begins. It is at this time the security force begins their retrograde in earnest. As discussed earlier, it is likely some elements of the security force have begun some initial withdraw actions to the rear. If that has occurred, the unit likely has a DLIC (Detachment Left in Contact) left forward. Thus, the challenge is two-pronged. First, you must resume the withdrawal of the initial elements of the security force. Second, you must now maneuver your DLIC (your remaining forces forward) towards the assembly area. This maneuver could be a withdrawal or a delay (making the challenge even more challenging!). To aid in the maneuver, a commander must ensure his reserve is positioned if assistance is required.
The initial elements of the security force are met at the final assembly area by their unit’s quartering party. The critical factor for this force is to refit, refuel, and rearm them. As they are met, the DLIC should be continuing their maneuver rearward. During this period, the commander should be utilizing all assets he has at his disposal to assist the DLIC. It is likely the critical asset in this will be the unit’s fire support assets. Well-placed indirect fire can buy the DLIC the time it needs to reach the assembly area. As the DLIC begins reaching the assembly area, the unit must ensure it keeps contact with the enemy. You can’t become blind to the enemy. Nothing good comes of this!
Once the DLIC reaches the assembly area it is met by the quartering party and immediately executes logistical operations. With the entire unit (minus recon forces that are still in contact with the enemy) now in assembly area, several actions must occur. First, the unit as a whole must be prepared defensively to counter any enemy attacks. Depending on the enemy’s pursuit of the DLIC this could be inevitable. Second, the unit must now prepare itself for future operations. Certainly, the best option is to conduct some form of offensive operations to regain the initiative. However, if the conditions are not right, then a defense may be required. It is not out of the realm of possibility that another retrograde operation may be needed. If that is the case, the planning and preparation begin once more!
One does not have to look far or abroad to find experts for the most difficult military task: Withdrawal under fire. Confederate General William Joseph Hardee is an acknowledged expert. Here an excerpt gleaned from the Internet.
By the way: descendent of the Hardee family live in Fernandina Beach, Florida.
Gerhardt Thamm
William Joseph Hardee
(Supplemental Biography From The Confederate Military History)
Lieutenant-General William J. Hardee was born in Camden county, Georgia, in November, 1815. After receiving a military education at West Point, he entered the army with the class of 1838, as a second-lieutenant of the Second cavalry, and was promoted first-lieutenant in 1839, and served in the Florida war of 1840. He was then sent to Europe by the government as a member of a military commission to study the organization of foreign armies, and in that capacity visited the military school at St. Maur, France.
In 1844 he was promoted captain, and in 1846 crossed the Rio Grande with General Taylor. He behaved with gallantry in the Mexican war, was taken prisoner at Curricito, but exchanged, and for his valor at La Hoya was brevetted major. In 1853 his professional accomplishments caused his selection by the secretary of war, for the compilation of a system of infantry tactics, which was adopted in March, 1855. In the following year “Hardee’s Tactics” was introduced at West Point, where he was appointed commandant with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1861 he resigned this commission and entered the Confederate service as colonel of cavalry March 16th, being assigned to command at Fort Morgan, Ala. On June 17th, he was promoted to brigadier-general, in which rank he organized a brigade of Arkansas regiments, and operated in that State until called with his men across the Mississippi, when he was commissioned major-general and put in command of a division of the army in Kentucky and Tennessee under Albert Sidney Johnston. He led the advance from Corinth in command of the Third army corps, and commanded the first line of attack at Shiloh, where he was wounded, but managed his command with such energy that he was promoted major-general.
In the following summer he was put in immediate command of the army of the Mississippi, afterward called the army of Tennessee, and during the Kentucky campaign he commanded the left wing of Bragg’s army. In the battle of Perryville he bore a conspicuous part, and he was immediately afterward promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. At the battle of Murfreesboro the left wing under his masterly leadership was successful in the fight, and he was especially commended by General Bragg “for skill, valor and ability.”
General Hardee had now well earned the exalted rank which he held and a military reputation which was tersely expressed by his soldiers in the cognomen “Old Reliable.” In 1863 he was detailed to defend Mississippi and Alabama, but returned to the command of his corps at Chattanooga, and commanded the right wing at Missionary Ridge, where General Thomas declared he was “the most efficient general the Confederacy had on the field.” The subsequent maneuver of his troops at Cassville and his masterly retreat in echelon of divisions won the renewed admiration of his opponents. On December 2, 1863, he succeeded General Bragg in command of the army, but soon turned this over to General Polk, who in turn gave place to Gen. J. E. Johnston. Under the latter and his successor, J. B. Hood, he commanded a corps of the army of Tennessee through the Atlanta campaign, taking a prominent part in the fighting at Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, and other points, and particularly at Peach Tree Creek and the battle of July 22d, where he commanded the flank movement against the Federal left wing. His corps was again engaged at Jonesboro and the last fighting of the campaign.
In October, 1864, he was assigned to command the department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, with the task of collecting at Savannah forces to operate against Sherman’s advance. The troops he required were no longer to be found in the South, and by one of the most masterly retreats of the war he evaded Sherman’s overwhelming force before Savannah, and withdrew to Charleston and thence to Columbia. At Averysboro, in March, 1865, he punished the enemy effectively, and a few days later he led in the battle of Bentonville the last charge that was made by the Confederacy’s war-worn soldiers, and his only son, sixteen years of age, was among the last to fall. In this last battle of the four years, with undiminished spirit, the general, as Johnston has described it, “with his knightly gallantry dashed over the enemy’s breastworks on horseback in front of his men.” It is told of General Hardee, illustrating his thoroughness as a soldier, that he was the only lieutenant-general who personally inspected the arms and accoutrements of each soldier of his corps. General J. E. Johnston said of him that “he was more capable of commanding twenty thousand men in battle than any other Confederate general.” General Hardee died at Wytheville, Va., November 6, 1873, and his remains were interred at Selma, Ala., where he had resided after the war.
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One Comment to “Tactics 101 035 – The Withdrawal”
One does not have to look far or abroad to find experts for the most difficult military task: Withdrawal under fire. Confederate General William Joseph Hardee is an acknowledged expert. Here an excerpt gleaned from the Internet.
By the way: descendent of the Hardee family live in Fernandina Beach, Florida.
Gerhardt Thamm
William Joseph Hardee
(Supplemental Biography From The Confederate Military History)
Lieutenant-General William J. Hardee was born in Camden county, Georgia, in November, 1815. After receiving a military education at West Point, he entered the army with the class of 1838, as a second-lieutenant of the Second cavalry, and was promoted first-lieutenant in 1839, and served in the Florida war of 1840. He was then sent to Europe by the government as a member of a military commission to study the organization of foreign armies, and in that capacity visited the military school at St. Maur, France.
In 1844 he was promoted captain, and in 1846 crossed the Rio Grande with General Taylor. He behaved with gallantry in the Mexican war, was taken prisoner at Curricito, but exchanged, and for his valor at La Hoya was brevetted major. In 1853 his professional accomplishments caused his selection by the secretary of war, for the compilation of a system of infantry tactics, which was adopted in March, 1855. In the following year “Hardee’s Tactics” was introduced at West Point, where he was appointed commandant with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1861 he resigned this commission and entered the Confederate service as colonel of cavalry March 16th, being assigned to command at Fort Morgan, Ala. On June 17th, he was promoted to brigadier-general, in which rank he organized a brigade of Arkansas regiments, and operated in that State until called with his men across the Mississippi, when he was commissioned major-general and put in command of a division of the army in Kentucky and Tennessee under Albert Sidney Johnston. He led the advance from Corinth in command of the Third army corps, and commanded the first line of attack at Shiloh, where he was wounded, but managed his command with such energy that he was promoted major-general.
In the following summer he was put in immediate command of the army of the Mississippi, afterward called the army of Tennessee, and during the Kentucky campaign he commanded the left wing of Bragg’s army. In the battle of Perryville he bore a conspicuous part, and he was immediately afterward promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. At the battle of Murfreesboro the left wing under his masterly leadership was successful in the fight, and he was especially commended by General Bragg “for skill, valor and ability.”
General Hardee had now well earned the exalted rank which he held and a military reputation which was tersely expressed by his soldiers in the cognomen “Old Reliable.” In 1863 he was detailed to defend Mississippi and Alabama, but returned to the command of his corps at Chattanooga, and commanded the right wing at Missionary Ridge, where General Thomas declared he was “the most efficient general the Confederacy had on the field.” The subsequent maneuver of his troops at Cassville and his masterly retreat in echelon of divisions won the renewed admiration of his opponents. On December 2, 1863, he succeeded General Bragg in command of the army, but soon turned this over to General Polk, who in turn gave place to Gen. J. E. Johnston. Under the latter and his successor, J. B. Hood, he commanded a corps of the army of Tennessee through the Atlanta campaign, taking a prominent part in the fighting at Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, and other points, and particularly at Peach Tree Creek and the battle of July 22d, where he commanded the flank movement against the Federal left wing. His corps was again engaged at Jonesboro and the last fighting of the campaign.
In October, 1864, he was assigned to command the department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, with the task of collecting at Savannah forces to operate against Sherman’s advance. The troops he required were no longer to be found in the South, and by one of the most masterly retreats of the war he evaded Sherman’s overwhelming force before Savannah, and withdrew to Charleston and thence to Columbia. At Averysboro, in March, 1865, he punished the enemy effectively, and a few days later he led in the battle of Bentonville the last charge that was made by the Confederacy’s war-worn soldiers, and his only son, sixteen years of age, was among the last to fall. In this last battle of the four years, with undiminished spirit, the general, as Johnston has described it, “with his knightly gallantry dashed over the enemy’s breastworks on horseback in front of his men.” It is told of General Hardee, illustrating his thoroughness as a soldier, that he was the only lieutenant-general who personally inspected the arms and accoutrements of each soldier of his corps. General J. E. Johnston said of him that “he was more capable of commanding twenty thousand men in battle than any other Confederate general.” General Hardee died at Wytheville, Va., November 6, 1873, and his remains were interred at Selma, Ala., where he had resided after the war.
By Gerhardt Thamm on Feb 21, 2009 at 10:07 am