Photo By Corinna Baltos | Sgt. Maj. Felix Lassus-Atiles, the senior noncommissioned officer for the U.S. Army...... read more read more
ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, ILL. – Nearly 50 noncommissioned officers from the U.S. Army Sustainment Command “stepped back” in to history Nov. 23 during a staff ride to study the Battle of Credit Island.
The battle took place during the early morning hours of Sept. 4-5, 1814, during the War of 1812.
The purpose of the ride was to allow the NCOs the chance to learn how to conduct future operations by gaining a better understanding of the conflicts of the past.
“Staff rides are part of professional development,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Marco Torres, ASC command sergeant major. “It allows us to go back and look at the past and learn from them. Even though our tactics have changed, (over the last 200 years), there are still lessons to be learned from them.”
According to the Combat Studies Institute, “A staff ride is a historical study of a campaign or battle that envisions a systematic preliminary study phase, and extensive field study phase on the actual historic site, and an integration phase to capture the lessons derived from each.”
Staff rides became popular during the latter half of the nineteenth century when Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, chief of staff, of the general staff of the Imperial German Army, began taking his subordinate officers on riding tours of areas where battles might occur and have them war game it out.
In the United States staff rides were conducted differently. Instead of studying the area of a possible future conflict, American officers went to battlefields of the past to study and learn from what took place.
While staff rides are usually conducted for officers, ASC felt it was important for the NCOs to have the same experience. ASC officers conducted a staff ride to Credit Island in July.
“The staff ride is something we are all supposed to learn from,” said Kevin Braafladt, ASC historian. “We felt it was important for the NCOs to get the same staff ride everyone else does.”
The NCOs began the ride with an in-depth analysis of the conflict from Braafladt, and their fellow NCOs who provided information on topics such as what types of weapons were available and the medical capabilities of the doctors at the site.
“Medicine back then wasn’t as good as it is now,” said Sgt. 1st Class Colin Fuel, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the ASC Surgeon Cell, who provided an analysis of medical technology during the War of 1812.
“There was no anesthetic back then, so if you got wounded they gave you some whiskey to drink and a stick to bite on and got to work.”
During the staff ride, the NCOs also learned about the friendly and enemy forces, as well as the role the media played in the reporting on the battle and the War of 1812 in general.
As part of the learning process the Soldiers learned how one NCO in particular helped shape the battle.
Sgt. James Keating of the British Royal Artillery, placed his artillery on the (present day location of Davenport, Iowa) river bank near Credit Island in such a way that he was able to heavily damage the American boats, under the command of Maj. Zachary Taylor, that were tied to the river bank of Willow Island.
His actions almost single handily won the battle for the British and Native American attackers. The battle is important because it was one of the last battles of the war, and the only time that Taylor claimed to have been defeated in his nearly 40-year Army career.
American troops under Taylor’s command were sailing keelboats up the Mississippi River to attack the village of Saukenuk after another American expedition had been attacked during an attempt to resupply Fort Shelby at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
On the afternoon of Sept. 4, 1814 a strong storm forced the Americans to stop north of Credit Island and dock their ships at Willow Island, roughly a quarter mile away. As dawn was breaking on Sept. 5, members of the Sauk Indian Tribe, a portion of which was allied with the British, waded onto Pelican Island and killed an American sentry.
While the Americans were able to clear the Island from the Natives, they soon fell under attack from British artillery fire and after about 45 minutes Taylor ordered a tactical withdrawal downstream.
The American withdrawal at Credit Island forced the United States to secede control of the Upper Mississippi River for the duration of the war.
The staff ride provided the NCOs with a historical perspective into the importance that one disciplined NCO can have on an entire battle.
Keating’s initiative in placing his guns along the bank of the Mississippi and firing on Taylor’s boats, while not changing the course of the war, did allow the British forces to keep control of the upper Mississippi River for the duration of the war.
Overall, the staff ride was a positive, hands-on learning experience that the NCOs can use to grow professionally.
| Date Taken: | 12.10.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.10.2021 14:55 |
| Story ID: | 410919 |
| Location: | ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 124 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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