One of the best utilizations of advantageous terrain, displayed especially during the Civil War, was having the high ground. The high ground enabled the soldiers to "dig in" and fortify a position with great efficiency. This came in handy especially if the soldiers on high ground were defending, but it also helped immensely when attacking. When defending, a soldier could easily set himself behind a tree or obstacle of some sort and act as a sniper. Longstreet explains it very well in The Killer Angels. He explains, "Just put one man behind a tree. You can hardly see him from two hundred yards away, but he can see you. And shoot. And shoot again. How many men d

o you think it will take to get to that man behind a tree, in a ditch, defended by a cannon, if you have to cross an open field to get him?" (Shaara 142) This defensive tactic would of course be best utilized when defending and having the beneficial terrain. Longstreet goes on to explain that it would probably take at least three men to get to him and the man in the ditch would kill at least two. This method makes perfect sense but amazingly it was not a popular method of battle at the time (and especially prior to that time). He begins to mention that if the soldiers were instead attacking uphill, they were much more apt to lose. This is exactly what happened in the "Little Round Top" battle; Chamberlain's defensive tactics and high ground enabled his army to completely slaughter the Confederate attack. At one point before the battle, Chamberlain thinks to himself while admiring the view, "Bet you could see Gettysburg from here. Look at those rocks, marvelous position." (221) A marvelous position it truly proved to be, the uphill terrain won the battle for the Union even though they were extremely outnumbered. The Confederates threw so many men at them that they ran out of ammunition and resorted to sabers and bayonets, where the higher ground still proved helpful.

In conclusion, terrain was probably the most important aspect in the Civil War battles as well as other battles throughout history. Fortifying a position with advantageous ground proved to be the decisive factor in the War. Other vital battle techniques such as strategic command and troop morale still depended greatly on the terrain that the soldiers had to fight on and their placement on that terrain.

Another benefit to utilization of the terrain, which can commonly be overlooked, is the use of simple geographic features in the terrain such as a clump of trees or a large boulder that the men can use to keep a general idea of their location and also to help the generals plan the battle tactics. Chamberlain uses a boulder as a sort of center staging point for his next move at one point:

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1402
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)