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Jeff Davis and Lincoln Question
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Author:  Blake [ Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:06 am ]
Post subject:  Jeff Davis and Lincoln Question
I know Jefferson Davis made a few trips out west to visit the Army of Tennessee during the Civil War. Lincoln never travelled westward to visit the western armies during the war, correct? Ever wonder why this was? My theory is simply that the most important part of the war was right in his own backyard. But the same holds true for Davis. Davis went west mainly to try and solve the riddles concerning the Army of Tennessee's lack of success on the field. Halleck/Grant/Sherman/Thomas were able to keep things moving in the west largely without intervention by Lincoln.

One does have to wonder about the reaction Lincoln may have gotten from touring Nashville or Vicksburg in 1862 - 1863. One is reminded of President Bush visiting the Carrier during Operation Iraqi Freedom and proclaiming Mission Accomplished. Lincoln made no such trips out west for any reason - propaganda, informative, curiosity, or otherwise. If Lincoln had met Grant earlier in the war would he have brought him eastward sooner? Further, with the election of 1864 a decisive one it is, in our modern political world, curious that Lincoln did not make the effort to travel west and wave the flag of the Republican Party, Union, and the successful completion of the war.

Any thoughts?
Author:  KWhitehead [ Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:19 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Jeff Davis and Lincoln Question
I think it is one of those squeaky wheel things. The AoP was giving Lincoln a bad case of hemroids and the Western armies were giving Davis the same condition. As far as political campaigning goes it was probably the time it would take and the limited publicity in that day and age that such a trip would produce that kept Lincoln East where the main focus was. Although it was Sherman that saved him from losing the election.
Author:  Drex [ Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Jeff Davis and Lincoln Question
Wasn't Jeff Davis a man who could not delegate? He was a military man and had to see where the fighting was.
Author:  mihalik [ Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Jeff Davis and Lincoln Question
I think every time Davis went west, it was due to Braxton Bragg's leadership deficit. Lincoln's leadership problems were in the east. So Lincoln was able to stay in the east, and Davis was forced to travel west.
Author:  rjh57 [ Fri Sep 28, 2012 6:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Jeff Davis and Lincoln Question
Lincoln was not a "micro-manager", it just took some time for the Union to find generals to do the job in the East vs. Lee.
Author:  KWhitehead [ Sat Sep 29, 2012 9:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Jeff Davis and Lincoln Question
My impression is Lincoln was much more flexible than Davis. Lincoln knew he had a serious command problem in both the east and west and kept trying different things and generals to solve it. Eventually he got himself a winning combination through Grant and most of the generals under him in 1864. Davis got lucky and had Lee in Virginia early in the war. He was not lucky in the West and it suffered as a result. Davis didn't have the flexibility to find the right general in the west. He also insisted in being his own General-in-Chief and War Department resulting in Lee never having access to resources that he needed to make the ANV the equal of the AOP.
Author:  rjh57 [ Sun Sep 30, 2012 5:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Jeff Davis and Lincoln Question
Davis was a very principled therefore a somewhat rigid individual. He expected his commanders to put principle and duty above their personal egos and work together for the common good. Unfortunately for the Confederacy, many of their commanders - and politicans - did not behave that way.
Author:  Blake [ Sun Sep 30, 2012 5:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Jeff Davis and Lincoln Question
rjh57 wrote:
Davis was a very principled therefore a somewhat rigid individual. He expected his commanders to put principle and duty above their personal egos and work together for the common good. Unfortunately for the Confederacy, many of their commanders - and politicans - did not behave that way.


I hear that. The CSA government was never able to control their own states. I am almost surprised they lasted as long as they did. The Confederate homefront was always a "frontier" after all the white men left for the armies and only women and army rejects were left to try and run things.

Kind of like the first three weeks of the NFL season without the regular officials! :mrgreen:
Author:  rjh57 [ Mon Oct 01, 2012 6:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Jeff Davis and Lincoln Question
I'm currently reading "DIXIE BETRAYED: How the South Really Lost the Civil War" by David J. Eicher. Since the Confederacy was founded on the principle of States Rights superseding any Federal authority, this presented Jeff Davis with some real problems. For example, Gov. Brown of Georgia wanted to maintain control over Georgia troops - how they were supplied, who commanded them, and where and when they fought. Can you imagine: state governors calling the shots on the battlefields !? Some of the issues debated by the Confederate Congress were downright ludicrous.

http://www.amazon.com/Dixie-Betrayed-So ... 322&sr=1-1
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