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Ed Bearrs
May 12, 2005
Bull Run Civil War Roundtable: <u><font color="yellow">Best Commanders of the Civil War</font id="yellow"></u>
o The Dream Team lecture: ¡§With this topic I¡¦ve been set up to get lynched!¡¨
o <font color="yellow">Commanders in chief</font id="yellow">:
o Davis was a micromanager, and couldn¡¦t speak articulately to public.
o With Lincoln, the Federals had the advantage in the ¡§Numero Uno¡¨ category
o <font color="yellow">Secretaries of War</font id="yellow">
o Lincoln¡¦s Cameron: ¡§Unless you¡¦re related to him, you¡¦d be hard-pressed to say anything nice about Cameron.¡¨ A machine politician, he was foisted on Lincoln by the convention deal that got him the nomination. Cameron was so bad that Lincoln maneuvered him to a post ¡¥as far away as possible ¢w ambassador to the Court of the Czar.¡¦
o Stanton: a Democrat who was hired by Lincoln, but still managed to call Abe ¡¥the original gorilla.¡¦ Not a likable guy: ¡¥he kept the body of his dead daughter in his room for several months.¡¦ But he was effective in running the war.
o Union had, then, one loser and one winner.
o Confederates had Davis as his own Sec. of War, treating the men in the post (5 of them) as a series of clerks.
o <font color="yellow">Secretary of Navy</font id="yellow">:
Gideon Welles for Union had ¡¥a notable talent for choosing bad hair pieces.¡¦ Kept a meticulous record of the ¡¥inside game¡¦ in Washington. ¡¥if you are looking for reasons to dislike Stanton, read Welles¡¦ diary.¡¦
o Confederates have the edge with the innovative Mallory.
o
o <font color="yellow">Generals in Chief</font id="yellow">
o Lincoln to Halleck: ¡¥I brought you in to make decisions, not to be a clerk.¡¦
o McClellan forgot (like McArthur) that he was in fact subservient, as a General in Chief, to the Commander in Chief.
o Grant gets the edge over Lee as General in Chief. He had a plan, he knew what to do with the army, and he had the president¡¦s confidence.
o Lee came close, with his defensive-offensive stance in 1864 [inflicting dreadful casualties], to ensuring Lincoln¡¦s defeat in the fall election, and thus winning the war for the Confederacy.
o <font color="yellow">Army Commanders</font id="yellow">
o Lee was of course the best army commander. He saved the rebels in June 1862. ¡¥If the Federals had been able to stay 7 miles from Richmond, as they were when Joe Johnston was wounded, even McClellan would have been able to take the city eventually.¡¦
o McClellan doesn¡¦t realize his army was built as an instrument to win the war. He had ¡¥serious psychological problems. All you have to do is read his letters to understand what his personality problems were.¡¦
o Meade lacked a press officer; they didn¡¦t exist back then. His job would have been to tell Meade how to get along with the president. For example, his congratulatory message to the Army of the Potomac after Gettysburg ¢w ¡¥you have driven the enemy from our soil¡¦ ¢w drove Lincoln nuts: ¡¥It¡¦s all our soil, you _____!¡¦ Then word of Grant¡¦s victory at Vicksburg came in right after that, ¡¥Meade had very bad timing.¡¦
o Meade lost control of his Army when Grant overruled Meade and gave Sheridan his head.
o <font color="yellow">Corps commanders</font id="yellow">:
o Bearss says let¡¦s pick 4 good ones ¢w Confederates get two without even trying ¢w Jackson and Longstreet.
o But he can¡¦t give even one more to the rebs.
o Union side: Sumner at Antietam¡K ¡¥he may have been affected more seriously than is commonly thought by the Mexican War bullet that hit him in the head.¡¦
o ¡¥Sumner might have won the battle of Antietam for the Union ¢w if he¡¦d been killed!¡¦ He went into battle with one division (Sedgewick¡¦s) and ignored his other two.
o Worse, he discouraged McClellan from throwing Franklin¡¦s fresh corps against Lee¡¦s center at the climax of the fighting. Should have known to never say anything to worry McClellan once he¡¦s screwed up his courage to attack!¡¦
o Howard ¢w Hooker had the best word on him: ¡¥if Howard wasn¡¦t born in a petticoat, he should have been.¡¦
o Phil Kearny to Howard, after the latter fretted over his lost arm: ¡¥The girls won¡¦t think any less of you, and we¡¦ll only have to buy one pair of gloves between us.¡¦
o Hancock wins 3rd slot due to his great first and second days at Gettysburg.
o A.A. Humphreys gets the nod for his fine command during 1864-65 in Virginia under Grant.
o <font color="yellow">Artillery</font id="yellow">
o Henry Hunt, hands down. Lee¡¦s Pendleton was a minister before the war; why he didn¡¦t find someone better is a mystery.
o <font color="yellow">Cavalry</font id="yellow">
o Wade Hampton wins over Stuart. Hampton realized that ¡¥no longer does cavalry win by charging, boot to spur and saber in hand.¡¦ You fight dismounted and use horses for mobility.
o Union¡¦s George Stoneman: came down with ¡§piles¡¨ in the saddle; not a good trait for a cavalryman. Hooker blamed him, along with Howard, for Chancellorsville.
o Pleasanton ¢w exaggerated his successes too often and was sent West.
o Sheridan ¢w better as an army commander than a cavalryman. In fighting trim, he was 5¡¦5¡¨ and 120 pounds. ¡¥He will weigh over 300 pounds when he dies ¢w and he will not be any taller.¡¨
o <font color="yellow">Division commanders</font id="yellow">:
pick a few on each side
o Hood ¢w forget about his army command; he was peerless with his division at Gaines Mill and Antietam in the Corn Field
o Kershaw ¢w took up the slack from Hood¡¦s absence in 1864
o Early ¢w best of the II Corps under Ewell; ¡¥he was a bachelor, ladies ¢w but he had two families, one white and one black.¡¦
o III Corps ¢w Mahone was a real surprise under AP Hill.
o Union ¢w has the worst two division commanders hands down: Ferrero and his drinking buddy at the Crater, Ledlie.
„X Good ones ¢w Gibbon at Gettysburg
„X Charles Griffin
„X Geary under Grant
„X Russell (didn¡¦t go into much detail about these last two)
notes by: tdjones
BG Ken 'Muddy' Jones
1/1/XXIII Army of Ohio
USA
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