"uncelebrated general" Topic

One of my favourite chapters of Colonel Elting's excellent 'Swords around a Throne' (Napoleonics) is the bit were the author briefly describes the careers of promising but forgotten French generals.

I know you afficionados of the ACW probably have no such category but who because of the fame such as Lee, Jackson & Longstreet, or Grant Sherman & Sheridan don't recieve the accolades they deserve?

Did their youth or a fatal wound consign them to relative obscurity?

I nominate General Thomas Rosser, a classmate of Custer & every bit as audacious & skilful but began his rise after the nadir of the Confederacy & tends to be forgotten.

The Union general I nominate is James Wilson. Amongst other accomplishments he out fought the vaunted NB Forrest on his 1864 raid. Perhaps fighting on the Western theatre, after it had been eclipsed by events in the East dimmed his glory?

Any others?

More acclaim should go to Lt. Colonel Thomas Munford, a man often recommended for promotion to brigadier general but often passed over by accident ( This did not prevent his calling himself a general after the war).

He was an excellent cavalry officer despite several mistakes at Brandy Station.
I believe he hated Rosser.

Union General David Gregg deserves more recognition as does Rooney Lee and Fitz Lee. Also Thomas Devin.

One of Wilson's greatest accomplishments was to run the Cavalry Bureau well.
He performed poorly as a cavalry division commander in the spring of 1864.

John Reynolds. He celebrated, but not enough. He turned down command of the AoP and wound up making one of the most important strategic decisions of the war, deploying the First Corps forward on day one at Gettysburg. I believe that decision was decisive, and I also believe that Reynolds didn't just get lucky, I think he knew exactly what he was doing.
His heroism overshadowed his genius.

Most underrated Union General -- General George Thomas. But recognize the problem was not an early exit, just bad press.

Ben Butler.
It is fashionable to not like him, but he did accomplish much, to the despair of the Regular Army.
We are supposed to hate "political generals".
But he did take New Orleans and Banks did take Port Hudson.

One of the most under rated due to is unjust cashiering in December 1862 was Fitz John Porter. He saved McClellan on a number of occasions on the Peninsula. He also saved the Union army from complete disaster at 2nd Manassas. His biggest mistake was being so politically involved in the infighting.

I have also become a fan of Emory Upton especially his role in the Overland Campaign

Most also forget that Reynolds was offered the AOP on two occasions by Lincoln.

Union General George Sears Greene. His division at Antietam had pierced the Confederate center, but he lacked sufficient forces, or any reserves, to fully exploit it. His brigade in the XIIth Corps at Gettysburg built breastworks on Culps Hill at his insistence which enabled his single somewhat small brigade to fight off two larger Confederate brigades attacking late on the second day. Instrumental in thwarting Longstreet's Wauhatchie attack prior to the Battle of Chattanooga, but was severely wounded and out of action for the next year and a half. After the war was big in several significant engineering works for New York City, Washington DC, and Detroit. Was a founding member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Patrick Cleburne – Army of Tennessee, CSA

1) Private to major general.
2) Loved by his men.
3) Shared dangers with his men (cost him his life at Franklin).
4) Called for emancipation of slaves.
5) Great battlefield record ""Where this division defended, no odds broke its line; where it attacked, no numbers resisted its onslaught, save only once; and there is the grave of Cleburne." – Gen. Hardee.
6) Really cool division flag.

Reynolds as noted above, and Chamberlain. I KNOW JLC was awarded the Medal of Honor, and Grant chose him to receive Lee's sword at Appomattox, but outside of wargamers and history buffs, few know any names, generals or not, other than "the usual suspects" of Grant, Lee, Sherman, Pickett, Stewart and Jackson.

JJ

James Wadsworth, commander of the 1st Division, 1st Corps, at Gettysburg. He was killed at the Wilderness, but until then led an amazing and admirable life, though he was not a great general.

John Gibbon Started the war as an artillery Capt, commanded the Iron Brigade when it earned its moniker. Commanded two different divisions leading from the front he was wounded at both Fredricksburg and Gettysburg. Selected over senior officers to command at corp level.

He was described by MG Hancock as the best division commander in the AOP. He also impacted the army through "the Artillerists Manual" that he wrote.

Brave, smart, and pugnacious able to uphold discipline and still lead and inspire the volunteers.

For the Union, another vote for "Slow Trot" Thomas – a solid rock who was utterly cool under pressure and who took care of the men under his command

For the Confederates, Cleburne for sure – rising from a private in the British Army to a Major General in Confederate service, brilliant tactician and also a forward-thinking strategist – beloved by his troops

Alpheus Williams,by far the most deserving brigadier general who never got a second star. Commanded XII corps on occasion. See Quaife, ed., _From the Cannon's Mouth_ for Williams' remarkable letters.

I think Cleburne IS recognized for the good general he was, and is in no way overlooked and forgotten. Same with George Thomas.

I can think of several who are.

Thomas Crittenden is often, in my opinion, unfairly disparaged for his tenure commanding the Twenty-First Corps (under various names). He always did a competent job, and if he had stayed on the field at Chickamauga, I think he would have kept his Corps command, maybe even keeping command of the newly merged and formed Fourth Corps. He also commanded a division during part of the Overland Campaign back east.

Alpheus Williams deserved a second star more than any other Union brigadier general.

Ben Butler did wonders with the Army of the James. He was instrumental in the encouragement, training, and use of black soldiers in the Union Army. He was a meticulous planner, but he let his political ambitions and plans get in the way of paying attention and being a good field commander. To be fair, he probably didn't have it in him to be a good tactical field commander, but he was an excellent administrator and people too often criticize him as a bungler, which he wasn't.

A. P. Stewart was a good brigade and division commander. He attacked hard at Stones River, and his division broke through the Union lines at Chickamauga on the first day. His assault on the second day, while unsuccesful, did distract the Union at a critical moment. His defense at New Hope Church was exemplary. He turned out to be a solid, but not great, corps commander.

Richard Taylor did great things with what resources he had in the Trans-Mississippi. As with most commanders from the Trans-Mississippi, he is often overlooked.

John the OFM beat me to it.

Ben Butler.

When they landed him with his army at the Bermuda Hundred he wanted to push-hell-bent-for-leather for Richmond, which was wide open and the two "professional" West Pointers sent to keep an eye on him held him back.

In a political war he, as a political general knew exactly the right steps to take. His branding of escaped slaves as "contrabands" moved the war from a war about airy constitutional issues to the real reason- slavery, and his governorship of New Orleans and the infamous "woman of the town" speech silenced the troublemakers without violence.

For the U.S. I would really like to say FitzJohn Porter. It is hard to knock his record and I'm on the side that agrees that he was pushed out for political reasons. However I do think it is hard to argue against Thomas. His record in the war was as good as anyone's, but he doesn't get the press that Grant, Sherman or even Custer gets.

For the Confederate side it is clear that Cleburne didn't rise to the level that his record and talent indicated he should have. If the standard is that he is not as well known as his ability and record indicates he should have been, I'd say it is a tie between Taylor and Gordon.

I'm going to go against the grain here on Cleburne. In Stonewall of the West: Patrick Cleburne and the Civil War, Craig Symonds puts forth the theory that Cleburne did reach the limits of his potential. A corps commander needs to display initiative and independent thought. In command meetings with his superiors, Hardee, Bragg, and Johnston (depending on the time frame) he rarely or never put forth ideas or strategies of his own, or displayed the knack for independent thought on the corps or army level. Was he brilliant and decisive on the division level? There is no question. Did he take the initiative when it was called for when making decisions for his division? Certainly. However, there is evidence that he never showed that type of initiative and independence to his superiors, who would have ultimately used that information to form their opinion on whether he was capable of higher command. He did what he was told, and did it brilliantly. But that's not necessarily what makes a great corps commander.

Just an idea. His support of arming slaves certainly hurt his chances too. There is no denying that.

Another vote for R. Taylor in the Trans-Misissippi. There is a recently published book that does a good job on the Red River Campaign.

Now I know where most of the street names in downtown Houston came from. :)

Two Union Generals come to my mind who always facinated me, who both commanded divisions in the Army of the Potomac, and who I think had great potentail had they not been killed in 1862, were General Phil Kearny and General Israel B. Richardson.

John Miller

John Reynolds
John Buford
John Gibbon
George Thomas
Ben Butler

Joseph E. Johnston
John B. Gordon
John S. Mosby (Colonel)
John Hunt Morgan

There were a lot of unknown men and officers who did amazing things below the rank of general. An example would be Lt. Alonzo Cushing who remained at his post at The Angle on July 3, 1863. He received three wounds, the first to his shoulder and the others to his abdomen. Cushing reportedly stood leaning against his sergeant pointing with his good arm while holding in his intestines with his other, the sergeant repeating the orders to his battery (Battery A, 4th US Artillery) as Cushing was unable to speak above a low tone due to his wounds. Cushing was ordered to the rear but remained at his post directing fire on the Confederate assault until he was killed by a round to the face that exited the rear of his skull at or just after the assault came to contact with the Union position. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor May 20, 2010 having been nominated for the award in 2002 and the conclusion of an eight year investigation. He was 22 when he died, having been born in WI in 1841.

I can't imagine being able to conduct myself similarly under those conditions, though I take solace in the fact that likely, neither did Lt. Cushing until he was doing it.

Cheers,

The Bandit

Bandit
Alonzo Cushing was to the Union Army, what his brother William was to the Union Navy. That's right, the Cushing who sank the C.S.S. Albemarle.
Col. Lucius Fairchild led the the bayonet charge of the 2nd Wisconsin at Gettysburg. His brother Col. Cassius Fairchild commanded the 16th Wisconsin in the West.
In Company F (the Belle City Rifles) of the 2nd Wis, two privates, William Strong, and A.C. Barry both rose to the rank of Brigadier General. I'm not sure how many people in the Belle City know about that.

Banks was a better general than he's usually given credit for. Not a great tactician but a pretty good strategist. His campaign to get TO Port Hudson was very well conducted. His conduct of the siege not so good (but good enough to win). In the Shenandoah he was up against the best the Rebels had (Jackson) but at least avoided disaster, and held his own at Cedar Mountain. In the Red River Campaign he was under pressure to wind it up quickly so as to return A. J. Smith's troops to Sherman and let his men get ambushed, but he returned the favor a few days later. He also saved Porter's fleet when it was trapped by low water.

McClernand was also a pretty good general, for a political appointee -- his problem was not being a team player and being in it for political gain, so he was resented by Sherman, McPherson and others, which also rubbed off on Grant, Halleck and Charles Dana.

Among those who died before getting to really shine I would include: Lyon, C. F. Smith and Kearny, all of whom would probably have made good corps commanders, at least.

I don't want to be argumentative but what did Mosby ever do?

As a nuisance he was great & certainly added mightily to the cost of the war for the US.

But he didn't really lead formed bodies of troops unlike everyone else in the above lists.

Another vote for General Phil Kearny and General Israel B. Richardson. Their deaths at Chantilly/Ox Hill were a double blow to the Union. Had they lived each would have had at least a corps and certainly Kearny may have had an army.

I'll vote for Colonel Nathan Kimball, the only Yankee commander to kick Stonewall Jackson's butt :) At First Kernstown Kimball ended up in command of General Shields' division (a 10,000 strong early war division) after Shields was wounded. Jackson was still clearly learning his trade and tried an ambitious flanking movement right in plain sight of the Federals and not realizing they had more troops in reserve had his head handed to him. Kimball wasn't exactly brilliant, but at the end of the day Jackson's army had been routed as thoroughly as McDowell's army had been at Bull Run the previous year. Even though it might be counted a strategic success for Jackson, no other Yankee general ever managed to beat him tactically as well as Kimball did.

Another vote for General Phil Kearny and General Israel B. Richardson. Their deaths at Chantilly/Ox Hill were a double blow to the Union. Had they lived each would have had at least a corps and certainly Kearny may have had an army.

I suspect this is just a writing style error, but Richardson was mortally wounded at Antietem not Chantilly. The other U.S. general to be killed at Chantilly was Stevens.

Craig Symonds puts forth the theory that Cleburne did reach the limits of his potential.

Short response is that we will never know because aside from a very brief stint at Jonesboro he wasn't given the chance. He may have felt that in his job as division commander it wasn't his role to be exercising initiative independent of his commanders and contrary to their orders. Also there is more to corps command than strategic and tactical ability. There is also the administrative duties that come with it, including the ability to work with your subordinates and superiors.

Another vote for Ben Butler!

Billy Yank

Off topic a bit but I'm running 1st Kernstown in the middle of October at our local convention.

How about John "Blackjack" Logan?

BURNSIDE is often called one of the worst Union Generals,but was he?
He fought in many Battles, He outmarched Jackson, Defeated Longstreet at Knoxville and ONLY lost at the Crator due to Mead and Grant's problems with using Black troops.

Burnside was neither good nor bad -- perhaps so-so would best describe him. He was good in planning but when things started to go wrong he seemed to lose his head or become obstinate to the point of refusing to accept reality.

When the pontoons didn't show up at Fredericksburg on time, he insisted on going ahead with crossing there, even though the situation had completely changed from what his plan had been based on.

When his attempt to outflank Fredericksburg by marching upriver got bogged down in mud, he persisted in trying to do it anyway, getting his army completely mired down.

When Meade ordered him to change his plan at the Crater and use some other division than the Colored Troops, instead of picking a division on merits and talents, he had the commanders draw straws -- which resulted in the most incompetent commander being in charge of the attack.

Yet he did well in North Carolina and, as mentioned above, in East Tennessee.

You have to remember that most of the generals who looked brilliant did so because their opponent was pretty stupid. And vice-versa.