"Best Confederate General: Jackson?" Topic

The Tin Dictator once said:

I have always thought that Jackson was the best Confederate General.
Right up until he got shot by his own troops.

After that he wasn't much good.
Being dead, and all.

TMP link

Do you agree?

Would that be Jackson of the Valley or Jackson of the Chickahominy?

I certainly think his effectiveness was greatly reduced by his death.

Being dead does tend to degrade ones effectiveness – exceptions for a couple of Union generals of course.

I am still convinced that Jackson wasn't the victim of an "accidental" shooting. Those Tarheels knew exactly who they were aiming at.

Getting shot when he did probably enhanced Jackson's reputation. His flaws could be glossed over and his exploits highlighted. One can guess, but not say for certain, how he would have done when the war's directions changed with better commanders for the Army of the Potomac.

Yes being dead definitely reduces your ability to command and control your troops.

That happened to me during Ranger training, I was killed by the instructor and then criticized in the After Action Review for losing control of my squad after I was dead. Hard no to agree with logic like that, if it were to happen now I would just literally laugh out loud at it.

As far as Jackson, he was great when he was great and not great when he wasn't. As a personality he is certainly fun to study.

In Luzerne County, you can vote when you are dead.
I don't see why that should be an impediment to being a general. In fact, with some generals, they would have made better decisions had they been dead.

Longstreet IMHO is the pick of the Confederate Generals. Forrest is also right up there if not the best,…
Jackson was dismal during the 7 days.

Did Jackson beat anybody?
#StrengthOfSchedule

I wonder why they didn't try a "weekend at Bernies" thing with Jackson. Strap him to a horse and let him lead picketts charge, couldn't gone to any worse than it did.

That happened to me during Ranger training, I was killed by the instructor and then criticized in the After Action Review for losing control of my squad after I was dead.

LOL got to love it. Perfect example of military logic!

Jackson was dismal during the 7 days.

Steady on T Ape, he wasn't that good.

Did Jackson beat anybody?

Fair Point but neither did Lee if you think about it.

Only thing to be said in fairness to all historical generals is we know when their opponents were rubbish, at the time they probably didn't. Or they were having to take a chance on it at any rate.

Turner Ashby. Although he was killed several weeks before his appointment to Brigadier actually was approved. Had he lived he would have served extremely well under Jackson perhaps even replacing him after his death. At least he would have been better than Ewell.

IMHO Lee was the best CSA general. As said above, Jackson was great when he was great but there were some other times…

The South's biggest problem? Only one Lee and he wouldn't fight anywhere but Virginia.

I dunno about Turner Ashby. Lots of great brigadiers didn't make great division COs, etc. Look at Hood – brilliant brigadier, fine division CO, so-so corps CO and out of his league in army command.

Jackson was the best Corps Commander

Lee was the best Army Commander

Grant was the best General

"That devil Forrest.."

Forrest: hell of a fighter, incredible raider, not so great at scouting/screening, a difficult subordinate.

Again, we don't know how he would have fared if bumped up a level or two. But with a couple cavalry divisions? Fierce.

Don't believe that propaganda that Forrest was never beaten. He was beaten at least 3 times:
Once by Robert Milroy (outside Murfreesborough during the Nashville campaign);
Twice by James H. Wilson before and at Selma AL.

Also by A. J. Smith near Tupelo MS, but you have to put an asterisk by that one since S. D. Lee was actually in overall command on the Confederate side.

Erratic as mentioned above.

I believe it's time to put my bee-keeper's suit on…

Cornpone.

I'd venture that Jackson was one of those people who was proficient in the art of war and successful at applying it, but only to a certain degree, mostly caused by a series of personal issues.

His main strength was that he knew exactly what Lee expected from him.

My suspicion is that his issues would have caught up with him as he was becoming increasingly erratic. He would still have had flashes of brilliant insight, but he was bound to either make a critical mistake and lose in the worst possible way or simply get himself killed or maimed out of command anyway.

One of those difficult wargaming decisions.
1 he died too early.
2 like in wargaming , it needs two to tango, so one is good if the opponent is worse. Who knows what Jackson vs Grant/ Sheridan/ Sherman would have done?

Wade Hampton is my choice.

Patrick Cleburne, without doubts the best Division commander of the CSA (fought on the Army of Tennessee until his death and Nashville..)

Jackson was not perfect, but I can't think of any CSA corps commander that was as good (no, not even Longstreet).

It hard to objectively assess Jackson's performance as a commander without being perceived as saying Jackson doesn't deserve his status as an icon.

Jackson was a very good commander, but he wasn't the best commander the Confederacy had. As an army commander I think Lee performed better than Jackson would have under the same circumstances. Comparing Jackson's performance with other corps commanders is difficult because aside from Longstreet the best comparables take over corps later when the circumstances were different. Still I would rank Hampton and Taylor as at least as good as Jackson. Cleburne was as good a divisional commander as anyone.

Longstreet was by far the most reliable and skilled Corps Commander in the war. Lee considered Longstreet his number 1 Corps Commander and confidant. Jackson was found wanting on a number of occasions and often found it hard to coordinate with other commands to strike the decisive blow in major engagements. In the valley campaign Jackson commanded his small army well against inferior opponents, however he was prone to blunders the Seven days campaign being a particular low point.
Longstreet was not perfect either and did not show well in independent operations but as a Corps Commander under Gen. Lee he had no equal ' Old Pete' was the best.

It would be difficult indeed to name any commander in any war who enjoyed a "perfect" record.

B

Cleburne died at Franklin, not Nashville. I also happen to agree that he was the best Confederate General. Only politics kept him from Corps or Army Command, which should rightly been granted to him.

As I said in a previous thread (not long ago) on this same subject, it depends on the answer to: best at what?

My picks (CSA only):
Best army commander: R. E. Lee
Best corps commander: T. J. Jackson
Best division commander: Pat Cleburne
Best brigade commander: maybe Hood (lots of candidates)
Best cavalry corps commander: Hampton (after he learned his trade under Stuart)
Best artillery commander: Porter Alexander