"Most Brilliant ACW Campaign?" Topic

Which Civil War military operation would you consider to be the most brilliant?

Vicksburg….bypassing the city by river, unloading and totally outmaneuvering the Confederates in a quick campaign locking them up in the city.

Jacksons Valley Campaign

Tullahoma

Vicksburg

2nd Tullahoma. H

Vicksburg

Vicksburg

Cutting loose of supply, moving rapidly cross-country; Jackson's Valley Campaign would be a close second

Another vote for Jackson's valley campaign.

Stonewall in the valley (3)

Another vote for Vicksburg.

Vicksburg.

Not just Tullahoma but the whole campaign from Murfreesboro to Chattanooga. Second place to Sterling Prices attempt to take St. Louis in 1864 which turned into a series of running battles all over the state of Missouri.

Yeah I would say Jackson's valley campaign, but Vicksburg was a nifty bit of work.

Christopher

Vicksburg

Sherman's march to the sea.

Jackson's Valley Campaign.

Grant's Vicksburg Campaign.

Joe Johnston's Atlanta Campaign

Lee's Seven Days Campaign

Grant's Overland Campaign

Vicksburg Campaign.

Tough choice … ? Leaning towards Vicksburg …

Yep, Vicksburg.

Vicksburg

Vicksburg.

Vicksburg

Jackson's Valley Campaign

Jackson's Valley Campaign, followed by the Tullahoma Campaign.

Vicksburg. Strategic importance toward the War's outcome is the tie-breaker for me.

Vicksburg. Cutting loose your supply lines for a force that size, took imagination and a lot of confidence.

Vicksburg and Selma

Vicksburg. Grant risked his supply lines, bottled up the Confederates, and forced an entire army to surrender. Tullahoma while brilliant, did not result in an army surrendering. Just losing territory with minimal casualties (which isn't a bad feat either).

+1 Stephen Miller

Jackson's Valley Campaign. Although heavily outnumbered Jackson concentrated his forces in order to gain local parity or superiority.

I consider Chancelorsville a close second. Lee was seriously outnumbered with Longstreet away besieging Suffolk. He split his army into three separate forces and defeated his enemy in detail.

While Vicksburg was well fought I believe the superiority in men, equipment, naval forces, and supply made the victory inevitable. Additionally despite these advantages it still took, depending on how you count, between four and 18 months to take the city.

Valley campaign

Sherman's march to the sea. Make Georgia howl.

Vicksburg.

While the Valley campaign was well fought. I believe the inferiority in Union Leadership had more to do with Jackson Victory.

Is it a Brilliant Victory when the Superbowl champs crush a Collage Football team?

Chancelorsville is the classic example of why Some Union General were in way over there heads. Hooker's plan and early operation were brilliant.Then he lost his nerve and the Army of the Potomac paid the price. If Hooker had attack during the flanking march the Battle would have gone to the Union.

The Southern Leadership had for over a year stopped everyone of Grant's Attacks on Vicksburg. His later campaign was both Bold and brilliant.

The Union superiority in men, equipment, naval forces, and supply made the victory inevitable, hold for most ACW Battles/Campaigns. It doesn't lead to Union Victory either strategically or Tactical most times.

And as we know, it took Lincoln some time to find a Union General with "the right stuff" … i.e. Grant …

i typically avoid entering these types of discussions, but on this one, I can't resist. For me, the most brilliant campaign was Vicksburg. While the Valley 1862 was amazing for the reasons stated above, the result of what Jackson accomplished was of a limited value in the long term. It impacted the maneuvers in 1862, probably contributed toward lengthening the war, and was the center of much discussion. Ultimately, however, the war in the East moved along to the next series of battles. Vicksburg, on the other hand, cut the Confederacy in half, opened the Mississippi River all the way to the Gulf, and provided Grant with the chops to ultimately command all the Union armies. And he did this while being outnumbered by Confederate forces who couldn't bring those superior numbers to bear on the battlefields because he strategically his enemy. Things were never the same after he got done with the campaign.

Thomas' Nashville campaign. He's always overlooked.

I do not understand the Vicksburg choice. Given the disparity of army and naval forces and the strategic situation along the Mississippi it was likely the U.S. would be able to capture the city in 1863 if they had wanted to. The overland option was still available. Once Port Hudson fell the city could have been approached from the south. Grant's genius was in overcoming the obstacles of the option he chose, advancing south along the river. Once the navy was able to pass the guns of Vicksburg though even this option was likely to succeed. Bagging Pemberton's army was as much due to choices by Pemberton as by Grant's genius.

My choice would be Henry & Donnelson. Taking these positions and gaining control of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers split the Confederate line in the west in two. It gave U.S. forces the potential to get behind Johnston's troops in central Kentucky, and it prevented Johnston from reinforcing Polk in western Kentucky.

Sherman's March, a bold plan that really helped bring the war to an end.

Henry/Donelson is an interesting choice. Has to be in the top 5, for sure.

There are really 2 aspects to the question:

1. How cleverly was the campaign conducted -- the operational level, so to speak.

2. How well did the general pick the right point to attack to achieve decisive results -- the strategic level.

Henry/Donelson scores high on the second part, not so high on the other.

Vicksburg scores high on both counts.

Jackson's Valley Campaign scores very high on part 1, fairly high on part 2 (basically, it was a strategic diversion, which was about all that could be expected of a force that size).

Tullahoma scores well on both parts, but, unfortunately for Rosecrans, bad weather prevented it from resulting in a decisive battle.

Vicksburg.

Tullahoma for a close second.

I'll be an heretic and suggest that the Naval
Campaign 'gainst the Mississippi River was the
most brilliant AND the most decisive.

Beginning with the NAVY'S capture of New Orleans
and continuing with the severing of East-West
communications between the Western and Eastern
portions of the CS which denied to Confederate
armies various necessities.

If the Mississippi is NOT controlled, taking
Vicksburg becomes much more problematic.

The rivers off the Mississippi were a wonderful
highway for Union forces later in the war, since
you can move a lot more supplies and troops by
water than you can by road, especially over the roads
of 1862-1865. You can move them much more quickly
too.

Once the Mississippi was Union-controlled, that network
became available for the increasing logistical needs
of the Union armies, just as it was important for Sherman
to reach the port of Savannah and feed/supply his
army from the storeships dispatched for that purpose.

Without control of the Mississippi, the Vicksburg
Campaign probably doesn't happen, and the Kentucky
and Tennessee campaigns become much more difficult.

Ditto Alabama, at least the southern and western
portions.

I am having trouble seeing the cleverness Don. Grant devoted a great amount of time and effort trying to deal with the problems caused by his decision to advance on Vicksburg from the north along the river. In the end he succeeded by combining elements of the two other options. Running the ships past Vicksburg's guns allowed Grant to initially approach the city from the south as the U.S. would have if it came up from Port Hudson. In swinging east to Jackson Grant made his final approach along the route he likely would have used if he had advanced overland.

Being of the "Western" school, I would have to say the Vicksburg campaign and the Tullahome-Chattanooga-Chickamauga campaign were the most clever.

Jim

Can't say I'm of the "Western School" but I'd still say Vicksburg.

Another vote for Vicksburg.

The one where Grant, Sherman, Lee and Jackson got together to fix the TMP bug and restore the search function.

That I think would be called "Alternate History" Andy !

The really brilliant part of Grant's Vicksburg campaign came after he got across the river south of the city. Maneuvering his divisions to keep his left flank covered by the Big Black River while simultaneously threatening 1) Vicksburg, 2) Jackson, and 3) the railroad between them (especially the bridge over the Big Black), all the while keeping his divisions in supporting distance of each other, camped by sources of water, etc. Then the decision to cut loose from the river, chase off Joe Johnston and tear up the railroads around Jackson (so Confederates would have a hard time assembling units to threaten him from that direction), then turning on Pemberton and driving him into the defenses of Vicksburg. Halleck compared the campaign favorably with Napoleon's maneuvers about Ulm (not that I'm familiar with those).

Throw in sending Sherman to fake an attack on Chickasaw Bluffs while the rest of his army was crossing the Mississippi below the city, as well Grierson's raid (worthy of nomination on its own account) to further divert Pemberton's attention.