Phil Hall | 20 Dec 2018 12:18 p.m. PST |
Cavalry commander? JEB Stuart or Nathan Bedford Forest? |
robert piepenbrink | 20 Dec 2018 12:24 p.m. PST |
Are my cavalry scouts, battle cavalry or mounted infantry? |
Frederick | 20 Dec 2018 2:57 p.m. PST |
Exactly the right question Forrest was a great raider but Stuart was more of a battlefield commander |
BW1959 | 20 Dec 2018 4:07 p.m. PST |
I'd rather have Buford, but of those two Stuart, he was better at working with army command. Forrest was more of a lone wolf |
Big Red | 20 Dec 2018 4:34 p.m. PST |
Forrest became a lone wolf because the often inept Confederate command made him nuts. In my opinion, Wade Hampton was better than either of them. |
epturner | 20 Dec 2018 5:16 p.m. PST |
John Buford…. Actually, Frederick, I'd reverse that. Forrest was a decent battlefield commander. Stuart was not. YMMV; Eric |
Old Contemptibles | 20 Dec 2018 7:20 p.m. PST |
Nathan Bedford Forest. He was pretty good for a cavalry commander who didn't go to West Point. |
robert piepenbrink | 20 Dec 2018 7:24 p.m. PST |
As I recall, Lee's comment was that Stuart never brought him a report that wasn't true. That's a great thing to say about a scout. Forrest was a superior commander of mounted infantry. But if you needed actual battlefield cavalry--someone to strike home on horseback--well, of the two, maybe Stuart. For the war, I might look north. Nothing against Hampton, but Phil only gave two choices. |
KimRYoung | 20 Dec 2018 8:49 p.m. PST |
Both are excellent, though different. Forrest much better at small unit tactics and operating independent from close supervision. JEB, though somewhat undisciplined, more cooperative and understanding of big picture strategy. When Jackson was mortally wounded at Chancellorsville, JEB would take command of his 25,000 man corp and did a superb job to complete the victory. Jackson on his deathbed even recommend Stuart should succeed him. Jackson was aware of his lack of discipline, such as at Fredericksburg when JEB ordered Fitz Lee to make a charge with his brigade against a strong Union position over open ground covered by artillery. An aid to Fitz Lee observed "This will be another Balaklava". Fortunately Jackson was able to call off the attack before a disaster occurred. Yet Jackson still considered JEB capable of higher command. Nathan Bedford Forrest may have been the best and most successful military commander, with no formal training or education, since Joan of Arc. Kim |
Extrabio1947 | 21 Dec 2018 10:20 a.m. PST |
Place Forrest in the Eastern Theater reporting to Lee. Likewise, place Stuart in the Western Theater reporting to Bragg. Hypothetically, who would be better now? |
donlowry | 21 Dec 2018 10:32 a.m. PST |
Stuart was better at being the eyes and ears of an army, and pretty good at raiding (riding around McClellan). Forrest was excellent at raiding, counter-raiding, and battlefield tactics, but pretty poor at the eyes-and-ears bit. (See the book Failure in the Saddle, detailing the failures of both Forrest and Wheeler in scouting for Bragg during the Chickamauga campaign.) Don't recall that Hampton ever went into raiding, but, after "studying" under Stuart, was excellent at both scouting and fighting. As for Extrabio's question: Bragg needed a good scout like Stuart, while Lee would have been as blind as Bragg with Forrest in command of his cavalry. |
Bill N | 21 Dec 2018 11:46 a.m. PST |
I believe Hampton did some raiding in late 1862/early 1863, and again in 1864. If I had my pick of Confederate cavalry commanders I would go with Hampton of 1864-65. If Ashby had survived he could have become the Forrest of the Eastern Theatre. Like Forrest Ashby had little military training before the war. Of the two Ashby would probably have been better at scouting and screening. Stuart was the chief cavalry commander in the east. Through 1863 Forrest was serving in an army that had other cavalry commanders of equal or greater status, so his role was more limited. |
Lee494 | 21 Dec 2018 5:09 p.m. PST |
Phil Sheridan. Hands down best cavalry commander of the war. Now I know that wasn't the question. But it's my answer. |
Bill N | 21 Dec 2018 10:26 p.m. PST |
Sheridan wasn't even the best Union CAVALRY commander. His performance in the early stages of the Overland Campaign was mixed. In the Shenandoah and at Five Forks he was an ARMY commander, commanding a mixed force of cavalry and infantry. |