"Let’s try WORST ACW General again." Topic

Originally lost in a Time Warp…

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This is in answer to a current discussion that insists Hood deserves the honor. This being TMP, disagreement ensued.
Let's start off with Hood, then, and counter with Butler.
Everyone of them is dead by now, so nobody can sue you for slander.
Give your reasons. Or, not. Up to you. When you go to vote, nobody demands you justify yourself.

Hood

Butler

Not a contest for who has the worst mustache or beard. That's a whole different Poll.

Not again. Everyone wants to trash the famous but ultimately unsuccessful--who were probably better than lots of ACW generals we've never heard of.

If the poll runs despite my carping, put me down for Robert H. Milroy. Major General of Volunteers, US Army.

"Not again"?
That wasn't a genuine by God binding on all historians TMP Poll.
This will be.

Again with the negative waves. Sigh.

Ruggles was pretty garbage as a general, and was eventually shifted to administrative duties by the Confederacy. And the CSA was notorious for letting bad commanders stay in command. How bad do you have to be to get sidelined by them?

My choices would be, in no particular order, Hood, Butler, Milroy, Bragg. off the top of my head.

Jim

Never heard of Butler until TMP
My vote Hood

"Shanks" Evans, CSA.

George B. Crittenden, CSA.

Bragg, CSA

Only because Hood was a good brigade and division commander. Terrible army commander.

Everyone trashes the CSA generals because the ones in the western theater were so bad. The list of good CS army commanders is a short one – R.E. Lee.

The ones that left the ANV to go west did not fair well, two that come to mind are Hood and Longstreet. Lee made mediocre generals look that much better and once they get an independent command not so much.

Well, Lee lost the whole shebang, so there's an argument to be made there.

But that's not what's meant, and I think even Lee knew the defeat was inevitable without something drastic happening— hence his invasion of Pennsylvania with the strategy of taking Washington. Once that went cock-up at Gettysburg, it was all she wrote.

If one ignores broader strategy and instead focuses on a battlefield level, Hood certainly fits the bill. (He actually had a decent idea as a campaign strategy, but with no competency to pull it off.)

Here's a wild card: JEB Stuart. He was too concerned with showboating what he *could* do that he failed to do what he *needed* to do to support Lee's strategy.

Seigel?

I disagree that it was Hood. Hood was an excellent Brigade and Divisional general. He was a competent Corps general. He failed as a commanding general. There a numerous generals that failed at every level. Siegel would be one. But there is no way Hood was the worst general in the war.

Nathaniel"Commissary" Banks, USA, supply officer for Stonewall Jackson and other misadventures. (sarcasm)

Bragg was bad, I won't deny that and he deserves to be on this list, but so does his underling, Leonidas K Polk, CSA.

Parzival, I like your inclusion of JEB Stuart. You have it right, showboating was what he did best.

Me. I marched a union brigade into a reb ambush.

Jubilation T Cornpone may have been fictional, but he had many historical inspirations.
Grant and Sherman didn't achieve their reputations on their own. It took cooperation from the opposition as well.

Once again I nominate Leonidas Polk.

Well, Lee lost the whole shebang, so there's an argument to be made there.

No question, Grant was the best Army Commander of the war. On the CS side nobody was a better Army Commander than Lee. Admittedly a low bar. He didn't lose the "whole shebang" by himself. He had plenty of help, especially from the west.

True enough.

Much as I'd like to throw Siegel on the pile, Polk was a first class pillock.

Siegel was actually a very good artillery commander and pulled off several fighting withdrawals. The problem was that he would place his troops were he HAD to make a good withdrawals.

Gideon Pillow…

I wonder if Hood's behavior as army commander reflected the trauma of losing a leg and the use of his left arm at Chickamauga and Gettysburg, respectively. The psychological effects of losing limbs must be pretty severe, and I suspect he would have been in a lot of pain, especially when riding a horse. As someone who suffered a lot of chronic pain over the years, I can tell you that if affects one's attitude and judgment, even when you think you have it under control.

Yeah Pillow was a close second.

Pillow or Floyd on the Confederate side. Take your pick. On the Union Fremont, Siegel and Milroy would be in the running but I'd have to go with Butler.

@Old C-What about Richard Taylor? Magruder? The team of S.D. Lee and Forrest? I'd argue that Beauregard had his share of good moments when not engaging in flights of fantasy.

Union General Bull Nelson.

You can read about his glorious military career *ahem* and getting shot by a Union General named Jefferson Davis as a result of a stupid argument he started.

I love Gen. Hood, it is just a fact of life in was not born in Virginia hence he is to blame by the crowd. History does have a twist today but also even then.
Hood did very good in the saddle, during the 1864 he would send all day in the saddle with no effect seen by his staff.

Yes, Floyd certainly deserves consideration. Note that Grant started his rise to fame against Polk, Pillow and Floyd. No wonder he got off to a great start.

Exactly. Grant benefited from the good sportsmanship on The Other Side. They gave him the chance and encouragement he needed to rise to the top!

I used to think Ben Butler was useless, but as a former lawyer, he came up with the concept of "contraband of war" which did much to define the issues involved in the Civil War. I suppose not everyone can be a good general, leading troops in the field, but many can perform other functions. If the union had created an Army Training Command and kept George McClellan in charge of it throughout the war, he would be much more respected nowadays. Many officers just didn't realize this and pressed for a position with a wider scope to display their incompetence.

John, when you go for a poll of worst beard or moustache, be sure to include date. Grant grew this huge, god-awful beard at the beginning of the war, but had the good sense to trim it after several months, giving him the relatively neat, tidy look we are all familiar with.

Grelber

Not a general, but Colonel Florence Cornyn (USA) was no prize. He too ended up being shot (during a court martial!) by one of his own officers when the two got in a fight during a recess. The killer was eventually acquitted of the charge of murder (despite numerous officer eye-witnesses), but kicked out of the service. (One gets the impression nobody involved thought highly of Cornyn, or too sorry to see him dead.)

Cornyn was infamous for his desire to punish Southern civilians for the war (and slavery in general), staging raids on farms and businesses, and even burning down a shuttered military academy (LaGrange College), including its library and the town around it, despite the place having no military value whatsoever. At the time, his men were supposed to be engaging Nathan Bedford Forrest as cover to keep Forrest from pursuing a Union force— Streight's "Lightning Mule Brigade" which was crossing Alabama to destroy railroads in Georgia. But Forrest was nowhere near LaGrange, so why Cornyn and his cavalry showed up there is hard to fathom. Cornyn failed in his mission; Forrest did not.

Cornyn called his cavalry force "the Destroying Angels." They were certainly the former; it is doubtful they were ever the latter.

Grant grew this huge, god-awful beard at the beginning of the war, but had the good sense to trim it after several months, giving him the relatively neat, tidy look we are all familiar with.

I believe his wife was responsible for the change. When she first arrived at Cairo and saw the long version, she nixed it.

I would give honorable mention, at least, to Albert Sydney Johnston. His strategic arrangements were easily broken at Fort Henry. His tactical deployment at Shiloh was cumbersome. Then he ignored his own wound and bled to death in the midst of the battle.

Sherman's wife should have bought him a comb.

I have started far too many Polls. 🙄
If anyone is interested in a "Worst Beard" Poll, you are more than welcome to start one yourself.
Be sure to include "Worst Haircut", so Sherman won't feel left out.

Albert Sydney Johnston's main military qualification was "Friend of Jefferson Davis".
As was Bragg's.
That could explain why Beauregard was sidelined for much of the war. He did not get along with Davis, but his beard was nicely trimmed.
I would consider PGT Beauregard as "generally competent".

I can't believe that Burnside hasn't been mentioned yet.

On the CSA side it has to be Bragg. Didn't the commander of the Orphan Bridge offer to shoot Bragg at Stones River ( when ordered to charge Mendenhalls grand battery?

Well, Burnsides did have a 30% success rate.
Or was it 20%? 🤔Math is hard!

Burnsides at 30%, does this refer to the worst general poll or does this refer to the beard poll, how much of his face did he shave?

It means that as a general, he was 70% unsuccessful.
As for bad beards, start your own poll.