Which American Civil War general was the greatest? Why?

Question

(This is not for homework, I am just curious about your thoughts)
http://www.thomaslegion.net/generals.html

Answer 1

Lemme see the candidates:

Bobby Lee - outstanding strategic thinker, beloved by his men and respected by his foes, if only he didn't blunder at Cemetery Ridge.

Uly Grant - doesn't take much tactical thinking for sledgehammer attacks, winning by attrition alone.

Bedford Forest - getting there 'firstest with the mostest' men was his motto, daring cavalry general.

TJ - AKA Stonewall - best tactical general of the war, led from the front (which was his undoing). Had he been alive at Gettysburg, the course of the war would've been different.

Hancock - savior of Gettysburg (besides Colonel Chamberlain at Little Round Top - but he wasn't a general and Buford for holding the high ground in day 1). Hancocks leadership saved the day on the 1st two days, after the bungling Howard and death of Gen. Reynolds.

My pic is TJ, for his victories in the Shenandoah Valley and flanking movement at Chancelorsville, which made his boss look good. Without TJ, Gen. Lee was exposed as a poor tactical commander, that and his small HQ staff....but that's another discussion

Answer 2

Greetings. The greatest general for the confederacy was Robert E. Lee, particularly when it came to tactical defense. He was the sole reason that the confederacy lasted for nearly four years instead of six months. Strategic planning, or offensive maneuvers were not his strong suit, however. That would go to Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. The other reason why the Confederacy survived for so long is that the Union had very few generals that would actually take the war to the south until Ulysses Grant was appointed.

The greatest "Strategic" general for the Union was William T. Sherman. He was ruthless. He knew that the war had to be fought to attrition and set out to do just that.

General Grant was the victor, and he definitely was a good general, but I would not consider him "the best". He also knew that the war was one of attrition and simply used the army to do so. Any other union general would have been just as successful if they formally pushed the war.

Just as a side note - both Grant and Sherman were the leading Union generals that fought in a battle in Shiloh, Tennessee in April, 1862, just six months into the war. Until that battle, most people believed that the Civil War was going to be a short affair. There were more American soldiers killed in that two day battle than in any previous american wars COMBINED. And that was just the beginning. Shiloh taught both Grant and Sherman that the Civil War was going to be a bloodbath and could only be won by attrition.

Thank you for asking a great question. I would love to participate in a chatroom discussion about the Civil War.

Take care.

Answer 3

Lee, by far and away, he made the union pay for every inch he gave, if it wasn'r for Jefferson Davis changing up the commander in the west/central areas, Lee could have held off the North even longer, but as such, he had a losing war cards dealt to him from the beginning, any other general probably would have been done much sooner.

Answer 4

Ulysses Grant - After assuming command against Robert E Lee, he was able to bring the war to a victorious conclusion for the Lincoln government. He may not be as good a tactician or strategist but in outfighting Lee despite various defeats he ensured that there was no hope for the Confederacy to win or even hope for a draw.

Answer 5

Bobby Lee and Stonewall both pulled off
great victory's that should not have happened .
Grant was a drunken butcher of his own men.
Sherman was a butcher to the south. he did care
about anyone. Union forces under Sherman raped
slaves and white women. Killed people without cause.After the war sherman went after the natvie
amercain
.

Answer 6

Uh, I'd have to say Grant. Partially because I only know about, mainly, the generals that got fired and/or were basically just assigned to trash towns. At least Mr. U.G. had some semblance of wanting to win and got to thinking about strategy.