The worst General- North and South

[rivrrat]

How bout Earl VanDorn CSA, who managed to throw away a rare Confederate commodity at Pea Ridge. He had both numerical and artillery superiority and managed to loose. And Franz Sigel USA whose contribution to the Union victory at the same battle was to
retreat.

[jac]

Many of the generals being criticized are men who were promoted ****her than they should have been. A prime example is Hood, a fine subordinate commander, who got in trouble when he had to make decisions, rather than carry out the decisions of others. Who do you blame there? Hood, or Jeff Davis for promoting him against the advice of R.E. Lee?
OK, Bragg, Banks, Butler, Sigel, Burnside.....

[rivrrat]

Ahhh!!! The Peter Principle was alive and well in the 1860s.

Certainly there were many that were trying to win this honor. But I would choose Bragg, and McClellan

[illreb]

Well like its been said a few times already there are many canadates.These are my picks

The West CSA this would have to be Van Dorn who begins a campaign to take St. Louis in the middle of winter(big job even in the summer) and then leaves his supply trains miles behind to chase glory and is soundly beaten


USA I'd say Sigel whos belief that a good retreat was a victory cost him a few battles, or maybe Fremont who cared little for Missouri's safety until after the Wilsons Creek defeat

The East CSA Beauregard who like Van Dorn had big plans but couldn't accomplish these plans


USA this one has many who fit the bill but I would have to say McClellan is the best of the worst in this theater.


Well i guess I worked it down to 5

Illreb

[smilodon]

I find myself in agreement with much of what has been said on this thread, and EWC, I am coming to look forward to the insights in your posts. Obviously you are a man of reflection and have the ability to eloquently express those thoughts - my hat is off to you, sir.

The Union general I haven't seen yet on this thread is Sickles... I agree that when you look at the grand scale of the entire war, the Union award must be split between McClellan and Burnside - not only was McClellan lacking in strategic and tactical wisdom when he failed to win the war early, we must also remember his cavalier treatment of President Lincoln, and his platform in the 1864 presidential election. If it weren't an overly judgmental thing to say on this list, I would have to give him top marks in the Spineless Jellyfish with Ego category...

However, even though his idiosyncratic behavior is overshadowed by the repeated, much grander failures of the previously mentioned general officers, I would like to nominate General Sickles for the Union Loonie of the War award. WHY did he advance into the peach orchard on the second day at Gettysburg, in spite of orders from HQ to hold his position? Could he really have been deluded enough to think that his unsupported advance into an indefensible position could possibly succeed? And how about the gruesome and bizarre disposition of the skeletal remains of his own leg? Bringing family and friends to visit the cleaned and preserved shattered bones of his leg in Washington, DC after the war? I know there were many officers on both sides who exhibited unusual behavior, but the peach orchard and the shattered bones have to be acknowledged in this thread, don't you think?

Smilodon

[Admiral_Porter]

North- Sigel or Banks
South- Hood or Polk

I disagree with the statement that Rosecrans was a poor commander.

[elektratig]

Poor Braxton Bragg! He wasn't a great general, but by no means was he the worst. For some of the countervailing considerations, see the discussion in the thread, "Was Braxton Bragg Really That Bad?", at http://civilwartalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19548 .

At least on the Confederate Side, I'd put my money on Leonidas Polk. His moronic performance at the outset of the war alone probably gets him top honors. Not only did he violate the declared neutrality of Kentucky, he did so in order to occupy a militarily worthless position and failed to occupy other positions of more value. Although Kentucky would have eventually gone Union, six months delay in its doing so would have proved an inestimable blessing to the Confederacy. He then maintained his obsession with the Mississippi River, to the exclusion of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, contributing mightily to the loss of Forts Henry and Donelson (although he certainly had help in that regard), which immediately outflanked his position at Columbus.

From then on until a Union gunner made the mistake of blowing him to pieces in mid-1864, he was probably the primary force dragging down the Army of Tennnessee through laziness, pomposity and ineptitude and by serving as the center of the anti-Bragg conspiracy.

[MobileBoy]

Confederate- BRAGG
UNION-Fremont

[nbforrest]

Bragg, although he had no business commanding the AOT, was far from the worst.


I vote Hood or perhaps Banks

Respectfully