Buford in 1864

[Luke Freet]

A few comments:

After the war Grant said that Sheridan had been his first choice but in fact the man he wanted originally was William Franklin. Little Phil was a favorite - almost a pet - of Henry Halleck and Grant was persuaded to take him instead.

Nobody was lobbying for Buford, for whatever reason, and Buford wasn't Grant's second choice, Sheridan was

In hindsight, to us Buford was the far more obvious and logical choice, like Logan for McPherson Corps in front of Atlanta.

And actually, its not much of a stretch to envision Sheridan, who was an early favorite of Sherman's, getting that corps instead of the unremarkable Howard.

But Sheridan, despite gaining most of his reputation as an infantry commander, had first commanded the 2nd Michigan cavalry and had really kicked butt, which everyone - particularly Grant and Halleck - knew very well, so its not like he was a stranger to mounted service.

I'm a huge Buford fan and I think he would have been superb but Army politics and personal.experience trumped him.

Yeah, Buford wasn't being considered, because he was already dead once Grant was put in charge

 

[RochesterBill]

Yeah, Buford wasn't being considered, because he was already dead once Grant was put in charge

Yes of course. I was dealing in the hypothetical and it got away from me.

 

[Belfoured]

A few comments:

After the war Grant said that Sheridan had been his first choice but in fact the man he wanted originally was William Franklin. Little Phil was a favorite - almost a pet - of Henry Halleck and Grant was persuaded to take him instead.

Nobody was lobbying for Buford, for whatever reason, and Buford wasn't Grant's second choice, Sheridan was

In hindsight, to us Buford was the far more obvious and logical choice, like Logan for McPherson Corps in front of Atlanta.

And actually, its not much of a stretch to envision Sheridan, who was an early favorite of Sherman's, getting that corps instead of the unremarkable Howard.

But Sheridan, despite gaining most of his reputation as an infantry commander, had first commanded the 2nd Michigan cavalry and had really kicked butt, which everyone - particularly Grant and Halleck - knew very well, so its not like he was a stranger to mounted service.

I'm a huge Buford fan and I think he would have been superb but Army politics and personal.experience trumped him.

Interesting. Given that Buford died in December 1863 I'm not sure how much reliance I'd place in the post-war recollections/claims - either way. I was aware that Sheridan had commanded the 2d Michigan but his experience pre- and post- was infantry. That might explain why when he was in command of the A of the P cavalry during the Overland Campaign things didn't go so well. Then, after he was put in overall command in the Valley, we know what he accomplished. As I suggested in one post above, maybe he should have been sent there in April 1864.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

Interesting. Given that Buford died in December 1863 I'm not sure how much reliance I'd place in the post-war recollections/claims - either way. I was aware that Sheridan had commanded the 2d Michigan but his experience pre- and post- was infantry. That might explain why when he was in command of the A of the P cavalry during the Overland Campaign things didn't go so well. Then, after he was put in overall command in the Valley, we know what he accomplished. As I suggested in one post above, maybe he should have been sent there in April 1864.

Sheridan commanded the 2nd Michigan for 90 days. For about 60 of those days, he commanded a two regiment demi-brigade. That was 100% of his experience in commanding cavalry before he was appointed to command the Army of the Potomac's Cavalry Corps. He was unqualified. And it showed.