Amateur Generals....

[alexjack]

.....There must have been quite a few by the Wars' end. Who were the best, North and South of men who rose to General and had had no military training before the War?

 

[E_just_E]

Too many too count 1000+

Here is a Union General List (look for the ones who do not have USMA next to their name)
Here is a Confederate General List (ditto)

"Best" is subjective and these days is a popularity contest among other things (with Chamberlain and Forrest the favorites from each side)

 

[ErnieMac]

Neither side was eager to promote non-professionals to the higher command ranks though a number did squeak thru on both sides. From my perspective Wade Hampton gets the nod for best on the Confederate side and either Frank Blair or John 'Black Jack' Logan for the Union.

 

[jackt62]

I would also agree to "Black Jack" Logan on the Union side. He temporarily commanded the Army of the Tennessee after General McPherson was killed in battle. However, Sherman refused to permanently appoint him to the position as he was not a West Pointer. General Oliver O. Howard got the job instead.

 

[James N.]

I would also agree to "Black Jack" Logan on the Union side. He temporarily commanded the Army of the Tennessee after General McPherson was killed in battle. However, Sherman refused to permanently appoint him to the position as he was not a West Pointer. General Oliver O. Howard got the job instead.

To continue this tale, supposedly Logan was rightly miffed by this shoddy treatment, especially after he restored the position of the AotT after the death of McPherson in the Battle of Atlanta. Logan remained faithfully at his post (unlike Joe Hooker who felt he had been similarly passed over and resigned) throughout the March to the Sea and the Carolinas. However as a postwar Senator from Illinois and chairman of the committee on military appropriations he allegedly took his revenge on Sherman, who by that time was general-in-chief of the army, and withheld funds.

 

[IcarusPhoenix]

Here is a Union General List (look for the ones who do not have USMA next to their name)

My ego got warm fuzzies from the posting of a list for which I was the primary author.

Note that some of those men had formal education from schools other than West Point - particularly on the Confederate side - and a few had careers in the professional army without formal schooling.

 

[AUG]

There were many brigadier generals who started out as a prominent and wealthy citizen in their community with no previous military experience, who then went on to recruit a volunteer company with their wealth and popularity at the beginning of the war. They rose through the ranks until they became colonel of the regiment and eventually commander of the brigade. Many of those men did turn out to be ample field-grade officers or brigade commanders.

As for successful lieutenant or major generals with no military education or previous military training, N. B. Forrest and Richard Taylor are both notable. However, both 'got in' through separate paths. Forrest aficionados correct me if wrong, but IIRC, Forrest initially enlisted as a private, and because of his wealth and prominence, was commissioned an officer. Taylor was introduced through Braxton Bragg, was commissioned a colonel and went from there. Both turned out to be natural leaders.

 

[James N.]

There were many brigadier generals who started out as a prominent and wealthy citizen in their community with no previous military experience, who then went on to recruit a volunteer company with their wealth and popularity at the beginning of the war. They rose through the ranks until they became colonel of the regiment and eventually commander of the brigade. Many of those men did turn out to be ample field-grade officers or brigade commanders.

As for successful lieutenant or major generals with no military education or previous military training, N. B. Forrest and Richard Taylor are both notable. However, both 'got in' through separate paths. Forrest aficionados correct me if wrong, but IIRC, Forrest initially enlisted as a private, and because of his wealth and prominence, was commissioned an officer. Taylor was introduced through Braxton Bragg, was commissioned a colonel and went from there. Both turned out to be natural leaders.

And of course in Taylor's case it helped that he was a graduate of Harvard and son of President/General Zachary Taylor.

 

[James N.]

I suppose I should put forth a favorite: Brig. Gen. Turner Ashby of Virginia, who though he certainly had his flaws was loved by his men, most of whom refused to serve under any other leader, and a superb horseman full of daring and bravado. He found himself in the rather odd position of being a brigadier in command of a regiment - the only one on either side! This situation occurred because to break up his 7th Virginia Cavalry Regiment of possibly twenty companies or more would be to lose the services of its members who would simply go home; and Ashby deserved promotion for his stellar performance leading Jackson's cavalry in the Shenandoah. His command control and designation of authority were however so deficient as to be nonexistent, resulting in predictably stormy relations with the stern Stonewall, who nevertheless wept at the news of his death.

 

[Tom Elmore]

Too many to count 1000+
Here is a Union General List (look for the ones who do not have USMA next to their name)
Here is a Confederate General List (ditt0)

However, several other schools besides West Point offered military training, for instance, Evander Law graduated from the South Carolina Military Academy, while Robert E. Rodes, William Mahone, James A. Walker, and James H. Lane graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, to name a few. Also I notice from the Union list that James Barnes is not mentioned as having graduated from West Point (class of 1829).

 

[AUG]

And of course in Taylor's case it helped that he was a graduate of Harvard and son of President/General Zachary Taylor.

Right; his regiment, 9th Louisiana Infantry, initially wanted Taylor as their colonel was because they figured he could get them sent to the Eastern theater, being who he was. He turned out to be a very strict disciplinarian. Taylor was also well versed in military history, which probably aided him in his own generalship.