Burnside - anything good?

[MikeyB]

History will remember him mostly for Fredericksburg and he has other negatives associated to his name like the crater. But he hung around until 1864, so someone either really liked him or he was competent/performing decent service.

Did he have any successes? Knoxville? What are some of the good things this guy did that get buried because history remembers only Fredericksburg? Is he properly judged by history or is there a lot of good that we never hear about?

 

[nc native]

Besides Knoxville, Burnside performed well during the coastal campaign in Eastern North Carolina during the first half of 1862 albeit against weak and disorganized opposition. From most accounts, Burnside had a pleasant personality and worked well with other people which might explain his longevity as a general despite some of his not too stellar moments on the battlefield.

 

[rpkennedy]

History will remember him mostly for Fredericksburg and he has other negatives associated to his name like the crater. But he hung around until 1864, so someone either really liked him or he was competent/performing decent service.

Did he have any successes? Knoxville? What are some of the good things this guy did that get buried because history remembers only Fredericksburg? Is he properly judged by history or is there a lot of good that we never hear about?

His coastal expedition in 1862 was pretty well-regarded. And he did fairly well in the Western Theater (culminating in the Knoxville Campaign).

In the end, he was a decent corps commander with a pretty good independent command record but kind of fizzled out as 1864 wore on (although the quality of his subordinates left something to be desired as well and it didn't help that the best of the lot kept getting killed like Stevens, Reno, Rodman, and Stevenson).

Ryan

 

[MikeyB]

His coastal expedition in 1862 was pretty well-regarded. And he did fairly well in the Western Theater (culminating in the Knoxville Campaign).

In the end, he was a decent corps commander with a pretty good independent command record but kind of fizzled out as 1864 wore on (although the quality of his subordinates left something to be desired as well and it didn't help that the best of the lot kept getting killed like Stevens, Reno, Rodman, and Stevenson).

Ryan

was a big part of the fizzling the discord w/ Meade over seniority and the independent IX corp status? grant could have handled this better?