Grant had been able to sack AoP generals

Joined
Aug 12, 2011
Location
Elliott Bay
When Grant became General in Chief he left Meade in place as head of the AoP, but was effectively the head of the campaign against Lee. On several occasions in 1864 AoP generals maintained their custom of ineptitude by not showing up on time. Burnside and his subordinates at the Crater kept tradition alive. Several generals were "political" and apparently beyond reach.

What if Grant could have cleaned house like some new CEO? In World War II in Europe, several corps and division commanders were relieved for their failures.
 
Lincoln really did his best to clear the way for Grant - he had done a lot of weeding already and Hooker had done a good deal of getting the McClellan toadies out of his army. (He wanted Hooker toadies!) But, as you say, there were many jerks who were untouchable, mainly for political reasons.

When Grant first came east he was so puzzled by the state of this new army that he sat down with his cavalry boss, Wilson, and said, "What's wrong with this army?" Wilson replied, "Nothing the dismissal of several generals wouldn't cure." "How should I do it?" "Give Eli Parker (a large Seneca) a jug of whiskey and a tomahawk, and send him out. Tell him not to come back until he's got a dozen generals' scalps!" "Which ones?" "Doesn't matter!"
 
Lincoln really did his best to clear the way for Grant - he had done a lot of weeding already and Hooker had done a good deal of getting the McClellan toadies out of his army. (He wanted Hooker toadies!) But, as you say, there were many jerks who were untouchable, mainly for political reasons.

When Grant first came east he was so puzzled by the state of this new army that he sat down with his cavalry boss, Wilson, and said, "What's wrong with this army?" Wilson replied, "Nothing the dismissal of several generals wouldn't cure." "How should I do it?" "Give Eli Parker (a large Seneca) a jug of whiskey and a tomahawk, and send him out. Tell him not to come back until he's got a dozen generals' scalps!" "Which ones?" "Doesn't matter!"

Great story. Is there a source?

Is this taught in business schools?
 
My version is rough, but it can be found in much better order in "A Stillness at Appomattox" by Bruce Catton; "The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and The Road to Yellow Tavern" by Gordon C Rhea; "Wilson's Cavalry Corps: Union Campaigns in the Western Theatre..." by Jerry Keenan.
There are a few other good sources as well.

Is this taught in business schools?

It should be! But there might be a shortage of big drunk Indians with tomahawks... :unsure:
 
Grant intended to sack Meade, but after meeting him was impressed enough to keep him. There was also the matter of the rank and file in the AoP and how they would react to the change. Probably nothing more than ***** about it, swallow it, and move on. Grant was able to remove a few Generals by collapsing the 3rd Corps in the 2nd, and the 1st into the 5th. He gave command of the 5th Corps to Warren until he realized the dude was useless. He kept Hancock on (of course) with the 2nd Corps, and Uncle John Sedgwick with the 6th Corps. The addition of the 9th Corps became an issue because Burnside outranked Meade, so the 9th was under Grant's immediate control. The final two corps, the 11th and 12th under Howard and Slocum went west to Sherman the previous fall. Altho a large army, the addition of the 9th Corps and the Heavy's from the DC works are what brought his numbers up. Dubious help imho. After all this i wonder if anyone would noticed tomahawk wielding Indians. :wink:
 
When Grant became General in Chief he left Meade in place as head of the AoP, but was effectively the head of the campaign against Lee. On several occasions in 1864 AoP generals maintained their custom of ineptitude by not showing up on time. Burnside and his subordinates at the Crater kept tradition alive. Several generals were "political" and apparently beyond reach.

What if Grant could have cleaned house like some new CEO? In World War II in Europe, several corps and division commanders were relieved for their failures.

Grant track record wasn't all that good as a judge of command talent in making assignments -- but he became determined and decisive in weeding out the flops, failures and malcontents as time went on. The true talent was rising to the top as the process of elimination went on.

Examples:
  • Grant started the 1864 campaign believing he might appoint Warren to command the AoP if Meade became a casualty or had to be replaced. He decided against that in the course of the Overland Campaign, and by the following Spring was willing to authorize Sheridan to sack him if necessary.
  • Grant came East believing Baldy Smith would make a good Corps or Army commander. He had formed a good opinion of Smith when he went to Chattanooga to relieve Rosecrans in late 1863. After various disappointments during the Overland Campaign (Bermuda Hundred, Cold Harbor, Petersburg), Grant sacked Baldy Smith July 19th, 1864.
  • At the start of the war, Grant believed the three great men for the Union would be McClellan, Buell, and Rosecrans. He tried to join McClellan in 1861; McClellan ignored him. All three showed talent during the war (Rosecrans might even be said to show brilliance), but ultimately they all failed. Yet in 1864, when he came East, Grant proposed restoring McClellan and Buell to duty, along with William B. Franklin. Clearly Grant was clueless about the intricacies of high command relationships and election-year politics at that point: all three of these men were anti-Lincoln Democrats.
The interesting thing about the political generals is that Sigel and Butler are the ones who might have kept Grant from ending the war in a month. Sigel's disasters in the Shenandoah in and around New Market in May 1864 let Breckinridge move to reinforce Lee with 5,000 men -- and those 5,000 are all that prevented Grant/Meade/Sheridan/Smith from taking Richmond in early June of 1863. The failures of Butler-Smith-Gilmore down below Richmond led to the Army of the James being penned up in Bermuda Hundred by an inferior force under first Pickett and then Beauregard.

In short, the need to keep those political generals scrambled Grant's efforts and saved the Confederacy's bacon.

Tim
 
Back
Top