Grant Interview with General Simon B. Buckner

[Saruman]

This interview with Buckner was reported in the Confederate Veteran magazine of 1909. Although friends with Grant, he didn't seem to have a high opinion of his generalship. The interviewer never asked about Fort Donelson - perhaps a touchy subject...

Interviewer: "What kind of a man was Grant personally? You know he was called the silent man. Was he talkative in private life?

Buckner: "Yes, he was. When you broke through the reserve which he had with strangers, he talked well. He was not much of a student, but had a good mind. He got along well in his class without much effort... He went into the army, showed a good deal of merit, and had luck, too. Take any of his predecessors in command of the Army of the Potomac - after some of the reverses that he had when he advanced on Lee - the other commanders would have withdrawn, but Grant's dogged perseverance, you know, kept him going. He wouldn't give up. And the government sustained him as it did not any of the others."

Interviewer: "Whom do you class as the best of the Federal generals during the Civil War?"

Buckner: "McClellan was one of the best that they had... He was very superior to Grant. McClellan formed the army that Grant commanded. When McClellan took it, it was a green army, not inured to hardship, and he maneuvered it handsomely. Grant had some admirable qualities as a general - great firmness of purpose, bulldog courage and tenacity. But he lost more men killed and wounded in his Virginia campaign than were in Lee's army. He described himself, I think, in a private letter he wrote to a friend in Baltimore - I think it was after the fight at the 'Crater' at Petersburg. He stated: 'It was a regular Kilkenny fight; my cat had the longest tail.' That describes it."

Interviewer: "How do you place General Sherman?"

Buckner: "General Sherman was a skillful officer, superior in many respects to Grant, in my opinion... He could maneuver better; he could handle his troops better. Grant's idea was, as he had superior forces, just by bulldog courage to run over his enemy. He had very little knowledge of strategy or taking advantage of positions and movements. Sherman had that in an eminent degree."

Interviewer: "Where do you put Meade?"

Buckner: "Well, Meade was a medium officer - some good qualities. At Gettysburg by rapid movements he managed to concentrate a scattered army to meet Lee. I do not regard him as equal to either of the others I have mentioned."

Interviewer: "What do you think of Buell as an officer?"

Buckner: "He was a good officer, and a gentleman too... He was equally as good as Bragg."

Interviewer: "Who was the greatest Confederate general?"

Buckner: "Practically Lee. Albert Sidney Johnston would have been his equal had he lived. Johnston was highly regarded as an officer by the officers on both sides. Lee certainly became the greatest general in the Civil War on either side... If Lee's position and Grant's had been reversed, Lee the assailant with the superior forces that Grant had, I don't think Grant would have lasted forty-eight hours before Lee; and Lee had ten months of operation, with constantly diminishing forces, and Grant all the time receiving reinforcements of fresh men."

Interviewer: "What do you think of General Bragg?"

Buckner: "General Bragg had some merit, a good deal of merit, but was ill balanced... Bragg as a military man, as a commander is wanting in imagination. He cannot foresee what probably may occur. When he has formed his own opinions of what he proposes to do, no advice of all his officers put together can shake him; but when he meets the unexpected, it overwhelms him because he has not been able to foresee, and then he will lean upon the advice of a drummer boy."

Interviewer: "Where do you place Hood?"

Buckner: "Hood was a gallant fighter, but knew nothing of the great art of war - a gallant fighter; yes, and a good man."

Interviewer: "How about Gen. Joseph E. Johnston?"

Buckner: "Joe Johnston was an admirable officer in every respect. His retreat from Dalton shows that. He fell back to Atlanta without losing a wagon against overwhelming odds. He told me himself afterwards: 'I proposed to lead Sherman on, resisting him from time to time. In the actions we had he lost many more men all the time than I did. I was having Atlanta fortified. My object was to lead him back gradually until he got to Atlanta; then I proposed to throw Forrest with his whole cavalry force to his rear, not to interrupt, but to destroy his communication. Then Sherman would have been compelled to attack me in my chosen position and I would have whipped him.'"

Interviewer: "What is your estimate of President Davis?"

Buckner: "He was a statesman. He had a most difficult position to fill, and I think he filled it about as well as anyone could. He perhaps was a little too prejudiced to be always entirely just; but I don't think anyone else could have filled the place any better than he did - or as well, perhaps. I think he was really one of the great men of this country."

Interviewer: "You know we Tennesseans love old Forrest. Tell us about him."

Buckner: "Well, Forrest had a genius for war. He was a man of great courage and had inspiration."

Interviewer: "To what do you attribute Lee's defeat at Gettysburg?"

Buckner: "Some consider it Longstreet's slowness. Whether it was so or not, I don't know. Longstreet was a gallant fighter. He reminds me of Marshal Ney in his character. It was said of Ney that out of sight of the enemy he had not the remotest idea of strategic movements; but when he heard the sound of artillery, he woke up, and on the field of action he was superior to almost anyone in tactical movements, but knew nothing about strategic movement before he came in contact. Longstreet reminds me of Ney in that respect."

 

[Sheltowee]

Thanks for sharing.

The commentary on Bragg- "he will lean upon the advice of a drummer boy".

 

[EHParks]

The Army transport ship the General Simon B.Buckner is a familiar name to Cold war generation military brats. Many families made the move to and from Europe on her. My dad shipped out on her with his unit on their transfer to South Viet Nam from San Francisco.