James Harrison "Harry" Wilson

[MarkZim]

Thoughts on James Harrison Wilson, pro and con. Not a likable guy but also successful and IMHO very much underrated. Was his 1865 raid into Alabama/Georgia the dawn of blitzkrieg tactics?

 

[DixieRifles]

I know that Im glad he made maps of Collierville, Lafayette Station( Rossville) and Moscow here in Tennessee in 1862.

 

[rbasin]

Yeah. I think an argument could be made for him being a very good commander

 

[ErnieMac]

Considering that Wilson's experience commanding cavalry only began in early 1864 when he was assigned as Chief of the Cavalry Bureau in Washington. During the Overland Campaign he was promoted to Major General and assigned to a cavalry division under Sheridan. His first independent command was during the Petersburg Campaign when he and BG August Kautz led a raid to destroy rail lines supplying Confederate forces in Petersburg and Richmond. The result was a near disaster. He apparently learned his lessons well as his performance during the Battle of Nashville and the raid through Alabama demonstrated.

 

[danny]

Just an opinion, but it would seem difficult at best to earn high praise for Nashville and the war end raids.

Those were turkey shoots of an ill equipped, and seriously outgunned defeated enemy.

 

[tony_gunter]

Thoughts on James Harrison Wilson, pro and con. Not a likable guy but also successful and IMHO very much underrated. Was his 1865 raid into Alabama/Georgia the dawn of blitzkrieg tactics?

Maybe falls into the same category as Admiral Porter: good enough commander, if you look past the shameless self-promotion.

 

[gjpratt]

Forrest chased him completely off the board at Spring Hill. Forrest also stymied him during the Retreat from Nashville, albeit not without serious effort by Wilson. I agree that Wilson performed well during the Battle of Nashville and in 1865 in Alabama. He may have been ill equipped and seriously outgunned but he was Nathan Bedford Forrest!

 

[rpkennedy]

Way out of his depth as a cavalry division commander in the initial phases of the Overland Campaign but started to grow into the role as time went on.

Ryan

 

[wausaubob]

He played a successful role in the battles of Franklin, Nashville and in the Alabama raid. These efforts contributed to success in convincing the Confederates to surrender. That probably saved lives. Given the wanton destruction of the Alabama raid, it did not save property, but it did create the necessary evidence of what would follow if the Confederates did not surrender. And at least for about 9 years they did partially surrender.

 

[uaskme]

Someone should have told Grant about Wilson's pursuit of the Confederates. Or told him Wilson worked for Thomas. Grant didn't give Thomas credit for a Pursuit.

 

[Eric Wittenberg]

Way out of his depth as a cavalry division commander in the initial phases of the Overland Campaign but started to grow into the role as time went on.

Ryan

Agreed, but that's not entirely his fault. Grant assigned him to command a division when he had no prior experience commanding anything larger than engineer detachments, and the Sheridan compounded the problem by putting Wilson--his least experienced cavalry division commander--out in front of the army at the Wilderness, setting him up to fail. And fail he did. But I do cut him a fair amount of slack because he had no business being where he was on May 5. That debacle is 100% on Sheridan.

 

[rpkennedy]

Agreed, but that's not entirely his fault. Grant assigned him to command a division when he had no prior experience commanding anything larger than engineer detachments, and the Sheridan compounded the problem by putting Wilson--his least experienced cavalry division commander--out in front of the army at the Wilderness, setting him up to fail. And fail he did. But I do cut him a fair amount of slack because he had no business being where he was on May 5. That debacle is 100% on Sheridan.

I completely agree. I'd also add that Sheridan was out of his depth as the cavalry corps commander in May 1864. The communication between the Corps and division HQs was poor which led to Wilson being left out on his own.

Ryan

 

[wausaubob]

Agreed, but that's not entirely his fault. Grant assigned him to command a division when he had no prior experience commanding anything larger than engineer detachments, and the Sheridan compounded the problem by putting Wilson--his least experienced cavalry division commander--out in front of the army at the Wilderness, setting him up to fail. And fail he did. But I do cut him a fair amount of slack because he had no business being where he was on May 5. That debacle is 100% on Sheridan.

Maybe Grant knew them both well enough to anticipate that they would learn their roles.
It seems to me that in the eastern theater, Grant and Sheridan were inventing something new, and the payoff was in the Shenandoah Valley and the Appomattox campaign. In the western theater, it seems like the US was copying Confederate raiding methods, but on a scale that the US could afford, and which was beyond the capacity of the Confederacy. Grant may have expected difficulties, and may have been aiming to make the cavalry younger, faster and more daring. Too much tactical nit picking and not enough focus on all that was being done to completely transform the cavalry. And it might be that Wilson was part of the cavalry bureau and getting repeating carbines for the cavalry, but I am not sure about his role.

 

[wausaubob]

What did Wilson's Alabama raid accomplish? The end of the war may the place to see what Grant was aiming for an expected to get from Wilson in the end.

 

[wausaubob]

I could be wrong, but I think Halleck and Grant were both working on making the US cavalry so much stronger that the tactical mistakes no longer mattered. Sheridan and Wilson, and the rest of the young generals, were an essential part of that process.