Lee's best corps commander?

[Saruman]

After Jackson and Longstreet, who was Lee's best corps commander?

 

[rpkennedy]

I'd have to say Jubal Early. He did an excellent job filling in for Hill when he was sick during the Overland Campaign and also did well when he was sent North in autumn 1864.

For me, Gordon would have been an excellent corps commander but wasn't there long enough and Anderson did well but not to Early's level.

R

 

[Saruman]

I'd have to say Jubal Early. He did an excellent job filling in for Hill when he was sick during the Overland Campaign and also did well when he was sent North in autumn 1864.

For me, Gordon would have been an excellent corps commander but wasn't there long enough and Anderson did well but not to Early's level.

R

Yes Early performed very well in the Valley in 1864. He was outnumbered 3 to 1 and yet inflicted twice as many casualties as he suffered himself and put a hell of a scare through Washington DC.

 

[Jamieva]

Bias vote for Hill. It's hard to fully judge him in a vacuum because his health hit the skids the same time he took over Corps command.

I cannot wait to see if someone dares to vote for Ewell and defend that vote.

 

[rpkennedy]

Bias vote for Hill. It's hard to fully judge him in a vacuum because his health hit the skids the same time he took over Corps command.

I cannot wait to see if someone dares to vote for Ewell and defend that vote.

Hill might have been very good if he could have stayed healthy. Unfortunately, he was too ill to command almost as much as he was present.

Ewell would have been fine if he hadn't fallen apart at Spotsylvania. He did very well on the way to Gettysburg, alright at Gettysburg, and did very well up to the Wilderness and at the beginning of Spotsylvania. After he was sent to Richmond, he did about as well as could be expected. He's not a bad choice but the Salient is definitely a black mark on his record.

R

 

[Jamieva]

Right if you were assigning them a grade like in school Hill would get an incomplete.

Gordon was soo late in the war he showed potential but really hard to judge how he would've done with a more "normal" sized corps in 62 or 63 in an open battlefield.

Anderson was competent not spectacular.

Jube...i'm not going to comment.

 

[rpkennedy]

Right if you were assigning them a grade like in school Hill would get an incomplete.

Gordon was soo late in the war he showed potential but really hard to judge how he would've done with a more "normal" sized corps in 62 or 63 in an open battlefield.

Anderson was competent not spectacular.

Jube...i'm not going to comment.

Agreed.

Old Jube was a real SOB but it's hard to argue that he didn't do very well while he was in command in 1864. He certainly is a polarizing individual but it's undeniable that he was a very talented officer.

R

 

[Saruman]

I cannot wait to see if someone dares to vote for Ewell and defend that vote.

I think historian Donald Pfanz would vote for Ewell.

Second Winchester - Ewell swept Robert Milroy from the Shenandoah Valley, then boldly led his corps to the outskirts of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the farthest north any Confederate general would get during the war. Jackson himself could not have done better.

Gettysburg - Ewell routed two corps of the Union army and garnered some 5,000 Federal prisoners. His decision not to attack Cemetery Hill, however, gave the Union army a good position from which to fight over the next two days. Although in retrospect the decision was probably correct and conformed to Lee's orders, Ewell was criticized for it thereafter.

Wilderness - On 5 May 1864 he was at his best, shifting troops from one threatened sector to another with an experienced hand, and on 6 May he successfully turned Grant's right flank. Ewell successfully beat off the attacks of two Federal corps (three if one counts Burnside's feeble efforts on May 6) and in the process inflicted many times more casualties on the Federals than he himself sustained.

Spotsylvania - Ewell was alternately at his best and worst in the battle. He successfully rallied his troops after Upton's 10 May attack, but he lost his temper after the Federal breakthrough at the East Angle on 12 May and conducted a sloppy battle in the 19 May fighting at Harris Farm.

Chaffin's Farm - Ewell rose to the occasion. In what was perhaps the greatest feat of his career, he held back the Army of the James with a handful of mostly third-rate troops, saving Richmond from capture. Had Jackson been in charge rather than Ewell, historians would have touted the battle as a military masterpiece. But Ewell was in command, not Jackson, and in the rush of events the episode was forgotten. Historians have all but ignored it since.

 

[Arioch]

He's not one of the choices….which tells you something right there…but I always thought Longstreet was outstanding,…even Lee called him 'My old war horse'….

He is most definitely the epitome of the post civil war 'political general'….whether deserved or not…there is so much swirling around him with politics on both sides of the conflict….

He's never been forgiven by the Southern sympathizers for arguing with Lee at Gettysburg (even though I strongly think he was right….my opinion), …never forgiven for accepting a role in Grant's administration, and continuously called on the carpet for his memoirs…while he was alive and even in posterity…(whether deserved or not…it continues to go on).

It's all opinion of course…so, there is mine …nice and 'stinky', of course…

 

[NedBaldwin]

He's not one of the choices….which tells you something right there…

The first post, by the person who created the poll, says "After Jackson and Longstreet..." which suggests that he considers those two the best.

 

[Private Watkins]

Good thread and interesting discussion... I cast my vote for A.P. Hill, probably more on sentiment than fact... whether true or not I have a soft spot for Hill given the legends around both Lee & Jackson calling for him in their final hours... http://civilwartalk.com/threads/lee-and-jacksons-last-words.24404/

 

[gunny]

Ewell died in a house that still stands less than a quarter mile from my home. For some interesting insight into Ewell, you should read Campbell Brown's Civil War.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0807130192/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

 

[Aussie Billy Sherman]

Gordon had a remarkable rise and Richard Anderson is certainly underrated. I can't bring myself to vote for jubal early

 

[Arioch]

The first post, by the person who created the poll, says "After Jackson and Longstreet..." which suggests that he considers those two the best.

Thank you…I didn't realize how that worked….I rarely participate in the poll questions…

I thought 'Saruman' just happened to be the first poster after the poll was …posted….

 

[Horace Porter]

Early was a better corps commander than he was an independent commander (just like Longstreet). I don't count his activities in the Valley in this poll. Hill was a far better division commander than a corps commander (he was remarkably ineffective in the latter role). Anderson was adequate; although I would defend Ewell at Gettysburg, I would not afterwards. Gordon had little chance to show his skills.

 

[Saruman]

Thank you…I didn't realize how that worked….I rarely participate in the poll questions… I thought 'Saruman' just happened to be the first poster after the poll was …posted….

Yes that's right. I didn't include Longstreet or Jackson because they were a level above the others. I'm wondering who was considered the next best!

 

[ivanj05]

I mean, of the available choices I feel I have to pick Early on the merits of it but all of these men come with big red flags. Anderson and Gordon weren't in Corps command long enough to judge, Ewell's performance at Spotsylvania and Hill's at Gettysburg disqualify them in my book. For as awful a person as Jube was, his performance in the Valley is hard to argue with, especially when compared to his peers here.

That said, I'd take Hill and Gordon as division commanders over Early.

 

[highplainsdrifter59]

My vote goes for Gordon,

Albeit his tenor was short but I will judge by the time they were Corp commanders. I personally liked AP Hill but with him in command of a Corp was somewhat disappointing. Yes, his sickness was the major reason but he became sick at most of the major engagements. I think his nerves brought on his sickness from his youthful past.

Early had his ups and down but he was so dang hard to deal with and Lee I think at times just sent him away to rid himself of his actions.

Ewell, hard to follow Jackson, but he over analyze everything, I bet he study for the longest just how to jump on his horse every morning. He was noncombatant when the fight needed to be pressed.

Anderson did okay, but okay isn't being the third general in line most of the time. Well could be here in the case of those listed after Longstreet and Jackson.

 

[Bruce Vail]

I cast a vote for Hill even though I am not really competent to make this kind of military judgement.

I just like the way he would wear a red shirt on the days he expected fighting to occur so all the men would be ready to go.

 

[rpkennedy]

I cast a vote for Hill even though I am not really competent to make this kind of military judgement.

I just like the way he would wear a red shirt on the days he expected fighting to occur so all the men would be ready to go.

That is actually a myth. He wore the red shirt once during the Seven Days and a legend was born.

Ryan