Major General Sterling Price.

[major bill]

Sterling Price was a senior Confederate officer, but did he do enough to be considered a 'great general'? Price was well-known for his Mexican-American War service where he reached the level of Brigadier General of Volunteers. His raise in the ranks of Confederate officers might be partly attributed to that service or the fact Price was a former governor of Missouri. General Price did have some early war success but later he was often less successful. It does not appear that he was a favorite of President Davis. Price also had some later successes as well as some later defeats.

One could make the argument that Price was often put in situations where few other generals would have been much more successful. So should we consider General Price a 'good general' who did the best he could in difficult situations?

 

[archieclement]

You somewhat change your terms, you started asking if he was great then go to a good general in difficult situations. I know of no one today who would consider him a great general, some did in his era however.

His strength was a motivator, which in part certainly came from that popularity. His best use was probably as a corps/wing commander such as PR or Corinth, where his wing/corps would be the best performing one.