Most Under appreciated Confederate General

[NDR5thNY]

Who is the most under appreciated Confederate General?

 

[Belfoured]

Who is the most under appreciated Confederate General?

Just for discussion, I'll toss Richard Taylor's name out there.

 

[diane]

I'd mention Samuel Cooper. He outranked everybody but Davis, yet nobody knows a thing about him now!

 

[gentlemanrob]

I'd mention Samuel Cooper. He outranked everybody but Davis, yet nobody knows a thing about him now!

This is so true and he has one of the smaller General graves

 

[Paul Yancey]

I'll nominate Wade Hampton. He always led from the front and was highly reliable when following orders. He was one of the first to make good use of dismounted cavalry. He fought well at Trevilian Station. After the death of Jeb Stuart he did a very capable job of commanding the cavalry of the ANV under very difficult circumstances.

 

[Blessmag]

Gen. Pemberton, almost hands down.

 

[Pollaco]

Edmund Kirby Smith got stuck out in left field. He gets a boatload of blame but really what resources from Richmond did he have to work with? Thankless job.

 

[Hoseman]

If it the question is whether the general was under appreciated by the Confederate government or high command then my choice would be NB Forrest. In general, I think Breckinridge was under appreciated.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Cleburne is highly regarded today, but I'm not sure he was so highly regarded during his service. Especially after his petition in favor of enlisting black soldiers.

I'd mention Samuel Cooper. He outranked everybody but Davis, yet nobody knows a thing about him now!

Everything I've heard about him indicates his rank was a combination of his prewar Army rank and his role in the CS Army, and that Davis greatly regretted the decision.

To be underappreciated one must be worthy of appreciation.

Gen. Pemberton, almost hands down.

Probably.

He's the equivalent of a pitcher whose first and only start was the key game of the World Series. One wonders how he would have done as a brigade or division commander at Shiloh.

If it the question is whether the general was under appreciated by the Confederate government or high command then my choice would be NB Forrest.

The only Confederates I've read expressing dislike of Forrest were those annoyed he wasn't a team player.

In general, I think Breckinridge was under appreciated.

Agreed. He was shuffled around repeatedly, but always turned in a decent performance. He won New Market with a scratch force. All with no military experience.

 

[jackt62]

General Josiah Gorgas, chief of ordnance for the CSA. Unlike almost everything else in the southern supply chain, his efforts kept the Confederate armies supplied with firearms and gunpowder for the duration.

 

[diane]

@Joshism , that's a point right there! I'm afraid Cooper didn't distinguish himself in much and that's probably why he's underappreciated. I'll withdraw him and suggest Stephen Mallory. There's a guy who really was brilliant and used everything he had to get a CSA navy together even if it was a bunch of fishing boats with popguns. Desperate times call for desperate measures and he was a master at skating on thin ice. His spy ring in Britain was second to none - the original James Bond!

 

[Ole Miss]

General Claudius Wistar Sears was a veteran of both theaters of the Civi War and lost a leg at the Battle of Nashville and then taught for 24 years at Ole Miss.
Regards
David
Sears' grave in St Peter's Cemetery in Oxford, MS

 

[Belfoured]

Edmund Kirby Smith got stuck out in left field. He gets a boatload of blame but really what resources from Richmond did he have to work with? Thankless job.

I'm not sure that he or Bragg covered themselves with glory in the 1862 Kentucky Campaign. Things might have gone differently if Smith hadn't been convinced that he should run his own operation.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I'm not sure that he or Bragg covered themselves with glory in the 1862 Kentucky Campaign. Things might have gone differently if Smith hadn't been convinced that he should run his own operation.

EKS did an admirable job in the Trans-Mississippi but he was shunted there for a reason.

I'm not sure if the same is true for Richard Taylor, who I know several forum regulars are fond of.

 

[diane]

Richard Taylor did very well in the Valley Campaign with Stonewall Jackson, and he did very well with the Red River Campaign. I think his problem was lack of men - which just about every commander in the South could complain of. Forrest very much respected him - they worked together like pieces of a clock. I think some of his problems stemmed from chronic illness - he had rheumatoid arthritis.

 

[jackt62]

Richard Taylor did very well in the Valley Campaign with Stonewall Jackson, and he did very well with the Red River Campaign. I think his problem was lack of men - which just about every commander in the South could complain of. Forrest very much respected him - they worked together like pieces of a clock. I think some of his problems stemmed from chronic illness - he had rheumatoid arthritis.

I agree that Taylor is an underrated CSA general. Even though he had a choice pedigree as a President's son, his lack of a West Point education (or for that matter a VMI one), could have disadvantaged him in the competition for Confederate command. But despite that (and of course his medical problem), he had keen military and intellectual instincts and leadership qualities. Though not successful in recapturing New Orleans or holding on to the lower Mississippi Valley, he did oversee the rout of Banks' forces in the Red River campaign, given the lack of resources that the Confederacy devoted to that area, and the sometimes fraught relationship he had with his superior, EK Smith.

 

[Phil McBride]

I agree regarding Richard Taylor. His chess-like tactical leadership in Louisiana during the Red River Campaign was excellent. I'll only add he also walked a tightrope of somewhat secretly selling Louisiana cotton--white gold--to northern agents to feed his Confederate army.

 

[Gflintham1790]

I'll nominate Wade Hampton. He always led from the front and was highly reliable when following orders. He was one of the first to make good use of dismounted cavalry. He fought well at Trevilian Station. After the death of Jeb Stuart he did a very capable job of commanding the cavalry of the ANV under very difficult circumstances.

I'll nominate Wade Hampton. He always led from the front and was highly reliable when following orders. He was one of the first to make good use of dismounted cavalry. He fought well at Trevilian Station. After the death of Jeb Stuart he did a very capable job of commanding the cavalry of the ANV under very difficult circumstances.

 

[Gflintham1790]

Wade Hampton was most definitely underrated as a cavalry leader. He was, however a hothead. At the surrender in N.C. at Durham Station, he and Philip Sheridan drew swords and were getting ready "to go at it" when Sherman and Johnson came out and put a stop to it. They don't make movies about this stuff!

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

His chess-like tactical leadership in Louisiana during the Red River Campaign was excellent.

True, although one campaign against the B-team doesn't prove a lot.

Wade Hampton was most definitely underrated as a cavalry leader.

Agreed. I've heard it argued he was even better than Stuart. Regardless, he was one of the best cavalry generals of the war and seems to be mostly appreciated during the war, but I doubt many people today know his name unless they are a Civil War buff. Maybe in his home state of South Carolina, and even then perhaps more for his postwar political career.