Most Underrated General

What are you trying to say, tmh10? You utter a lot of not so flattering words for me, but I saw not a word dealing with what I wrote. If I have done a factual error, tell me. If you object the fact that I pick Confederate generals, I tell you: "Pick the generals you consider as underrated and write their records. but let the other posters pick theirs". If their is another objection, send a message describing it.
Civil War Scholar.
What Im not trying to say ,but am saying is that you sir are an imposter, not a scholar , but a troll. You have not the slightest idea of what you are talking about and are an insult to the good people on this site that are of the North and South side of study of the Civil War. You know it and everybody on here knows it.
 
Sorry, M.E. I do tend to get derailed when blatant stupidity is posted. I can't promise it won't happen again.

Understood.........

We've (in a general sense) been through this many times in the past and will no doubt be in the future.:smile coffee:

M. E. Wolf
 
MODERATOR'S NOTE....

The time for 'action' has been met when certain individual(s) can't give meat and potatoes for why any particular General is/was most underrated.

Personal attacks are not necessary, this is what the 'Report' button is for to document the issue where the Moderators will take action in what they feel is the best course.

This has been a very good thread and many prefer a few not ruin it for the majority. Removing the problem is the next step, short of tossing the entire thread into Moderated Thread Forum.

Members, when provoked--don't take their bait. Mind your own business after reporting the problem.

M. E. Wolf
POSTED IN THE CAPACITY OF MODERATOR
Aug. 22, 2014 6:50 p.m.
 
Didn't Napoleon once remark that he valued luck over ability in a general? I think luck is part of the equation and that perhaps it's best to take generals at face value.
 
There's something to be said for plain ol' luck, though. Napoleon wanted to be a sailor - better chance for promotion in the navy for somebody from Corsica - but he was incurably seasick. So, he went into the army! :confused:
 
It has been opined that one makes his own luck

There is art in all human endeavors. What whispers of imminence did Stonewall pluck out of Shenandoah air? Success is always worth studying. I'm not sure that rating folks against each other on a matrix is useful, however.
 
Perhaps, Meade's tardiness can be explained because, tactically, he never achieved a victory at Gettysburg? Meade suffered 23155 casualties at the great battle and Lee suffered just over 20000, as E.B. Long's almanac tells us.
Civil War Scholar.
While your numbers are likely correct, that does not indicate victory nor defeat. Meade held the ground, lost a smaller percent of his effective force, ended the Confederate invasion of PA, inflicted irreparable injury upon the ANV and forced them to return to the safety of VA without men, supplies and morale. By most any definition- thats a victory for the Federals.
 
Back to the initial question, early on many of you made compeling arguements for most underrated, Pender has to be one. I would say Nathan Lyon was another. These men fought hard, early on, had short careers because they led from the front, and died as a result. Perhaps we dont recall them that acutely because they fought and died fairly early in the ACW.
 
If we expand the definition of underrated to include “under-noticed” and to also include officers “other than generals” … Union Colonel Ben Grierson comes to mind.

I for one had never heard of Grierson’s Raid until a class I took that focused solely on the Cavalry in the Civil war. Colonel Grierson commanded a military expedition into Mississippi that is considered to be one of the most daring and skillfully led cavalry raids of the Civil War. The raid was a critical component of General Grant’s plan to capture the strategic port city of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River.
 
If we expand the definition of underrated to include “under-noticed” and to also include officers “other than generals” … Union Colonel Ben Grierson comes to mind.

I for one had never heard of Grierson’s Raid until a class I took that focused solely on the Cavalry in the Civil war. Colonel Grierson commanded a military expedition into Mississippi that is considered to be one of the most daring and skillfully led cavalry raids of the Civil War. The raid was a critical component of General Grant’s plan to capture the strategic port city of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River.

Many ACW authorities, from then to now, have considered the cavary as over rated and having much glory and little work and hardship in the war. I am not saying that is entirely true but many do.

I did not create the thread. The question was the most underrated General of the CW. I think those of us who have been here for a while understand that the position of General is quite a leap from subordinate positions. I think the consensus of history is that no less a leader than Hood, among many others, could not master that leap.

General are few and foot soldiers are many for a reason. No snub intended.
 
I haven't read this entire thread, so I'm not sure if someone else has mentioned him, but I'll throw out the name Joseph Hooker. Yes, he was hardly the greatest general the Union had, and yes, he had a few spectacularly bad days out in Virginia in that dreary May of 1863, but he was an aggressive commander, and someone who was surprisingly good at managing an army. He also managed himself quite well at Lookout Mountain and in some later campaigns.
 
If we expand the definition of underrated to include “under-noticed” and to also include officers “other than generals” … Union Colonel Ben Grierson comes to mind.

I for one had never heard of Grierson’s Raid until a class I took that focused solely on the Cavalry in the Civil war. Colonel Grierson commanded a military expedition into Mississippi that is considered to be one of the most daring and skillfully led cavalry raids of the Civil War. The raid was a critical component of General Grant’s plan to capture the strategic port city of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River.

And he was promoted to general as a result.
 
Back
Top