Most Unfortunate Personalities of the Civil War

Both Generals Fitz Jon Porter and Governour K Warren. More so Warren I think. Sheridan seemed to have an ax to grind and threw Warren under the bus by bringing him up on court martial. Took years for Warren to clear his name.
 
I know you wanted survivors but I must mention:

General Albert Sidney Johnston. His death at Shiloh was a great tragedy for the Confederacy and his soldiers. Of course, I am a ASJ fan.

Another great tragedy was the death of General Stonewall Jackson.

I too want to mention Mary Todd Lincoln. She is such a tragic person. May God rest her soul. I do hope she now at peace with her husband and children.
 
One Minnesota soldier imprisoned at Andersonville. Was given the chance to sign-on with the Confederates rather than waste away in the southern prison of war camp. He accepted. Captured by the Federals and died of disease in a Union prison camp.
 
Those unfortunate pawns serving under US Grant at Cold Harbor who upon realizing their general’s blood lust simply lay down and refused to advance.

“While I am able for service I intend to stand by the cause while a banner floats to tell where freedom’s sons still supports her cause.”

Major Walter Clark of the North Carolina Junior Reserve Brigade in a letter to his mother.
 
In retrospect, I think I made the error in narrowing the criteria down to survivors. There are those like General Garnett for example who would be termed as "unfortunate" personalities before their deaths during the war. I guess the only difference is that those who survived had to live with their "stigma" the rest of their lives.
 
I know you wanted survivors but I must mention:

General Albert Sidney Johnston. His death at Shiloh was a great tragedy for the Confederacy and his soldiers. Of course, I am a ASJ fan.

Another great tragedy was the death of General Stonewall Jackson.

I too want to mention Mary Todd Lincoln. She is such a tragic person. May God rest her soul. I do hope she now at peace with her husband and children.

Donna your post really hit a nerve and made me think of an old Harpers Weekly article on the Lincoln Memorial that I have. So I went and found the article and reread it. The article from November 5, 1881 states "Two crypts contain the remains of Mr Lincoln's deceased children, and those yet unoccupied are designed for the remaining members of his family. Mrs Lincoln has often been heard to say she will never be buried there."
As I have visited the memorial on a few occasions it appears she did not get her wish in death either as she has been intombed there since her death her just 8 months after the article was published.
 
That is one of the more cogent arguments I've seen in a thread like this...and one I wouldn't even have considered.

R.H. it seems strange to me as well as I would of been a follower of Jefferson Davis had I been alive back then. My son has always been a fan of all things Lincoln, so we visited many Lincoln related sites as he was growing up. All of the Lincoln family deserved better than the world handed them. Four children and only 1 (Robert) lived to adulthood. Robert was exposed to two more presidential assassinations as well. Robert recognized the frequency of these coincidences. He is said to have refused a later presidential invitation with the comment "No, I'm not going, and they'd better not ask me, because there is a certain fatality about presidential functions when I am present. Also he had to commit his mother to a insane asylum.
 
I didn't realize that Mrs. Lincoln didn't want to be buried in Lincoln's Tomb. She actually wanted Abraham buried at Oakridge Cemetery in Springfield. She, Abe and their three childre, Eddie, Willie and Tad are buried there. There are Memorials to all of them on Find A Grave.

Maybe, after being reunited in death with her husband and sons, she did find peace.

There is good article on Lincoln's Tomb at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Tomb
 
I'm not all that convinced Mary Lincoln was a mental case. It didn't take much for a woman to be committed to an insane asylum in those days. She was of a nervous disposition by nature and then had enough shocks to unsettle anybody's psyche. She also took a header out of a carriage and really smacked her head on a rock. That's no joke - I know all about smacking one's head on a rock as that's how I got epilepsy. The brain can be amazingly tough and amazingly fragile at the same time.
 
I agree with diane. Mrs. Lincoln did have so many tragedies. I have read that when Tad died that was the end for her. She went to live with her sister in Springfield and basically waited to join Abraham, Eddie, Willie and Tad. She was in mourning until her death.
 
I didn't realize that Mrs. Lincoln didn't want to be buried in Lincoln's Tomb. She actually wanted Abraham buried at Oakridge Cemetery in Springfield. She, Abe and their three childre, Eddie, Willie and Tad are buried there. There are Memorials to all of them on Find A Grave.

Maybe, after being reunited in death with her husband and sons, she did find peace.

There is good article on Lincoln's Tomb at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Tomb
The land, purchased by the state of Illinois for Lincoln's tomb was later used. It is the location of the current Illinois state Capitol. Mary and Abe had discussed Oak Ridge some years before and he said it was where he wanted to be buried. Mary threatened to take him off the train in Chicago and bury him there unless state officials agreed to the Oak Ridge site.
Today, Oak Ridge is the 2nd most visited cemetery in the nation behind Arlington. However they get exactly ZERO federal, or state funds to maintain the facilities.. all improvements are made from the sale of plots.
 
For a survivor, I'll nominate James Longstreet. He was a great subordinate to R. E. Lee--not so good in independent command, however--and continually turned in solid performances as a Corps commander, but ended up being looked down upon after the war for supporting the Republicans and for having the nerve to criticize Lee's decisions at Gettysburg.
Totally agree with this. Longstreet was a great commander, but not a great statesman after the war. Nothing to do with him doing anything wrong, just the Lost Cause I guess....sigh....
 
In retrospect, I think I made the error in narrowing the criteria down to survivors. There are those like General Garnett for example who would be termed as "unfortunate" personalities before their deaths during the war. I guess the only difference is that those who survived had to live with their "stigma" the rest of their lives.

Sorry William...I didn't even see the "those who survived" in your post.
 
Pillow's miserable reputation was fairly earned. There was no bad luck in it at all, other than maybe getting a commission into the rebel army in the first place. Had he not gotten that then he wouldn't have screwed up as badly and as consistently as he did.

I agree totally with your appraisal of Pillow. My great-grandfather's regiment (13th TN Infantry) was among those Pillow commanded at the opening of the Battle of Belmont. His depoyment of those troops was a farce and everything he did after that was as bad if not worse. He was indeed an "unfortunate" man to be commanding troops for the Confederacy.
 
Back
Top