What if Albert Sydney Johnston...

[gary]

either received immediate medical care or wasn't mortally wounded at Shiloh?

There might not have been a second day of battle and Grant would have been cashiered or shuffled off to some home front post. Thoughts?

 

[elektratig]

Gary,

I've come to believe that Albert Sidney Johnson was overrated. He was no doubt a tremendously impressive man in person -- witness the respect that Jefferson Davis and others held for him. But like everyone before the War, he had never really been tested. He handled Donelson poorly, and I was particularly stunned to learn that he had no idea that Nashville had been left undefended until he arrived there during his retreat from Bowling Green. His inexplicably excessive delegation to, and failure to supervise, Beauregard also contributed mightily to the confusion, delay and failure during the first day of Shiloh.

For these reasons, I wonder whether he would have had the courage to order a general withdrawal from the Shiloh battlefield after the first day.

One of the great ironies of the War is the fact that it showed that prior reputation meant nothing. The crucible of war exposed the shortcomings of highly-respected men such as Jefferson Davis and George McClellan; "losers" such as Ulysses Grant and William Sherman turned out to be the men who had what it took.

I don't mean to be too harsh on General Johnson. Virtually all generals, on both sides, appointed to major commands at the beginning of the War failed, probably because they had no opportunity to absorb the reality of how different the War was from their prior experiences. Second-generation leaders such as Grant and Sherman had the luxury of absorbing the scale of the war and learning from their experiences before they took command.

 

[ole]

elektratig, et al. A.S. Johnston will forever remain a question mark. He had as much, and more, military experience as any officer at the beginning of the war. Expectations for him were great. Until his demise, he had shown nothing of that promise. His actions before and during the Pittsburg Landing/Shiloh engagement showed nothing of that promise. His death cut off that promise. We can conclude nothing about his potential. After all, Grant and Sherman were losers before the war and showed no promise at all. -- para -- It seems that the paper trail on military leaders was misleading. Lee was given a minor command and then an advisory position. McDowell, a career staff officer, was the best Lincoln had to offer. It was a situation wherein the pot was heated and stirred, and the bits that floated to the top were selected for leadership. It's a set of circumstances that test the idea that learning equals excellence. Ole

 

[ole]

Missed the point. Albert Sidney had completely lost the entire idea of the assault, involving himself in an admittedly crucial part of it. He had abandoned his role as director of a plan and took up the role of a commander of a piece of that plan. That action does not eliminate him from consideration of continued operation, but it does cast a shadow on in it. Ole

 

[manofdreds]

Can't really say much about AS Johnston for the simple reason he wasn't around long enough. I would judge him based on his setbacks he had before Shiloh. Lee had setbacks as well. I do question in the back of my mind could AS Johnston pull off a Second Bull Run, or Chancellorville, Rosecrans and Buell were ripe for the picking. He did seem to have the respect and admiration of his men to rebound from a Shiloh.

 

[whitworth]

The Generals

We'll never know. But not every West Point graduate was highly successful in the Civil War. No matter their previous experience, all Civil War commands were above their "previous pay scale."