Who was the Greatest Civil War General? (poll)

Who was the Greatest Civil War General?

  • Jubal Earl

    Votes: 2 0.5%
  • George Gordon Meade

    Votes: 2 0.5%
  • James Longstreet

    Votes: 17 4.7%
  • George Henry Thomas

    Votes: 11 3.0%
  • Robert E. Lee

    Votes: 118 32.4%
  • Ulysses S. Grant

    Votes: 129 35.4%
  • Philip Sheridan

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • Nathan Bedford Forrest

    Votes: 25 6.9%
  • Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

    Votes: 30 8.2%
  • William T. Sherman

    Votes: 15 4.1%
  • Don't Know

    Votes: 14 3.8%

  • Total voters
    364
Jubal Early, Wade Hampton, and John Gordon spring immediately to mind.

Early and Gordon were directly under Ewell, not Lee, and Hampton came up under Stuart. Grant had proteges like Sheridan and Wilson who were directly under him and played key roles. I would also count Sherman as someone Grant promoted.
 
Poor Old Jubilee and Old Snapping Turtle sitting there with zero votes... ah well, it's a tough crowd, and even tougher competition.
Well I've got to take that back... looks like some compassionate good soul out there has cast a vote for Ole Jube... not sure that I understand why...? I think he's probably the last one of that bunch that I'd vote for (since Bragg's not on the board), but hey, more power to him...! :thumbsup:
 
For me, it could only be Grant or Lee, one or the other. I'm attracted by Grant's quiet demeanor, his disdain for the accoutrements of rank, his love of horses and the direct clarity of his thinking that comes through in his strategic vision and in his written orders. Lee appeals to me for the passionate bond he inspired in the troops that he asked so much from, for his unbelievably cool way of taking the most daring risks, for defying the accepted wisdom (throwing out the book),for never shirking from the task at hand no matter the odds or the obstacles and for the importance he assigned to behaving with high character. I also am attracted by powerful steadiness I believe Lee drew from his faith.

Simply put, I think there is an awful lot the citizenry today could learn from both these great men and our present state would be better if they were emulated. Unfortunately, I could not vote for both. So I cast a single vote....and felt guilty doing so!
 
Poor Old Jubilee and Old Snapping Turtle sitting there with zero votes... ah well, it's a tough crowd, and even tougher competition.
Meade is like Rodney Dangerfield. He gets no respect. It always makes me laugh when people talk about the reasons why Lee lost at Gettysburg. Like Meade was just sitting twiddling his thumbs or wringing his hands because Bobby Lee was on the other side of the field. The man deserves more credit, and besides he wrote great letters to his wife!
 
I voted for Lee, because he was really never defeated tactically in the field. We know about G'burg and his escape. Grant did a great job, but based upon the math. That's what got him to Appomattox Courthouse. He didn't once outsmart the Army of Northern Virginia, it was just the numbers.

I've asked before and have got no answer to the question. What other general at any time in any war in American history has suffered the losses Grant did, "winning," relative to his adversary? Ain't none.

Not Washington, Pershing, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Westmoreland, Schwarzkopf, you name it. Grant won, at a cost no other leader in American history in his position has ever paid, relative to his adversary, Robert Lee.
 
Beyond the obvious, that Grant won, Grant also developed his subordinates. He grew the men who would play key roles in defeating the confederacy. Which of Lee's subordinates was able to excel in larger roles?

Stonewall Jackson

John B. Gordon

William Mahone

Jubal Early

Wade Hampton

Robert Rodes

John Bell Hood

etc., etc.

...
 
I voted for Lee, because he was really never defeated tactically in the field. We know about G'burg and his escape. Grant did a great job, but based upon the math. That's what got him to Appomattox Courthouse. He didn't once outsmart the Army of Northern Virginia, it was just the numbers.

I've asked before and have got no answer to the question. What other general at any time in any war in American history has suffered the losses Grant did, "winning," relative to his adversary? Ain't none.

Not Washington, Pershing, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Westmoreland, Schwarzkopf, you name it. Grant won, at a cost no other leader in American history in his position has ever paid, relative to his adversary, Robert Lee.

If you want to criticize Grant for suffering heavy casualties, should you not also apply the same standard to Robert E. Lee?
 
If you want to criticize Grant for suffering heavy casualties, should you not also apply the same standard to Robert E. Lee?

I would like to know what other general in American history suffered casualties relative to his adversary as did Grant against Lee. I don't want to hear about "percentages," but numbers lost.
 
I would like to know what other general in American history suffered casualties relative to his adversary as did Grant against Lee. I don't want to hear about "percentages," but numbers lost.
Against Grant, Lee lost his entire army including all the reinforcements that had been sucked in (Beuaregard's command; Breckenridge's command; etc).
 
I would like to know what other general in American history suffered casualties relative to his adversary as did Grant against Lee. I don't want to hear about "percentages," but numbers lost.

If you're in the mood to compare casualties, take a look at the casualties Lee suffered in all his campaigns up to May of 1864 when compared to all the casualties Grant suffered in all his campaigns up to May of 1864.
 
"Greatest" always puts me off my feed. They all had their "great" moments, but "greatest" has to be Lincoln.
 
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