Why General Hood

[Allie]

God, but I cannot stand Wigfall. I have no doubt he sloshed his brandy on the carpet while telling Hood that.

Ha! He was a right old sinner, that's for sure.

 

[Nathanb1]

God, but I cannot stand Wigfall. I have no doubt he sloshed his brandy on the carpet while telling Hood that. If there was ever a man who would be careful not to get caught holding the bag in a situation he himself had created, it was that one.

Don't you just know he snickered to himself after Hood took the job?

 

[AndyHall]

If I had a time machine, I would go back and give both him and Preston Brooks marksmanship lessons. Two birds with one stone, so to speak.

 

[Allie]

If I had a time machine, I would go back and give both him and Preston Brooks marksmanship lessons. Two birds with one stone, so to speak.

If I had to bag one I'd pick Keitt over Brooks!

 

[Nathanb1]

If I had to bag one I'd pick Keitt over Brooks!

Let's bag three with one volley.

 

[Allie]

Let's bag three with one volley.

I guess Andy would conserve ammo since Cold Harbor did for Keitt.

 

[Nathanb1]

I guess Andy would conserve ammo since Cold Harbor did for Keitt.

I say you cannot shoot them too many times. About 110 days till I get to spit on Wigfall's grave in person. I'm taking the seniors there. They've had to listen to me rant about him since 7th grade.....so they may as well join in.

 

[sonofboth]

God, but I cannot stand Wigfall. I have no doubt he sloshed his brandy on the carpet while telling Hood that. If there was ever a man who would be careful not to get caught holding the bag in a situation he himself had created, it was that one.

Yep you and my GG grandfather( the grave and Texas Ranger Cross in the Avatar)he despised him as he was a close friend of old Sam Houston who had no use for Wiggie.. When GG grandpa was a Judge in Atascosa County Wigfall used some influence to get a cronie a job as a court clerk. GG gransdpa caught the guy stealing and stabbed him with a Bowie knife(not fatal)then the threats started flying.

 

[Elennsar]

I think Johnston's retreating has been largely misunderstood. Think he used it very effectively to keep his army intact, viable and before Sherman. As long as he remained an obstacle to Sherman, that general could not engage his larger scheme. He could not combine with Grant, either, until Johnston was disposed of. This was of benefit to Lee. However, from Davis' perspective, Johnston's secretiveness gave the distinct and quite logical impression that he had no plan but retreat.

Johnston could not prevent him from that either as long as Johnston would always fall back to keep his army intact.

And as relates to Davis's information:
If Johnston had a plan other than retreat, he had an opportunity to explain that - and instead gave a very general explanation that if taken seriously indicates that he actually had no specific "if only he'd been left in command" operation planned, only some vague sense of possibly taking advantage of some opportunity if he could do so on his terms.

Maybe that's not how he meant it to come across, but what he gave wasn't the sort of thing to change the picture Davis had. It might have worked if Davis had trusted him to be simply playing his cards close to his chest, but that would require building a trusting relationship like Lee did with him.

 

[TinCan]

This is a very interesting thread with some extremely interesting points being brought up. Have enjoyed it very much and... greetings and welcome from Kentucky.

 

[diane]

I think that is exactly how Johnston came across to Davis and it was because he would eat his tent, lit stove and all, before even acknowledging Davis was on the planet. He set himself up to be removed by insubordination to his commanding officer. Whatever he thought of Davis, that's who the man was after all. There was good reason for him to keep his plans to himself - who could he trust in that outfit! And there's yet another chicken come home to roost at Davis' desk. Sherman regarded Johnston as the South's best general, better than Lee or anyone else. He was surprisingly after Sherman's own heart, and destruction didn't phase him much - he withdrew through Mississippi like the Cossacks withdrew before Napoleon. He was economical with men and resources, would not fight unless it was necessary. It sure didn't look like it to the public, or Davis, but he was winning by not losing.

Then came Hood. He was a crowd pleaser and took a lot of pressure off Davis. I think Hood's fatal error was in not realizing why Sherman didn't chase him and what he intended to do once free of the AoT. When Sherman didn't follow, Hood turned his attention to the Union forces in Tennessee - which made sense at the time. Tennessee was destroyed - Georgia looked healthy enough to fend for herself. I'm sure he reckoned Hardee, Beauregard and whoever else was left in the Deep South would take up the defense, and that local militias were better off than they were.

 

[spurs716]

Hood's wounds alone should heve been enough to keep him out of a command position. The Confederacy had several competent generals who could have commanded those forces. .... S.D. Lee, Polk, Hardee, even Forrest.

Grant got a lot of grief for using up his men. What Hood did at Franklin was totally unnecessary and much worse than anything Grant ever did.

As another "Forrest fan", I definitely have to say that Forrest wouldn't have been a good choice. He was great at what he did. But in higher levels of command, he faltered. In my opinion his personality would not allow him to plan a large scale operation, give the orders, and then wait and watch. He had to be in the action. Especially if something wasn't going exactly to plan. This can be illustrated by researching Forrest's actions at Chickamauga.

 

[Allie]

As another "Forrest fan", I definitely have to say that Forrest wouldn't have been a good choice. He was great at what he did. But in higher levels of command, he faltered. In my opinion his personality would not allow him to plan a large scale operation, give the orders, and then wait and watch. He had to be in the action. Especially if something wasn't going exactly to plan. This can be illustrated by researching Forrest's actions at Chickamauga.

I hold the opinion that what you're seeing was his inability to function well at middle levels of command. He was terrible at taking orders when he had something else in mind. It's hard to say how he would have done in absolute command of a large force, because we didn't see it.

 

[Just Jim]

As for Sherman's comments on Johnson, lets not forget Robert E. Lee said George McClellan was the Union's best General. Johnson's actions or lack there of in Mississippi and his willingness to surrender Richmond in 1862 shows his inability to take the initiative. Lee proved there were enough troops to take the offensive as he did so with nothing more than what Johnson had. The story about Johnson's bird hunt with Wade Hampton and never firing a shot sums up his time as a army commander.

 

[spe801]

McClellan wasn't going to get elected over Lincoln while Sherman kept maneuvering around Johnston. He had a reputation of a hard charging fighter, but it was a gamble. It was a gamble the Confederates lost but they had no other choice if they wanted to win the war. It really ticked off Hardee, but they needed someone who would lash out and do something different. Of course everyone knows the western Confederate armies weren't plagued with high command issues.

 

[leftyhunter]

Thank you.

I hope to learn more about the Civil War in this forum beyond my limited base.

Give yourself credit you already know far more then the average American. Again the CW is poorly taught in schools.
Leftyhunter

 

[leftyhunter]

I think Johnston's retreating has been largely misunderstood. Think he used it very effectively to keep his army intact, viable and before Sherman. As long as he remained an obstacle to Sherman, that general could not engage his larger scheme. He could not combine with Grant, either, until Johnston was disposed of. This was of benefit to Lee. However, from Davis' perspective, Johnston's secretiveness gave the distinct and quite logical impression that he had no plan but retreat.

There was also another handicap that Hood was saddled with, and some of it was his own fault as well, and that was the state of the AoT. They were not a happy bunch of soldiers! As one of them observed, "Well, we're in a hell of a fix, ain't we. A one eyed president, a one legged general and a one horse Confederacy!"

On the other hand has Longstreet was said (at least by Jeff Shara" the author of "the Killer Angeles") the logical outcome of defensive warfare is defeat. I can see why Davis was frustrated at some stage Johnston would have to give battle. On the other hand Johnston did not have enough troops to do so. Its a tough dilemma either way. How could the CSA force the Union out of Ga apparently they just could not but that is a hard position for Johnston to explain to his commander and chief.
Leftyhunter

 

[Allie]

On the other hand has Longstreet was said (at least by Jeff Shara" the author of "the Killier Angeles") the logical outcome of defensive warfare is defeat. I can see why Davis was frustrated at some stage Johnston would have to give battle. On the other hand Johnston did not have enough troops to do so. Its a tough dilemma either way. How could the CSA force the Union out of Ga apparently they just could not but that is a hard position for Johnston to explain to his commander and chief.
Leftyhunter

The thing is, Pete was wrong in this case. They didn't have to win an offensive war; they didn't even have to force the Yankees out of Georgia. All they had to do was make the war costly and unpopular enough that the Union government was willing to call it a day for the sake of getting reelected.

 

[diane]

I can't understand Longstreet saying that - I don't know if he did - but he didn't fight like that. He would position his men in a fine defensive spot and fight from there, and when the enemy had worn himself down Longstreet would switch to offensive and hit like a thunderbolt. In fact, it's a little odd that Longstreet is known as a defensive general as he was one of Lee's best offensive commanders!

 

[Allie]

I can't understand Longstreet saying that - I don't know if he did - but he didn't fight like that. He would position his men in a fine defensive spot and fight from there, and when the enemy had worn himself down Longstreet would switch to offensive and hit like a thunderbolt. In fact, it's a little odd that Longstreet is known as a defensive general as he was one of Lee's best offensive commanders!

You're discussing battle tactics and leftyhunter is discussing overall strategy of the conflict. Tactics and strategy are not the same thing. However, it's still probably not sound history to quote what someone said in a novel.