Member Review Worst Single Performance By a Civil War Commander

[gjpratt]

The flip side of the most stellar single performance by a commander in the Civil War is the worst single performance. Again, regardless of record before or after. As I have gone through the mental process on both questions, I am discovering that the worst list has many more candidates. Here are a few nominations:

Morgan's Ohio raid.

Stoneman's 1864 Georgia raid (bonus nomination -- Chancellorsville).

Stonewall at Romney (heresy warning)

Buell at Perryville

There are lots more to choose from.

 

[JackADriscoll]

Kilpatrick at buckland

 

[gary]

Sibley in New Mexico/Glorietta. Poor logistics, anitcipated foraging and living off the land in an area that could barely sustain the inhabitants, overestimated local support (the New Mexican Latinos disliked Anglo-Texans). Mind you, Sibley like Canby was absent from Glorietta but left a larger legacy than Canby. He was after all, scornfully referenced by a contemputous innkeeper in The Good, the Bad and The Ugly. "Sibley in the white hat, he looks dead."

 

[General JJ]

For the worst performance in army command during a battle, it's hard to top John Pope at Second Manassas for sheer incompetence.

 

[milhistbuff1]

Palmetto Ranch TX, Federal CO. While small scale, botching a fight that should never have occurred takes some doing...

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

This falls under Sibley - but the incredibly ill-fated charge of Company B of the 5thTexas Mounted Volunteers led by Captain Willis L. Lang at the Battle of Valverde. The Texans carried 9 foot lances that had actually been captured from the Mexican-American War 13 years prior.

Confederate Colonel Thomas Green had spotted Union soldiers on the Union right flank and somehow thought they were inexperienced and gave them the good old, Medieval mounted shock charge. They weren't inexperienced and the result showed that medieval shock tactics were now obsolete - it they didn't believe it before.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

.

 

[NFB22]

- Ledlie at The Crater
- Miles at Harpers Ferry
- Sigel at New Market
- Floyd and Pillow at Fort Donelson
- John Pope (USN) at the Battle of the Head of Passes

 

[delta rifles]

James Ledlie's leadership during the Battle of the Crater, and Nathaniel Prentiss Banks during the Valley Campaign as well as during the Red River Campaign are a few that come to mind.

Leonidas Polk and the Columbus/Belmont debacles are also worth noting.

 

[frontrank2]

" Honorable Mention " is Brig. General Alfred Iverson for neglecting to deploy skirmishers at Gettysburg. That mistake got his brigade shot to ribbons. Lee had him transferred out of the ANV after that.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

On the Confederate side, individual command performances noted for special mention include:

Gideon Pillow at Fort Donelson (Feb. 15, '62)

Theophilus Holmes at Helena (Jul. 4, '63)

James Longstreet (uncharacteristically) at Fort Sanders (Nov. 29, '63)

John Bell Hood at Franklin (Nov. 30, '64)

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Stoneman's 1864 Georgia raid (bonus nomination -- Chancellorsville).

FWIW Eric Wittenberg considered Stoneman's performance in the Chancellorsville Campaign to have been fairly good. See his Union Cavalry Comes of Age.

Stonewall at Romney (heresy warning)

I think it's largely come to be accepted that the Romney Campaign was a serious mistake, mostly because it was conducted during winter.

Nathaniel Prentiss Banks during the Valley Campaign as well as during the Red River Campaign are a few that come to mind.

Cozzens defends Banks' performance in Shenandoah 1862. In particular, Jackson outnumbered Banks, whose command had been stripped under the mistaken belief Stonewall had left the Valley.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Ledlie being drunk and negligent at the Crater and Pope's tunnel vision at Second Manassas are my lead contenders.

Not mentioned by others so far:

Burnside at Fredericksburg. Stubbornly goes ahead despite losing the element of surprise after the pontoons are late. Misunderstands the situation during the battle, continuing to make piecemeal attacks on the right while not properly attacking on the left.

Hunter at Lynchburg. He got himself in a position where he had to retreat for logistical reasons, then made the strategic disaster of retreating via the Kanawaha instead of the Shenandoah, leaving the door wide open for Early.

 

[Nathan Stuart]

Agree. From the Union perspective, Burnside's repeated costly assaults at Fredericksburg, were blunders of mammoth proportions.

Also. Ledlie's lack of leadership at the Crater (and a few weeks earlier at Cold Harbor) must also figure prominently in incompetent command performances. And again, at both these places where Ledlie failed in his leadership, Burnside must bear some responsibility as corps commander.

 

[Library Lady]

By no means am I defending a commanding officer being overserved in the rear while his unit is put into line at the last minute (Ledlie), but just where was his corps commander (Burnside)? Who has division commanders draw straws to see who's going into line at the last minute? And even if you do that, who doesn't at least make sure that the lotto winner understands what is required of him and his unit and that they have the tools they need to do what is required? It seems to me that Burnside just washed his hands of the matter. Am I reading the wrong things or am I not understanding what I'm reading? This is the one Burnside screw-up that I just can't deal with.

Oops, I see that @Nathan Stuart beat me to it and even piled on.

 

[BuckPvt]

Lee at Fort Stedman.

Using a significant portion of his army, against an unrealistic objective, in an effort to get Grant to do something Grant didn't have a history of doing. It was a more lopsided debacle than the Crater was. The destruction of the ANV started with Lee's own initiative.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

Lee at Fort Stedman.

Using a significant portion of his army, against an unrealistic objective, in an effort to get Grant to do something Grant didn't have a history of doing. It was a more lopsided debacle than the Crater was.

I had to double check that, but yeah going by Wikipedia casualty numbers it's correct. The Crater casualties were a little more than 3:1 in favor of the Confederates. Stedman was nearly 4:1 in favor of the Union.

 

[35th MA InfRegt]

For the worst performance in army command during a battle, it's hard to top John Pope at Second Manassas for sheer incompetence.

I think we have a winner!

 

[35th MA InfRegt]

Also, I think William "Bull" Nelson did rather poorly at Richmond, Kentucky in 1862.

 

[JackADriscoll]

Sherman at Chickasaw bayou comes to mind

Also, I think William "Bull" Nelson did rather poorly at Richmond, Kentucky in 1862.

Richmond is interesting because it was lew Wallace's plan and nelson changed it up. I've been reading on Wallace's war record he's an interesting dude