Discuss the respective virtues and failings of Lincoln and Davis as war leaders How important was this match-up to the outcome of the war?

Answer 1

It mattered a great deal.

Lincoln was a largely unknown prairie lawyer, and at the beginning of the war (which everyone expected to be over quickly), he did not know much about how to choose and use the best Generals. By the second half, however, he had skilfully manoeuvred a situation where the British and French could not send aid to the Confederates without looking pro-slavery, and then made the wise decision to back U.S.Grant as his General-in-Chief. Meanwhile he had shown remarkable dexterity in the handling of his talented but rebellious cabinet, and by the time of his tragic assassination, had earned his place as one of the great men of American history, possibly the greatest.

Jefferson Davis was the other way about. He was at the head of a new nation, whose identity was largely based on mythology, some of it rooted in the Cavaliers of the English Civil War, and the novels of Walter Scott. For this job, he appeared well-placed. Among other things, he could claim to be the acceptable face of slavery - he treated his slaves so well that they didn't want their freedom. He could also claim a respectable military record as a Colonel in the Mexican war. And his first wife (who died young) was the daughter of Zachary Taylor, which all added to Davis's prestige. However, this all fell away under the test of supreme wartime command, for which he was shown to be unfitted. Partly because he had hoped to be General-in-Chief of the Confederacy, he feuded with many senior Confederate officers, and could not control his own cabinet. He later admitted that his biggest mistake was his failure to promote the self-taught cavalry leader Bedford Forrest on the grounds of his humble background and unconventional training. Davis's character failed the final test at the time of the Confederate surrender by Lee, who measured up much closer to the ideal of the noble Southern aristocrat. At this point, Davis went into denial, fleeing into Georgia, talking wildly about continuing the struggle from somewhere in the West.