Was there mistrust between the military and civilian government in the North during the US Civil War?

Answer 1

There was a great deal of mistrust between Northern political leaders who were Republicans and the high command of the North's military officers. The Republicans were new to national government power and new to many of the North's West Point generals.Some Republicans blamed General in Chief Winfield Scott. Since he was a Virginian, some claim he gave preference in promotions to Southern graduates of West Point in the years before the war.

One reason, among several the Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War was formed was to make sure that President Lincoln did not make rash decisions that might be made by Northern generals.

There was, however, already a built in problem between Union generals from West Point and national civilian leaders before, during and after the US Civil War.

Many West Point graduates were life time members of the military. As such, they were a " breed" apart from many civilian leaders. They were engineers and had a great university level education. On the other hand, many civilian leaders, President Lincoln included, did not have the same educational and military experience to fully understand certain military concepts. As bright as Lincoln was, he had to play "catch up" on military matters. The rotating commanders of the Army of the Potomac were a case in point.

Another problem indicative of the lack of trust inherent in the civilian-military relationship within the Union high command was the inability to grasp what military theorist Carl Von Clausewitz had emphasized was the understanding required of generals to be in step with the political objectives of civilian leaders.

For both domestic and foreign affairs issues, Lincoln's political objectives were not shared by many Union generals. This was especially true of McClellan, who not only was a Democrat , but had his own ideas on how the war should be fought.