President Lincoln was deeply involved in military matters. Hindsight informs history that he was over involved. Regardless of that, Lincoln believed General Buell lacked the desire to engage the enemy. A new general was selected for the Western Theater, that being General William Starke Rosencrans. Rosencrans had a great background and was once an instructor at West Point. He added to his education in engineering by becoming an architect after resigning his commission before the Civil War had erupted. Soldiers liked him and he seemed to be a good choice made by President Lincoln.
Union General US Grant was basically placed in charge of the Western Theater of the US Civil War. He, as did Lincoln, lost all faith in General Rosencrans. He therefore replaced Rosencrans with General George H. Thomas.
There were over 600 generals in the Union Army in 1862. This included the soon to be retired General in Chief Winfield Scott. Later the two leading Union generals at the beginning of 1862 were General in Chief George B. McClellan who's prime responsibility was leading the Army of the Potomac in the Eastern Theater, however as general in chief he was in charge of the entire Union army. In the Western Theater, the main general was Henry W. Halleck. He reported to McClellan at that time. In 1864, Major General US Grant was promoted by President Lincoln to be the General in Chief. Grant had been assisted by General Sherman in the Western Theater.
Based on his outstanding performance in the Western Theater, President Lincoln appointed General John Pope to command the Army of the Potomac. Pope immediately had a bad start by issuing a statement to his new army that the performance of Western Theater armies of the Union were superior than those of the Eastern Theater.
By all accounts, US Grant was the US' best general in the Western theater. His persistence allowed the Union to make great strides there. His near disaster at Shiloh and the inability to capture Vicksburg on a timely basis did harm his reputation. Later in the Eastern Theater, his battles with Lee displayed some of Grant's weaknesses.
Initially Ulysses S. Grant was a Lt. General in the Western theater of the Civil War. However, he was promoted to as lead general. Prior to his appointment, General Henry Halleck was in charge. Additional generals in this theater included, Generals Sherman, Buell and Thomas emerged as prominent leaders.
general hooker
In the Western theater, on August 21, General Braxton Brag's army reached Chattanooga Tennessee. There he and prepared his forces to join the Confederate offensive started by General Kirby.
1861- General McDowell (replaced) 1861- General McClellan (replaced) 1862- Major-General Henry Halleck (replaced) 1863- General McClellan (replaced) 1865- Lieutenant-General Ulysses S. Grant
Union General US Grant came to be the general in chief of all Union forces. Prior to that he came to prominence by his victories in the Western Theater. As for Confederate General Lee, he too became the South's general in chief in the last few months of the war, too late to save the South. Prior to that, Lee had been a strong general that kept the North at bay in the Eastern Theater, especially in Virginia.
George McLellan
Western General Hospital was created in 1868.
Union General Jacob Ammen graduated from West Point in 1831. He ranked 12th in his graduating class of 33 cadets. General Ammen was most active in military operations in the Western Theater.