US Civil War Generals

General in the confederate army during the Civil War

he brunt down houses, stole peoples prize possesions and killed people in an attempt to end the war

An important event of the Civil War was when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as President of the United States. This sparked the southern fire which would inevitably burn throughout the Civil War. Other Important Events were secession from the Union, The forming of the Confederacy, The Emancipation Proclamtion, and the firing on Fort Sumter, and Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendering to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomatox Court House in VA.

Gen. Forrest suggested to Gen. Hood, Commander of the Army of Tennessee to outflank the strong Unionist positions by crossing the river Harpeth with large forces instead attacking the town frontally as Hood devised to do.

Hood rejected the advice. The most he agreed with was to detach two out of three Forrest's cavalry divisions beyond the river to carry on a diversionary attack against the Federal left wing.

So he was relegated to a secondary duty he wasn't able to successfully perform because the Union cavalry succeeded in keeping his action at bay.

Because the casket used was a bit too small for his body

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The South started with the best Generals, but the Southern President, an ex-officer, tried to act as General-in-Chief, and did not always make wise appointments.

In the second half, the gung-ho Confederate spirit was simply not winning any campaigns, and meanwhile Lincoln had rewarded Grant with the top job. This - and Grant's promotion of Sherman and Sheridan - finally swung Union victory.

Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The exact place was in the parlor in the home of one Wilmer McLean. McLean had moved his family away from their home near Manassas shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run. A move to get away from the fighting that would ultimately put him in the path of it once again.

Many would say bad, as he was a slave-trader, who helped to start the KKK (although he eventually told them to stop their violent activities.)

His impact on history is really that he was the best soldier the Confederacy ever produced, and Jefferson Davis confessed that his biggest mistake as Confederate president was not to have promoted Forrest to the highest rank. (The aristocratic Davis did not believe in promoting men of humble origin, who had not been trained at West Point.)

Union Major General Henry Wager Halleck had been a successful general in the Western Theater as the war moved into Spring of 1862. Halleck's victories enhanced his already known skills of military strategy and also respected for his publications on war tactics and strategies. The decision Lincoln had to make was to appoint Halleck to be the new general in chief or to be the new secretary of war.Lincoln chose the former job for Halleck. How that might have effected the war is now only a matter of speculation.

The African Union does not have a Secretary General. It is led by the Chairperson, and the first one was Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.

yes

US President Lincoln had been badly disappointed by the Union army's performance and defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. He was not alone. Newspapers and the general public of the Union were equally disappointed. One cause for the defeat was that the Union army took the field as an untrained army. It's commanders did the best they could with their new recruits. Aiding the Union defeat was poor strategy and poor tactics. They failed to recognize the superiority of the Confederacy's interior lines and the importance of using railroads as a means to position troops when and where they were needed.Lincoln, quite correctly, gave the job of retraining the Army of the Potomac to General George B. McClellan. His brilliance and youth became well known, so much so that Lincoln appointed him to the position of General In Chief of the US Army. His direct command was over the Army of the Potomac. This was the primary military force that protected Washington DC. Lincoln was impressed with McClellan and gave him the time required to become a trained and successful fighting force. This took approximately eight months. Drilling, marching, and tactics were part of the training. McClellan's methods were excellent, and he was by all accounts an organizer and planner ranking above all the top men the US had from West Point.

The "Occoquan River Plan" was McClellan's original concept of directly invading Virginia by crossing a Virginia tributary of the Lower Potomac (the Occoquan River) at a point SE of Manassas, VA (site of the earlier Battle of Bull Run).

By December, 1861, President Lincoln grew impatient enough to suggest a modified form of the plan, not knowing that McClellan was by then focused on a Peninsular plan to attack Richmond from the east, by transporting Union troops south along Chesapeake Bay. Eventually this plan was changed from a landing at Urbana VA to one farther south at Yorktown, VA. This plan was initiated in March 1862, but by July 1962 the overcautious McClellan could not break through. The North abandoned the campaign and retreated.

General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House Virginia on April 9, 1865. Lee had no authority to surrender any other Confederate army so the war would continue but for the most part it was over.

Grant's terms of surrender stipulated that all arms, ammunition, artillery and public property were to be surrendered. Grant made special provision to the officers under Lee's command whereby they were allowed to keep their personal horses, side arms and personal baggage.

Source: To Appomattox -Nine April Days, 1865. Burke Davis, Rinehart & Company, New York, 1959. Page 383-384

Although George B. McClellan was a well respected officer in the US Army, he soon discovered that peace time promotions for junior officers was a slow process. He resigned from the US Army in 1857 to pursue a career in the private sector of the US.

George Thomas was born in Virginia and graduated 12th in his class at West Point. Although he was a Virginian, he decided to fight for the Union when war broke out. He is not a well known Union general, however he made significant contributions to the Union. Perhaps his greatest personal achievement was receiving command of the Army of the Cumberland. He was heroic at Chickamuga, and under the command of US Grant, he broke the Confederate siege of Chattanooga by taking Missionary Ridge from Southern forces.Thomas did well at the Battle for Atlanta, but now worked under General Sherman, as Grant had been called East.

Thomas was soon called back to Tennessee to consolidate Union forces there. He soon found himself confronted by Confederate General John Bell Hood. Hood had good success, driving his troops to the outskirts of Nashville. As an aside, Thomas had been Hood's instructor at West Point in artillery and cavalry operations. At the Battle of Nashville, Thomas beat his old comrade, Hood.

Despite his efforts, both Grant and Sherman had criticized him as being to slow to act. Thomas remained in the army until his death in 1870.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis became dissatisfied with General Johnston's inability to stop the Union's advance towards Atlanta. Union General Sherman was making steady progress and Davis believed a more aggressive John Bell Hood would better protect Atlanta. On July 17, 1864 Bell replaced Johnston.

Good leaders of armies have always tried to protect the interests of their soldiers. This held true in the US Civil War. General Buell, however, seemed to be having leadership problems early on in the war. In September of 1862, General Buell's forces had the task of not letting Confederate forces march into Kentucky. Led by General Braxton Bragg, Rebel forces were pushing north in order to recruit for the Confederate army and obtain supplies. This incursion was about the time as General Robert E. Lee was also "northern minded". In order to halt the Confederate advance, General Buell had to march his forces from Decatur in a retreat of sorts to make a return to Tennessee and into Kentucky. Once in the "border" state of Kentucky, Buell was in Louisville, Kentucky. There he divided his army into four columns and moved rather slowly towards Perryville. Rebel forces were already there and Buell ordered Brigadier General Philip Meade not to engage battle with the Rebels. Disregarding orders, Meade set up his artillery to push back Bragg's troops. Bragg had to fall back and Buell was blamed for letting the Confederates to escape. President Lincoln, commanders under Buell and especially Meade believed that Buell did not show the courage required to engage the enemy, as they moved backwards to Tennessee. Lincoln believed he lacked leadership qualities. There are two sides to every story, however. many believed that Buell's forces were too tired to engage when Meade urged him to do so.

To punish the civilians for having taken part in the rebellion, and started the war.

To bring the war to the home front, and attack the 'soft underbelly' of the Southern war effort.

To despoil the farms, burn the crops, slaughter the livestock, free the slaves... to bring the Confederate armies closer to starvation.

1st Corp-John F. Reynolds (Killed in Action)

2nd Corp-Winfield Scott Hancock (Wounded)

3rd Corp-Daniel Sickels (Wounded)

5th Corp- George Sykes

6th Corp- John Sedgwick

11th Corp-Oliver O. Howard

12th Corp-Henry Warner Slocum

(7 Corp in total)

Plus the Cavalry Corp under Alfred Pleasanton

Based on the failed Peninsula campaign, President Lincoln sought new leadership in the Eastern Theater. He selected Major General John Pope to head the newly created Army of Virginia. To do this, forces from other sources were required. The merger of General Fremont's Mountain Department, General Bank's Department of the Shenandoah, and General McDowell's Department of the Rappahannock. To round out the new army, forces from General Sturgis's Military District of Washington. These sectors combined to form Pope's new army. President Lincoln had great hopes for this combination and he trusted General Pope much more than General McClellan.

Union General Joseph Hooker had replaced General Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac. His first operation in early April of 1863 was to take the offensive against General Lee. Hooker intended to outflank Lee, reach the rear of Lee's army and force Lee to take the tactical offensive to save his army from disaster. Lee had always preferred taking the tactical defensive, especially when he was outnumbered. He dis this at the Battle of Antietam in 1862.

Braxton Bragg was a Civill War General, Fort Bragg is named for him