A lot of sports fans love lists and rankings. I’m no exception. I decided to list the major Civil War battles and the generals on each side who commanded the armies in those battles to evaluate IMHO the best army battlefield commanders. (I’m not including respected subordinate officers, like Hancock or Cleburne in this evaluation.) In terms of quality of commanding generals, it really just comes down to a handful of names. Those who turn up on the Union side are Grant, of course, as well as Sherman and Sheridan. On the Confederate side, it’s pretty much just Lee and Jackson. On both sides, the quality of the commanding generals drops drastically after those (with possible one-time exceptions like Thomas at Nashville and maybe A.S. Johnston, who was killed at Shiloh).
Thoughts? (Union commanding generals listed first/then Confederates):
Thoughts? (Union commanding generals listed first/then Confederates):
First Manassas/Bull Run - McDowell/J. Johnston-Beauregard
Fort Donelson - Grant/Floyd-Pillow-Buckner
Shiloh - Grant/A.S. Johnston-Beauregard
1862 Valley Campaign - Banks-Fremont-Shields/Jackson
Seven Days’ Battles - McClellan/J. Johnston–Lee
Second Manassas/Bull Run - Pope/Lee
Antietam - McClellan/Lee
Perryville - Buell/Bragg
Fredericksburg - Burnside/Lee
Stones River/Murfreesboro - Rosecrans/Bragg
Chancellorsville - Hooker/Lee
Vicksburg - Grant/Pemberton-J. Johnston
Gettysburg - Meade/Lee
Chickamauga - Rosecrans/Bragg
Chattanooga - Grant/Bragg
The Wilderness - Grant/Lee
Spotsylvania – Grant/Lee
Cold Harbor - Grant/Lee
Atlanta Campaign - Sherman/J. Johnston-Hood
1864 Valley Campaign - Sheridan/Early
Franklin - Schofield/Hood
Nashville - Thomas/Hood
Petersburg - Grant/Lee
