Who Led The Battlefield In The Civil War Essay

Braxton Braggs was given the rank of major general and helped raise Louisiana’s army. Braggs was well known through out the army as having some of the best-drilled troops in the confederate states and for being a strong-handed disciplinarian. He was a competent general, but he like many of the other generals who had trained at West Point and fought in the Mexican-American war did not change their war tactics to match the changed technology. Braxton Braggs still used a frontal assault, which would manifest and large amounts of his soldiers dying. After Braggs had lost the first two battles he fought in he became more hesitant in his approaches, however he did not always do that at a good time to do so. Braxton Braggs won about as many battles as he lost, but his mistakes and inability to adapt and be the type of general the south needed caused him to be relieved from his post by Joseph E. Johnston. After the war ended Braxton Bragg returned home, he worked as a civil engineer until his death in

Many of the nations experienced leaders/generals and the best military minds belonged to Southerners, where there were also more military leaders in general as well as a broader base of recruits with some military or martial experience. The list of brilliant Southern generals is extensive, while even at the highest command the North struggled to find a competent leader for most of the Civil War. The South had the leadership of great commanders, including Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston, and "Stonewall" Jackson. Robert E. Lee was the South's greatest general during the Civil War. He graduated from West Point Military Academy and became a colonel in the army before the Civil War began. He was from Virginia and decided to fight on the side of the Confederates even though President Lincoln asked him to be commander of the entire Union Army. General Lee wanted to fight for the South and remain loyal to his home state. General Lee was a fierce fighter and helped his soldiers win many battles at the beginning of the Civil War. But the Union Army was bigger and stronger. Lee felt he had to surrender to the North to stop so many of his soldiers from being killed. Ulysses S. Grant being the leader of the Union Army rather than the army population.. He had all the qualities President Lincoln wanted for the commander of his army. Grant fought very hard in battles, as he did not like to be defeated. When the Civil War began and the North began losing so many battles, Grant joined the Army for a second time. He was an excellent military leader because of his training and skill. General Robert E. Lee, The leader of the Confederate Army had to surrender to General Grant in 1865. Later General Grant became president of the United States twice. Due to Robert E Lee and the South surrendering many say this aspect was not an advantage for

On January 26, 1863 General Joseph Hooker was appointed the commander of the Army of the Potomac. General Hooker wanted to attack General Lee’s army while a large portion of his troops were engaged at the town of Fredericksburg. He commanded an army that was almost twice the size of Lee’s forces. Hooker then moved the Union forces toward the town of Chancellorsville and had his men set up in defensive positions just outside the town. When General Lee learned of this he moved a portion of his men to assault Hooker and his army. When he arrived, Lee split his men in order to attack from different locations and General Stonewall Jackson commander of the cavalry moved his men to an exposed section of the Union defense and exploited it. On May 3 the fighting was so fierce that it caused General Hooker to withdraw his men and move them to the other side of the river that was nearby. This is when General Lee learned of federal troops gaining the advantage

General Pierre Beauregard, commander of Confederate troops at the Battle of First Bull Run and second-in-command during the Battle of Shiloh, commented that the enemy was given "...the most surprising surprise" but the delays allowed Union reinforcements to take their place on the battlefield beside their comrades and drive the rebels back after two days of fighting. No ground was gained, no strategic town was taken, no supply depot was sacked, but the Union victory did force the evacuation of Confederate troops from much of Tennessee and split the rebel forces along the lines formed by the Mississippi River.

Major General Ulysses S. Grant and his Army met on the Mississippi River in the Summer of 1863. They trapped a Confederate Army under the control of Lt. Gen. John Pemberton. He surrendered to General Grant because he was out numbered two to one. He surrendered on July 4th. Grant’s activities at Vicksburg was considered one of the most brilliant attacks of the war. This victory led to Grant being promoted to

From reading some articles I learned that Bragg’s team had just finished an invasion of Kentucky. Since neither side had a “clear-cut victory” he decided to return to Tennessee (738.) During this battle there were about 80,000 men that

Johnston originally planned to attack Grant on April 4, but delays postponed it until the 6th. Attacking the Union troops on the morning of the 6th, the Confederates surprised them, routing many. Some Federals made determined stands and by afternoon, they had established a battle line at the sunken road, known as the "Hornets Nest." Repeated Rebel attacks failed to carry the Hornets Nest, but massed artillery helped to turn the tide as Confederates surrounded the Union troops and captured, killed, or wounded most. Johnston had been mortally wounded earlier and his second in command, Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, took over. The Union troops established another line covering Pittsburgh Landing, anchored with artillery and augmented by Buell’s men who began to arrive and take up positions. Fighting continued until after dark, but the Federals held. By the next morning, the combined Federal forces numbered about 40,000, outnumbering Beauregard’s army of less than 30,000. Beauregard was unaware of the arrival of Buell’s army and launched a counterattack in response to a two-mile advance by William Nelson’s division of Buell’s army at 6:00 am, which was, at first, successful. Union troops stiffened and began forcing the Confederates back. Beauregard ordered a counterattack, which stopped the Union advance but did not break its battle line. At this point, Beauregard realized that he could not win and, having suffered too many

During the times of Civil War, there were many Commanding Generals that came along. But two stand out amongst all, Ulysses S. Grant of United States of America and Robert E. Lee of Confederate States of America. Both men had formally fought, not along side of each other, in the Mexican-American War. At one point Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant worked together in the Mexican-American War. They both gained a war time experience, Grant as a quartermaster and Lee as an engineer who positioned troops and artillery during their participation in the Scott’s march from the coastal town of Vera Cruz to Mexico City. Both men were vastly different with different styles and background who not only won the affection of their men but respect of

The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh starts as reinforcements from General Buell’s Army of the Ohio and a unit of Grant’s own reserve division joined the Union Army now positioned at Pittsburg Landing. These reinforcements added over 22,500 men to the Union lines13 bringing the total number of Union forces to over 45,000, which is more than they had on 6 April, the first day of fighting.14 On April 7, General Grant renewed the fighting with an aggressive counteract.15 Greatly outnumbered (Confederate forces now around 25,000) and disorganized the Confederate forces now under General Beauregard fought hard but eventually had to retreat to back Corinth.16 The second phase of the Battle of Shiloh was won by General Grant and his Union forces due to two main reasons. The first, Union troop numbers greatly outnumbered their enemy, over 45,000 to 25,000 respectively. And secondly, the reinforcements received by General Grant had not fought the day before and were fresh and excited to fight, unlike the exhausted remaining Confederate troops.17 This was the bloodiest battle fought on American soil up to that point, with 23,746 casualties (Union: 13,047; Confederate: 10,699).18 The Union lost more men but claimed the victory because the Confederate Army retreated back to Corinth, Mississippi.

The Battle of Bentonville was fought in Bentonville, North Carolina, near the town of Four Oaks, as part of the Carolinas Campaign of the American Civil War. It was the last battle between the armies of Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston (Barrett). It was fought on March 19th through the 21st in 1865. The battle was the last full-scale measure of the Civil War in which a Confederate army was able to mount a tactical offensive. This major battle, the largest ever fought in North Carolina, was the only significant attempt to defeat the large Union army of Gen. William T. Sherman during its march through the Carolinas in the spring of 1865 (Moore).

It was General Bragg’s lack of confidence, previous performances, and relationships with his subordinate commanders that ultimately caused the battle plan to not be executed correctly. Bragg was unable to successfully implement the first principle of mission command: build cohesive teams through mutual trust. He also had a history of not utilizing the sixth principle of mission command: take prudent risk. Bragg’s lack of competence regarding these two mission command principles ultimately set conditions for a poor mission command climate within General Bragg’s unit. Bragg’s sub-commanders, Generals Hindman, Buckner, Polk, Longstreet, and Hill were all skeptical of Bragg’s leadership and battle plans from his previous campaign at Chattanooga, where he retreated from the city. Bragg was well known for retreating at the first Battle of Chattanooga, and also for predictably employing frontal assault offensive tactics. His history of predictable plans, retreats, and inability to take prudent risk, caused his subordinate leaders to lose trust in his ability to plan and lead his army. One of Bragg’s sub-commanders, General Hill, stated

When we compare the military leaders of both North and South during the Civil War, it is not hard to see what the differences are. One of the first things that stand out is the numerous number of Northern generals that led the “Army of the Potomac.” Whereas the Confederate generals, at least in the “Army of Northern Virginia” were much more stable in their position. Personalities, ambitions and emotions also played a big part in effective they were in the field, as well as their interactions with other officers.

The Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19-20 1863, marked the end of a Union in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia called the Chickamauga Campaign. With 16,170 Union and 18,454 Confederate casualties, the Battle of Chickamauga was the second disastrous battle of the Civil War, ranking only behind the Gettysburg, and was by the deadliest battle fought in the west. With the tenacious attitude of winning the battle, Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee defeated a Union force commanded by General William Rosecrans in the Battle of Chickamauga, during the American Civil War. After Rosecrans’ troops pushed the Confederates out of Chattanooga early that month, Bragg called for reinforcements and launched a counterattack on the banks

The Battle of Chattanooga was in November of 1863 when the Union forces routed Confederate troops in Tennessee. The Confederates cut of Union supply lines angering Lincoln into sending General Grant and his troops into battle. Grant, who arrived in October, built the city up and opened up supply lines again getting medicines, foods, and clothes through the city. The battles were Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge where the Union forces made the Confederates retreat. An estimated 5,800 Union soldiers died, while 6,600 casualties were on the Confederate side. These Union victories forced Confederates back into Georgia, ending the siege of the essential railroad junction of Chattanooga. By gaining victories in these battles, it paved a way

Individuals That Contributed To The Civil War The Civil War was brought about by many important people, some that wanted to preserve and some that wanted to eradicate the primary cause of the war, slavery. There were the political giants, such as Abraham Lincoln, and Stephen Douglas. There were seditious abolitionists such as John