[SFR]

My heart says General Robert E. Lee - because I am from the South. My brain says President Lincoln - because the idea of democracy of the people, America survived.

[Red_Devil 232]

Jefferson Davis - States Rights!

[Badeye]

Grant on the North’s side of the war. He understood warfare had changed dramatically, and realized the war should have been over in 1862. He did what had to be done.

Lee on the South’s side of the war. Without Lee, the war would have ended in 1862, unless Grant had been in the same position he was in at the end of the war.

Now, the least favorites.

For the North, McClellan and Edwin Stanton.

McClellan was simply a bad joke, told twice during the war. Lincoln’s statement that the Army of the Potomac appeared to be nothing more than little Mac’s ‘bodyguard’ rings true a century and a half later.

Edwin Stanton’s actions helped prolong what should have been a 18 to 24 month conflict a full two years longer than it should have gone.

[NavyCanDo]

Lee - hands down winner.

No General ever has earned such respect from his soldiers.

http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/leon/leon.html

Excerpt from Diary of a Tar Hill Soldier:

July 14 - The roads are so bad that it is hard work to trudge along. I stuck in the mud several times, and lost one shoe in a mud hole, but of course took it out again. One consolation we have got, it is raining so hard that the mud is washed off our clothing, therefore they were not soiled too bad. But the devil of it is there is no blacking to shine our shoes with. Marched sixteen miles and halted. We are now, thank God, on Confederate soil, but oh, how many of our dear comrades have we left behind. We can never forget this campaign. We had hard marching, hard fighting, suffered hunger and privation, but our general officers were always with us, to help the weary soldier carry his gun, or let him ride. In a fight they were with us to encourage. Many a general have I seen walk and a poor sick private riding his horse, and our father, Lee, was scarcely ever out of sight when there was danger. We could not feel gloomy when we saw his old gray head uncovered as he would pass us on the march, or be with us in a fight. I care not how weary or hungry we were, when we saw him we gave that Rebel yell, and hunger and wounds would be forgotten.

[TLI]

John Hunt Morgan, (1825-1864)

One of the leading Confederate raiders, John Hunt Morgan found it difficult to comply with the constraints placed upon his activities by his superiors. Born in Alabama, he had served in the Mexican War as a first lieutenant with the lst Kentucky. Unlike many volunteer officers he did see action in that conflict. A Lexington merchant between the wars, he raised the Lexington Rifles in 1857.

Even though his state never did secede, he did join the Confederacy and his assignments included: captain, Morgan's Kentucky Cavalry Squadron (186 1); colonel, 2nd Kentucky Cavalry (to rank from April 4, 1862); commanding cavalry brigade, Army of Tennessee (November 20, 1862-February 25, 1863); brigadier general, CSA (December 11, 1862); commanding brigade, Wheeler's Cavalry Division, Army of Tennessee (February 25-March 16, 1863); commanding division, Wheeler's Cavalry Corps, Army of Tennessee (March 16 - July 26, 1863); commanding cavalry brigade, Department of East Tennessee (early 1864 - May 2, 1864); commanding cavalry brigade, Department of Southwestern Virginia (May 2 - June 22, 1864); and commanding Departments of East Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia (June 22 - August 30, 1864).

He led his squadron in central Kentucky and at Shiloh and was then promoted to colonel. He led his regiment during the Corinth siege and then took two regiments on a raid through Kentucky from July 4, to August 1, 1862. This raid, together with that of Nathan Bedford Forrest, greatly hampered the advance of Don C. Buell on Chattanooga. In October 1862 shortly after the collapse of the Southern campaign in Kentucky, he led his brigade on another raid through his adopted state. During the Murfreesboro Campaign he led a mounted division into Kentucky, from December 21, 1862, through January 1, 1863, against Rosecrans' supply lines. Having been promoted to brigadier general, he also received the thanks of the Confederate Congress for his exploits.

*************

This guy was a hoot. If you read the accounts of his campaign against the Union it is like a good novel. He did things like burned the bridge at Hamilton (north of Cincinnati)... three times in a row. Pizzed them off!

His escape from the POW prison in Cincinnati was really something. His reason for escaping was - "Winter is coming." How did he get back south? Went and bought a ticket and rode back on the train. The guy certainly had style.

[NTHockey]

Mosby - The Grey Ghost. They never caught him.

Long ago (before PC madness), there was a weekly show about his exploits. If only half of it was true, he had brass ones.

[Dionysius]

Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, CSA! The “Stonewall of the West”.

[stainlessbanner]

Dixie Ping

[cyclotic]

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, a true citizen soldier. He left a position as a college professor to serve his nation as an officer with no military experience. At Gettysburg, the 20th Maine, under his command was pivotal in winning the battle and saving the union. He earned the Medal of Honor that day.

[afnamvet]

General T. J. (”Stonewall”) Jackson, a brilliant tactician for the Southern Cause. He had no match on either side in The War of Northern Aggression.

Lincoln and his arrogance and his ignorance of State's Rights and The Constitution would be my least favorite.

[Citizen Blade]

I’m a Sherman fan. Whatever his faults, the man knew what needed to be done to end the war. He grasped that the nature of warfare had changed and that the way to defeat an enemy was to deny him the logistical means to continue the fight.

There is a lot of mythology about how much damage Sherman’s army did to the South. Many people claim Sherman burned down their ancestors’ farms, even when his army was nowhere near the ancestral homestead.

[LeoWindhorse]

Lt. Gen. Stephen Dill Lee - CSA

[GOP_Raider]

Though it’s bound to be controversial, Nathan Bedford Forrest ought to be included somehow.

[PAR35]

First choice would have to be Stonewall. Second would probably be Forrest.

[manc]

back to the original thread.

I am reading a book abnd doing research on Gen Loring from st augustine north east FL(my town) and he is getting up there to be a favorite.

Florida’s forgotton 50 year general

[KC Burke]

Sorry I can't watch the video now but out of the dozens of books I have read on the civil war, my most admired participant based upon actions in the war is Lt. General James Longstreet. His leadership, achievements and longevity of good service to his Confederacy during the war is without equal.

As the Lost Cause mythos developed, some veterans who made major errors (Jubal Early for example) at Gettysburg and elsewhere saw Longstreet's post war Republican alignment as making him an easy target as they elevated Lee to the so called Marble Man of mythic proportions.

In that limited view of recent history in the four decades after the war, to have been defeated there had to be someone to blame and it certainly couldn't be the beloved Lee. Longstreet was one of the scape goats for General Early and much of that post war confederate crowd.

His actual record and responsibilities over a the full span of time outdoes most others when considered in balance.

[BuffaloJack]

LEE.
Lee was offered command of the Union Forces but accepted command of the Confederate Forces. The most liked general during the Civil War (by both sides).
Lee’s Family’s home is now Arlington Cemetery, the resting place of heroes.