AHC: Create the Best Possible American Civil War Army

[TheRockofChickamauga]

I think the basics of this challenge can be gathered from the title, so I will instead devolve into other possible questions. The goal of this thread to try and create the most effective army of soldiers for the time period of the American Civil War based on the generals on hand at the time. Effectiveness should be geared towards Civil War era combat styles, but I suppose if anyone is really interested they could create it in a way that would work well for, say, World War II's style. I personally will be taking commanders for sides of the conflict for the creation of my army, but this is not necessary if you only want to use commanders from one side or the other. Feel free to get as detailed as you want in the Orders of Battle (I'll be thoroughly impressed if someone does it all the way down to company commanders!). An explanation of your army is preferred, but it is understandable if you don't want to create a full write up. Now, here is my creation:
Commander of the Army: George H. Thomas

• Chief of Staff: Andrew A. Humphreys
• Quartermaster General: Montgomery C. Meigs
• Chief of Artillery: Henry J. Hunt
• Adjutant General: Fitz J. Porter
• Inspector General: George B. McClellan
• Chief Ordnance Officer: John M. Brannan
• Chief of Engineers: Quincy A. Gillmore
• Medical Director: Jonathan Letterman
• Head of the Bureau of Military Intelligence: George H. Sharpe
• Chief Topographical Engineer: Jedediah Hotchkiss

Commander of I Corps: Winfield S. Hancock

• Commander of 1st Division: William B. Hazen
• Commander of 2nd Division: Henry W. Slocum
• Commander of 3rd Division: John Gibbon
• Commander of 4th Division: Daniel H. Hill
• Reserve Artillery Commander: John Mendenhall

Commander of II Corps: James Longstreet

• Commander of 1st Division: Richard Taylor
• Commander of 2nd Division: John B. Gordon
• Commander of 3rd Division: Francis C. Barlow
• Commander of 4th Division: Philip Kearny
• Reserve Artillery Commander: Willie R.J. Pegram

Commander of III Corps: Andrew J. Smith

• Commander of 1st Division: John A. Logan
• Commander of 2nd Division: Patrick R. Cleburne
• Commander of 3rd Division: Alpheus S. Williams
• Commander of 4th Division: William D. Pender
• Reserve Artillery Commander: Edward P. Alexander

Commander of the Cavalry Corps: Wade Hampton III

• Commander of 1st Division: John Buford
• Commander of 2nd Division: James H. Wilson
• Commander of 3rd Division: William H.F. "Rooney" Lee
• Artillery Commander: John Pelham

Here is my explanation for my choices. First off, and perhaps most controversially, my pick for overall command of the army. I know that the choices that seem to be the default and obviously correct ones are Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, but my recent reading has tinted my view of both men's military ability to a more negative degree, and I somewhat see their tactics in battles as wasteful of men's lives and unsustainable in any drawn out conflict. To be sure, both men were genius at war, it is just that I have some reservations about both of them. Thomas, on the other hand, knew how to create and maintain a magnificent military machine, and was perhaps a bit more circumspect and considerate of the human cost in his overall tactical decision making then either man. Thus, he was my pick for army commander.

I believe my picks for the staff officers are fairly self-explanatory, so I will move on to the infantry corps. My planning for them to work is for the I Corps to serve as the anvil, and the II Corps as the hammer. Meanwhile, the III Corps would be a mobile reserve, probably acting in support of I Corps while detaching a division or two in aid of II Corps. To break into the commanders themselves, here are my explanations. I have placed Hancock in command of the defensive corps due to his most impressive accomplishment, repulsing Pickett's Charge, not to mention his feats of defense on the second day at Gettysburg or Chancellorsville. Meanwhile, while Longstreet was surely a competent commander on the defensive, his traditional designation, I am actually more impressed with his offensive accomplishments, (Second Manassas, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, Wilderness, etc.). In the end, the purpose of the II Corps would just be pure aggression to break through the enemy flank or line whatever the circumstances, and I think the gathered body of commanders is up to the task. Thirdly, in my opinion, Andrew J. Smith is the most underrated major general on other side of the American Civil War. He was one of the war's most accomplished and capable corps commanders (an accomplishment surprisingly easily earned considering the large number of corps commanders yet the general lack of much tangible or useful battlefield talent among themselves). Finally, I will move on to the cavalry. I have always thought of Wade Hampton as the best mixture of the hard-fighting cavalrymen as embodied by the Union horsemen and the elusive raider as embodied the rebels, so have given him command of the cavalry, with some fighters (Buford and Lee) and raiders (Wilson) to serve the traditional purposes of the cavalry.

Feel free to provide your opinions on this Order of Battle, or to create one of your own. I look forward to seeing what the other people on this site to come up, and to find out what obvious commander I forget to place in the gathering of greats.

 

[Ironshark]

Well i feel scared saying this you to of all people or any of the more knowledge deiztens of the fourm but..
Thomas from My readings couldn't really "move" what i mean isn't just his slowness but planning out a strategic campaign. All his independent battles were set pieces and his strategy was mostlydicated from above .Even then he took time to move that more bold commanders could take advantage of.he left one of his corps to fight hood on its own for a bit and after hood got to Nashville grant had to beg thomas to attack.
I can't see thomas like Lee maneuvering and coordinating divisions around a state or city for weeks and then uniting them for a battle like at the seven days.or marching on Atlanta within a single campaign season like Sherman.
I'd put thomas as army commander only with a general in chief or department commander supervising him in person and handling strategy.
my order not as detailed and probably shitty due to my relative lack of knowledge would be
General in chief headquarters DC ulysess s Grant
Department commander headquarters in the field .Willam T Sherman
army commander George Henry Thomas
1 corps commander George Meade
2 corps commander Winfield scott hancock
3 corps commander Frederick Steele
Calvary corps philp Sheridan
Independent brigade Nathan beford forrest
Lighting brigade .due to it's advanced firepower [famously stopped a division once in it's trick once] will act as a sort of mini reserve plugging gaps .
for division commanders not knowledge to list all 12 in order but richard taylor gordon granger john Logan and Kilpatrick would be the senior ones.

probably made some huge mistakes but it's the best i could come up with.

 

[Arnold d.c]

Oh boy, I have a few opinions here before I get into my list:

Here is my explanation for my choices. First off, and perhaps most controversially, my pick for overall command of the army. I know that the choices that seem to be the default and obviously correct ones are Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, but my recent reading has tinted my view of both men's military ability to a more negative degree, and I somewhat see their tactics in battles as wasteful of men's lives and unsustainable in any drawn out conflict. To be sure, both men were genius at war, it is just that I have some reservations about both of them. Thomas, on the other hand, knew how to create and maintain a magnificent military machine, and was perhaps a bit more circumspect and considerate of the human cost in his overall tactical decision making then either man. Thus, he was my pick for army commander.

I honestly can't agree with putting Thomas in command. Perhaps this is a backlash on my end due to my embarrassing embrace of Benson Bobrick's "Master of War: The Life of General George H. Thomas" in the past, but I don't favor Thomas for army command for several reasons:

1. We don't really have a good understanding as to how Thomas would truly perform in an independent command. As an army commander in the Atlanta Campaign, Thomas gave good suggestions for operations (Snake Creek Gap) but we never see Thomas as an independent commander. During the Tennessee Campaign, Thomas had his opportunity to shine as an independent campaign. My criticisms for George Thomas are twofold. First, Thomas stayed in Nashville rather than personally take charge of Schofield's force. Second, Thomas ignored political effects too much. Military actions have a political dimension and Thomas' preference to wait until everything was ready was the same preference McClellan had that got him in trouble with Washington.
2. I also note that Thomas did contribute to the delay on the Tullahoma offensive. While a lot of preparation was definitely needed, Thomas seemed to be cheerfully feeding Rosecrans' mistaken assumption that the rebels were numerically stronger.

If I were to choose, I'd choose either Grant or Lee. Both men have their ups and downs. I notice that Grant has a lot more creative moments in operations than Lee (southern approach from Vicksburg and the longest pontoon bridge in the world on the James), but Grant can be too impulsive as seen at Spotsylvania Court House on May 10, 1864 and the implementation of several questionable ideas at Petersburg. Lee can be praised for setting good campaign objectives but can be criticized for over-aggression, given his level of resources. Tactically, both generals seemed to let their subordinates do the fighting, although both Lee and Grant take a more hands-on approach by the end of Petersburg.

Chief of Staff: Andrew A. Humphreys

Since Sherman isn't on your list, couldn't he be used as Chief of Staff? I mean, with all due respect to Andrew A. Humphreys, Sherman would actually make for an excellent chief of staff, given his eye for logistics, strategy and operations. When you consider Sherman's lackluster tactical performances, it would actually make sense to put him in a staff position where he can use most of his talents.

Chief of Engineers: Quincy A. Gillmore

On the Chief of Engineers position: I'm not sure if I prefer Gouverneur Warren or Cyrus Comstock. Both men were skilled engineers and did play a major role in battles: Warren guided Strong Vincent's brigade to Little Round Top, Comstock was Grant's representative in Burnside's headquarters to get Burnside moving.

On the corps commanders, I'm largely in total agreement, save for Hancock who I would replace with Thomas. On the division commanders, I can't agree on several of them:

Commander of II Corps: James Longstreet

• Commander of 3rd Division: Francis C. Barlow
• Commander of 4th Division: Philip Kearny

I don't quite like Barlow and Kearny. While Barlow is reliable, I admit that I don't like him for his decision to move to Barlow's knoll at Gettysburg, where he got his division obliterated by Jubal Early. Philip Kearny, while brave, tends to act too much like a regimental commander and unforgivably and quite disgustingly allowed Carl Schurz to fight on his own for hours at Second Bull Run due to Kearny's anti-German bias.

I'd suggest replacing Barlow with George G. Meade, who handled the Pennsylvania Reserves with skill at Antietam and Fredericksburg, or Robert E. Rodes, who invented the sharpshooter battalions that gave good work at Petersburg. For Kearny, one could replace him with John B. Hood, John F. Reynolds or Joseph A. Mower for a bold and aggressive division commander. Hood was pivotal in Longstreet's sweeping offensives as a brigade/division commander. Reynolds deserves credit for saving Pope at Second Bull Run by leading the decisive counterattack by the Pennsylvania Reserves from the front.

The most deserving is probably Joseph A. Mower, who, in my opinion, is the most underrated division commander on both sides. His constant flanking maneuvers and aggressive push successfully isolated and captured Fort De Russy. He led A.J. Smith’s flank attack which saved Bank’s Army at Pleasant Hill. His final action during the Red River Campaign was to defeat the pursuing Rebels at Yellow Bayou. He later went on to join Sherman in the Carolinas where he proved his worth once again with his skills as a fighter by punching the Confederate blocking efforts at Salkehatchie River. At Bentonville, Mower came close to cutting Johnston's retreat path off and only failed because Sherman failed to support him. At the end of the war, Mower was promoted to command the XX Corps.

Commander of 3rd Division: William H.F. "Rooney" Lee

I really don't think highly of "Rooney" Lee. In my opinion, "Rooney" Lee was a decent cavalryman but nothing really special. I know Robert E. Lee wanted to give him Stuart's position after Yellow Tavern, but it was mostly because of personal connections. I think J.E.B. Stuart or Wesley Merritt, Sheridan's right hand man deserves the position more.

 

[Arnold d.c]

Commander of the Army: Ulysses S. Grant/Robert E. Lee (depends on what I'm feeling)

• Chief of Staff: William T. Sherman
• Quartermaster General: Montgomery C. Meigs
• Chief of Artillery: Henry J. Hunt
• Adjutant General: Fitz J. Porter
• Inspector General: George B. McClellan
• Chief Ordnance Officer: Horace Porter
• Chief of Engineers: Cyrus Comstock
• Medical Director: Jonathan Letterman
• Head of the Bureau of Military Intelligence: Grenville Dodge
• Chief Topographical Engineer: Jedediah Hotchkiss

Commander of I Corps: George Thomas

• Commander of 1st Division: William B. Hazen
• Commander of 2nd Division: Winfield S. Hancock
• Commander of 3rd Division: John Gibbon
• Reserve Artillery Commander: John Mendenhall

Commander of II Corps: James Longstreet

• Commander of 1st Division: Richard Taylor
• Commander of 2nd Division: John B. Gordon
• Commander of 3rd Division: Alexander P. Stewart
• Reserve Artillery Commander: Willie R.J. Pegram

Commander of III Corps: Andrew J. Smith

• Commander of 1st Division: John A. Logan
• Commander of 2nd Division: Patrick R. Cleburne
• Commander of 3rd Division: Joseph A. Mower
• Lightning Brigade: John T. Wilder
• Reserve Artillery Commander: Edward P. Alexander

Commander of the IV Corps: Philip Sheridan

• Commander of 1st Division: John B. Hood
• Commander of 2nd Division: Horatio G. Wright
• Commander of 3rd Division: Eugene Asa Carr

Commander of the Cavalry Corps: Wesley Merritt

• Commander of 1st Division: John Buford
• Commander of 2nd Division: James H. Wilson
• Commander of 3rd Division: Wade Hampton III
• Artillery Commander: John Pelham

Spoiler: Army and Staff Choice

With respect to my choice of army commander, I'd choose Grant and Lee for different purposes. Although Grant and Lee are very similar in aggressiveness and battlefield command style, I note that Lee has a more proven track record on defensive operations while Grant has a more creative operational approach. Grant didn't really get attacked a lot and he was caught flat-footed by Early's raid on Washington (although Hunter and Sheridan deserve plenty of criticism).

Since Sherman's core skills were not suited for corps command, I figure that it would be best to chuck him into the chief of staff role, where his eye for logistics, strategy and operations can be used for planning and organizing.

I chose Grenville Dodge for military intelligence because I was particularly impressed with Dodge's spy network in Tennessee and Mississippi. Dodge was able to deduce who made for good spies and trained them to accurately count enemy troops on bridges and trains. Although he had only something around 100 agents, Dodge was able to infiltrate the Confederate civilian and military sphere. He successfully snuck a spy into Joe Johnston's staff, accurately counted Pemberton's strength outside of Vicksburg before Champion Hill and did good work in keeping track of the Confederate units that made up Joe Johnston's Army of Relief.

Spoiler: I and II Corps

The I and II Corps were designed to be the main fighters. I chose the commanders of I Corps to be capable of both attack and defense. Division commanders Hazen, Hancock and Gibbon have received and dished out plenty of damage on the defensive and offensive. For corps command, George Thomas a choice no one can go wrong with. Thomas was a nearly perfect subordinate, always reliable. A good tactician and battlefield commander, Thomas had the love and affection of his troops and succeeded in defending Snodgrass Ridge at Chickamauga and routing John Bell Hood's army at Nashville.

The II Corps is specialized to be more aggressive. James Longstreet is undoubtedly the best Corps commander of the American Civil War. As a tactician, he orchestrated some of the most hard hitting assaults in the war but could still organize an excellent defense. Richard Taylor is unique in his boldness and creativity, Gordon is an excellent planner and tactician, and A.P. Stewart is an all-rounder as demonstrated by his column of brigades at Chickamauga and his dogged defense at New Hope Church.

Spoiler: III Corps

The III Corps is the independent corps and fits the original Napoleonic idea of a corps. With the Lightning Brigade as a mounted force for reconnaissance and raiding, the III Corps would be used a de facto strategic reserve or detached from the army to maneuver and gain an advantage over the enemy. Andrew J. Smith is an excellent tactician and deserves plenty of credit for being able to see through S.D. Lee and Forrest's plan during the Tulepo Campaign. For division commanders: John A. Logan was a charismatic figure who could inspire his troops to fight to the death; Patrick Cleburne demonstrates excellent leadership and grasp of offensive and defensive tactics; and Joseph A. Mower provides an excellent attacker to pierce or outflank the enemy defense.

Spoiler: IV Corps and Cavalry Corps

Let me preface this by saying that I don't really like Phil Sheridan. He's a lousy cavalryman and his personality is repulsive to me. However, I cannot deny that Sheridan makes for an excellent all-arms commander. The IV Corps is the army's strategic reserve as well as the infantry corps that cooperates with the cavalry for the attack and pursuit. Ultimately, the IV Corps and Cavalry Corps are intended to carry out a "Five Forks" and eventually interdict and destroy the enemy like at Saylor's Creek. I chose Wesley Merritt over Wade Hampton because Merritt had a historically good relationship with Sheridan.

For the IV Corps division commanders, I chose John B. Hood for his aggressiveness, Horatio G. Wright for his unique tactics (Upton's columns) and Eugene Asa Carr for his excellent knowledge of infantry and cavalry tactics.