American Civil War pre-1860

Elephande

67th Tigers said:
Either here or elsewhere (I think here) I posted a list of the senior US officers at around that time (based on an early ACW thread). Scott is certain to be the Field Army Commander, and he is truly excellent, IMHO better than Lee (but not Longstreet, IMHO the best field commander of their side).
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The main difference between Longstreet and Lee is that Lee had 12 more years of experience outside West Point (Lee 1829, Longstreet 1842)

IMHO, the Confederacy had more of the higher-caliber generals (Lee, Longstreet, Stuart, Jackson, Johnston, Beauregard). Their main problem was lack of industry and lack of manpower.
 

Ghost 88

Elephande said:
And FYI, Jackson was president in 1832. He couldn't have ridden to war as a general. Also, he was from South Carolina and based his career in Tennessee.
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Did not stop Washington during the Whiskey Rebellion and likely would not stop Jackson. Bear in mind that none of the Presidents that were Generals before becoming President (with the above Exception) were in office while a war was being fought.
Jackson was a Unionist he was prepared to send the Army into SC during the Nullification Crisis if SC tried to secede.
 

Elephande

There's a point there, but I still think he wouldn't have ridden off. I think that he would be better suited to applying the pressure from D.C. and letting someone like Scott apply the military pressure.
 

Ghost 88

Elephande said:
There's a point there, but I still think he wouldn't have ridden off. I think that he would be better suited to applying the pressure from D.C. and letting someone like Scott apply the military pressure.
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You maybe right.
I was just pointing out him as a possibility as future Prezs Taylor and Harrison were still alive and kicking in '32
I sorta like General of the Confederate States Artillery E.A Poe:eek:

Edit: Opps we forgot another West Pointer who would later rise to a high political office but was not well known at this time and would likely start out as an officer in a Mississippi Regiment, I know you've heard of Jefferson Davis haven't you?
 
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Elephande

Ghost 88 said:
You maybe right.
I was just pointing out him as a possibility as future Prezs Taylor and Harrison were still alive and kicking in '32
I sorta like General of the Confederate States Artillery E.A Poe:eek:

Edit: Opps we forgot another West Pointer who would later rise to a high political office but was not well known at this time and would likely start out as an officer in a Mississippi Regiment, I know you've heard of Jefferson Davis haven't you?
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The key point there is that he would start out as an officer. Who knows what he would have risen to, but at the start, he would only be an officer in a regiment.

And Poe, aka "Edgar Perry", was court-martialed and kicked out of West Point in 1831, and had already resigned his post in artillery to go to West Point.
 

Ghost 88

Elephande said:
And Poe, aka "Edgar Perry", had already resigned his post in artillery to go to West Point.
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So had 90% of the ACW officers. (Slight exaggeration*):D
Point is he was a "possibility"

*Grant, Sherman, and Jackson among other ACW Generals had resigned by 1861.
Davis had resigned by 1848 and the Mex-Amer. War but raised a regiment of Volunteers for it.
A.S. Johnston had resigned in 1834 but was reinstated in 1848
This just means that having left the service would not stop one from reenlisting.
 

temporal insurgent

Elephande said:
Would we really have gone to war around the turn of the century? I was under the impression that the government was too preoccupied with the prospect of war with either Revolutionary France or Britain...

On the other hand, who'd be the Northern Commander? The time period all but completely prevents Washington from commanding - I think he would have tried to keep the Union together, even though he was a Virginian slaveholder. Plus, he died in 1799. Henry Knox, the Sec. War? Would they give Sen. Schuyler command? Daniel Morgan led the troops that repressed the Whiskey Rebellion, but he was a U.S. Representative and a Virginian. James Wilkinson was from Maryland and considered Kentucky his home. Maybe Arthur St. Clair or Josiah Harmar, but would they be decisive enough against Light Horse Harry Lee?
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The army, because of the Quasi-War with France, was under the command of the man who had organized it, Alexander Hamilton.

The main problem with Lee as commander of Confederate forces is that, unless the conflict begins after dec. of 1799, Washington would talk him out of it.
Lee and Washington were close friends. Lee was the one that spoke at Washington's funeral, calling him "first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his counrtymen."
Years later, the Lee and Washington families would be joined through marriage, Robert E. Lee's wife was the grand daughter of Martha Washington.
 

Elephande

Ghost 88 said:
So had 90% of the ACW officers. (Slight exaggeration*):D
Point is he was a "possibility"

*Grant, Sherman, and Jackson among other ACW Generals had resigned by 1861.
Davis had resigned by 1848 and the Mex-Amer. War but raised a regiment of Volunteers for it.
A.S. Johnston had resigned in 1834 but was reinstated in 1848
This just means that having left the service would not stop one from reenlisting.
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I don't think any of the ACW officers had deliberately gotten himself court-martialed and thrown out of West Point, like Poe did, though. However, to entertain the notion of Poe as a general of artillery, the POD would have to be sometime between 1825 and 1829.
 

David S Poepoe

Banned
Elephande said:
I don't think any of the ACW officers had deliberately gotten himself court-martialed and thrown out of West Point, like Poe did, though. However, to entertain the notion of Poe as a general of artillery, the POD would have to be sometime between 1825 and 1829.
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Not necessarily. Thru out the ACW there were two 'ranks' that of the regular army and that of the 'volunteer army'. Officers of the 'volunteer army' were appointed by their state governors and a few were successful that they were commissioned into the regular army.
 

Elephande

Well, the war would at least have to start before he got too successful as a writer, and definitely before the death of Virginia Clemm.
 
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