TFSmith121
Banned
I don't disagree about Hooker, but my thought on
I don't disagree about Hooker, but my thought on Sumner as a theater commander is that he restores the "professional/above politics" imprimatur (which the AotP et al needs after McClellan and Burnside, certainly) and he's a fighter.
And Humphreys was in active harness in the field (as Meade's cos and then as CG of the II Corps, relieving Hancock) until 1865. "An elderly COS" he is not; he's actually an hell of a soldier.
The figures I have (BaL) are ~117,000 US, ~78,500 rebel at Fredericksburg and ~130,000 US and ~61,000 rebel at Chancellorsville. Seems like enough to give Reynolds a detached force to raise hell in the Shenandoah.
Best,
Sumner no. Age is a factor given what a general was supposed to do at the time, and what Sumner would himself try to do. He probably knows he is ill and certainly has no stomach for the politics of managing his Corps Commanders. His previous performance is questionable, certainly nothing that would indicate he is the next Army Commander in Waiting and an ability to follow orders implies someone is giving the orders. Giving him an elderly CoS does not help.
The problem with the notion of splitting the AoP operationally is that its not that much bigger than the ANVa. There is the continual risk of being defeated in detail, which arguably is what happens at Chancellorsville.
I don't disagree about Hooker, but my thought on Sumner as a theater commander is that he restores the "professional/above politics" imprimatur (which the AotP et al needs after McClellan and Burnside, certainly) and he's a fighter.
And Humphreys was in active harness in the field (as Meade's cos and then as CG of the II Corps, relieving Hancock) until 1865. "An elderly COS" he is not; he's actually an hell of a soldier.
The figures I have (BaL) are ~117,000 US, ~78,500 rebel at Fredericksburg and ~130,000 US and ~61,000 rebel at Chancellorsville. Seems like enough to give Reynolds a detached force to raise hell in the Shenandoah.
Best,
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