John C. Breckinridge is a very admirable historical figure who, in my opinion, has been sadly unappreciated by history.
Breckinridge was made the Confederate Secretary of War in early 1865, when the Confederacy was beginning to collapse. It was too late to do any good, but the War Department did begin operating with a considerably increased efficiency. Breckinridge replaced Lucias Northrop, a hopeless incompetent, with Isaac St. John as head of the commissary department and quickly made several other administrative reforms. General Lee reported that food and supplies arrived with greater regularity after Breckinridge took charge of the War Department.(1)
It's also to Breckinridge's credit that he made what effort he could to improve the situation for Union prisoners, and also issued orders for the arrest of General Felix Robertson(2) for failing to prevent his men from killing wounded black troops.
One wonders what would have happened if Breckinridge had been appointed Secretary of War in 1862, rather than Seddon.(3)