Political general

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A political general was a general without significant military experience who was given a high position in command due to political connections or to appease certain political blocks. This concept was most prominent during the American Civil War. Although the Union Army was more notorious for their use of such generals, the Confederate States Army was far from free of them.

Contents 1 Reasons for promotions 2 Evaluation 3 List of prominent political generals 3.1 Union 3.2 Confederate

[edit] Reasons for promotions

The most important reason for appointing political generals was to appease important blocks of voters. President Abraham Lincoln largely used such generals as a way to get the support of more moderate Democrats for the war and his administration. The majority of Union officers were registered Democrats in any event.^{[citation needed]} Others, such as Franz Sigel (a German immigrant), were used to gain the support of the specific group they represented (in Sigel's case, German immigrants). Some generals, including Daniel E. Sickles, gained a commission because of their efforts in raising troops.

The Confederacy also used a large number of political generals, for largely the same reasons, although many were also heavily used to influence the Confederate sympathizers in the border states. John C. Breckinridge, for instance, the former vice president, was used largely because of hopes that he would inspire the citizens of Kentucky to join the Confederate army. Sterling Price served a similar function in regards to Missouri.

[edit] Evaluation

A large number of political generals, namely Sigel and Nathaniel P. Banks for the North and Breckinridge for the South, were undoubtedly popular with their men, largely because of their ties to the specific groups they represented. However, the vast majority were considered incompetent due to their being essentially amateur soldiers with no prior training or knowledge. This was a particularly large problem in the North, where such generals were typically given fairly important commands.

[edit] List of prominent political generals

The following is a partial list of some of the more prominent political generals on both sides, and a brief sketch of their war service.

[edit] Union

• Franz Sigel, a German émigré from the Revolution of 1848 who led, at various times, a division in the Department of Missouri, XI Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and the Department of West Virginia. Many other German "Forty-Eighters" also served in the war, including Carl Schurz, Louis Blenker, and Adolph von Steinwehr. Sigel was almost universally regarded as an incompetent, and was alleged to have fled from the Battle of New Market, where he was overall commander.^{[citation needed]}

• Daniel E. Sickles, the infamous New York Congressman who had been tried (and acquitted) for the murder of Philip Barton Key, served as a brigade and division commander for the first two years of the war, assuming command of the III Corps, Army of the Potomac in early 1863, leading it at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. At the latter, his unauthorized maneuver of his corps into the Peach Orchard nearly caused the destruction of the Union Army. Sickles lost his leg at this battle and, although he was never officially censured for his action, never again held a field command.

• John C. Frémont, explorer and military hero who had helped capture California during the Mexican-American War and had been the Republican Party's first presidential candidate in 1856. He poorly handled the Department of Missouri during the first year of the war, nearly losing that state to the Confederates, and later led the Mountain Department, one of the units opposing Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign. He was relieved of command after a political dispute with Lincoln regarding emancipation of slaves, and his command was merged into the Army of Virginia, relegating his department to a corps.

• John A. McClernand, congressman from Illinois, served in the Western Theater, taking part in the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh, and led the Army of the Mississippi against Fort Hindman (Arkansas Post) in 1863 (as part of the Vicksburg Campaign), as well as leading XIII Corps during the Siege of Vicksburg and the Red River Campaign. He was poorly regarded by his peers and frequently quarreled with Generals Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman.

• Nathaniel P. Banks, former congressman from Massachusetts, held numerous commands during the war. He commanded the original V Corps (later XII Corps) at First Winchester, and also fought without distinction at Cedar Mountain and Second Bull Run as part of the Army of Virginia. He was transferred to the Department of the Gulf, and took part in the capture of Port Hudson, as well as the Red River Campaign. After the latter he was relieved of command.

• Benjamin Butler, congressman from New Hampshire, was one of the most loathed Northern generals. He lost the war's first land battle at Big Bethel on July 1, 1861, and was later put in charge of the Department of the Gulf, governing the captured New Orleans with strict discipline. He led the Army of the James during the failed Bermuda Hundred Campaign, the Siege of Petersburg, and at Fort Fisher. After the latter, he was relieved of his command.

• Lew Wallace, formerly of the Indiana State Legislature, fought most famously at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and the Monocacy, the "Battle That Saved Washington", in July 1864. After the war Wallace became Governor of New Mexico Territory, and wrote the novel Ben-Hur.

[edit] Confederate

• Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, a Confederate congressman from Georgia and brother of former governor Howell Cobb, who also served with the Confederacy. Cobb commanded a brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia, and became most famous for his defense of Marye's Heights at the Battle of Fredericksburg, where he was killed in action.

• John C. Breckinridge, the Kentuckian and former vice president under James Buchanan, led various division and brigade commands in the Western Theater. He quarreled often with Braxton Bragg. He served ably at Shiloh and Stones River, and also defeated Franz Sigel at the Battle of New Market in May 1864. He later became the Confederate Secretary of War. He was arguably the most able political general on either side.^{[citation needed]}

• Robert A. Toombs, former Congressman from Georgia and an ardent secessionist. Politically ambitious, he was made Secretary of State of the Confederacy but resigned for a field command, while simultaneously holding a seat in the Confederate congress. He led a brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia. His most famous action was the defense of Burnside's Bridge at Antietam, where he was wounded. After that battle, he resigned and served in the Confederate Senate.

• Sterling Price, a Missourian who was initially opposed to secession but ultimately sided with the Confederacy, led the Missouri State Guard in the 1861 Confederate invasion of the state. He was the Confederate commander at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, and served without distinction at Pea Ridge. He led an unsuccessful invasion of Missouri in 1864, which effectively secured Missouri and Arkansas for the Union.

• Gideon Pillow, a veteran of the Mexican-American War and prominent power in the pre-war Democratic Party. Although he opposed secession, he ultimately went south and accepted a commission. He is most widely known for fleeing (along with John B. Floyd) from Fort Donelson in February 1862, leaving their hapless third-in-command, Simon Bolivar Buckner, and the fort's 15,000 man garrison to surrender to Union forces while they saved themselves. Commanding a brigade at Stones River, he was allegedly found by division commander Breckinridge to have been cowering behind a tree as his men went into action. After that, he never held another field command.

• John B. Floyd, former Governor of Virginia and Secretary of War under Buchanan. He led state militia forces opposing Union operations in western Virginia in 1861 and played a major part in the Fort Donelson fiasco. After that battle, he was relegated to command of Virginia State Guard troops; he died in early 1863.

• William Barksdale, a "Fire-Eater" and pre-war Congressman from Mississippi, led a brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia throughout the first two years of the war, until his death at Gettysburg.