Draw the Sword

Here’s one to ponder for those out there who consider themselves Army of Northern Virginia afficanados.

At the end of chapter 8 of volume one of Freeman’s classic Lee’s Lieutenants, Freeman speaks of the fates of the various officers at Manassas:

Ten held that rank [ general officer ] on the day of battle. One of them, Bee, was mortally wounded. Another, Bonham, resigned at the rank then held. A third, Johnston, already had the highest grade in the army. Of the others, Beauregard and Kirby Smith became Generals; Longstreet, Jackson, Holmes, and Ewell rose to be Lieutenant Generals, and D.R. Jones died as a Major General. Of the colonels at Manassas, A.P. Hill, Early and Hampton ended their service as Lieutenant Generals. Seven other Colonels were to be Major Generals and fourteen were to lead Brigades; one Major, Whiting, and two Lieutenants, became Generals of divisions, three lieutenant colonels, eight Captains, with one Lieutenant and three state milita officers, serving as aides, were to recieve the three stars and the wreath of Brigadeir General.

In short, to the nine general officers who survived Manassas, forty-two were to be added from men in the army along Bull Run that July day. Of the fifty-one, ten were doomed to lose their lives during the war. Eight, and no more than eight, were to prove plainly unqualified for the final grade they reached; nine were to show themselves of low capacity to command; seventeen could be regarded as average soldiers; the remaining seventeen were to be renowned.

The seven colonels who became major generals are Stuart, Elzey, Willliam Smith, Samuel Jones, Rodes, Kershaw, and Kemper. The fourteen to lead brigades were Micah Jenkins, Featherson, Garland, Corse, N.G. Evans, Harry Hays, Kirkland, Hunton, W.N. Pendelton, J.S. Preston, William Barksdale, J.C. Vaughn, P. St. George Cocke, and Thomas Jordan. The two lieutenants are Fitz Lee and Rosser; the three lieutenant colonels are T.T. Munford, George Steuart, and John Echols. James Dearing was the other Lieutenant; the state milita officers were States Rights Gist, Johnson Hagood, and Samuel McGowan. Finally, the eight captains were Williams C. Wickham, Porter Alexander, Imboden, Lindsay Walker, James Conner, W.H. Stevens, W.H. Terry, and G.M. Sorrel.

The ten who lost their lives (who you don’t otherwise elimenate by the way if you do the math) are obvious. The unlucky ten were A.P. Hill, Jackson, Jenkins, Barksdale, Rodes, Dearing, Stuart, D.R. Jones, Cocke, and Garland.

Here’s the task: categorize these 51 generals as Freeman would have. And then — do you agree? Who is “renowned”? Who is of “low capacity”? Who was plainly incompetent?

This task is actually a lot more difficult to do than appears at first glance. For one thing, you need to know a lot about the Army of Northern Virginia. But that alone won’t cut it, you also need to know a lot about several other theaters of operations too. Some of these officers, I dare say, are quite obscure.

A few are obvious. It’d be hard to argue that Longstreet and Jackson were not “renowned.” By the same token, I don’t think too many people would quibble with placing Lee’s magnificant failure of an artillery officer (Pendelton) in the ranks of those plainly unqualified.

But beyond that it gets tricky.

How do you place someone like Cocke who committed suicide soon after Manassas? Or Bonham who resigned soon thereafter? Does that make him “average”? Do you judge based on one performance? Do you categorize someone who was promoted beyond his capacity (for example, like many would argue Richard Ewell and A.P. Hill turned out to be) as of “low capacity” or as “average” when earlier in the War they won great renown and were probably amongst the best at the lower grade from which they were promoted? And what the heck do you do with someone like Johnston or Beauregard?

How about solid soldiers like Kershaw or McGowan — “average” or “renowned”? How do you compare someone who ended the War in command a brigade of cavalry (i.e. Wickham) to a corps artillery chief (i.e. Lindsay Walker) to a department head (Samuel Jones) to an army commander (Johnston or Beauregard)? What do you do with those killed early in battle (Garland) versus those killed late in the War in battle (Dearing)? How about those who only briefly wore the wreath around their stars (again, Dearing)? How about those who’s careers were interupted chronically by a series of wounds?

Are those who died gallantly in battle (Rodes, Garland, Barksdale, Gist) to be automatically ranked higher than a commander who did not suffer that misfortunate?

Give it a try.

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