Worthiest Civil War Hero

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

Which one?

 

[SoD Stitch]

Definitely Longstreet; I'm no Confederate, but I have a lot of respect for a man who saw the writing on the wall at Gettysburg, yet continued to fight for his country and his leader right up to the end.

 

[syscom3]

Lincoln.

His insistence on easy terms for the confederates prevented the radicals from extracting too much revenge.

 

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

I forgot Winnie Scott Hancock. Would have been better than Harriet Stowe.

I suppose the older Winfield Hancock was a great soldier too.

 

[trackend]

Oliver Cromwell oops sorry wrong civil war

 

[timshatz]

There's no Nathan Bedford Forrest up there! Gotta put him up there. He said stuff that people are still quoting today (no offense to Lincoln and Sherman, who are also quoted today).

"Get there firstest with the mostest."
"Hit 'em on the end"
"War means fighting, and fighting means killing."
"Boys, these people are talking about surrendering, and I am going out of this place before they do or bust hell wide open."

However, he had an association with the KKK that (and will continue to) haunts his legacy (also had a brutal incident at Fort Pillow attributed to him). Too bad. Guy started out as a private and ended up one of the highest ranking Generals in the Confederate Army. He was such a problem to Sherman that he once said of Forrest "'must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the Federal treasury".

If not Forrest, I would go with Lincoln or Sherman.

 

[syscom3]

Oliver Cromwell oops sorry wrong civil war

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Sherman - the man was a rolling WMD...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Well my favorites from that war were Lee, Longstreet and Stonewall Jackson. Since I can only vote for one I will vote for Lee.

Yeah he lost Gettysburg and should have listened to his other commanders but the way he was able to rally his troops behind him to me is very honorable and worthy of mention.

 

[ToughOmbre]

Voted for "Stonewall" Jackson. His nickname says it all.

 

[renrich]

Tim nailed it. If you are talking personal bravery and heroic action, Forrest is the one. Your list includes no one who actually is known to have gone eyeball to eyeball and belly to belly with the enemy. I believe Forrest actually is known to have killed 31 enemy soldiers and he was a brilliant leader also. In fact Braxton Bragg is lucky that Forrest did not kill him also.

 

[renrich]

You also forgot John Gordon who when asked if he could hold the sunken road at Sharpsburg in 1862 said, "We will hold here all the live long day or until the sun goes down" He was shot 5 times that day, the last time in one cheek and out the other and was drowning in his own blood until someone rolled him over so the blood ran out of his mouth. He lived to command the Army of N Virginia at the actual surrender when our boys stacked arms. You also left out John Hood who had his left arm shattered by shrapnel, and the arm was left useless in July 1863 at Gettysburg on the second day. In September of that same year he was commanding his division at Chickamauga and lost his right leg. There were no medals for bravery or valour given out during the war by the Confederate Army as all were expected to be valorous.

 

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

All right, all right! I knew was leaving out some heroes! But 21 names is a long list. But I admit, John Hood, Nathan Forrest, John Gordon, Winfield Scott Hancock, or Scott Hancock and Gordon Meade are big names to leave out......


Since Forest is the most popular missing, does anybody want to add him, if nobody else?

 

[Soundbreaker Welch?]

Your list includes no one who actually is known to have gone eyeball to eyeball and belly to belly with the enemy

What about in the Indian Wars, or Mexican American Wars?

 

[renrich]

Well, your thread was about worthiest heros in the Civil War. Of course, many of those people served in earlier wars. Winfield Scott was very active in the War of 1812 and many Civil War officers served in the Mexican War. Hood served in the 2nd US Cavalry in Texas(commanded by Robert E Lee) in the 1850s and while chasing Commanches in West Texas received arrows in his saddle and blew several braves away with a shotgun. That is eyeball to eyeball. Hood also, after Chickamauga, commanded the Army of Tennessee, not very successfully, with one arm shredded, one leg missing and dosed with laudanum.

 

[drgondog]

Lincoln.

His insistence on easy terms for the confederates prevented the radicals from extracting too much revenge.

Astute comment, particularly if he had lived. When he didn't survive, neithger did his desire to heal survive and the Reconstruction is History - leading to Yellow Dog Democrats for 100+ years - most of which turned Republican after the wounds healed.

My personal vote is Stonewall - He was the Giant of Lee's Lieutenants.

Lee is one of ther few American Generals studied by the offshore military/war colleges along with MacArthur and Patton - primarily for his mastery of underdog offense and defense.

When Stonewall went down, IMHO, the South lost their last chance (because of his ability) for a negotiated peace.

My personal favorite is Nathan Bedford Forrest.

If you have not read Lee's Lieutenants you should.

Regards,

Bill

 

[renrich]

Good stuff Bill and my opinions coincide. I really think that sometimes when Jackson and Lee had hiccups in their conduct of the war, they were just plain worn out physically. I read that Jackson was battling a respiratory illness when Chancellorsville took place and the wound did not kill him but rather pneumonia did. Of course it is believed that Lee had bouts of angina all during the war. Amazing what they accomplished withe the Army of Northern Virginia.

 

[Njaco]

Alot of Confederates being discussed but I picked one that was Union.

Your list includes no one who actually is known to have gone eyeball to eyeball and belly to belly with the enemy.

I think you missed Chamberlain with the Maine Brigade. Faced the rebels at Fredricksburg and at Gettysburg. Was the anthesis of the Union General. Stayed with his men, adapted and adjusted during the battle along with following orders.

All the others are great commanders and generals - not taking that away - but as far as worthiest, I picked Chamberlain.

 

[renrich]

When I said eyeball to eyeball, I meant actually met the enemy like a common soldier and personally dispatched him as Forrest did. Chamberlain was certainly valiant but I don't believe there are any accounts of him actually being seen killing an enemy soldier although some of his pistol shots may have struck Confederate soldiers at Little Round Top if he actually fired his sidearm.

 

[timshatz]

I read that Jackson was battling a respiratory illness when Chancellorsville took place and the wound did not kill him but rather pneumonia did.

It's pretty common for a secondary infection to kill wounded around the time of the Civil War. If the solider survived the wound, the shock and the blood loss of the primary wounding, he would have to deal with infections ranging from Gangrene to Pnemonia. It was rare a wounded solider did not get a secondary infection. At the time, Doctors (such as they were) considered it part of the healing process.

Usually, it was call "taking a turn" or "took a turn". Still is. Pnemonia especially is a big killer. Used to be called "The old person's friend" because so many old people died from Pnemonia.