Leadership During the Civil War

Under the leadership of Generals Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson, it is generally thought that the Confederate military benefited with generals and officers that were superior to that of the Union. In reality, the skill of both the Confederate and Union generals was far more level than is usually believed. The Union itself was able to draw a significant number of officers at the outbreak of the war. In 1861, when the war was finally underway and all possible officers were called in for both the Union and the Confederacy, the Northern army had over nine-hundred officers while the Confederate army had less than three-hundred officers. The top officers in both the North and South had been trained at West Point in New York and though there were regional differences in terms of advantage, overall the top officers were arguably even. The Confederacy, however, as able to draw skilled officers from top military schools in the South.

Of the officers from West Point, most had been trained under the same professors in the same classes. Most of the skilled officers had fought together in the one-sided Mexican War, which is known as the “Dress Rehearsal for the Civil War” because of the amount of Civil War generals who were groomed during this war under General (and President) Zachary Taylor. In fact, most of the tactics used by each of the warring sides during the American Civil War were similar, if not tactically and strategically the same, due to the related training at West Point. Unfortunately for Abraham Lincoln, many of the generals he did appoint were considered “political generals”, and these politicians were not as capable as many Confederate generals and even many top Union generals.

Despite appointing less than capable generals during a portion of the war, Abraham Lincoln as well as Jefferson Davis proved to be very capable leaders during the time of the Civil War. Lincoln did not have much military and strategic knowledge at the beginning of the war, but he was very careful about listening to his skilled military advisers and reading and trying to understand military strategy as best he could. Because of his advisers, Lincoln granted a large amount of power to his generals in terms of doing what was necessary to secure a victory, and President Lincoln proved to be a very adaptable leader in terms of using ideas and tactics to fight during the war. This adaptability ensured that the leadership of the Union overall remained flexible and able to remain dynamic while fighting the Confederates.

As opposed to Lincoln, Confederate President Jefferson Davis had a lot of military experience due to his attendance at West Point, New York himself. Under Generals Taylor and Scott, Davis was a veteran in the Mexican War, where he served as a colonel. He had experience as being Franklin Pierce’s Secretary of War years before, but despite his experiences over Lincoln militarily, the military prowess of General Robert E. Lee in the Eastern Theater of War was unable to be matched by any other Confederate generals in the West, where Lincoln’s officers had a large advantage. As opposed to Lincoln’s flexibility as a leader, Lee was largely hindered by Jefferson Davis who was possibly too “controlling” when it came to fighting the war despite Lee’s success.

Sources:

“How The North Won: A Military History of the Civil War” – Herman Hattaway and Archer Jones