4/22/2024 0 Comments Example of commander in chiefMcDougall noted that Scott’s strategy “for gradual asphyxiation of the rebellious states made perfect sense. Grant did that – first in Richmond and a few days later at Appomattox Court House. In his advice to his generals, Lincoln displayed an intuitive understanding of such concepts as the advantage of interior lines and the importance of focusing on the objective.” 8 While Union generals repeatedly focused on taking the Confederate capitol at Richmond, Lincoln focused on cornering and defeating the Confederate army. “In September 1861, he drafted a ‘Memorandum for a plan of campaign’ that was the closest thing to an overall strategic plan produced by anyone in the federal administration, with the exception perhaps of Scott’s much-derided Anaconda Plan. 7 “That Lincoln had the strategic insight to be a successful general is clear,” wrote historian Gerald J. He abided by the old adage that in war, ‘the main thing is to make sure that the main thing remains the main thing, ” wrote military historian Mackubin T. Lincoln “learned quickly and proved to be a competent strategist. Lincoln ‘the ablest strategist of the war.'” 6 Throughout the Civil War, Lincoln wanted to rely on professional military counsel, but he quickly learned at the outset of the war that he could not rely on the Union’s top general, Winfield Scott, for firm, aggressive advice and that other generals held narrow, parochial views of the Union war effort. Scott, in whose lamented death the army lost one of its most vigorous and best-trained intellects, frequently called Mr. Wilson holds the same opinion and Colonel Robert N. Lincoln was the superior of his generals in his comprehension of the effect of strategic movements and the proper method of following up victories to their legitimate conclusions.’ General J H. Smith says: “I have long held to the opinion that at the close of the war Mr. Nicolay and John Hay wrote: “General W F. Had Meade obeyed his explicit commands, he would have destroyed Lee’s army before it could have recrossed the Potomac.” 5 Lincoln aides and biographers John G. Had Hooker acted in accordance with his suggestions, Chancellorsville would have been a victory for the nation. Had McClellan followed his advice, he would have taken Richmond. Croffut wrote: “In critical moments Lincoln’s judgment seems to have been superb – superior to that of his generals. McPherson, argued, however that Lincoln was not a “natural strategist.” Instead, Lincoln “worked hard to master this subject, just as had done to become a lawyer.” 4 President Lincoln’s White House study paid off – certainly more than the West Point study of some of his subordinates.Ĭivil war journalist William A. He was in actuality as well as in title the commander in chief who, by his larger strategy, did more than Grant or any other general to win the war for the Union.” 3 Historian James M. Harry Williams said President Lincoln was “a great natural strategist, a better one than any of his generals. “The President is himself a man of great aptitude for military studies,” wrote aide John Hay early in the war. But Lincoln was a conscientious scholar – and he became a student of military tactics and eventually a better master of military strategy than his generals or Davis. The nation’s president did not have the military education or experience of his Confederate counterpart, Jefferson Davis. If you have not, please inform me, so that I, incompetent as I may be, can try assist in the formation of some plan for the Army.” 1 Have you already in your mind a plan wholly, or partially formed? If you have, prossecute it without interference from me. “An early movement would also help to supersede the bad moral effect of the recent one, which is sure to be considerably injurious. “If possible I would be very glad of another movement early enough to give us some benefit from the fact of the enemies communications being broken, but neither for this reason, or any other, do I wish anything done in desperation or rashness,” he advised the commander of the Army of the Potomac in May 1863 after the Battle of Chancellorsville. Lincoln himself deprecated his expertise even as he pushed West Point generals into more aggressive action. McPherson, Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chiefĭuring the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln did not get much respect as a military leader.
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