Army of the Cumberland .. and George H. Thomas source page Prototype of the modern army:  28 May 1861 -  24 May 1865  "The Federal army that assembled [before Dalton in the spring of 1864] - and particularly the Army  of the Cumberland - was the most modern of the Civil War, so advanced was it in technology and organization" (Thomas Buell, The Warrior Generals, pg. 359). by Bob Redman
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.... Dedicated to George H. Thomas, William S. Rosecrans, Don Carlos Buell, and   Robert Anderson: "soft war" commanders who really won the war while   or because they took care of their men. D It Fr NL Search this site powered by FreeFind

Robert Anderson 1805-71 Cmdr. 28 May - 8 Oct. 61 Recruited the right man.

William T. Sherman 1820-91 Cmdr. 8 Oct.- 9 Nov. 61 Troubled visionary

Don Carlos Buell 1818-98 Commander 9 Nov. 61 - 29 Oct. 62 Created the organizational basis.

William S. Rosecrans 1819-98 Commander 30 Oct. 62 - 20 Oct. 63 Architect of the masterpiece Tullahoma

.. ... George H. Thomas 1816-70 Commander 20 Oct. 1863 - 27 June 1865 ... Solid as a rock at Mill Springs, Murfreesboro, Hoover's Gap, Stevens' Gap, McLemore's Cove, Chickamauga, Chattanooga, 100 days Campaign, Peachtree Creek, and Nashville .. Born in the South, fought for the North. A man of the "angle," he was too good to get rid of, and a thorn in the side of generals turned politician. He did his homework, left the road to his soldiers. Read the 1882 biography Major General George H. Thomas by Thomas Van Horne, and my photographic essay Bring Thomas Home. "Damn the fellow, he is a mere pounder after all." No, this isn't Thomas about Grant, but rather Wellington's assessment of Napoleone Buonaparte during the battle of Waterloo. If you want to study the antecedents of modern U.S. military doctrine, forget the campaigns of Grant and turn to Thomas. If you want to go further, have a look at Wellington who first beat Ney, Soult, Masséna, Marmont, Victor and Jourdan, and finally the Corsican thug himself. It is fair to say that Thomas was Wellington's direct successor. Of course, Wellington could well have learned something from George Washington. BBeware of the pounders who propose to send (not lead) you to glory. An act of faith: Commit to the future by understanding the past. See my essay Causes of the Civil War.

Thanks to Don Plezia and Bob Meiser for helping me to create this site and for continuing to support it.

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Page last updated 15 Jan. 2010

My Real Montevideo

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Quick tour

• Click on the commanders' names for salient facts about them.
• click on battle names for a summary.
• click on biographies for more information.

1. Robert Anderson, hero of Ft. Sumter and Kentucky as well. He started in Kentucky without a single soldier, but he recruited the right man (Thomas) and put him in the right place (Camp Dick Robinson). See short biography.

2. William T. Sherman owed his position to the political power of his relatives. He was commander of the AotC for only one month before requesting to be removed, amid charges of a mental breakdown. In that short period he made some poor decisions based on gross overestimates of the strength of the Confederate forces in Kentucky. See short biography.

3. Don Carlos Buell was a methodical organizer and a poor politician. He turned the tide at Shiloh and saved Kentucky for the Union at Perryville. He was then hauled before a politically motivated court of inquiry which ended his military career. See short biography.

4. William S. Rosecrans was a brilliant tactician and a rather poor politician. He did pretty good work at Iuka and Corinth, held on at Murfreesboro, and was the architect of the military masterpiece Tullahoma which effectively took Tennessee out of the Confederacy. His subsequent flanking movement pushed the Army of Tennessee into Georgia and established Union control over the crucial East-West railroad. However, he overreached himself at Chickamauga. See short biography.

5. George H. Thomas, an astute non-politician, won every one of his engagements starting with Mill Springs which was the first major Union victory of the Civil War. He is known as the Rock of Chickamauga where he saved the Union army, but he was equally solid beforehand under Rosecrans, and afterward during the Dalton to Atlanta and Atlanta campaigns. He was at his most creative at Chattanooga and Nashville. Finally, Thomas planned the largest cavalry raid of the war which took Selma and captured Davis. See short biography. Available also the complete 1882 biography Life of Major General George H. Thomas by Van Horne.

6. Joseph Hooker, an honorary member of this group. He came from the east with the 20th Corps to reinforce Thomas at Chattanooga and provided the intelligence and drive which allowed Thomas to carry out his original plan of turning the Confederate left at Rossville Gap. This then made possible the famous charge by Thomas' troops up the center of Missionary Ridge. All of this succeeded in the face of mismanagement on the part of Grant and Sherman's failure at the other end of Missionary Ridge. Thomas managed the battle behind Grant's back, saving Grant's career. Grant never forgave him for that.

7. Braxton Bragg, the determined opponent of Buell, Rosecrans, and Thomas.

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