Better than you think

After reading Two Great Rebel Armies I was totally astounded by the defencies given to the Army of Tennessee. The author states that the Army of Tennessee had less capable commanders and did not posses as many experienced leaders as the Army of Northern Virginia. I am not refuting that statement because it is mostly true.

However, the Army that was soon to be known as the Army of Tennessee had, at the time officers of promise who could have went on to better things. In early 1862, General Albert Sidney Johnston had several distinguished brigadiers who were fully capable of successfully commanding soldiers.

Here are the men that Johnston had under his command in early 1862:

1. William Hardee--A West Pointe, author of Rifle and Light Inantry Tactic, formerly an Academy text and now the offical drill manual of both armies.

2. George Crittenden--Another West Point graduate and a regular army man.

3. Lloyd Tilghman-Another West Pointer and veteran of the Mexican War.

4. John Hunt Morgan--no military training but he had fought in the
Mexican War and commanded a militia company in his hometown.

5. Nathan Bedford Forrest--Little or no schooling of any kind but we all know the kind of leader he turned out to be.

Now the geography of Johnston defense didn't offer him the best chance for a postive defense. This is a solid group of generals but the performance of Crittenden caused the Johnston's defeat and forced him to abondon his Kentucky defensive line.

This is Blog #100 and I want to thank everybody for reading and their support. My next two blogs will be revisits to my Forgotten Generals Series and my Forgotten Battles of the Civil War Series. Stay tuned!