GDG- Re: Army of the Cumberland, etc.

[Biggsk at aol.com]

Fred writes:

>>>>Skipping over the tactical shortcomings of WTS, George  Thomas was the 
non-pareil  field commander of the war, witness  offensively the smashing attack 
on the AT at Nashville and 
defensively the  disengagement from Snodgrass Hill.  Under his command, the 
AoC was  the premier fighting unit of the  USA.>>>>



I am also a fan of Thomas and one needs only to wonder for the Confederate  
cause had he stayed true to his native Virginia.
 
That said, he was SLOW at times and very nearly came to be relieved and  
replaced by John Logan but saved his hide my attacking the Confederates at  
Nashville finally.  Logan was actually on his way to relieve him when he  attacked.  
To be fair to Thomas, the weather at the time was snow and  sleet, not very 
conducive to waging offensives but he also took his time before  hitting out.
 
Sherman wrote in the Atlanta Campaign that "the Army of the Cumberland is  
slow and will entrench when encountering a corn furrow."  Sherman, of  course, 
was continuing the inter-army rivalry between the AOC and his former  command 
the Army of the Tennessee.  That is one reason he allowed the AOTT  guys to 
fight the Battle of Atlanta on their own rather than send them  reinforcements 
from Thomas.
 
In the Atlanta Campaign Sherman's army was actually an army group: Army of  
the Ohio (Schofield's - actually a reinforced corps that acted like a football  
wide receiver); the Army of the Cumberland (his biggest command under Thomas 
-  his offensive line) and the Army of the Tennessee (McPherson, formerly 
Sherman's  and before that formerly Grant's - and they acted like a running back). 
  There was much rivalry between the Cumberlanders and the Tennesseans and 
this  came from two main areas.  The AOTT guys had won at Ft. Donelson, then  
Shiloh then Vicksburg and then marched over to Chattanooga to save the  
Cumberlanders behinds while they were besieged.  The AOC won at Mill  Springs (which 
Thomas won on his own), Shiloh (arriving to help Grant they loved  to point out 
- they were Buell's Army of the Ohio then), lost the field at  Perryville but 
won at Stones River (their first battle under the AOC name) and  then 
maneuvered the Confederates out of their shorts in both the Tullahoma  Campaign as 
well as the movement to take Chattanooga.  Their big loss was  at Chickamauga of 
course but Thomas secured his reputation forever for his  brilliant stand 
there (beating up on a couple vaunted ANV brigades while doing  so by the way).
 
Add into this mix the Army of the Potomac's 11th and 12th Corps sent West  to 
help at Chattanooga (and renamed the 20th Corps eventually) under Hooker, who 
 would have a grand day at Lookout Mountain and do very well during the 
Atlanta  Campaign but could not keep his ego checked under Sherman.  The AOP guys  
gave the Western Union guys something to band together and gang up against as  
those effete Easterners who had to come West to learn how to win.
 
The Army of the Cumberland is indeed, arguably, the Union Army's finest  
command - but I cannot help but give loads of credit to the Army of the  Tennessee 
as well.  Just their massive logistical arrangements for the  Vicksburg 
Campaign alone dwarves anything done by any Civil War army commander  for the 
entire war and then having to alter those when the original plan, which  was an 
overland railroad route, got smashed by Van Dorn and Forrest, to a  water route 
with supplies hauled off ships, overland through swamps and then  back onto 
ships to cross the big river, gives them huge credit for being a great  army.  
And then to top it off they did save the day at Chattanooga.   Both the 
Cumberlanders and AOTT took hits from CS attacks that would have  normally sent the 
AOP running and they both stood their ground at Stones River  and Shiloh/Atlanta 
respectively.
 
Greg Biggs