American Civil War: J.E. Johnston and N.B. Forrest
Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:14 am
I once posted these exact quesitons in another forum years ago to start a debate and it turned out to be really interesting to read the comments. So I thought I would start the same debate here regarding two Southern generals and the what-ifs of history.
1) J.E. Johnston - everyone knows how he skillfully withdrew in front of Sherman's larger army until almost reaching Atlanta with only a few fights or skirmishes. When Davis replaced Johnston with Hood, some say it was the end of the war in the west as Hood led his army to defeat by his overaggressiveness. My question is if Davis never did replace Johnston with Hood, could Johnston have held onto Atlanta long enough for Lincoln to lose the 1864 election? Was Johnston's strategy to withdraw and wait for an opportunity to strike at his advantage the right strategy to take against Sherman's numerical forces?
2) N.B. Forrest - everyone knows what a great tactician he was, but what would have happened if Forrest was put in command of the Army of the Tennessee? Author Matthew Brady in his book 'The Illustrated History of the Civil War" wrote that by keeping Forrest in only small commands, Davis kept down the one person who could have taken on Sherman and perhaps Grant himself and beat either of them on the battlefield. J.E. Johnston himself once said that Forrest, given a proper military education, would have been THE central figure of the American Civil War. Any comments if Forrest should have been the man to lead the entire Army of the Tennessee against Sherman in the west?
Any and all replies are welcome and thanked.
1) J.E. Johnston - everyone knows how he skillfully withdrew in front of Sherman's larger army until almost reaching Atlanta with only a few fights or skirmishes. When Davis replaced Johnston with Hood, some say it was the end of the war in the west as Hood led his army to defeat by his overaggressiveness. My question is if Davis never did replace Johnston with Hood, could Johnston have held onto Atlanta long enough for Lincoln to lose the 1864 election? Was Johnston's strategy to withdraw and wait for an opportunity to strike at his advantage the right strategy to take against Sherman's numerical forces?
2) N.B. Forrest - everyone knows what a great tactician he was, but what would have happened if Forrest was put in command of the Army of the Tennessee? Author Matthew Brady in his book 'The Illustrated History of the Civil War" wrote that by keeping Forrest in only small commands, Davis kept down the one person who could have taken on Sherman and perhaps Grant himself and beat either of them on the battlefield. J.E. Johnston himself once said that Forrest, given a proper military education, would have been THE central figure of the American Civil War. Any comments if Forrest should have been the man to lead the entire Army of the Tennessee against Sherman in the west?
Any and all replies are welcome and thanked.
. I can't remember but someone wrote that since the Hannibal no leader of an army did kill so much enemies with his own hand.