USA Oliver Howard ldr_USA_Howard2 NULL NULL NULL NULL 4 5 2 7 General 1 NULL 4 3 3
Given his XI Corps' performance on the defensive at the Battles of Chancellorsvile and Gettysburg, I think you might consider dropping Oliver Howard's strategic and defensive ratings. (Some of the blame must fall to his subordinates, but ultimate responsibility for these two debacles lies with Howard)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Howard
I would propose the following setting as a Corps commander:
USA Oliver Howard ldr_USA_Howard2 NULL NULL NULL NULL 4 5 2 7 General 1 NULL 2 3 1
rickd79 wrote:Just curious...why the "QuickAngered" trait? Also, if we're going to scale back some of the ratings for the Federal commanders, we should think about dropping Howard to a 3 for "strategic." If we're not scaling back, then 4 is probably fine.
At the Battle of Chancellorsville, Howard suffered the first of two significant military setbacks. On May 2, 1863, his corps was on the right flank of the Union line, northwest of the crossroads of Chancellorsville. Robert E. Lee and Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson created an audacious plan in which Jackson's entire corps would march secretly around the Union flank and attack it. Howard was warned by Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, now commanding the Army of the Potomac, that his flank was "in the air", not anchored by a natural obstacle, such as a river, and that Confederate forces might be on the move in his direction. Howard failed to heed the warning and Jackson struck before dark, routing the XI Corps and causing a serious disruption to the Union plan.
Monument to General Howard in Gettysburg, PennsylvaniaAt the Battle of Gettysburg, the XI Corps, still chastened by its humiliation in May, arrived on the field in the afternoon of July 1, 1863. Poor positioning of the defensive line by one of Howard's subordinate division commanders, Brig. Gen. Francis Barlow, was exploited by the Confederate Corps of Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell and once again the XI Corps was routed, forcing it to retreat through the streets of Gettysburg, leaving many prisoners behind. On Cemetery Hill, south of town, Howard quarreled with Maj. Gen. Winfield S. Hancock about who was in command of the defense. Hancock had been sent by Maj. Gen. George G. Meade with written orders to take command, but Howard insisted that he was the ranking general present. Eventually he relented. He started circulating the story that his corps' failure had actually been triggered by the collapse of Maj. Gen. Abner Doubleday's I Corps to the west, but this excuse was never accepted at the time or by history—the reverse was actually true—and the reputation of the XI Corps was ruined.
"Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference." Mark Twain
rickd79 wrote:Regarding my previous post: If Sedgwick is a 3, then there's no way Howard should be higher.
It's a proposition. Please sustain your claim with facts.
And don't worry, we have to get some work done but we'll have a comprehensive browsing late. However we can't spend too much time discussing a 4 or a 3.
"Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference." Mark Twain
Actually now that I think about it a bit more, that's probably fair leaving the strategic rating at 4 for Howard and 3 for Sedgwick. As far as I know, noone ever complained about Howard being slow to get his troops moving. Sedgwick did have that problem. I was just thinking in terms of reputation...History has been more kind to Sedgwick than Howard.
You know, Howard might be a good candidate for the "Dispersed move" trait. I don't think anyone has gotten it yet. That could be a good one to replicate his failures at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He wasn't moving at the start of Chancellorsville, but was shifting around just prior to the battle. While in the East he tended to undervalue his scouting.
Howard wasn't a very impressive corps commander in the west either although he was fortunate to be in Sherman's good books who either overlooked or failed to note his command deficiencies. That plus Sherman's dislike of or professional prejudice against the other more able contenders available explains the unmerited promotion.
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