Favorite Confederate Generals

Just wondering who your favorite General Ofiicers of the War of Northern Aggression were, and possibly why you choose these men as your favorites. You can list as many as you like, of course, but I'd like at least 2 or 3 if you would,please. Thank you!

Mine are Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, as my number one, for his leadership ability, and excellent military skills as displayed at Manasses, Fredricksburg, and Chancellorsville, where he was unfortunately lost. One can only wonder how Gettysburg may have ended had this General survived to fight there with the Army of Northern Virginia. I believe that General Jackson would have "taken that hill", where Ewell failed to do so. I believe the loss at Gettysburg, along with the ill fated Picketts Charge, were a direct result of Ewell's failure to advance and take the high ground.

A.P.Hill- Another fine Confederate leader,admired by his men, and his opposition. General Hill displayed courage and bravery beyond the call at both Chancellorsville and Gettysburg.

Who's YOUR favorites? I'm looking forward to hearing about some Generals I may not know about,there were many in the Confederacy that were not so famous, and have faded into obscurity in a sense. How can you not like a General named States Rights Gist? Rarely mentioned, yet I understand he was a good field officer killed in combat,shot in the chest at the Battle of Franklin. I look forward to your responses. Thank you!   

A_Yankee_Confederate1973 wrote:
Mine are Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, as my number one, for his leadership ability, and excellent military skills as displayed at Manasses, Fredricksburg, and Chancellorsville, where he was unfortunately lost. One can only wonder how Gettysburg may have ended had this General survived to fight there with the Army of Northern Virginia. I believe that General Jackson would have "taken that hill", where Ewell failed to do so. I believe the loss at Gettysburg, along with the ill fated Picketts Charge, were a direct result of Ewell's failure to advance and take the high ground.

Took the words right out of my mouth! General Jackson has to be my #1 as well.
I like Howell Cobb....a great leader in what he did. He wasn't just a general though....he also served in the CSA provisional congress. He served as President of several sessions of the Confederate Provisional Congress, before resigning to join the military when the War of Northern Aggression started. Honorable man. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia and then was sent down to Florida.

My favorite is Robbert E Lee because he would say this is gonna work and he do it and it work and my biggest favorite is General Joseph Finegan he was apart of the secession convention and he worked with governor perry and when hell broke loose and General Robbert E Lee needed generals help him fight he put General Finegan in charge of Florida Brigade

True....he was a valiant leader.    He is forever remembered!

My two favorites are General James "Pete" Longstreet and General Nathan Bedford Forest. General Longstreet was for more of a defensive war. This made sense as the union army virtually outnumbered the confederate army in almost all battles. To go on the offense requires a numerical superiority. I think he was unfairly blamed for the loss at Gettysburg because he argued with General Lee about Pickett's charge.
My other favorite is General Forest. He was truly fearless in battle.

Great points

One Confederate general that took my interest is Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Some readings that I did on the Confederacy shows his strategies as one of the best out there even though he had no formal military training like Gen. Robert E Lee that is a graduate of West Point. It is argued that if the Confederacy had followed his strategy against the North, the South could have won.

General Lee, a soldier and a gentleman, is my favorite general of the South. He was offered command of the army of the Union but refused it due to his love of Virginia and the South. General Lee was a scion of the family of the Father of the Country: George Washington.  

General Grant held him in high respect (but you have to read Grant's autobiography to learn this!). Most honorable!

Copperhead wrote:General Lee, a soldier and a gentleman, is my favorite general of the South. He was offered command of the army of the Union but refused it due to his love of Virginia and the South. General Lee was a scion of the family of the Father of the Country: George Washington.  

General Grant held him in high respect (but you have to read Grant's autobiography to learn this!). Most honorable!

He is one of the best!

Personally I believe he is one of the greatest Americans to have ever lived. Honorable and Strong. The South is lucky to call him theirs.

General Lee is without a doubt one of the greatest Americans who ever lived. The Army loved him and the South was winning until Grant figured out that the Army fought for General Lee, not for Richmond. I wish he had written his memoirs. I have read that he said "I would rather die a thousand deaths than surrender the Army" prior to his surrender at Appomattox Court House. I would love to know what he meant. I also think he had a heart attack at Gettysburg, seems that battle broke his heart, literally and figuratively.

roydenoral wrote:I also think he had a heart attack at Gettysburg, seems that battle broke his heart, literally and figuratively.

I've never heard that but that's really interesting.

I believe I read this in his biography "A Life of General Robert E Lee." This is an old book, by John Esten Cooke. It is full of wonderful stories about this great man. I believe it was written around the time of General Lee's death. It seems that the older books may give us a better picture of what the General was really like as they were written by men who knew him. I have another book written by one of General Lee's adjutant generals - Walter Taylor, "Four years with General Lee." Another book I have is General Lee's report on the Battle of Gettysburg. Have not read either of these yet, but am hoping to gain more insight into his character. As to his death, it sounds like he died of a cerebral hemmorrhage (stroke). At the time, his physicians attributed this to depression.

Robert E. Lee has such a character....I love hearing and reading about him. It's almost like I learn something new each time I read about him. Even through some of his quotes. And his lineage is incredible too, going back to the military days in old Europe.

I read a magazine article on him once, long time ago. This book "A Life of General Robert E Lee." , by John Esten Cooke.
I will look for a book store.
What I've read talked about his mother, and the families kindness to the slaves.

I read the book on General Lee by Cooke. It can be downloaded from Amazon and is very good. Also finished the book by Walter Taylor, General Lee's adjutant general diring the war. Taylor emphasizes that it was most important to General Lee that future generations understood how how the Confederate Army fought when they were so outnumbered in almost all battles. This speaks so well for southern spirit and love of freedom. Taylor spends much time detailing the numbers disparity for most battles. He also emphasizes how honor and duty to country were integral to General Lee's character. There are those northern revisionists who will say thay Grant was a better general. This is laughable. Grant was successful because he had an endless supply of recruits from Europe. And he just threw men into battle, i.e. at the second battle of Coldwater Creek, Grant's commanders refused to follow his order for a second charge because so many troops had been slaughtered during the first charge.

General Daniel Ruggles was the hero of the battle of Shiloh who gathered some 50 or more cannon to pound the hornet's nest into surrendering.( see Ruggles Avenue at Nat. Park) His family was from Mass. but he married into a wealthy family from Virginia.He was a West Point grad. and vet of Mexican War . At 56 years of age (OLD for those days) he led a charge at Vickburg. Both his sons served with the Confederacy. One fought with Mosby and provided Booth with his escape horse. He was my GG Grandfather's cousin. He rests in Frederickburg,Va. Confederate cemetary.

lmk9232 wrote:General Daniel Ruggles was the hero of the battle of Shiloh who gathered some 50 or more cannon to pound the hornet's nest into surrendering.( see Ruggles Avenue at Nat. Park) His family was from Mass. but he married into a wealthy family from Virginia.He was a West Point grad. and vet of Mexican War . At 56 years of age (OLD for those days) he led a charge at Vickburg. Both his sons served with the Confederacy. One fought with Mosby and provided Booth with his escape horse. He was my GG Grandfather's cousin. He rests in Frederickburg,Va. Confederate cemetary.

That's a great story! A tough old man he was.

My favorites are Generals Lee and Jackson. However, I entertain a deep sympathy for Generals Jubal A. Early, John B. Hood and Nathan B. Forrest.

Galvanized Rebel wrote:My favorites are Generals Lee and Jackson. However, I entertain a deep sympathy for Generals Jubal A. Early, John B. Hood and Nathan B. Forrest.

All honorable men.