During the American Civil War, two great armies were raised that were made up largely of citizen-soldiers.[10] There simply were not enough trained generals to lead all these men. Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis appointed political generals, some of whom later proved to be incompetent.[11] Others proved to be good or even great generals. Many of these generals had very little or no military training before being commissioned a general.[10] Confederate general Patrick Cleburne was such a leader.[10] He earned his nickname as the "Stonewall Jackson of the West" by being a great general.[12] One of the worst examples was Union general Daniel Sickles. He was a Tammany Hallpolitician[a] who used his influence to rise to the rank of major general.[14] Sickles nearly lost the Battle of Gettysburg for the North yet, after 34 years of lobbying, managed to get himself awarded the Medal of Honor.[14]
Notes
↑Tammany Hall was a New York City political machine that became known for its patronage (rewarding supporters with special favors and jobs), acting in its own interests, dishonesty and corruption.[13] It lasted for nearly two centuries but was gone by 1966.[13]
References
↑Brooks D. Simpson, 'Lincoln and His Political Generals', Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, Vol. 21, Iss. 1, (Winter 2000), pp. 63-77
↑Steven Lee Myers (6 April 2008). "Generally Speaking". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
↑Steven Schwarmenfeld, The Foundation of British Strength: National Identity and the British Common Soldier (Doctor of Philosophy thesis, Florida State University, 2007), p. 8
↑"Jackson, Andrew". War of 1812. The Historica-Dominion Institute, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Parks Canada. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.