A political general is a
general officer or other military leader without significant
military experience who is given a high position in command for political reasons, through
political connections, or to appease certain political blocs and factions.
In the United States, this concept was demonstrated by commissions and appointments during the
American Civil War, in both the
Union and the
Confederacy.
History
American Civil War
Most of the top generals on the Union and Confederate sides were graduates of
West Point and were career military officers. In addition to military training, many of them had battlefield experience gained during the
Mexican–American War or
American Indian wars, such as the
Third Seminole War in Florida. Due to the necessity of raising large-scale citizen armies, both presidents,
Abraham Lincoln and
Jefferson Davis, for various reasons, appointed a number of the so-called political generals. Some of them, such as
John A. Logan on the Union side or
Richard Taylor on the Confederate, developed into competent military leaders and were respected by their subordinates and superiors alike. Others turned out to be "disastrously incompetent", according to historian
James M. McPherson.[1]
Other promotions were used to gain the support of the specific group they represented, especially in cases of foreign immigrants. One of the largest ethnic groups in the U.S. at the time was relatively recent German immigrants, who had arrived in the late 1840s and early 1850s after the
German revolutions of 1848–1849. Prominent ethnic German civilian leaders, such as
Franz Sigel and
Carl Schurz, both of whose prior military experience before the Civil War was fighting on the losing side of the German revolutions, were appointed to high rank for their usefulness in rallying fellow immigrants to the cause.
Two prominent Irish immigrants were also given promotions, as many Irish had arrived following the famines in Ireland.
Thomas F. Meagher and
Michael Corcoran were promoted, who before the war had been a captain and a colonel, respectively, in the
New York State Militia. Meagher resigned in May 1863, but when Corcoran died in December 1863, the Army revoked Meagher's resignation to keep at least one Irishman in command.
Other officers were highly successful in their attempts to rally large numbers of troops, whether they were native-born or foreign-born. For instance,
Daniel Sickles recruited many soldiers from New York.
Border states
The
Confederacy also appointed numerous political generals for the same reasons. They also used many such appointments to influence the Confederate sympathizers in the
border states, which had not seceded from the Union. Former
Vice PresidentJohn C. Breckinridge was appointed as a general in the hopes that he would inspire the citizens of
Kentucky to join the Confederate Army.
Other
Another reason for the appointment of political generals during the American Civil War was the significant expansion of the number of men in each army and many volunteer soldiers. Men who were prominent civilian leaders, such as businessmen, lawyers, and politicians, were chosen to continue their leadership in command of a volunteer regiment.
Evaluation
Ezra J. Warner noted that during the American Civil War, a large number of political generals, including Sigel and Banks for the Union and Breckinridge for the Confederacy, were undoubtedly popular with their men, primarily because of their ties to the specific groups they represented.[2] However, the vast majority were considered incompetent because they were amateur soldiers without prior training or knowledge. This was a particularly large problem for the Union, where such generals were typically given fairly important commands.[2]
Brooks D. Simpson claimed that the misdeeds of three particular political generals on the Union side, Butler, Banks, and Sigel, "contributed to a military situation in the summer of 1864 where the Northern public, anticipating decisive victory with Grant in command, began to wonder whether it was worth it to continue the struggle—something on voters' minds as they pondered whether to give Honest Abe another four years in office. Perhaps Lincoln would have been wiser to dismiss these three men and risk whatever short-term damage his actions might have caused."[3]
Addressing the phenomenon of the Union political generals, Thomas Joseph Goss wrote, "Though much contemporary and historical attention has been placed upon these amateur commanders in the field and highlights their numerous tactical shortcomings, their assignment patterns demonstrate that political factors outweighed any military criteria in the administration's judgment of their success. For the Lincoln administration, the risk of these tactical setbacks was exceeded by the political support amassed every day these popular figures were in uniform, revealing how political generals and their West Point peers were judged using different standards based on distinct calculations of political gain and military effectiveness."[4]
David Work made a cross-section selection of Union political generals appointed by Lincoln, eight Republicans, and eight Democrats, including
Francis Preston Blair, Jr.,
John Adams Dix,
John A. Logan, and
James S. Wadsworth, among others, and scrutinized their performances during the war. He concluded that Lincoln's appointments were mostly successful as they cemented the Union and did not result in critical or unrecoverable battlefield failures. In addition, all Lincoln's appointees, even including such controversial figures as
Nathaniel P. Banks,
Franz Sigel, and
Benjamin F. Butler, demonstrated promising results as logistical, recruitment and political managers in the war's tumultuous times.[5]
Benton R. Patterson emphasized that Union political generals who understood their shortcomings regarding military education and experience, i.e., former congressman
John A. Logan, who rose through the war from a regimental commander to the commanding general of the
Army of the Tennessee, did rather well; some, who thought that common sense, practicality, and life experience are enough to wage war, i.e., Major General
Nathaniel Banks, wrought havoc on the battlefield, causing unnecessary loss of lives. Patterson cited Major General
Henry Halleck, a West Pointer, who wrote in April 1864 to General
William Tecumseh Sherman commenting on Banks's exploits in Louisiana, "It seems but little better than murder to give important commands to such a man as Banks, Butler,
McClernand, Sigel, and
Lew Wallace, and yet it seems impossible to prevent it."[6] To all political generals, Patterson attributed a tendency of insubordination, as they frequently used their political connections to overwrite particular orders from their superiors. In addition, several generals, including Logan and Blair, left their commands to participate in the
1864 presidential campaign on behalf of Lincoln, to the displeasure of professional soldiers.[6]
Lincoln, as commander-in-chief, experienced problems not only with political generals but with professional West-Pointers as well, as all were unable to realize on the battlefield the decisive Union's advantage regarding manpower and military resources until
Ulysses S. Grant became the general-in-chief in March 1864. Despite all of that, Lincoln, who possessed a limited military background as a captain of a militia during the
Black Hawk War,[7] did not succumb to a temptation to become involved in a war on a tactical level; instead, as
James M. McPherson put it, he chose to persist "through a terrible ordeal of defeats and disappointments".[8] On the other side, President
Jefferson Davis, who was a West Point graduate, served competently as a regimental commander during the Mexican War, and was an able
United States Secretary of War under
Franklin Pierce in 1853–1857, frequently intervened into the conduct of war below strategic level and made appointments based on political necessity and personal attachments; these war-making approaches did not serve him well.[9]
North Korea
Kim Kyong-hui was made a general of the
Korean People's Army in September 2010, despite having little military experience beforehand.
United States
List of prominent political generals
The following is a partial list of some of the more prominent political generals on both sides, and a brief sketch of their war service.
James Pinckney Henderson was the incumbent governor of
Texas who was granted permission from the state legislature to personally lead Texas troops in the field with the rank of major general. Henderson led the so-called "Texas Division" at the
Battle of Monterrey.
Franklin Pierce was a politician from
New Hampshire who had some notable military skills. He sustained a wound at the
Battle of Churubusco and fainted on the field due to the loss of blood. His political rivals described this incident as cowardice, but that was not enough to keep him from attaining the
Presidency.
John A. Quitman was a judge and former governor of
Mississippi who served as a brigade commander under Zachary Taylor and as a division commander under
Winfield Scott. Later in the war, he also served as the military governor of
Mexico City.
Francis P. Blair, Jr., Congressman from
Missouri who aided Union efforts early in the war to save his state for the Union. He became a major general in the Union Army and eventually rose to become a corps commander. He enjoyed the confidence of Sherman, who was generally skeptical of political generals. While most politicians either resigned their seats in Congress or resigned from their military commission, Blair retained his seat in Congress while still serving in the field. His brother was
Montgomery Blair, who was
Postmaster General in Lincoln's Cabinet.
Benjamin Franklin Butler, State Senator from
Massachusetts and Brigadier General in the Massachusetts militia. He lost the war's first land battle at
Big Bethel on July 1, 1861, and was later put in charge of the Department of the Gulf, governing the captured
New Orleans with strict discipline (and earning the derogatory nickname "Spoons" for his alleged habit of pilfering from Confederate homes). He led the
Army of the James during the failed
Bermuda Hundred Campaign, the
Siege of Petersburg, and at
Fort Fisher. After the latter, he was relieved of his command. He was later elected Governor of
Massachusetts as a Democrat and ran for president in 1884 for the
Greenback Party.
James A. Garfield, an Ohio State Senator, rose to the rank of major general of volunteers. He served as a brigade commander in the Western Theater. He was also chief of staff to
William Rosecrans before being elected to congress in the middle of the war, eventually becoming President of the United States in 1881.
John A. Logan, Congressman from Illinois, served as a brigade and division commander in the Western Theater under
Ulysses S. Grant and
William T. Sherman. Upon the death of
James B. McPherson at
Atlanta, Logan briefly rose to command of the famed
Army of the Tennessee. Although Logan was generally a successful leader, Sherman elected not to keep a non-
West Pointer in command of the army. He replaced him with
Oliver O. Howard, instead placing Logan in command of a corps. After the war, Logan returned to politics as a Republican.
John McAuley Palmer, Illinois state legislator, Republican party organizer, and Congressional candidate (McClernand defeated him), served in the Western Theater in command of a Division in the
XIV Corps and later the XIV Corps itself. In these capacities, he fought in the battles of Stones River, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga. Late in the war, he had a controversial stint as military governor of Kentucky. In postbellum life, he served as Illinois governor and Senator as a Democrat and ran for president in 1896 for the
National Democratic Party (United States).
Alexander Schimmelfennig, a Prussian veteran who helped coordinate the unsuccessful defense of the Rhineland during the
Revolution of 1848. Wounded twice at the
Battle of Rinnthal, he escaped to Switzerland before the Prussian authorities could capture him but was tried in absentia and sentenced to death. He fled to Paris, London, and finally to the United States, joining many other German "
Forty-Eighters" who were later to fight with the Union, such as
Louis Blenker,
Adolph von Steinwehr, and
Carl Schurz. When, in 1862, Lincoln proposed to appoint Schimmelfennig to command a brigade, Secretary of War
Stanton protested that better-qualified officers were available. 'His name,' Lincoln replied, '"will make up for any difference there may be", and he walked away repeating Schimmelfennig's name with a chuckle.'[10] Schimmelfennig's brigade suffered high losses at the
Battle of Gettysburg, where hundreds of men were taken prisoner by the Confederates after becoming confused in the narrow streets of the town: Schimmelfennig himself was forced to hide in a culvert and in a shed to avoid capture. To the surprise of many who assumed he had been killed, he rejoined his troops several days after the battle. He subsequently contracted malaria and tuberculosis during
Sherman's March to the Sea, the latter leading to his death shortly after the end of the war.
Daniel Sickles, the infamous
New York Congressman who had been tried (and acquitted) for the murder of
Philip Barton Key II, served as a brigade and division commander for the first two years of the war. He assumed command of the
III Corps, Army of the Potomac in early 1863, leading it at
Chancellorsville and
Gettysburg. At the latter, the unauthorized maneuver of his corps into the Peach Orchard nearly destroyed the Union Army. Sickles lost his leg at this battle and, although he was never officially censured for his action, never again held a field command. After the war, he served as a diplomat and was vital in establishing national battlefield parks, including at Gettysburg.
Franz Sigel, a German émigré who led, at various times, a division in the Department of Missouri,
XI Corps of the
Army of the Potomac, and the Department of West Virginia. Though a military academy graduate and former officer in both
Baden's army and, later, its revolutionary forces, significant military success evaded him in Europe. As a revolutionary colonel, he had seen his command annihilated by the Prussians
at Freiburg in 1848. In 1849, he was briefly Secretary of War and commander-in-chief of the doomed revolutionary republican government of Baden. Still, he then needed to resign from the post after being wounded in a skirmish. He was, however, extremely popular with his German recruits, who shouted the slogan, "I fights mit Sigel!" He provided essential recruiting services for the Union.
Lew Wallace, formerly of the Indiana State Legislature, fought most famously at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, and the
Monocacy, the "Battle That Saved
Washington", in July 1864. After the war, Wallace became Governor of
New Mexico Territory, wrote the novel Ben-Hur, and served as a U.S. diplomat. His previous military experience had been serving as a volunteer lieutenant during the Mexican–American War.
John C. Breckinridge, former vice president under
James Buchanan, led various brigade and division commands in the Western Theater. He often quarreled with
Braxton Bragg. He served ably at
Shiloh and
Stones River, and also defeated Franz Sigel (see above) at the
Battle of New Market in May 1864. He briefly became the Confederate secretary of war in 1865.
John B. Floyd, former
Governor of Virginia and
Secretary of War under
James Buchanan. He led state militia forces opposing Union operations in western Virginia in 1861 and played a major part in the Fort Donelson fiasco (see Gideon Pillow, below). After that battle, he was relegated to the command of Virginia State Guard troops; he died in 1863.
Gideon Pillow, a general of the
Mexican–American War and prominent power in the pre-war Democratic Party. Although he opposed secession, he ultimately went south and accepted a commission. He is most widely known for fleeing (along with John B. Floyd) from
Fort Donelson in February 1862, leaving the hapless third-in-command,
Simon Bolivar Buckner, and the fort's 15,000-man garrison to surrender to Union forces under
U.S. Grant while they saved themselves. Commanding a brigade at Stones River, he was allegedly found by division commander Breckinridge to have been cowering behind a tree as his men went into action. After that, he never held another field command.
Leonidas Polk, the
Episcopal bishop of Louisiana and cousin of former president
James K. Polk, became the third most senior
lieutenant general despite his lack of military experience, primarily due to a close friendship with President
Jefferson Davis. In 1861, he led the failed invasion of neutral Kentucky, causing the state to side with the Union. He later commanded a corps in the
Army of Tennessee and was killed in the
Battle of Marietta.
Sterling Price, a former US congressman (March 4, 1845 – August 12, 1846) and Governor of Missouri (January 3, 1853 – January 5, 1857)[11] who initially opposed
secession but ultimately sided with the Confederacy, led the
Missouri State Guard in the 1861 Confederate invasion of the state. He was the Confederate commander at the
Battle of Wilson's Creek, and served without distinction at
Pea Ridge. He led an unsuccessful
invasion of Missouri in 1864, which inadvertently but effectively secured Missouri and Arkansas for the Union.
William "Extra Billy" Smith, former congressman and governor from Virginia, who was the oldest Confederate field commander. Despite having no previous military experience, he served as a brigade commander at the battles of
Antietam,
Chancellorsville and
Gettysburg. After again being elected governor of Virginia in 1863, he occasionally commanded troops defending
Richmond. He was an early advocate of arming blacks to provide more manpower.
Robert Toombs, former congressman from Georgia and ardent secessionist. Politically ambitious, he was made
Secretary of State of the Confederacy but resigned for a field command while holding a seat in the Confederate congress. He led a brigade in the
Army of Northern Virginia. His most famous action was the defense of
Burnside's Bridge at
Antietam, where he was wounded. After that battle, he resigned and served in the Confederate senate.
Howell Cobb, another former congressman from Georgia and ardent secessionist from Georgia. He served as the President of the Confederate States Provisional Congress, joining the Army of Northern Virginia as a brigade commander. He would see service in the
Peninsula Campaign and the
Seven Days Battle, and play a key role in stemming the Union tide at the
Battle of South Mountain. Transferred out in October 1862 to command the District of Georgia and Florida. He and his troops would play roles in
Atlanta Campaign, where they constituted the Georgia Reserve Corps, and
Wilson's Raid, where he and his troops put up a last-ditch attempt to halt it at the
Battle of Columbus.
Spanish–American War
Matthew Butler, a former Confederate major general and postwar senator from
South Carolina, was appointed major general of
volunteers at the beginning of the military expedition to
Cuba. After the American victory, he supervised the evacuation of Spanish troops.
Fitzhugh Lee (nephew of
Robert E. Lee), a former Confederate major general and postwar governor of
Virginia. He commanded an army corps in the war and served as the military governor of Havana with the rank of major general of
volunteers.
Joseph Wheeler, a former Confederate major general and postwar congressman from
Alabama, who is considered to have been one of the finest
cavalry officers of the Civil War. The U.S. government was wary about placing staging points for the
Cuba expedition in Southern states, which were still deeply mistrustful of the federal government after suffering the trauma of losing the Civil War and then going through the
Reconstruction that followed. It was decided to allow Wheeler to rejoin the US Army—from which he had resigned as a
second lieutenant in 1861—at the rank of major general of
volunteers. This proved to be an effective public-relations measure, helping to unite the still deeply scarred region with the rest of the country against a common enemy. Wheeler was given command of the cavalry division for the invasion of Cuba, during which he was also nominally second in command of V Corps. An oft-told anecdote has the elderly Wheeler, in the excitement of leading men into battle again, allegedly shouting to his men, "Let's go, boys! We've got the damn Yankees on the run again!"[12] Despite that apparent hiccup of memory, Wheeler proved still to be a competent commander throughout the successful campaign, and was a senior member of the peace commission at its end.
^
abWarner, Ezra J.Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964.
ISBN0-8071-0822-7. pp. xv–xvi
^Simpson, Brooks D.
Lincoln and his political generals.Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association, Volume 21, Issue 1, Winter 2000, pp. 63-77. ISSN 0898-4212
^Goss, Thomas J. The War Within the Union High Command: Politics and Generalship During the Civil War. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2003.
^Work, David. Lincoln's Political Generals. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2009.
ISBN9780252078613
^
abPatterson, Benton R. Lincoln's Political Generals: The Battlefield Performance of Seven Controversial Appointees. Jefferson, North Carolina, Mcfarland Publishers, 2014.