Military leadership in the American Civil War - wikipedia Military leadership in the American Civil War Military leadership in the American Civil War was influenced by professional military education and the hard - earned pragmatism of command experience. While not all leaders had formal military training, the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis created dedicated cadres of professional officers whose understanding of military science had profound effect on the conduct of the American Civil War and whose lasting legacy helped forge the traditions of the modern U.S. officer corps of all service branches. Contents 1 The Union 1.1 Civilian military leaders 1.2 Regular Army officers 1.3 Militia and political leaders appointed to Union military leadership 1.4 Native American and international officers in Union Army 1.5 Union naval leaders 2 The Confederacy 2.1 Civilian military leaders 2.2 Former Regular Army officers 2.3 Militia and political leaders appointed to Confederate military leadership 2.4 Native American and international officers in Confederate army 2.5 Confederate naval leaders 3 See also 4 Notes 5 References 6 Further reading The Union Ulysses S. Grant William T. Sherman George G. Meade Admiral David Farragut Civilian military leaders President Abraham Lincoln was Commander - in - Chief of the Union armed forces throughout the conflict ; after his April 14, 1865 assassination, Vice President Andrew Johnson became the nation 's chief executive. Lincoln 's first Secretary of War was Simon Cameron ; Edwin M. Stanton was confirmed to replace Cameron in January 1862. Thomas A. Scott was Assistant Secretary of War. Gideon Welles was Secretary of the Navy, aided by Assistant Secretary of the Navy Gustavus Fox. Regular army officers When the war began, the American standing army or `` Regular army '' consisted of only 1080 commissioned officers and 15,000 enlisted men. Although 142 regular officers became Union generals during the war, most remained `` frozen '' in their regular units. That stated, most of the major Union wartime commanders had significant previous regular army experience. Over the course of the war, the Commanding General of the United States Army was, in order of service, Winfield Scott, George B. McClellan, Henry Halleck, and finally, Ulysses S. Grant. Robert Anderson Don Carlos Buell John Buford Ambrose Burnside Edward Canby Philip St. George Cooke Jacob Dolson Cox Thomas Turpin Crittenden Thomas Leonidas Crittenden Samuel Curtis Abner Doubleday James A. Garfield Quincy Adams Gillmore Ulysses S. Grant Henry Wager Halleck Winfield Scott Hancock Joseph Hooker Andrew A. Humphreys Henry Jackson Hunt George B. McClellan Irvin McDowell James B. McPherson Joseph K. Mansfield George Meade Montgomery C. Meigs Dixon S. Miles Edward Ord John Pope John F. Reynolds William Rosecrans John Schofield Winfield Scott John Sedgwick Philip Sheridan William T. Sherman Andrew Jackson Smith William Farrar Smith George Stoneman George Henry Thomas Alfred Thomas Archimedes Torbert Gouverneur K. Warren John E. Wool Militia and political leaders appointed to Union military leadership Under the United States Constitution, each state recruited, trained, equipped, and maintained local militia ; regimental officers were appointed and promoted by state governors. After states answered Lincoln 's April 15, 1861, ninety - day call for 75,000 volunteer soldiers, most Union states ' regiments and batteries became known as `` Volunteers '' to distinguish between state and regular army units. Union brigade - level officers ( generals ) could receive two different types of Federal commissions : U.S. Army or U.S. Volunteers ( ex : Major General, U.S.A. as opposed to Major General, U.S.V. ). While most Civil War generals held volunteer or brevet rank, many generals held both types of commission ; regular rank was considered superior. Edward D. Baker Nathaniel Prentice Banks Francis Preston Blair, Jr. Benjamin Franklin Butler Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain John Adams Dix John C. Frémont John Alexander McClernand Daniel Sickles Native American and international officers in Union army Reflecting the multi-national makeup of the soldiers engaged, some Union military leaders derived from nations other than the United States. Philippe, Comte de Paris Michael Corcoran Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski Thomas Francis Meagher Ely Parker Albin F. Schoepf Carl Schurz Franz Sigel Régis de Trobriand Ivan Turchaninov Union naval leaders The rapid rise of the United States Navy during the Civil War contributed enormously to the North 's ability to effectively blockade ports and Confederate shipping from quite early in the conflict. Handicapped by an aging 90 ship fleet, and despite significant manpower losses to the Confederate Navy after secession, a massive ship construction campaign embracing technological innovations from civil engineer James Buchanan Eads and naval engineers like Benjamin F. Isherwood and John Ericsson, along with four years ' daily experience with modern naval conflict put the U.S. Navy onto a path which has led to today 's world naval dominance. John A. Dahlgren Charles Henry Davis Samuel Francis du Pont David Farragut Andrew Hull Foote Samuel Phillips Lee David Dixon Porter John Ancrum Winslow John Lorimer Worden The Confederacy Jefferson Davis Robert E. Lee T.J. `` Stonewall '' Jackson James Longstreet Joseph E. Johnston James Waddell Civilian military leaders Jefferson Davis was named provisional president on February 9, 1861, and assumed similar commander - in - chief responsibilities as would Lincoln ; on November 6, 1861 Davis was elected President of the Confederate States of America under the Confederate Constitution. Alexander H. Stephens was appointed as Vice President of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861, and later assumed identical vice presidential responsibilities as Hannibal Hamlin did. Several men served the Confederacy as Secretary of War, including Leroy Pope Walker, Judah P. Benjamin, George W. Randolph, James Seddon, and John C. Breckinridge. Stephen Mallory was Confederate Secretary of the Navy throughout the conflict. Former regular army officers In the wake of secession, many regular officers felt they could not betray loyalty to their home state, as a result some 313 of those officers resigned their commission and in many cases took up arms for the Confederate Army. Himself a graduate of West Point and a former regular officer, Confederate President Jefferson Davis highly prized these valuable recruits to the cause and saw that former regular officers were given positions of authority and responsibility. Richard H. Anderson P.G.T. Beauregard Milledge Luke Bonham Braxton Bragg Simon Bolivar Buckner, Sr. George B. Crittenden Samuel Cooper Jubal Anderson Early Richard S. Ewell Franklin Gardner Robert S. Garnett Josiah Gorgas William Joseph Hardee Ambrose Powell Hill Daniel Harvey Hill John Bell Hood Thomas J. `` Stonewall '' Jackson Albert Sidney Johnston Joseph E. Johnston Robert E. Lee Stephen D. Lee Mansfield Lovell James Longstreet John B. Magruder Humphrey Marshall Dabney Herndon Maury John Hunt Morgan John C. Pemberton George Pickett Edmund Kirby Smith Gustavus Woodson Smith J.E.B. Stuart William B. Taliaferro Earl Van Dorn Joseph Wheeler Henry A. Wise Militia and political leaders appointed to Confederate military leadership The land of Davy Crockett and Andrew Jackson, the state military tradition was especially strong in southern states, some of which were until recently frontier areas. Several significant Confederate military leaders emerged from state unit commands. John C. Breckinridge Benjamin F. Cheatham Nathan Bedford Forrest Wade Hampton James L. Kemper Ben McCulloch Leonidas Polk Sterling Price Richard Taylor Native American and international officers in Confederate army While no foreign power sent troops or commanders directly to assist the Confederate States, some leaders derived from countries other than the United States. Patrick Cleburne Stand Watie Camille Armand Jules Marie, Prince de Polignac Raleigh E. Colston Collett Leventhorpe George St. Leger Grenfell Confederate naval leaders The Confederate Navy possessed no extensive shipbuilding facilities ; instead, it relied on refitting captured ships or purchased warships from Great Britain. The South had abundant navigable inland waterways, but after the Union built a vast fleet of gunboats, they soon dominated the Mississippi, Tennessee, Cumberland, Red and other rivers, rendering those waterways almost useless to the Confederacy. Confederates did seize several Union Navy vessels in harbor after secession and converted a few into ironclads, like the CSS Virginia. Blockade runners were built and operated by British naval interests, although by late in the war the C.S. Navy operated some. A few new vessels were built or purchased in Britain, notably the CSS Shenandoah and the CSS Alabama. These warships acted as raiders, wreaking havoc with commercial shipping. Aggrieved by these losses, in 1871 the U.S. government was awarded damages from Great Britain in the Alabama Claims. John Mercer Brooke Isaac Newton Brown Franklin Buchanan James Dunwoody Bulloch Catesby ap Roger Jones Matthew Fontaine Maury Raphael Semmes Josiah Tattnall James Iredell Waddell See also History of Confederate States Army Generals Confederate States Armed Forces Union Army Union Navy Notes Jump up ^ Boatner 483, 437 Jump up ^ Boatner 858, 728, 303 Jump up ^ Boatner 673, 858 Jump up ^ Boatner 673 Jump up ^ Boatner 858, 328 ^ Jump up to : Boatner 582 Jump up ^ Boatner 225, 170 Jump up ^ Boatner 495, 225, 674 References Boatner, Mark Mayo, III. The Civil War Dictionary. New York : McKay, 1959 ; revised 1988. ISBN 0 - 8129 - 1726 - X. Eicher, John and David Eicher, Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0 - 8047 - 3641 - 3 Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue : Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0 - 8071 - 0822 - 7 Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Gray : Lives of the Confederate Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1959, ISBN 0 - 8071 - 0823 - 5 Waugh, John C., The Class of 1846, From West Point to Appomattox : Stonewall Jackson, George McClellan and their Brothers, New York : Warner, 1994. ISBN 0 - 446 - 51594 - 9 Further reading American National Biography ( 20 vol. 2000 ; online and paper copies at academic libraries ) short biographies by specialists Current, Richard N., et al. eds. Encyclopedia of the Confederacy ( 1993 ) ( 4 Volume set ; also 1 vol abridged version ) ( ISBN 0 - 13 - 275991 - 8 ) Dictionary of American Biography 30 vol, 1934 -- 1990 ; short biographies by specialists Faust, Patricia L. ( ed. ) Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War ( 1986 ) ( ISBN 0 - 06 - 181261 - 7 ) 2000 short entries Heidler, David Stephen. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War : A Political, Social, and Military History ( 2002 ), 1600 entries in 2700 pages in 5 vol or 1 - vol editions Woodworth, Steven E. ed. American Civil War : A Handbook of Literature and Research ( 1996 ) ( ISBN 0 - 313 - 29019 - 9 ), 750 pages of historiography and bibliography American Civil War Origins Origins Issues Timeline leading to the War Antebellum era Bleeding Kansas Border states Compromise of 1850 Dred Scott v. Sandford Lincoln - Douglas debates Missouri Compromise Popular sovereignty Secession States ' rights President Lincoln 's 75,000 volunteers Slavery African Americans Cornerstone Speech Emancipation Proclamation Fugitive slave laws Plantations in the American South Slave Power Slavery in the United States Treatment of slaves in the United States Uncle Tom 's Cabin Abolitionism Susan B. Anthony John Brown Frederick Douglass William Lloyd Garrison Elijah Parish Lovejoy J. Sella Martin Lysander Spooner George Luther Stearns Thaddeus Stevens Charles Sumner Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Combatants Theaters Campaigns Battles States Combatants Union ( USA ) Army Navy Marine Corps Revenue Cutter Service Confederacy ( CSA ) Army Navy Marine Corps Theaters Eastern Western Lower Seaboard Trans - Mississippi Pacific Coast Union naval blockade Major Campaigns Anaconda Plan Blockade runners New Mexico Jackson 's Valley Peninsula Northern Virginia Maryland Stones River Vicksburg Tullahoma Gettysburg Morgan 's Raid Bristoe Knoxville Red River Overland Atlanta Valley 1864 Bermuda Hundred Richmond - Petersburg Franklin -- Nashville Price 's Raid Sherman 's March Carolinas Appomattox Major battles Fort Sumter 1st Bull Run Wilson 's Creek Fort Donelson Pea Ridge Hampton Roads Shiloh New Orleans Corinth Seven Pines Seven Days 2nd Bull Run Antietam Perryville Fredericksburg Stones River Chancellorsville Gettysburg Vicksburg Chickamauga Chattanooga Wilderness Fort Pillow Spotsylvania Cold Harbor Atlanta Mobile Bay Franklin Nashville Five Forks Involvement ( by state or territory ) AL AR AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY Leaders Confederate Military R.H. Anderson Beauregard Bragg Buchanan Cooper Early Ewell Forrest Gorgas Hill Hood Jackson A.S. Johnston J.E. Johnston Lee Longstreet Morgan Mosby Polk Price Semmes E.K. Smith Stuart Taylor Wheeler Civilian Benjamin Bocock Breckinridge Davis Hunter Mallory Memminger Seddon Stephens Union Military Anderson Buell Burnside Butler Du Pont Farragut Foote Frémont Grant Halleck Hooker Hunt McClellan McDowell Meade Meigs Ord Pope D.D. Porter Rosecrans Scott Sheridan Sherman Thomas Civilian Adams Chase Ericsson Hamlin Lincoln Pinkerton Seward Stanton Stevens Wade Welles Aftermath U.S. Constitution Reconstruction amendments 13th Amendment 14th Amendment 15th Amendment Reconstruction Alabama Claims Brooks -- Baxter War Carpetbaggers Colfax Riot of 1873 Eufaula Riot of 1874 Freedmen 's Bureau Freedman 's Savings Bank Impeachment of Andrew Johnson Kirk - Holden War Knights of the White Camelia Ku Klux Klan Memphis Riot of 1866 Meridian Riot of 1871 New Orleans Riot of 1866 Pulaski ( Tennessee ) Riot of 1867 Reconstruction acts Habeas Corpus Act 1867 Enforcement Act of 1870 Enforcement Act of February 1871 Enforcement Act of April 1871 Reconstruction treaties Indian Council at Fort Smith Red Shirts Redeemers Confederate refugees Confederados Scalawags South Carolina riots of 1876 Southern Claims Commission Homestead acts Southern Homestead Act of 1866 Timber Culture Act of 1873 White League post-Reconstruction Commemoration Centennial Civil War Discovery Trail Civil War Roundtables Civil War Trails Program Civil War Trust Confederate History Month Confederate monuments and memorials Historical reenactment Robert E. Lee Day Disenfranchisement Black Codes Jim Crow Lost Cause mythology Modern display of the Confederate flag Sons of Confederate Veterans Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War Southern Historical Society United Daughters of the Confederacy Monuments and memorials Union List of Union Civil War monuments and memorials List of memorials to the Grand Army of the Republic Memorials to Abraham Lincoln Confederate List of Confederate monuments and memorials Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials List of memorials to Robert E. Lee List of memorials to Jefferson Davis Annapolis Roger B. Taney Monument Baltimore Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument Confederate Women 's Monument Roger B. Taney Monument Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson Monument Durham, North Carolina Robert E. Lee Monument New Orleans Battle of Liberty Place Monument Jefferson Davis Monument General Beauregard Equestrian Statue Robert E. Lee Monument Cemeteries Confederate Memorial Day Ladies ' memorial associations U.S. Memorial Day U.S. national cemeteries Veterans 1913 Gettysburg Reunion Confederate Veteran Grand Army of the Republic Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the U.S. Old soldiers ' homes Southern Cross of Honor United Confederate Veterans Related topics Related topics Military Arms Campaign Medal Cavalry Confederate Home Guard Confederate railroads Confederate Revolving Cannon Field artillery Medal of Honor recipients Medicine Leadership Naval battles Official Records Partisan rangers POW camps Rations Signal Corps Turning point Union corps badges U.S. Balloon Corps U.S. Home Guard U.S. Military Railroad Political Committee on the Conduct of the War Confederate States Presidential Election of 1861 Confiscation Act of 1861 Confiscation Act of 1862 Copperheads Emancipation Proclamation Habeas Corpus Act of 1863 Hampton Roads Conference National Union Party Radical Republicans Trent Affair Union leagues U.S. Presidential Election of 1864 War Democrats Music Battle Hymn of the Republic Dixie John Brown 's Body A Lincoln Portrait Marching through Georgia Maryland, My Maryland When Johnny Comes Marching Home Other topics Bibliography Confederate war finance Confederate States dollar Espionage Confederate Secret Service Great Revival of 1863 Naming the war Native Americans Cherokee Choctaw New York City Gold Hoax of 1864 New York City Riot of 1863 Photographers Richmond Riot of 1863 Sexuality Supreme Court cases Tokens U.S. Sanitary Commission Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_leadership_in_the_American_Civil_War&oldid=822276068 '' Categories : Military history of the American Civil War People of the American Civil War Talk Contents About Wikipedia Nederlands Edit links This page was last edited on 25 January 2018, at 12 : 47. 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Question: who was the famous leader of the confederate military
Answer: Jefferson Davis