Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1910-01-20
LEE WAS PROFESSIONALLY THE
GREATEST.

GREATEST.
Who was the greatest general on the
side of the Confederacy? One can in
fancy hear the unanimous shout go up
throughout Dixie, 'Lee!" Ask any
Southern man, and the probability is
that at least 999 out of the thousand
will so reply without the slightest hes
itation. Go North or West and ask the
same question and the same reply Will
come from as many lips. Lee occupies
the position Of primacy beyond dis
pute and without contestant in the
minds of all save an extremely few
with whom some other Southern chief
tain is the favorite.
Senator Culberson, of Texas, has
an ardent interest in the history Of
the war. Several years ago he deter
mined to secure the views of all the
living generals of the Confederacy as
to which of the generals of the South
was, in their opinion, the greatest from
a military standpoint
If the method which Senator CuIber-
son pursued was the correct one, there
can be no doubt that history will name
Gen. Lee the foremost soldier of the
South.
Senator Culberson sent out letters
to forty-four surviving generals of the
Confederate Army, asking them to ex-
press an opinion as to who should be
regarded as the greatest Confederate
Commander. Every one of the old
fighters replied to Senator Culberson's
interrogatory The vote resulted as
follows:
General Robert E. Lee. .........35
General Stonewall Jackson. ..... 4
General Joseph E. Johnson. ....
General j. E. B. Stuart. .... l
General P. G. T. Beauregard or
General Richard Taylor. $3.50.
Undecided 1
The four who regarded Gen. Stone
wall Jackson as a greater military
general than Gen. Lee were Maj. Gen.
Thomas L. Rosser, Gen. John C. Moore,
Gen. B. H. Robertson, Gen. T. M. Lo-
gan.
Gen. Simon B. Buckner expresses
the opinion that had General Albert
Sidney Johnson lived to the end of
the war, his fame as a commander
would have equalled that of General
Lee. Lieutenant General Alexander P.
Stewart believed General Joseph Il.
Johnston greater commander than
General Lee, although he believed Lee
the greater man. Gen. Frank C. Arm
strong says; THE greatest general
the Civil War produced was Gen. R. e.
Lee" He assigns second place to
Stonewall Jackson and says that For
rest was the most remarkable figure
of the war. Gen. F. M. Cockrell, of
Missouri, brigadier under Gen. Jos.
E. Johnston, puts his old commander
in first place. I'm my humble opinion
he says, General Joseph E. Johnston
is entitled to rank as the greatest COM
mander developed ON the Southern
side in the Civil War"
Gen. William r. Cox thinks Gen.
Lee first and indicates some of the
qualities lacking in others: stone
wall Jackson was unequalled as a
strategist, but reckless of the comfort
and lives of his men; Gen. Joseph e.
Johnson a superb organizer but too
cautious" General T. NJ. Logan thinks
the verdict will change. General
Robert E. Lee, in my opinion, is en-
titled to rank as the greatest COM
mander on the Southern side. con-
slider, however, that Lees final place
in history will be as man rather than
as a commander. On the other hand,
General Jackson's place will no doubt
be as the war hero Of the Confederacy,
the commander of all others in that
struggle who represents genius of
war"
Gen. Robert Lowrey, Jackson, Miss,
admits that he cannot reach conclus-
ion, though admitting that the weight
of authority is for giving first place to
General Lee. "The three greatest
commanders, in my opinion" he says,
were General Robert e. Lee, Albert
Sidney Johnston and Joseph E. John
ston. According to the weight of au-
thority, General Lee would hold first
place, General Albert Sidney Johnston
fell in the hard fought battle of Shiloh,
but he had developed elements and re-
sources which marked him as a great,
if not the greatest, commander. Joseph
e. Johnston's theory of war was diff
ferent from that of Gen. Lee and sub
jected to a fair criticism he was not
only a great commander, but was a
strategist without superior General
Stonewall Jackson was a military
genius of the civil war. So. Senator,
as lawyers say sometimes, I am a
hung jury on the question PROFOUND
ed"
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