Joseph Wheeler

I think that those were just absolutely asinine moves.

It also gets Joe Wheeler the idea to do that out west, and Wheeler wasn't half the horseman that Jeb Stewart was.

So for Jeb Stewart, I agree.

I think he is one of the finest division commanders, and we can get into him a little bit more because, again, I think Dan wants to talk a little bit more about Jeb Stewart later on.

By the way, Dan, my compliments on throwing us astray.

Oh, is he going to pick Hampton and then go in another direction? Really cool.

I think he's one of those U.S. senators, too, who also was a fighter in the Spanish-American War like Joe Wheeler.

So following the Cav tradition of living long and fighting in the next war, go Butler.

johnston had an almost uncanny ability to win the support of his subordinates an arkansas officer who met the southern commander in early eighteen sixty four noted in his diary general johnston is about fifty years of age is quite gray and has a spare form an intelligent face and an expressive blue eye he was very polite raising his cap to me after the introduction unfortunately for the confederacy johnston was also secretive stubborn when dealing with his superiors petulant and too prone to see difficulties rather than opportunities he constantly worried about defeat and retreat and was hesitant to act in sum he was a man whose personality prevented him from effectively utilizing his many abilities At the beginning of May, the 55,000 men of Johnston's army were concentrated around Dalton, Georgia, 35 miles southeast of Chattanooga.

The southern force consisted of two infantry corps commanded by Lieutenant Generals William J. Hardy and John Bell Hood, and a cavalry corps led by Major General Joseph Wheeler.

What Johnston would do with these troops was still very much in doubt.

The Confederate government wanted him to march into Tennessee and reestablish Southern authority over that crucial state.

If you read soldiers' letters from the Civil War era, all it is is complaining about how hungry they are and how miserable they are.

Still, the Union and Confederate commanders drove their soldiers hard in what would look like a race for Kentucky.

And the Confederates were winning, at least at first.

They took several towns, but then Bragg's forces got bogged down at Mumfordville.

So on September 29th, 1862, he was surprised to learn that he had been fired and replaced by General George Thomas.

But then, that didn't happen.

Thomas wrote to their boss, General-in-Chief Henry Halleck, saying that it didn't make sense to switch out commanders in the middle of an active campaign.

Halleck agreed, leaving Buell in place, even though he had already learned he'd been fired.

At the beginning of May, the fifty-five thousand men of Johnston's army were concentrated around Dalton, Georgia, thirty-five miles southeast of Chattanooga.

The Southern force consisted of two infantry corps commanded by Lieutenant Generals William J. Hardee and John Bell Hood and a cavalry corps led by Major General Joseph Wheeler.

What Johnston would do with these troops was still very much in doubt.

The Confederate government wanted him to march into Tennessee and reestablish Southern authority over that crucial state.

From the start, both raids were badly managed.

Much of the blame must rest upon Stoneman, who chose to go directly to Macon rather than follow orders.

The scattered Federals were faced by a well-handled Confederate force led by Wheeler.

Except for Stoneman's column, the Northern horsemen were driven back to Sherman's lines after destroying some Confederate supplies.