[GCFL-discuss] George H. Thomas

[Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List]

I just started reading a biography of General George H. Thomas. The
author believes Thomas may be the greatest general of the civil war.
There is good foundation for that conclusion: unlike Grant, Lee and
Sherman, he never poured troops into mass slaughter that accomplished
nothing. "He poured his men into battle only when it counted, and when it
counted, he prevailed." No other general saved two union armies from
annihilation, and destroyed two confederate armies. Unfortunately, he
died in 1870 before writing his memoirs, and those who did write their
memoirs were interested in building up themselves. Since everyone chooses
their favorite generals based on where they live or grew up, Thomas could
be a kind of unifying figure, born and raised in Virginia, a friend of
Lee at West Point, who retained his commission in the United States Army
in 1861.

I'd have to give Lee one accomplishment nobody else matched: taking an
army less than half the size of McClellan's, dividing it into still
smaller parts, then winning several battles over seven days, by moving
fast and convincing McClellan that Lee outnumbered him 3 to 1. Thomas
came closest when three fifths of the union army was in disorderly rout
at Chatanooga, and he pulled the rest together to hold their ground and
allow for an orderly retreat.

Siarlys
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