Union Brigadier General Truman Seymour
My vote for worst General goes to Union Brigadier General Truman Seymour. Who is he you might ask? General Seymour was in charge of the doomed Union expedition that left Jacksonville, Florida and headed inland for the eventual Battle of Olustee, FL on February 20, 1864. Some of the mistakes made prior to and during the initial engagement sealed the Union troops fate.
First, his troops marched through enemy territory in a column formation without proper flanking support or advance skirmishers to warn of any confederate troops or movement. Luckily for him, all of the confederate troops were in front of his columns. Had the General deployed advance scouts, he would have been able to foresee the Confederate organization and entrenchment's that lay ahead.
Second, he ordered the 7th New Hampshire Infantry to exchange their new Spencer repeating rifles for the Springfield rifle-muskets of the 40th Massachusetts Mounted Infantry. Unfortunately, a large number of the Springfield rifles were in very poor condition, lacking bayonets and not being in working order. During the battle, the 40th MA saw little action on the flanks, while the 7th NH was in a key position in the Union line of battle. Their eventual withdrawal and retreat was only inevitable.
Third, infantry units were ordered forward into battle piecemeal, thus allowing the solid, confederate line to decimate the Union troops. Some units, as in the case of the 8th United States Colored Infantry, were ordered into line of battle with unloaded rifles. The result was a casualty rating for this unit that was one of the highest during the entire war.
Lastly, despite having 16 artillery field pieces versus 12 confederate artillery pieces, he chose to deploy the guns in line with the infantry, sometimes within 500 feet of the firing enemy. The unfortunate result was that most limber horses were shot down and many artillerists before even firing a shot. The Union would abandon and lose 6 guns captured by the enemy that day.
The only saving grace for the battered Union troops that day was the fact that the Confederate line ran out of ammunition briefly towards the end of the battle, allowing the Union troops to withdraw in order. The Confederates also failed to pursue the enemy, a mixture of fatigue and actions on the battlefield such as the slaughter of most wounded Union Negro Soldiers left on the field of battle at Olustee Station.
For more information about Olustee go to their website at: http://extlab7.entnem.ufl.edu/Olustee
Also check out these books:
The Battle of Olustee and the Olustee Battlefield Site: A Brief History, Volume I. Author: Olustee Battlefield Citizens Support Organization Publisher: Renaissance Printing Copyright Date: 1992, 1995
Confederate Florida: The Road to Olustee Author: William H. Nulty Publisher: The University of Alabama Press
Copyright Date: 1990
The Confederate Roll of Honor: Southern Casualties at the Battle of Olustee Author: Russell A. Alexander & David J. Coles Publisher: Olustee Battlefield Citizens' Support Organization Copyright Date: 1997
Men and Arms: Sketches of the Commanders and Units of the Olustee Campaign Author: David J. Coles; Olustee Battlefield Citizens Support Organization Publisher: Renaissance Printing Copyright Date: 1995
Mail with a Meaning Who is the Worst General of the ACW?
Back to Table of Contents -- ACW Newsletter # 2
Back to ACW Newsletter List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Magazine List
© Copyright 2004 by Marc Shefelton.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com