American Civil War Generals

Rating the Commanders

by Todd Fisher

[EDITOR'S NOTE]: Todd and I have spoken on the phone several times about this project over the past two years, which should give readers an idea of the enormity of this time-consuming project. While some members may grumble that using so many magazine pages was a waste of time and space for their personal tastes, it is my belief that the article represents one of the finest pieces of research ever presented to this editor for publication. I include in these Editor's Notes an excerpt from Todd's cover letter to me, which may help readers understand how the ranking project was done:

    "As an introduction to the listing, I had often been frustrated by scenarios which had leaders who either had made a brief appearance or showed a marked change in their skill level during the course of the war. As a result, I started this project, which would rate every general and show any changes iii their performance. This was, as you can see a huge project and I am sure that many of your readers will feel that I have slighted one of their favorites. This is inevitable, but I tried to use the same criteria throughout when making the ratings. The yardstick which all were measured against was a general with a rating of "1" for both morale and tactical skill, and an initiative rating of "3". This last number is modified upward if he commanded cavalry during the war. After all the ratings were done, I was pleasantly surprised by the result. The average rating for a Union general was 1.005; the average for the Confederates was 1.074. The average initiative for the Union was 3.26, that for the Confederate was 3.29. All sorts of other games can be played with the numbers and is one of the things people will enjoy most, besides hanging me in effigy.

    The ratings are intended for JOHNNY REB, but can be easily adapted for other systems. Note that every commander gives some bonus. This is to prevent savvy players from keeping poorer commanders as far from the action as possible to avoid potentially bad results. If your system requires troops to be in command radius then you may want to downgrade some of the '0" commanders, Initiative is meant to reflect the commander's activity level when not under the direct eye of a superior. This may mean inactivity or, in a few places, overactivity. Please note that failure to activate does not necessarily mean total failure, but in most cases means failure to achieve desired effect completely. Even Stonewall had his Chickahominy!"

This table lists commander ratings for all Union and Confederate generals in the American Civil War. All officers on either side who at any time during the war held a commission as a brigadier general (or higher rank) are listed. There were 1300 other officers who held only a brevet rank of general; these are not listed. For each general, the table gives his name (and his nickname, if any), whether he was killed or mortally wounded in action ("KIA"), or died of other causes during the war (DOC).

Under "Spec", any specialist ability the officer had is listed. "ENG" indicates a general with exceptional ability as an engineer. "ART" indicates a general who may command an artillery reserve. "Staff" indicates an officer who served only in staff positions. "ORD" is for officers with a backround in the Ordnance Bureau. "MD" indicates some level of medical training.

Referees may use these last three indications as they see fit: we assign no particular significance to them. The ratings are the combat and morale modifiers provided when the general is attached to troops in battle as a brigade, division, or corps/army commander. A dash in a column indicates that the general never commanded troops at that level.

Some generals were more (or less) effective in inspiring their troops than in directing them in battle. These generals receive two ratings separated by "M". The rating after the "M" is the general's rating for morale purposes only. In addition, all generals with a "0" rating are considered to have a "1" rating for morale. Some generals have two rating groups separated by a "/": the second rating applies in a special circumstance indicated by a letter after it. A "D" rating applies when the officer is drunk, and indicates that this officer is known to have been drunk in battle. If the second rating is followed by a year number in parentheses, the second rating applies starting that year. An "A" indicates that a rating can affect artillery fire. An "A" rating may be special, or the "A" may apply to the general's basic rating.

Other suffixes indicate that the special rating applies when the officer commands troops of a particular origin, as follows: N = Negro troops; FL = Florida troops; GA = Georgia troops; LA = Louisiana troops; MS = Mississippi troops; MO = Missouri troops; NC = N. Carolina troops; TN = Tennessee troops; TX = Texas troops; VA = Virginia troops; lnd = Indians.

The column headed "Init" gives each general's initiative rating. "Initiative is the general's ability to act on his own and respond efficiently to orders. The initiative ratings are based on a roll of a six-sided die. Failure may mean inaction, tardiness in various degrees, or even premature or impulsive actions. A "C" after the initiative rating indicates that this officer commanded cavalry at some point in his career.

Commission date is the date of the officer's promotion to the rank of brigadier general, either by a field promotion or by Senate confirmation. Many of these officers commanded brigades as colonels, but the commission date will give a reasonable idea of relative seniority. "P" after the date indicates a general who was posthumously commissioned (Genl. Benjamin Slack was commissioned in the Missouri State Guard. His later CSA commission was posthumous).

ACW General Ratings

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