It's closing in on Christmas, so my high school sophomore (where the hell has the time gone?) is closing in on finals. So let's grade the generals.  Provide for me, if you will, a letter grade for the following generals and their respective campaigns, along with a brief explanation for why you believe the grade appropriate.  Those not providing reasoning may consider their grade to be refuted at will. Hopefully these are all army commanders, during their tenure as commanders. Feel free to snip away, and handle one general at a time if you wish.  But be consistent, an A for one general has to have the same resoning as an A for another: U.S. Grant - Ft. Henry through Shilon U.S. Grant - Vicksburg Campaign U.S. Grant - Overland Campaign U.S. Grant - Richmond / Petersburg Siege thru Appomattox Irwin McDowell - First Manassas Campaign George B. McClellan - West Virginia Campaign George B. McClellan - Peninsula Campaign George B. MClellan - Antietam Campaign John Pope - Second Manassas Campaign Ambrose Burnside - Fredericksburg / Mud March Ambrose Burnside - Knoxville Campaign Joe Hooker - Chancellorsville Campaign George Meade - Gettysburg Campaign George Meade - Overland Campaign George Meade - Richmond / Petersburg Siege thru Appomattox Phil Sheridan - Valley Campaign of '64 Phil Sheridan - Cavalry Command 64-65 Don Carlos Buell - post Corinth thru Perryville Samuel R. Curtis - Pea Ridge William S. Rosecrans - Iuka Corinth Campaign William S. Rosecrans - Tullahoma / Chickamauga Campaign William S. Rosecrans - Siege of Chattanooga William T. Sherman - Atlanta Campaign WIlliam T. Sherman - March to the Sea William T. Sherman - Carolinas Campaign of 65 George Thomas - Spring Hill through Nashville, 64 Nathaniel P. Banks - Red River Campaign

William T. Sherman - Carolinas Campaign of 65 B-:  His planning and leadership in getting through the Salkahatchie swamps was outstanding, but he gave Johnston an opening at Bentonville which could have been disastrous. I'll do some of the others later. JFE James F. Epperson http://members.aol.com/jfepperson/causes.html A student who changes the course of history is usually taking an exam

Phil Sheridan - Cavalry Command 64-65 C:  He did poorly at the outset, ignoring the scouting and screening aspect of cavalry command, but he got better.  His victory at Yellow Tavern is to a great extent cancelled by his defeat at Trevilian Station. James F. Epperson http://members.aol.com/jfepperson/causes.html A student who changes the course of history is usually taking an exam

George Meade - Gettysburg Campaign B+.  He made all the right decisions, right up to the point when Lee was able to cross back into Virginia.  No, I don't think he could have gone after him in hot pursuit, but that pursuit could have been a little hotter. I have to give Hooker a bit of this grade too.  For his part, I'd add that at least part of Meade's B+ is due to Hooker's A-. ... That's all the Union generals than I care to think about right now, and I'm rapidly approaching the punk.  Personal animosity should not colour my grading scale.  

But, he's the army commander and gets the grade. Sorry, not army commander like Meade was the army commander.

U.S. Grant - Overland Campaign C.  One might argue that the course he took was inventive, but I'd argue this falls in the realm of him not deserving a higher mark simply because everyone else had performed so poorly.  What inventiveness did occur is then mitigated by blunders at Cold Harbor. A lot of mistakes were made, some of which were his fault directly, many of which were not.  But, he's the army commander and gets the grade. Grant's Vicksburg Campaign was facing the Junior Varsity.  Here Grant faces the reigning varsity champion and holds his own.  His operations in the Wilderness were bloody but necessary.  He deserves a great deal of credit for maintaining focus on the Brock Road/Plank Road intersection rather than just plowing into the Confederate left flank.  By maintaining a North/South battle line rather than falling back to a more comfortable East/West battle line, Grant left himself the ability to thrust southward(B+). The move south from the Wilderness was decisive, and nearly cut the Confederates off from Richmond.  The Confederate units arrived at Spotsylvania a mere minutes ahead of their federal counterparts.  The mass assault on the bloody angle at Spotsylvania was innovative and daring, and rendered the Confederate positions untenable.  (B+) Grant's realization that Lee had set a trap for him at North Anna probably saved him a division or more. (A) Grant's move to Cold Harbor would have been brilliant, minus the delays and snafus.  The delays gave the Confederate army *just* enough time to dig two lines of rifle pits, gun emplacments, and abatis, rendering the position impenetrable.  However, the geography of the terrain eliminated any possibility of advanced intelligence of this fact.  Sometimes, bad things just happen to good people (D). The move south of the James was decisive and caught the Confederates completely by surprise. (A+) Cumulative grade: B+