Lincoln's Political Generals

The Battlefield Performance of Seven Controversial Appointees

Lincoln’s most controversial generals—his so-called “political generals”—were appointed, promoted or kept in service for political purposes without regard for their competence. “It seems but little better than murder,” the Army’s general in chief, Henry Halleck, protested, “to give important commands to such men.” The book shows these seven generals—Butler, Banks, Sigel, Frémont, McClernand, Hurlbut and Wallace—in action, allowing readers to decide for themselves if Halleck was right in his withering assessment of Lincoln’s political generals.