Gideon Davis Set Up For Failure Essay

The Army of Tennessee was set up for failure from the beginning because of Confederate President Jefferson Davis’s decisions, when it came to allocating generals and resources. With Davis’s primary focus on the Army of Virginia, the Army of Tennessee fell on the back burner and ultimately led to the overall defeat of the Confederacy and the end of the Civil War. His poor choice in generals to lead the Army of Tennessee led to ineffective communication, poor planning, and lack of supplies amongst the army throughout the entire war. Gideon Pillows lack of respect for Davis was shown as he commanded the Army of Tennessee originally, as well as his lack to follow orders and communicate effectively to the capital on his whereabouts and problems

This was a struggle for the Army of Tennessee as they suffered with ways to get it. The main railway was cut off between the east and west confederacy leaving the Army of Tennessee in a bigger bind. Although, they may have not been as depended on it, “To add insult to injury the East Tennessee rail line drained off troops to guard its bridges, yards, and depots, but it rarely brought supplies or reinforcements to the Army of Tennessee.” Many letters were sent in desperation, but were ignored by President Davis. This only put another strain on the western army as well as the Anaconda plan. They were slowly forced out of western territories due to Union forces and were growing weaker as the war went

Was it because of Lee, victories, or the capital? All these reasons would be true, but the main reason would be Lee. Lee lacked training from an institution, but showed a great skill in leadership when he fought in the United States army before the succession. Once the commander of the Army of Virginia, he showed effective communication with Davis and was able to secure many victories with his strategic planning. Lee knew how important it was to prevent the capital from falling during the Civil War, which is why he protected it with everything. If the capital fell, the moral of the people who supported the confederacy would fall. Just like it did with Sherman’s March to the Sea and Carolinas. Once the support was lost it will be even harder to continue. Many argue that if the Army of Tennessee had a commander as great as Lee that the Confederacy might of won. However, given the odds of the Union, the Confederacy would of still fell, but it would of taken longer. Another issue at hand was Davis, many of the commanders he appointed to command the Army of Tennessee were egotistical and felt that they were demoted or not receiving the recognition they deserved. Davis bond with Lee probably prevented him from finding another great