The Worst Military Commander in American HistoryGideon J. Pillow was a lawyer, politician, and good

The Worst Military Commander in American HistoryGideon J. Pillow was a lawyer, politician, and good friend to President James K. Polk.  Because of his connections Pillow was granted a commission as a Major General when war broke out with Mexico in 1846.  The problem was that Pillow had absolutely no military experience or know how in military command.  Regardless Pillow was granted command of a corps and marched off to battle.    One of his biggest mistakes during his command in Mexico was when he was tasked to hold a small town called Camargo.  In a stroke of military genius, he ordered fortifications built but had the trenches dug on the wrong side of the fortifications,thus leaving his men’s back turned to the enemy and exposed.  After unimpressive performance during the Mexican American War, Pillow made one of the biggest political blunders of his career.  Anonymously writing to several newspapers, he took credit for major victories that had occurred during the war, including those of Gen. Winfield Scott, who was the commander of US forces in Mexico.  He also conducted a campaign of slander and libel against his fellow officers in a bid to polish his image and exaggerate his role in the war.  When he was outed as the anonymous author, he was arrested and court-martialed.  He managed to save his own butt, however, by paying a Major Archibald W. Burns to admit authorship and take the fall for him.    With the onset of the American Civil War, Gideon Pillow was again granted a commission as a general, this time with the Confederate Army. During the Civil War the Union was especially notorious for placing command in the hands of idiots and the incompetent.  Pillow is proof that the Confederacy had some pretty smelly stinkers as well. With the rank of brigadier general, he was given co-command of Fort Donelson along the Cumberland River.  In 1862 the fort was surrounded and placed under siege by the forces of Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.  Gen. Pillow decided that the best course of action was to go on the offensive and try to open an escape route.  The assault was successful, but inexplicably, Pillow ordered his troops to pull back right when it seemed that they were victorious.  Pillow ordered his men to surrender, but as they were surrendering he escaped across the Cumberland River on a small rowboat. Grant himself remarked that he was glad Pillow had escaped and returned to the Confederate Army, “where he could do the most good for the Union cause.”    After the faux pas at Fort Donelson, Pillow was again given a brigade, this time under the command of Maj. Gen. John C. Beckinridge.  On the second day of The Battle of Stones River, Beckinridge gave orders for Pillow to support him on an assault against Union lines.  Beckinridge and his men moved out, but Pillow panicked and ordered his men to halt the attack.  As a result Beckinridge’s assault was a disaster and Beckinridge was dismayed to find Pillow cowering behind a tree.  After the battle Pillow tried to pin blame for the failure on Gen. Beckinridge.    After The Battle of Stones River Pillow was removed from command and given simple desk jobs.  After the war he resumed his career as an attorney.  He died in 1877 at the age of 72. -- source link

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