Don Wildman

They are guilty of not pursuing the troops that they have either stunned or defeated for the time being.

We're going to talk about a big example of this in a moment.

This seems to be a common trait.

There are so many notes on my page about things that he is known to have done that were just so despicable.

Sending a soldier to ride into enemy fire to collect harnesses off of dead horses.

Questionable idea.

One soldier actually tried to kill him.

A 12-pound shell under his cot.

Brag uninjured, remarkably.

He orders the execution of a 19-year-old for going home to his mother because of desertion, which I suppose is understandable, but many appeals by other generals he ignored.

This is a way to really disrespect your troops, isn't it?

Most of these guys distinguish themselves, as you said before, with large egos.

That certainly applies to our next worst.

I really want to talk about this guy.

General George McClellan, for a time the commander of the Army of the Potomac, the major commander under Lincoln at the beginning of the war.

Caveat on McClellan.

His fatal flaw seems to be over-preparation.

He was much respected and even a military prodigy at West Point.

His skill was in building and training an army, much loved by his troops, the opposite of a brag, loathed by Lincoln in the end.

But you wonder where it came from, whether it was cowardice, which people tend to think of, or whether he was just a kind of too compulsive about his army preparations.