The Importance Of Major General William S. Rosecrans

(Need Intro Sentence) Major General William S. Rosecrans was a great charmer and extremely charismatic. Immediately, upon his promotion to commander of the Army of the Cumberland, his troops loved and respected him.1 He was also, quick-tempered and would not hold back his hot headed opinions.2 This caused him to bump heads with the Secretary of Defense.3 While MG Rosecrans’ senior generals trusted him, his temper caused issues during the battle at Chickamauga.4 For instance, General Rosecran directed one of his staff officer, Major Frank S. Bond to write a dispatch to Brigadier General Thomas Wood stating if BG Brannan moves his men then BG Wood must close his line to the left of ____ Reynolds. Major Bond wrote, “The general commanding

Upon receiving the orders BG Wood discussed with Colonel Lyne Starling, the officer who delivered the message, that there was no gap in the line. Colonel Starling stated if there was no gap then there is no order since the point of the order was to close a gap. BG Wood preceded to determine the meaning of the order. The order BG Wood received did not make sense, since BG Brannan had not moved his division. BG Wood had multiple options, he could have tried to find out the purpose of the order or he could have just ignored the order. Ultimately, he choose to follow the ambiguous order, even though, MG Rosecrans was only a short distance away. This decision was likely made based on an emotional reason. Freshly on BG Wood’s mind was the dress-down that he received from General Rosecrans. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of another of MG Rosecrans’ temper, BG Wood followed the order, even though, he knew that moving would create a gap in the line.5 Part of creating cohesive teams through mutual trust is creating an environment where your subordinates not only trust your decisions, but also trust that you will be open to their input. Based on BG Wood’s past experiences with MG Rosecrans, he determined that it was not worth it to question MG

During the Battle of Chickamauga, MG Rosecrans did just that. He was not open to the opinions of others, including one of his most respected generals, Major General George Henry Thomas. In early September MG Rosecrans was preparing his forces to crush General Bragg’s confederate army. On September 9, MG Thomas met with MG Rosecrans to discuss the next course of action for his unit. During this meeting MG Thomas found that MG Rosecrans decided that the Army of Cumberland would immediately pursue the confederate army. MG Thomas advised to keep the army around Chattanooga in order to better prepare for upcoming frontward assault into the southern territory. MG Rosecrans overruled him.6 Part of the reason for not heeding MG Thomas’s advice was that MG Rosecrans was being pressured by the authorities in Washington to advance against the Confederate Army.7 Feeling pressure from his supiors made MG Rosecrans deaf to MG Thomas’s cautious suggestion and carelessly sure that his forces would sustain a ____ win against the enemy. By making deciding by himself, to pursue the enemy, MG Rosecrans did not listen his subordinate’s opinions and ideas. Part of this failure to have an open dialog with his subordinates is because MG Rosecrans was not given another choice; he had to advance on the enemy. By waiting the Army