re: Better Confederate General: Jackson or Longstreet?

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But without Jackson's performance in the Valley and later reinforcing Lee outside of Richmond the Confederacy would have ended there.


The war should have ended even with Jackson's reinforcing of Lee before the Seven Days Campaign. Lee's attacks against McClellan's lines were tactical failures that cost Lee twice the casualties that he inflicted. It was McClellan's generalship (or lack thereof) that caused the Union army to lose the campaign.

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Grant was also enabled by Joe Johnston's failure and Pemberton's incompetence at Vicksburg. IMO Uncle Joe was loved by his troops but he was a failure as a Confederate general. All one needs to do is research Joe Johnston's campaigns during the war.
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Nathaniel Banks, John C. Fremont, Robert Schenck and James Shields (the commanders Jackson faced in the Valley) weren't exactly military geniuses either.

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The only tactical failure that Lee had during the Seven Days was Malvern Hill. He could have and should have destroyed the entire Union army at Glendale ( Fraysers Farm and White Oak Swamp). Lee also suffered only about 5 thousand more causualties during the Seven Days that McClellan suffered.

I would also say that Lee's strategy of seizing and holding onto the initiative to counter the Federal numbers had as much to do in the result of the campaign as did McClellan's generalship. McClellan only outnumbered Lee by about 10-20,000 troops.