re: Who was the Unions greatest soldier?

My great, great grandpappy, Rowbear1822

John Darling Terry, Medal of Honor recipient

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Union won

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All that matters. ????

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Washington style guerilla war

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What? Do you realize that Washington commanded the Continental Army, a conventional force that fought British Army head-to-head, and not some guerrilla force? And Giap defeated the French as well. Did they make the same missteps as the “State Department” (I thought the Department of Defense was responsible for wars)? Both men were smart enough to, as Clausewitz points out, recognize the type of war they were fighting and adopt a Fabian strategy designed to help them win.
Come back after you’ve covered the Civil War in social studies.

Had to be Sherman, didn’t he burn Atlanta? Has to be given extra points for that.

OP said Soldier, lot of people in here talking Generals. To me a soldier is someone doing the actual killin.

To answer the question, I have no idea. I’m sure there had to be some badarses though.

Seconding Upton and adding Ranald S. McKenzie, John Gibbon, Nelson A. Miles, and A.P. Hovey for consideration. Not “Leaders” who are widely remembered at the operational level, but hard fighters who excelled at the tactical level and were the “go to” men when Hancock, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, etc., were in a fix. McKenzie, for example, graduated West Point in the War’s second year and commanded a Cavalry Corps by its end. Although I mentioned Hovey explicitly, there were quite a few Division and Brigade Commanders in the Army of the Cumberland, Army of the Tennessee, and Army of the Ohio who were on equal if not better footing than their opposites, especially during the Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Atlanta Campaigns.