So, who do think was the best on each side?
IMO, the Civil War was the war with the most lessons to teach that went unheeded by those who followed in subsequent wars.
North: William Tecumseh Sherman
I think Sherman was the best on either side. Lee was masterful and Grant was ferociously determined. But, Sherman was the one who cracked the hard shell of the CAS and scooped out the rotten, gooey center. He tore out the CAS' heart and stomped that sucker flat (all respect to Lewis Grizzard).
Sherman understood it was a clash of civilizations and waged a war on the Confederates' very civilization, not just its armies, when he had the opportunity.
South: James Longstreet
This was more difficult than the WTS pick. Jackson's performance in the Shenandoah Valley was a masterful use of cartography and movement. I give the nod to Longstreet, because he was the first to understand the nature of the changed battlefield and he was the first to put into practice the tactics to cope with those changes.
HM: Nathan Bedford Forrest
His mounted infantry approach to move as fast as the transport would take him to the point of decision, allowed him to do more with lesser numbers than anyone during the war.
So, what think you?