it's one of the great might have beens...
It's one of the great might have beens....
Obviously, Sheridan performed well enough to keep Grant happy, which suggests some of the modern revisionist work is missing the point, but Buford did well at the brigade and divisional level, so it's certainly a reasonable posit he could handle a corps-level command.
Of course, he may have topped out at divisional command, as well.
He does seem like the sort of soldier Grant would get along well with, and command relationships are and were key.
Sheridan was the only Western corps commander Grant brought to the East, so there's that question as well.
Best,
