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The problem with assessing this is the rank structures vary with wars. Thus a LT General in WWII might have been the equivilent of a Major General in the Civil War, in which the Union had no rank higher than Major General (with the sole exception of Grant). So you have to look at contextual factors, importance of command at the time they died, relative senority, in making this judgement.
My guess is that Albert Sydney Johnson (killed at Shiloah) was the most senior US general killed in combat. He was a four star general and I believe second in senority in the confederate army at the time of his death in 1862. He commanded the major confederate army in the West when he was killed.
I assumed that by US we meant American. If you mean a member of the federal army than obviously you are right GS. General James McPherson who commanded the Army of the TN when he was killed may have had similar effective rank as a Lt General Buckner.
Nope. It was for refusing battle that he was tried and shot, "pour encourager les autres".
The more accurate translation is "to encourage the rest." Not bad guidance in today's environment. Perhaps the CEO of BP could be shot, to encourage the rest not to spill oil.
Byng's transgression was not being aggressive enough in a battle with the French fleet. Back then the British expected their admirals to win battles.
The board that convicted him apparently believed he would not actually be shot. They were horrified when he was. It was the automatic punishment for the offense they reluctantly convicted him of. Its doubtful if anyone believed that his death would actually convince British admirals to be more agressive. The linear naval tactics of his era discouraged this - the Battle of the Chesapeake being an obvious example.
The board that convicted him apparently believed he would not actually be shot. They were horrified when he was. It was the automatic punishment for the offense they reluctantly convicted him of. Its doubtful if anyone believed that his death would actually convince British admirals to be more agressive. The linear naval tactics of his era discouraged this - the Battle of the Chesapeake being an obvious example.
Actually it's pretty well accepted that his execution did exactly that. Even after the death sentence was no longer mandatory, the British officer corp was know worldwide for their aggressive tactics. One of the best example post Byng was Nelson at Trafalgar.
Note that while the court may have been shocked by the death sentence, King George wasn't and even today the British Admiralty has refused all attempts by Byng's family to have his name cleared.
the British officer corp was know worldwide for their aggressive tactics. One of the best example post Byng was Nelson at Trafalgar.
The tactics became more agressive not because of Byng, but because the Standing Orders that dated from the late 17th century and required British fleets to form rigid lines was abandoned. And that occured because of the genius of Horatio Nelson. I know of no evidence that his actions were tied to the execution of Byng.
Indeed if you look at British naval tactics throughout the American revolution, including its operations in Europe and India they were remarkably lacking in agressiveness. At the battle of chesapeake after an inconclusive bombardment the british fleet abandoned the harbor and Cornwallis to his fate. Had the Byng trial really mattered, that would never have occured. The same thing occured in the Indian campaign where the French admiral Suffren inflicted a series of defeats on the British - the only time in the age of sail that occured at near equal odds.
Byng was executed in 1757, well before the revolution. The new agressiveness came from 1781 on (at Ushant) under admirals like Howe and Rodney who happened to be personally agressive. It really came into its own only after Nelson abandoned the special orders nearly a half century after Byng's execution.
To be technical, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as US armed forces Commander-in-Chief, was the highst-ranking US casualty in WWII. I remember that his name was listed with other war dead listed on 13 April 1945.
No one has mentioned in this thread (unless I missed it) RADM Isaac Campell Kidd, who died on the bridge of BB _Arizona_ at Pearl Harbor. The legend is that all they found of him was his Annapolis class ring, blast welded to the binnacle.
Stanley Sandler
If you ever want to see a large group of people suddenly become silent,without anyone asking for quiet,go to the Arizona Memorial,it is both serene and stunning.
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