Glory

PondScum007 · Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2003 11:17 am Post subject:

Lee wasnt "yay goooo slavery!", but "yay goooo the south!"
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[HALO]Pvt_Jenkins · Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 11:22 am Post subject:

Here, sorry to pull this thread out of the gutter, but I just felt like putting my 2 cents in on the subject of Civil War Generals.
I'm going to have to back up Kent here and say that Jackson was unreliable, sure he did have his "foot Cavalry" which was made famous in the Shenandoah Valley, VA but he would some times refuse to fight or march (esp on Sundays) and once during the Peninsular Campaign he slept and forced his troops to stay put and out of action while he slept. Still, he would have done much better if he not Lee was in command. Most people give Robert E Lee to much credit in the Civil War. In each of the South's victories early in the War, if you look at the big 4-year picture, you can see they were defeats. In all cases, Lee allowed the broken Union army to escape and was unable to finish them off. Later in the war he began to make strategic mistakes such as his 2 invasions of the north. His major mistake was Gettysburg, Lee should have done the action recommended by Longstreet but he did not and that brought him defeat. In this campaign, Lee also made tactical errors such as sending Stuart's cavalry on a raid, leaving in blind to the Union Army's movements.
As for Union Generals, people downgrade McClellan to much. McClellan was an excellent organizer and cared a lot for his men. This was his fault as a general, he cared to much for his men and this made him cautious, as he did not want to lose them.
Sherman was a good general, but he seemed to forget that he was fighting Americans. His actions during the war are perhaps the single greatest historical cause for the problems we have here in the states today. AKA racism, KKK, and until very recently, the relative economic backwardness of the South. (referring to the buring of Atlanta, Jackson MS etc)
Grant was not the best General ever either (generally I have a low opinion of American Generals). He was the exact opposite of McClellan and cared little for casualty reduction etc. At Cold Harbor he sent troops directly up-the-gut to entrenched Southerners and got slaughtered in the greatest casualty/time ratio of the war, I think it might be 8000 men to 1/2 hour, but I'm not sure.
Well, as I said, my 2 cents, and sorry again for dragging out an old thread.