If I may: it's an interesting thing with Lee's two invasions of the North which demonstrates an important military dynamic. In both Sharpsburg and Gettysburg when Lee invaded he more or less immediately lost his ability to effectively maneuver. In his famous battles in defense of Richmond, he and the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia were able to pull of really dazzling maneuvers that were simply beyond the capacity of McClellan or Hooker to handle. With tiny forces, a lot of deception, and a will cut of steel, he sent stronger forces into retreat. When he actually invaded the North well...he ran into all of the problems that Northerners had trying to invade the South. That is, he could hardly pull of the fast movements and routing counterattacks that make him so famous.
While Lee was no doubt an incomparable military genius, I think that he really was far more of a defensive genius than an offensive genius. I recently read Catton's book _Grant Takes Command_ which chronicles the last 18 months of the war, the portion people don't talk about much because the glory fades just as the bloodshed gets blown up to near WWI levels. It's an interesting thing to consider that Grant in his first major battle --- The Wilderness --- lost about the same number of men as Hooker did at Chancellorsville. The difference, of course, is that Hooker became as an aide de camp wrote "A whipped dog," whereas Grant grimly took the Army of the Potomac further south in a flanking movement to Spotsylvania.
I've found it helpful to contemplate the difference between Lee and Grant. Lee was the better general on technical grounds, but Grant clearly had the stronger will of the two. Lee never pulled off a Ft. Donelson, let alone a Vicksburg or a Battle of Chattanooga. The difference to my mind really illustrates the spooky and immense power that the will has. Before the war, Grant was, after all, a loser. And even during his rise, polite society found him baffling since he always looked like a nobody. When secretary of war Stanton met him for the first time, he at first confused Grant's doctor for Grant and shook the doctor's hand rather than the generals! And yet, the little, quiet man, who looked like no one in particular, and people could never find in a crowd, had the will that ultimately prevailed in the Civil War.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2021-03-08 07:01 pm (UTC)If I may: it's an interesting thing with Lee's two invasions of the North which demonstrates an important military dynamic. In both Sharpsburg and Gettysburg when Lee invaded he more or less immediately lost his ability to effectively maneuver. In his famous battles in defense of Richmond, he and the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia were able to pull of really dazzling maneuvers that were simply beyond the capacity of McClellan or Hooker to handle. With tiny forces, a lot of deception, and a will cut of steel, he sent stronger forces into retreat. When he actually invaded the North well...he ran into all of the problems that Northerners had trying to invade the South. That is, he could hardly pull of the fast movements and routing counterattacks that make him so famous.
While Lee was no doubt an incomparable military genius, I think that he really was far more of a defensive genius than an offensive genius. I recently read Catton's book _Grant Takes Command_ which chronicles the last 18 months of the war, the portion people don't talk about much because the glory fades just as the bloodshed gets blown up to near WWI levels. It's an interesting thing to consider that Grant in his first major battle --- The Wilderness --- lost about the same number of men as Hooker did at Chancellorsville. The difference, of course, is that Hooker became as an aide de camp wrote "A whipped dog," whereas Grant grimly took the Army of the Potomac further south in a flanking movement to Spotsylvania.
I've found it helpful to contemplate the difference between Lee and Grant. Lee was the better general on technical grounds, but Grant clearly had the stronger will of the two. Lee never pulled off a Ft. Donelson, let alone a Vicksburg or a Battle of Chattanooga. The difference to my mind really illustrates the spooky and immense power that the will has. Before the war, Grant was, after all, a loser. And even during his rise, polite society found him baffling since he always looked like a nobody. When secretary of war Stanton met him for the first time, he at first confused Grant's doctor for Grant and shook the doctor's hand rather than the generals! And yet, the little, quiet man, who looked like no one in particular, and people could never find in a crowd, had the will that ultimately prevailed in the Civil War.