using tactics no American commander ever would have used after Picket's charge...
The test is from England, but American tests were almost as challenging. Have a look some time at American Algebra texts from the early 1900s. The notion of teaching even a tiny fraction of that material (at that level) to current American students is ludicrous.
And as for using the best and the brightest as cannon fodder, that's nothing new in history. In the opening lines of his "Theaetetus", Plato allows Socrates to assail (in a subtle way) the stupidity of Athen's political leaders as shown by their willingness to send a young genius, Theaetetus, into a vicious battle which ended up costing him his life.
Well . . . except at COld Harbor.