The fact of the matter is that these arrogant revisionist historians can't overcome the fact that he was immensely successful for three years in holding the Union armies back in the East, and that he was a true Christian and gentleman who was fighting for his "country" Virginia, and the original Constitution as he viewed it.
Ping.
Robert E. Lee was a brilliant general and, by all accounts, a gentleman. However, he also violated the oath he took as an officer in the United States Army and took up arms against his country. He was a traitor and should have been treated as such.
As an Arizonan, and thus beside, if not above the fray, there are a few observations I would like to make about General Lee.
First and foremost, by all accounts he was a gentleman, in the truest sense of the word. As such, he stands out from both sides in the conflict in trying to maintain honor at the cusp of a more genteel age and the insane brutality of the industrial age.
He was seriously handicapped in many ways. First and foremost, his age, which also penalized much of the command staff of the Confederacy, compared to the Union command staff, who on average were far younger.
The political organization of the Confederacy, as well as the military, left much to be desired, and severely hindered Lee’s war effort. Learned, professional soldiers were still a rarity on either side, and only long after the war did W.T. Sherman found the Command School to train senior officers in the arts of war. During the war, many senior officers on both sides were eccentric, unstable, and incompetent.
A very strong argument can be made that Lee’s defeat at Gettysburg, however, can be attributed to Lee’s scholarship. Specifically, when looking at the battleground and distribution of forces, it was irresistible to Lee to see the comparison with the Napoleonic battle of Austerlitz, perhaps the most studied battle of all time, and regarded as a masterpiece of tactics and maneuver.
Despite the very determined advice of his capable subordinates, who kept their objectivity, and had little doubt that to carry out Lee’s orders would be disastrous, Lee, who was exhausted, decided to repeat history to devastating effect against the Union forces.
And Gettysburg was not Austerlitz.
The war between the states was not one to free the slaves until AFTER Antietem, and then only by decree from Lincoln. it was at first a war to preserve the Union, to force the seceding states back into the nation.
The states and a lot of the founding fathers had little faith in a central government, and knew that would be a detriment to their way of life.
Lee believed that and Virginia was his 'country' if you will. The Emancipation Proclimation condemned the South to fight for a cause that was not an issue for a lot of them.
Lee was respected by the North, and loved by the men of the South. He could inspire them to great things, but could not make up for poor nutrition, poor clothing, poor armaments. The Napolianic theory of the 'great battle' was over due to advances in riflery and artillery. But niether side had any real 'thinkers' who realized this evolution until Grant.
Excellent post! Thanks.
One of the most brilliant military minds to come out of West Point.
And he fought against the USA.
Doesn’t say much for West Point.