I’m no fan of the CSA by any stretch, but anybody who thinks the following men were “sick, weak people” is delusional.
RE Lee, NB Forrest, JEB Stuart, Stonewall Jackson, Patrick Cleburne, JS Mosby, Richard Taylor, JB Hood, Raphael Semmes.
And there are literally many thousands more. I’ve been called anti-southern on this forum, but I recognize and honor the valor of those who fought for what they believed in, however much I disagree with their cause.
I suspect you would find it quite impossible to find any of their opponents who ever referred to them as “sick, weak people.” LOL
I said that "[s]laveholders as a class had become sick, weak people by the 1860's and that weakness was reflected in the weak, incompetent decisions that they made." I don't know how anyone can read Mississippi's declaration of "secession" and conclude otherwise. The slaveholders go on and on and on in that document about their parasitic institution of slavery (by which they lived off the stolen labor of others), that they had become totally dependent upon their slaves because "none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun," that their parasitic relationship to slaves was being threatened by "mandates of abolition," and that they felt that they were being forced to choose between "submission to the mandates of abolition" or "dissolution of the union." Then, toward the end of the document, they confess that it wasn't really even a matter of choice ("[Secession] is not a matter of choice, but of necessity.") That's the language of an addict - "I cannot give up my habit." As a class, the slaveholders could see no way forward in a world without slaves to take care of them, a world in which they would have to become self-reliant and capable of caring for and supporting themselves. .
These people were so enveloped in their culture of dependency that they were prepared to risk the lives, the property and the individual rights of each of their neighbors (many of whom had nothing to do with slavery) so that they wouldn't have to stand on their own two feet and face the world without their slaves to care for and support them. It doesn't get much sicker than that. If at times you forget just how weak and pathetic this class of people had become, then just pick up their declaration of "secession" and read it again.
Reluctantly, Lincoln rescued the slaveholders from their addiction to slavery. It's a shame that he wasn't around to personally assist with the reconstruction of these folks because I think he would have done a much better job of that than the Congress which survived him.
Like I say, most Southerners today are very grateful that Lincoln and the Union freed the slaves and most are also grateful that Lincoln and the Union freed the slaveholders from their own sick addiction to slavery. Descendants of slaveholders can thank Lincoln for any self-respect and self-reliance that they now enjoy.
Again, there simply was nothing that was noble or romantic about the slaveholders' role in any of this. I feel very sorry for anyone who worships them or their cause.