Posted on 06/03/2019 5:19:21 AM PDT by Bull Snipe
Union General George Meade launches 3 corps of his Army of the Potomac against the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia’s works near Cold Harbor. Meade’s assault is a failure. Over 7000 Union casualties and not one foot of ground gained. Lieutenant General Grant, in ordering Meade to make the attack, called it the worst mistake he ever made.
Not to let McClellan off the hook but he was also aided by Alan Pinkerton and his wild estimates. Being overly concerned about what Lee was planning was a common failing among many of the early Union commanders. Grant himself summed up his feelings when he told one of his subordinates, “Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Lee is going to do. Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do.”
That's what it took to win the war.
It is tiresome to engage them.
Yeah, you’re probably pretty tuckered out what with all the strawman stuffing you’ve been doing.
Have fun tearing down some statues.
Like that crap right there.
Successful generalship involves being able to effectively use the resources available to accomplish the mission.
A "great" general is one who wins against an equal or greater enemy by use of clever tactics. Winning against a lesser enemy does not make one "great."
Cite a history of the war written before 1965 that portrays Lee as a “villain”
a great general is one that wins the war he is involved in.
A great general uses the resources at hand to achieve victory.
Now you are invoking "Deus ex machina."
Against overwhelming odds, a great general is still going to lose eventually.
Consider the Spartans at Thermopylae. Who was great? The Spartans or the Persians?
I think you and I have different ideas about what constitutes "great."
Frederick the Great was a great General, but if the Russians hadn't called back their forces, he would have been a dead general. He got lucky.
Neither were great, they were opposing forces in a war. For starters, the Spartans were in a minority at Thermopylea. They lost the battle, the Persians sacked Athens. Persians forces withdrew from Greece when their navy was largely destroyed at Salamis. the Spartan actions make good press but did not in anyway lead to the defeat of the Persian invasion.
You do when it's your porch and they want to steal it from you.
Sending in your bully boys to force the point is just gonna cause a fight, which it did.
When you stand up to a bully who is trying to rob you then the fight is the decision of the one trying to do the robbing. And as with most bullies it ended badly for them.
What if it was another Burnside or Hooker or Pope who "simply came along" in 1864? The war could still have been lost for the North.
Grant had a record of winning in the West and that indicated that he was a very good general indeed.
If he was a genius, he would have also been a President with memorable accomplishments.
I'd stay away from the "genius" thing, but it is clear that great ability in one field doesn't translate to success in a different field.
There was no Southern invasion of the North and there was little to no Southern support for it until Gettysburg. That only took place after Sherman’s March.
As Jim Comey might say, "Your historical compass is askew."
Your historical compass is askew.
Maybe it’s perspective.
According to Josephus, they didn't kill any Romans. "Now for the Romans, they expected that they should be fought in the morning, when, accordingly, they put on their armor, and laid bridges of planks upon their ladders from their banks, to make an assault upon the fortress, which they did; but saw nobody as an enemy, but a terrible solitude on every side, with a fire within the place, as well as a perfect silence. So they were at a loss to guess at what had happened."
On the other hand, Josephus also tells us that the Sicarii--the group occupying Masada--did venture out before the Romans got there and massacred 700 Jews in a nearby village on Passover. "As for such as could not run away, being women and children, they slew of them above seven hundred. Afterward, when they had carried every thing out of their houses, and had seized upon all the fruits that were in a flourishing condition, they brought them into Masada. And indeed these men laid all the villages that were about the fortress waste, and made the whole country desolate."
When you stand up to a bully who is trying to rob you then the fight is the decision of the one trying to do the robbing.
Yes, the North was robbing the South very badly by making them pay 75% of all the taxes even though they were only 1/4th of the taxpayers. And yes, the South stood up to the bully, but the bully was just too powerful.
And New York and Washington DC has been pulling this gag ever since. All the rest of us are *STILL* paying the bills for the Wealthy of New York and Washington DC.
You mad?
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