...and we all know, Walt's got his "Art of War" copy on the rack by the toilet right next to "Battle Cry of Freedom."
Sun Tzu gets a good press for a Chinese guy who's been dead for 2500 years. You'll note that means his writings were extant when Hood was living -- as well as when Grant and Sherman were living. But Grant and Sherman applied concepts that would have been familiar to Sun Tzu. In fact, President Lincoln applied very good concepts also -- right from the start of the war. He had a very good strategy from the very start of the war. For their part, the so-called CSA eschewed strategy, as such. The so-called CSA put their faith in a vague idea that Europeans would fight their battles for them, but it didn't happen that way.
Walt
I have no issue with his book per se, Walt. I simply find it amusing that the Dale Gribbles of the world out there tend to buy themselves a copy and almost immediately come to think of themselves as great military experts who throw out lines from it at every opportunity. You seem to fall into that category.