Are mistakes made? Of course... War is messy. War ebbs and flows... Could some mistakes have been avoided? Sure, looking in hindsight...100% of them could be avoided. But the commentators weren't there. They weren't caged in by the intelligence Jackson had. They weren't hemmed in by his limitations. Jackson was a genius. He won and won and won...
So, VDH is right. I get exasperated when I even read posts on FR by Freepers, who think they could run this war so much better than the people in charge. The only thing I would say...if you can, then you owe it to your country to get log off your computer and offer your sword and life... (you being a rhetorical you)
Amen!
The bluster and arrogance of the pretenders here on FR is astounding.
We are preaching to the converted here. What matters (for those of us who are too old to enlist) is to speak the plain truth at every opportunity.
Given that in many cases the Rebs were on defense, this runs counter to all trends in military history, and is explained quite well by Grady McWhiney and Perry Jamieson, "Attack and Die," who trace Confed. tactics to the southern "Celtic" culture vs. the more northern Anglo-German culture.
get exasperated when I even read posts on FR by Freepers, who think they could run this war so much better than the people in charge. The only thing I would say...if you can, then you owe it to your country to get log off your computer and offer your sword and life... (you being a rhetorical you)
I call them armchair commandos.