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Yes, a great student. Yes, a great tactician...although not as great as portrayed, and maybe not even as great as Grant. But also, yes, a traitor. If Hawaii had decided to join the Japanese in WWII, would it have been noble for Hawaiian-born generals to side with Hawaii and japan against the USA?

May I suggest you might want to do more than a cursory study of American history prior to the Civil War. It was very obvious many of the states believed they had the right to secede. In their mind they were no longer members of the Union after the Virginia and the other states seceded, which means Lee and others would not be traitors.

I don't know if you have ever taken a formal course in military history or studied it in detail, but if so then you would understand why Lee was viewed as a better general than Grant. That is an argument for another day.

I don't know if you have ever taken a formal course in military history or studied it in detail, but if so then you would understand why Lee was viewed as a better general than Grant. That is an argument for another day.

I hate to say anything that's going to offend anyone, but....I think Grant's performance in the west was extremely impressive. It compares very favorably with Lee in the East, particularly when you consider that Lee was facing some extremely crummy union generals in the first couple years of the war.

Grant was not as impressive tactically after he came East, and (this is where I hope not to offend anyone) I think that may have been due to different troops quality. There were some good units in the Army of the Potomac, but the average quality was not as high as in the Army of Northern Virginia or in Grant's western armies. With a slightly lower troop quality, its a bit unfair to compare his tactical skill to Lee's when they opposed one another.

Why must you pepper your responses with references to your view of my education? A little substance, and a little less insult, might be more becoming.
The leaders in the South were educated men who absolutely knew the ins and outs of the Federal Constitution. They were simply wrong in their theory of the right to secession, however. We can discuss this with reasoned discourse, if you would like.