Lee would have never engaged in that type of warfare. It would have been alien to him.
If he had, would the war have ended differently? I think so because I think his military ability far outweighed any general from the Union. (My father vigorously debates this with me - he's a Grant man).
As for WWII, we did not engage in total war as a revenge tactic. We engaged in total war because it was the only way to end the war quickly and reduce causalities.
"As for WWII, we did not engage in total war as a revenge tactic. We engaged in total war because it was the only way to end the war quickly and reduce causalities."
Perhaps, but we would never have been able to justify doing it without the other side sinking so low first.
Just to be clear: I fully support the dropping of the bomb to end the war as my father was in the Navy and in Pacific and that let him come home sooner rather than later. Fortunately, as someone with an engineering degree, he was on the destroyer tender U.S.S. Dixie and wasn't shot at much, but, still.