That’s it? That was their grand strategy? Be as much of a pain in the ass as possible so that the north would tell them to go away?!
I knew that they were foolish to start something that they had little hope of winning but I didn’t think they were that stupid!
Yes that was the strategy, in a word - stalemate. Any historian will tell you that. 9 million are not going to conquer 32 million. If the North had fully mobilized the war would have been over in a year. South didn't have a chance. It's only chance was to make it prohibitory expensive in blood and treasure to force the South back into the Union. Lincoln, being the sublime butcher, there was no amount of blood deemed to to great to subdue the South.
When debating with you I assumed you knew all of this but it appears you know so little.