Lee was a great and honorable man, and a very good general; he was able to do more with less in the Army of Northern Virginia than just about anyone else could have. He was aided in this by some outstanding subordinates like A.P. Hill, Stonewall Jackson, and J.E.B. Stuart, especially Jackson. Was Lee perfect? No, he made some serious mistakes, but few if any others could have done what he did overall for the South.
Grant may not have been Lee’s equal in the great-and-honorable department, and he may not have been as good a tactical general, but he was the RIGHT general for the Union at the right time. He realized that the Union’s biggest advantage was its mass and firepower and that the best way to handle Lee was not to fight on the South’s terms, but to use that overwhelming numerical advantage to grind them down. And he had the cojones to stick with his strategy even in the face of some losses and appalling casualties, because he knew it was the right one. And it was. Plus he also had some very able subordinates who thought the same way, like Sherman and Sheridan. Grant, in a way, was a better general for the evolving method of mass industrial warfare. Lee was more of an old-school general whose time was ending.
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“He realized that the Union’s biggest advantage was its mass and firepower and that the best way to handle Lee was not to fight on the South’s terms, but to use that overwhelming numerical advantage to grind them down. “
That’s the old mythology of the Lost Cause. Grant moved his men across the Mississippi to the west bank of the river to take Vicksburg. He floated 116 boats down the Tennessee River past Nashville to capture that city. He continually tried to outflank Lee’s forces in the Overland Campaign, but Lee’s smaller force was more maneuverable. After Cold Harbor, he cut off Lee’s supplies at Petersburg before resuming pressure on the ANV.
Grant was a bulldog that would attack from the front to tear off your balls, or circle around to bite you in the ass as circumstances dictated. He always had a clear gaol in mind and didn’t give up at the first sign of trouble. For Robert E. Lee, he was Wellington and Blücher all rolled into one.