So... he was just being polite? A gracious liar? Even I have more regard for the mans honor and integrity than that. Read Nolans book and any other's recommended by the war college. You see... the U.S. Military cannot afford to have officers who believe in fantasy, which is why, when they they do tactical studies, they must rely on fact and not mythology. They do not reccomend that their officers read mythology, becasue that gets people killed.
I have engaged in several military "tactical analysis'" of Civil War battles, Gettysburg being only one. Lee was near to a genius when it came ot on the ground tactics, but his strategic planning and foresight left much to be desired. Not only were Grant and Sherman up to his level tactically (I'll give the edge here to Lee), both were superior to him in terms of strategic thinking. Strategy, not tactics on any particular battlefield, is what won the war for the North. Longstreet knew this too, but was pilloried in the South after the war when he made the mistake of making his criticisms of Lee public (Pickett, who lost his division on Day three refused to blame Lee and turned instead on Longstreet). After the war the South needed its heroes, exalting Lee far beyond his due, and stiffling and destroying his critics that had done near as much. A practice that continues today.
As President Jefferson Davis so plaintively said: "All we want is to be left alone."
Strategy won? With all due respect, if the Confederacy had not had military leaders like Robert E. Lee, "Stonewall" Jackson, J.E.B. Stuart et al, the war shouldn't have lasted a few months. Robert E. Lee deserves to be exalted.
The Union had vastly superior numbers, almost every warship, munitions factory, the majority of idustrial capacity, medicines, food and other supplies, the federal treasury, a functioning government, and even limited prisoner exchanges/medical resupply to rob the confederacy of soldiers.
The Confederacy was blockaded at the outset to prevent food, medicine and anything from entering. Union ships quickly siezed important ports, or rendered them useless. The Confederacy faced overwhelming numerical odds (4-1), the destruction of food crops, the slaughter of her livestock. Women, children, old men - white and black - were left to defend their homes - and were attacked, raped, killed or simply left to starve. Entire cities were destroyed or reduced to ruins. The Confederates had nothing except honor and courage - the belief that their cause was just and worth dying for.
Instead of a ringing endorsement of the tactical superiority of union military leaders, it is a tribute to the leaders of the Confederate forces. Even with virtually everything against the Confederacy, it still took the union forces more than 4 years to defeat them, and even then it wasn't on the field of battle, but due to starvation and lack of supplies. Yankees are just torqued because they couldn't whip a bunch of farmers in a fair fight, and had to resort to targeting civilians to finally win.
My apologies Ms. Davis, please remember me to your husband ;o)