Strength Robert E Lee is very quick and smart. He knows how to improve the quality of troops and to nullify the Union’s advantage. Lee is willing to make bold and risky moves, and does not let his defeats hinder his performance. General Lee has great relations with his soldiers, and uses his engineering experience to his advantage. Lee is very quick; he organized scattered confederate troops into the famed Army of Northern Virginia in just three weeks. Lee’s wisdom urged him to keep the Union as far away as possible from the armament producing center of Richmond and far away from the northern part of the state where farmers were harvesting crops. Lee knows that defeats of such decisive sports will weaken our will to continue the war, and he prevented this at all costs. General Lee knows that we have inexperienced men and aims at improving the quality of the troops. He upgrades the quality by tightening command and discipline, improving morale, and convincing the soldiers that the confederacy was in full command of the situation. Lee knew that we are lacking, and devised initiatives to nullify the Union’s superiority in manpower, armaments, and supply by destroying their prearranged plans. Robert Lee makes bold moves to win victories. Lee was outnumbered two to one at Chancellorsville in May 1863; instead of just defending against the Union armies, he made an audacious move and split his army into two to encircle the enemy. Without Lee’s courageous move, the Confederacy might have lost another battle. But even if Lee was defeated, his performance would still stay on tract. When Lee was defeated at Antietam in September 1862, he quickly withdrew the remnants of his forces across the Potomac, reorganized his army, and res... ... middle of paper ... ...eneral Grant. Notwithstanding the initial disadvantage of the confederacy in terms of men, armaments, and commodities, General Lee could have planned the use of supplies more wisely. With the shortage of able-bodied men in the confederacy, Lee could have used tactics that require fewer men so his army does not diminish in size and energy as the war wears on. Lee could have also planned the use of commodities such as food and clothing so there is no shortage because the deficiency of food and clothing undermines the physical condition of the army. Lee is an excellent general for our newly created Confederacy. He is not only a national hero and in a very positive public light, he is also brilliant and valiant, knowing when to strict vital blows on the enemy. Even considering Lee’s weaknesses, he is still the General we need to lead the Confederacy to victory.
General Lee said, to be a good soldier you must love the army, to be a good general you must be prepared to order the death of the thing you love, and therein lies the great trap of soldiering. When you attack you must hold nothing back." Thomas J. Jackson was both a good soldier and a good general. In the Mexican War he fought with all his heart for his country. When the Civil War came, he was a general. He never hesitated to send his men forward. He held nothing back. George McClellan also fought with all his heart for his country in the Mexican War. When the time came to send his men forward in the Civil War, he couldn’t do it. He loved the army to much to order its death.
Lee had supreme confidence in his army, and believed that it could accomplish whatever he asked of it. This confidence sometimes led him to ask too much, such as in the case of Picket’s charge during the battle of Gettysburg. In Lee’s mind he was first and foremost a Christian, and a gentleman. These facts, although not bad, certainly caused Lee to be less aggressive, and to fight the war in a very old-fashioned manner. This was not so with Grant, who seemed to believe in a more modern type of total warfare. Perhaps because this war, as many contend, was the first modern war, it was impossible for the South, and it’s leaders to adapt to the situation.
One of the best commanders in the Confederate army was Lee still; the Union stood at a better standpoint during the battle. “Perhaps the most significant lesson from July 3, 1863, concerns the method of decision-making. Though he may not have seen it as such, Lee’s decision to attack was at best a close call.” (Gompert 2006, pg.7). The battle of Gettysburg did not happen intentionally, planned however Lee did an astounding job and his best to defeat the Union army. Ultimately Robert E. Lee was responsible for the South’s loss
...ew the war he was fighting was not an epic Napoleonic battle but a war of attrition. He proceeded with his plan to slowly shrink Confederate territory and destroy Lee's army to the point that the South could no longer mount a viable defense. Eventually Grant succeeded and Lee's men were all that remained of the Confederate army. Grant surrounded them in trenches at Richmond until Lee was forced to surrender.
believed his army was invincible. One of his officers Jeb Stewart went on a wild goose chase, he was sospost to inform Lee but didnt. Lee had no eyes and ears to tell him what was going on.
The Union Army was able to match the intensity of the Confederacy, with the similar practice of dedication until death and patriotism, but for different reasons. The Union soldiers’s lifestyles and families did not surround the war to the extent of the Confederates; yet, their heritage and prosperity relied heavily on it. Union soldiers had to save what their ancestors fought for, democracy. “Our (Union soldiers) Fathers made this country, we, their children are to save it” (McPherson, 29). These soldiers understood that a depleted group of countries rather than one unified one could not flourish; “it is essential that but one Government shall exercise authority from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific” (Ledger, 1861).
Nathanael Greene, although not afforded many victories in battles, was a masterful strategist, soldier and statesman. He was able to successfully employ militia, regular, light and mounted units during his command in the South. He built upon the reputation that he made for himself at the beginning of the war in Boston. It is because of this reputation and his ability to produce results that made him the second most important general in the continental army, next only to George Washington.
Ulysses S. Grant was an American general and 18th president of the United States. Grant was born in Point Pleasant, Ohio, on April 27, 1822, the son of Hannah Simpson and Jesse Grant, the owner of a tannery. Taken to nearby Georgetown at the age of one, he was educated in local and boarding schools. In 1839, under the name of Ulysses Simpson instead of his original Hiram Ulysses, he was appointed to West Point. Graduating 21st in a class of 39 in 1843, he was assigned to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. There he met Julia Dent, a local planter's daughter, whom he married after the Mexican War.
A successful army requires discipline, but Confederate soldiers refused to concede authority to anyone they did not vote for, at least in the beginning. Confederate soldiers were also prone to shirking duties they deemed menial, and some even left the army without dismissal if they believed they had served long enough. In the uppermost chain of political command, Jefferson Davis proved deficient in quelling the media outlets which railed against his decisions at nearly every turn. Davis gave deference to the right of free speech no matter how damaging it was. Donald then uses these points to highlight the Union Army and Lincoln administration’s successes. The North had the advantage of numerous immigrant conscripts who were used to being ordered around, so the pecking order was easily established from the beginning. In the political realm, Abraham Lincoln did not let Constitutional rights obstruct his goals; Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and threw defamatory journalists into prison. The Union thus had the unity it needed to achieve victory in the face of the South’s
In his extraordinary book, Lee the Last Years, Charles Flood gives a rare blend of history and emotion. After Lee’s surrender at Appomattox courthouse, he only lived a total of five years before his death. Some people might think that he was just a general, but the best years of his life were after the war because he changed the minds of the south and he changed education. Even though Robert E. Lee is best remembered for his military campaigns, this is a part of history not told in many history books because he did more than any other American to heal the wounds of the south and he served as a president for Washington College, which was later renamed after his death to be Washington and Lee University.
Robert E. Lee was very important to the Mexican-American War and to the American Civil War. He went from a normal person to a general within his life. Even though the Union won the Civil War, he was thought to be a very important person in leading the Confederate as far as he did and is known for being heroic. He especially had many contributions to the Civil
After this disaster a disappointed, and depressed Lee made plans to escape back to the South. Which he did, much to the chagrin of both Meade, and Lincoln. This as has often been said was the high point of the Confederacy. From this point on, and especially after the arrival of Grant in the East it was only a matter of time and attrition until the final end of the war.
He was not "dignified" in the way that General Lee was, though rough and ready, he was always a gentleman, in the best meaning of the word. He was proud of his soldiers and his work, and ambitious to do his utmost for his country. He had so great a faith in the Union cause that he never for a moment lost hope that in the end it would succeed.
In 2003, Roy Blount Jr. published the book Robert E. Lee through the Penguin Group Inc. This book is different then other books published about Lee due to the fact that this book looks behind the man in uniform, and shows how Lee became the legend that we know today. Blount brings an element of humor that some would not expect to find when writing about Lee. Through this type of writing, Lee transforms into the everyday person who we all can relate to.
Sears’ thesis is the Union could have won the war faster. McClellan was an incompetent commander and to take the initiative to attack an defeat the Confederate army. The Army of Northern Virginia, under...