Teaching the Civil War, 150 Years Later...THE MEGATHREAD

[Neil]

He wasn't really all the great during the time he was an American soldier though.

He did well during the Civil War.  That's certainly great.

[jimmy olsen]

By his own account, Longstreet knew that Lee's singular flaw was that when he got his blood up over the enemy, there was no talking him out of the attack.

The first day was bad luck.  The second day was *this* close.  There was going to be no talking Lee out of the attack on the third day. Absolutely no way, no matter how much Longstreet counselled against it.

To hang it on Longstreet for failing to talk Lee out of something there was no chance of talking him out of is bullshit.  And to think Longstreet in any way sabotaged or purposefully delayed the 2nd day attack on the Round Tops is even more bullshit.

I recommend the upcoming 8-volume magnum opus, Robert E. Lee at War: The Mind and Method of a Great American Soldier, soon to be released by Military History Press.

He wasn't really all the great during the time he was an American soldier though.

The name of the war implies that both sides were American.

[Berkut]

He wasn't really all the great during the time he was an American soldier though.

Performed very well in Mexico.

Yeah, but he was too junior to really be great.

[PDH]

Name one american general that performed badly in mexico?

Gideon Pillow?  Just a guess, he sucked in the Civil War.

[Berkut]

Lee could have been the greatest American who ever lived. He could have ended the Civil War in a year, saved countless thousands of lives, and brought an end to slavery in the bargain.

All he would have had to do was be an American, show loyalty to his nation, and integrity and true leadership.

Instead he decided to follow his peers into treachery and deceit against his oath, and doomed a few hundred thousand of his countrymen (Confederates) and a couple hundred thousand actual Americans to death.

[Habbaku]

That should draw Lettow out.

[Neil]

Berkut shows an astonishing ignorance as to what constitutes an 'American'.

[Berkut]

Berkut shows an astonishing ignorance as to what constitutes an 'American'.

What would a Canadian know about patriotism, integrity, and honor?

Much less Neil?

[Tonitrus]

Uh oh, I sense a coming Berkut-Neil "Mortal Kombat: Revolutionary War".

[Berkut]

Uh oh, I sense a coming Berkut-Neil "Mortal Kombat: Revolutionary War".

Nah, I am already spent engaging Neil. There is no real upside to it.

[jimmy olsen]

Lee could have been the greatest American who ever lived. He could have ended the Civil War in a year, saved countless thousands of lives, and brought an end to slavery in the bargain.

All he would have had to do was be an American, show loyalty to his nation, and integrity and true leadership.

Instead he decided to follow his peers into treachery and deceit against his oath, and doomed a few hundred thousand of his countrymen (Confederates) and a couple hundred thousand actual Americans to death.

Ignored my comment I see.

Would slavery have been abolished that easily if the war was won in a year? Doubtful.

[Sophie Scholl]

Lee could have been the greatest American who ever lived. He could have ended the Civil War in a year, saved countless thousands of lives, and brought an end to slavery in the bargain.

All he would have had to do was be an American, show loyalty to his nation, and integrity and true leadership.

Instead he decided to follow his peers into treachery and deceit against his oath, and doomed a few hundred thousand of his countrymen (Confederates) and a couple hundred thousand actual Americans to death.

He'd have had to have gone on the offensive where he... wasn't as impressive.  I think Montgomery would have reached Paris before Lee reached Richmond.

[jimmy olsen]

Lee could have been the greatest American who ever lived. He could have ended the Civil War in a year, saved countless thousands of lives, and brought an end to slavery in the bargain.

All he would have had to do was be an American, show loyalty to his nation, and integrity and true leadership.

Instead he decided to follow his peers into treachery and deceit against his oath, and doomed a few hundred thousand of his countrymen (Confederates) and a couple hundred thousand actual Americans to death.

He'd have had to have gone on the offensive where he... wasn't as impressive.  I think Montgomery would have reached Paris before Lee reached Richmond.

Totally disagree. The man was in love with the attack, it was a psychology that was much more appropriate to a military that had the manpower advantage rather then disadvantage.

[Lettow77]

 The second manassas campaign is hardly "less than impressive."

But, a competent union commander should've crushed the confederates.  Even leading inferior troops like foreign hirelings and pasty yankee tinkerers, Lee would have conquered Richmond by the fall of '62.

[grumbler]

The second manassas campaign is hardly "less than impressive."

But, a competent union commander should've crushed the confederates.  Even leading inferior troops like foreign hirelings and pasty yankee tinkerers, Lee would have conquered Richmond by the fall of '62.

Agreed.  Bad though his troops would have been, against the inbred aristocrats and the pigfucking peasants he would have been up against, he would have gone through the Rebs like crap through a goose.