Robert E. Lee was a great tactician who often prevailed or endured against superior forces. As a strategist, even allowing for Jefferson Davis' control of grand strategy, Lee was an 1815 thinker whose Napoleonic ideas were outdated. Grant & Sherman were the men of the future.
-
Show this thread
-
Lee, a devoted Napoleon acolyte, believed victory still came from concentrating your forces for decisive battle. Grant understood that war was evolving to one of extended, coordinated fronts & campaigns & operational tempo. Of course, Lee lacked the resources for that kind of war
11 replies 25 retweets 129 likesShow this thread -
(Of course, both Grant & Lee made crucial battlefield mistakes at times, from Pickett's Charge to Cold Harbor. Neither was perfect. Arguably the greatest general of the age was Moltke, although he had the chance to study & learn from the American experience.)
20 replies 17 retweets 100 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @baseballcrank
When you look at the Prussian casualties at the Battle of Gravelotte you can see that Moltke hadn't completely digested the lessons of our Civil War
1 reply 1 retweet 1 like -
Replying to @streiffredstate
Also Moltke gets a lot of credit for grasping the power of movement of infantry by rails, but Edwin Stanton got there first, and he was a patent lawyer from Ohio.
1 reply 1 retweet 2 likes -
Replying to @baseballcrank
And Grant, the failed farmer, was the guy who made stringing telegraph wire along with the army a priority.
1 reply 1 retweet 2 likes -
Replying to @streiffredstate @baseballcrank
Ever read a history of transport and communications in the Civil War? I have not. (Loving
#CivilWar Twitter today)1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @CarterD @streiffredstate
Got a book on my reading list on Lincoln's use of the telegraph.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.