Posted on 01/16/2012 10:19:34 AM PST by BigReb555
January is the birthday month of War Between the States Generals; James Longstreet born on January 8, 1821, Thomas Jonathan ‘Stonewall’ Jackson born on January 21, 1824, George Pickett born on January 28, 1825 and
Thursday, January 19, 2012, is the 205th birthday of General Robert E. Lee.
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‘cept George Washington won. One may as well assert that George III was a traitor asserting that the English parliament could exert rights that were not granted it in the charters which established the various colonies.
John Brown did not view Virginia as his country, and so was not a traitor to it.
Grant also realized that Richmond was well entrenched, and decided to fight Lee outside those entrenchments, which he did, except for local probes like “the Crater”. His attempt to take Petersburg was not successful, but could have been. Lee got lucky there. Eventually Sheridan’s outflanking movement pulled Lee out from his fortifications where Lee lost.
Lee did appreciate the value of defense, with the sole exception of Gettysburg.
Of course Hood, heading north away from Atlanta was threatening to make war on non-combatants too. Sherman was more effective. If Hood and Wheeler wanted Sherman to fight, they could have arranged it. Instead Wheeler put mines in the roads where non-combatants could trip them.
At Gettysburg Lee had dysentery. That is why he was not on the scene to order Pickett’s charge at the key moment, delegating that to Longstreet who didn’t believe it could work. Longstreet couldn’t bring himself to order the charge. Lee should have, perhaps delegated command of the army, if he could not exercise it, but knew that if he did, Longstreet would have withdrawn, and Lee’s invasion of the north would have been a failure. Instead, thousands died, and it was a failure.
Your grandmother’s grandfather was lucky. Some Georgia soldiers that were sent home to recuperate were re-drafted by Georgia, which made them, after the end of the furlough, awol from one unit or the other.
Southern complaints about Sherman are disingenuous. Honesty would compel them to complain of the refusal of Hood and Wheeler to defend Atlanta and Georgia.
RE Lee’s family was disgraced, as Light Horse Harry Lee had died a debtor. RE Lee married a cousin who was thus part of the family, and as disgraced as he.
Lee himself asserted that Grant was the superior general.
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