re: History Debate: Ulysses S. Grant vs. Robert E. Lee

quote:

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one of the greatest generals in the annals of world history.

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I grant he was a brilliant tactician and leader of men, but on an operational/strategic level he comes up short.

He basically started a war with Rome out of a personal/family grudge, that he had no real plan to win. Much like Napoleon invading Russia, he thought, "Well...if I beat their armies they'll just give up." But when Fabius refused to fight he basically had no answer to defeating an alliance/country far superior to Carthage in resources. In fact he never developed an alternative way to beat the Romans.

In contrast, the Romans, realizing that fighting him face-to-face was too dangerous, deprived Carthage of resources by taking Spain, Sicily, and keeping Macedon occupied meanwhile forcing the Carthaginians to send Hannibal's reinforcement to the other theatres.

To avoid going on, he was a good leader/tactician but, like Lee, he had no real understanding of the "indirect approach" or larger strategic picture.