quote:
Grant was a top tier general but it should always be remembered that he had the superior numbers in literally every aspect. Lee’s biggest failure was his own belief that he was such a superior tactician that he could overcome.. He did against many inferior generals but once the tide turned at Gettysburg and the introduction of Grant after Vicksburg he should have turned to guerrilla warfare tactics.

It's been regarded and said many times by Union and Confederate generals how level headed and humble Lee actually was. He definitely didn't show that at Gettysburg but overall he was. I don't think arrogance got in his way, in the overall war. Lee's tactics are still widely studied today by Americans and other countries. Ya'll are looking at the final outcome and Monday morning QBing everything he did, you and RollTide.

People forget the awful weaponry the Confederates had, the rifles, the cannons were mostly useless, they just simply weren't able to make them like the Union could. Lack of navy, many times food, and there times where only around 3/4 of the soldiers even had a gun, and the ones that did, didn't have much ammo (powder).

Grant made great use of his tools, what people respect about Lee is the same, he made great use with what he had. The Union was increasing in numbers of troops by Gettysburg, they had weapons that could fire multiple rounds (approximately that time), way better cannons, etc by that time. I agree Lee's biggest mistake was Gettysburg, I've said all along the South's biggest chance was staying defensive. His own general's words Lee was a defensive mastermind, but offensive leaves something to be desired.

The Civil War is much more than just Lee had this many men, and Grant or whoever had this many, and this was the final outcome. You have to look into the details, as I said above. In a 4 year war, there are questionable decisions by everyone, even if that may have been the best decision to make, but it still failed. Lee's troops were at a major disadvantage, not only from lack of clothes, food, medical care, appropriate guns, but more importantly, their numbers were getting smaller while the Union's was getting bigger.

I joke on here about Grant, but I thought he was a good general, he made the best use with what he had. He had many more advantages and he took full advantage of that. LSU should be able to beat La Tech every time, that's what's expected. There's nothing wrong with that, Grant did what he was supposed to do, beat the South. People are fascinated with Lee more with a David vs Goliath type feel. He kept the South with a chance, no other general would have been able to do that, at least in mine and most people's opinions.

ETA: I wanna add, I'm glad the North won, maybe not as a kid. I'm simply glad I'm an American, and all that ended when it did. A couple of ya'll try and bash every thing said about Lee or other southern generals and it just looks silly. There's nothing wrong with someone complimenting Lee, Grant, or whoever. Historians and modern military experts have complimented Lee for over 100 years, I don't understand why a couple of ya'll get irritated about it. I've never seen so much Monday morning QB like I do in these threads

Both generals were great, as were others from both sides during the War.

This post was edited on 5/26/20 at 1:19 pm