re: Lee and Jackson Statues Coming Down in Charlottesville

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I work in that POS city every Friday and hate it. I hold my nose until I get the hell out.

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Charlottesville either makes me sad, or angry.


I've walked away from UVA too. And we've been going there since the university opened.

But they don't like people like us.

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As for Jackson, his flank attack at Chancelorsville alone puts him in rare military air.

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What exactly did that flank attack do? Sure...it was brilliantly conceived and executed, but all it did was shorten the Union army's line and made their right flank more defensible. The attack, while it was a shock, failed at its ultimate objective of getting into the rear of the Union army and cutting off its line of retreat. It also put the Confederate army in the awkward position of being split into two parts. The only way Lee could reunite the army was by launching devasting frontal assaults the following day - assaults that might not have worked had Hooker not been knocked unconscious and given a severe concussion at the height of the battle.

It also must be noted that, while a brilliant tactical victory for Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, the battle did little for the Confederacy from a strategic point of view. The two armies both ended up back at their starting positions - less 17,000 men for the Union and 13,000 for the Confederates.