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In reply to the discussion: Trump: 'Robert E. Lee was a great general' [View all]atreides1
(16,799 posts)But how he delivered his remarks...made it sound as if he were praising Lee!
Besides, Lee wasn't a great general...his first field assignment was commanding Confederate forces in western Virginia, where he was defeated at the Battle of Cheat Mountain and was widely blamed for Confederate setbacks.
Mostly, Lee was lucky because his Union opponents wouldn't press their advantage...at Antietam, even with Lee's plans in hand, and a chance to destroy the Army of Northern Virginia, McClellan hesitated! The Union won at Antietam, but if McClellan had acted quickly instead of dragging his feet, it's likely that the war could have been shortened!
The historian Shelby Foote stated, "Gettysburg was the price the South paid for having Robert E. Lee as commander."