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In reply to the discussion: Trump: 'Robert E. Lee was a great general' [View all]Xolodno
(6,390 posts)He indeed was a good General, but told Lincoln if Virginia joined the rebellion, he went with it. The Confederacy, largely based in Agriculture was in no position to seriously challenge the industrious North. Lee knew this, but still followed his state, so he may have been a brilliant tactician, however, he obviously didn't see the long game.
Lee used mainly hit and run tactics because he knew he could not hold a sustained battle. The Union had the resources, he didn't. His only hope was to hit fast and hard and take DC to demoralize the North and force recognition of the Confederacy, and thanks to the Unions inept Generals, almost accomplished this. When Grant took the helm, he understood that attrition would destroy the Confederacy, so he used it. Gettysburg was Lee's biggest mistake against Grant, after that, the war was pretty much decided.
In the end, Lee was a traitor and was fighting something morally rehempensible. His loyalty to the individual State and keeping slavery alive may have been in his thinking....but like not seeing the long game with Lincoln, he didn't see the long term of history and that he was on the wrong side of it.