Grant

[pjohns]

Lee really did not want Virginia to secede--he predicted that this would lead to dire consequences--but he felt that he was morally obliged to fight for his country; and he often spoke of Virginia as being his "country." (People then did not mean quite the same thing as we do nowadays when we speak of our "country.")

[Cotton1]

Grant was a better general than Lee. No one can dispute that. I don't think that the Union could have won the war without Grant.

[Lummy]

Gen. McClellan whom Grant replaced) was incompetent. Grant, on the other hand, was not; and he would actually stand firm, and fight against Lee and his troops.

Again, McClelland didn't have the stomach to go against and kill his own countrymen. That was the core of his issue. He wasn't incompetent, he just didn't have heart in the fight.

[Captdon]

Lee's biggest failure was not allowing Forrest more authority and manpower to conduct raids against the Union. Forrest paid for most of his troops on his own.

BTW, as an aside of the North being so pro civil rights it should be noted white Union soldiers were paid $13.00 a month but black soldiers were only paid $7.00 a month until 1864.

The question wasn't pro-civil rights. The average soldier fought for his state, not to free the blacks. Very few people cared about blacks.

[Captdon]

Lee exposed his troops to greater dangers, which is why he suffered more casualties than did Grant.

Nope.
https://scottmanning.com/content/bus...vil-war-times/

[Captdon]

Again, McClelland didn't have the stomach to go against and kill his own countrymen. That was the core of his issue. He wasn't incompetent, he just didn't have heart in the fight.

McClellan didn't think he had as many men as Lee did. He also thought Richmond was the key to the war. It was Lee's army.

[Lummy]

I don't know.
https://civilwarhome.com/armysize.htm

[Perianne]

Most everyone proclaims Grant to be the better general. But, give Lee the same number of troops and resources and the South might very well have won. If only.

What a handsome and manly man.

Screenshot_2020-05-17 Robert E Lee and His High Command.jpg

[Lummy]

Lee was rolling along pretty well toward capturing Washington, only about 70 miles from Gettysburg, where it is commonly believed he lost the Civil War, specifically with Pickett's charge, July 3, 1863.

[Captdon]

I don't know.
https://civilwarhome.com/armysize.htm

I said McClellan always believed he didn't have more men.It wasn't true but he honestly believed it. Grant knew better and reacted to that.