His Russian campaign has to be put on the list of ways not to win wars, based solely on human behavior (Russian and his own). With or without the Swedes as an example.
Napoleon didn't do so well in Egypt, Syria. or Spain, either.
His Russian campaign has to be put on the list of ways not to win wars, based solely on human behavior (Russian and his own). With or without the Swedes as an example.
Napoleon didn't do so well in Egypt, Syria. or Spain, either.
That was awesome.![]()
Not Napoleon the Completely Invincible, but certainly not Napoleon the smartest moron, either.
In fairness to Lee, he was facing stiffer opposition in regards to the fightin' and bleedin' kind of problems than Grant was (Grant didn't need to deal with the kind of battles Lee did, to put it another way) - but that's an explanation, not an excuse.
Grant has some nice quotes. When Sherman began his March to the Sea, Jefferson Davis gave a lengthy speech saying the March would be just like Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, with only a battered remnant of the Yankee army escaping. When Grant read Davis' speech in a newspaper, he commented that "Mr. Davis has neglected to mention who will be providing the snow."
True, but then Grant was a good enough general to avoid the self-inflicted near-disasters that turned into such bloodbaths in the first place. He had all of one case like that, the Battle of Pittsburg Landing and that's all it took: one for it to never happen again. Lee had them at Second Manassas (if Pope's battle perception matched his energy Lee's army would have been destroyed in detail), at Antietam, at Chancellorsville, at the Wilderness, at Spotsylvania, at Petersburg. Sure, he managed by extreme efforts and mistakes on the other side to repair them but it's worth asking why this kept happening to him and if a more effective general wouldn't have avoided this pattern recurring?
The two sum up why Grant is hard not to root for.My favorite Grant quotes are "If men make war in slavish obedience to rules then they will fail", and "I know two tunes, one's Yankee Doodle and the other isn't."![]()
Grant has some nice quotes. When Sherman began his March to the Sea, Jefferson Davis gave a lengthy speech saying the March would be just like Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, with only a battered remnant of the Yankee army escaping. When Grant read Davis' speech in a newspaper, he commented that "Mr. Davis has neglected to mention who will be providing the snow."
As a complete aside, you may find Owen Connolly interesting: amazon link
I agree its worth asking. But I do think in terms of fighting an army likely to chew holes in his, Lee faced much more of that than Grant did - for instance, the Vicksburg campaign was met with the Confederates agreeably dancing to Grant's tune. Not to say he wasn't a master piper, so to speak, but it makes a huge difference when one is facing major battles in the first place versus facing opponents on terms where they don't come up.
There's a reason Grant's casualties versus such an army are his ugliest, after all. I'm not saying Lee wasn't overly lavish with blood, but if Lee faced the kind of things Grant did in the situations Grant did, their causality figures would probably be closer.
The idea (implied) that in Grant's shoes Lee is less likely to whallop a Grant in Lee's shoes...I decline to dispute that.![]()
The two sum up why Grant is hard not to root for.