Reason 1: He was highly undersupplied and nearly won against the odds
During the Civil War, the Union had a huge advantage in terms of supplies. They captured New Orleans, which was the main port in all of the South. It allowed trade to occur in the South. With the capture of New Orleans, the South couldn’t trade. As a consequence of that, the South couldn’t get any supplies. The Union men were, for the most part, well fed and clothed. However, many Southern men did not even have uniforms. Despite this, Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia looked unbeatable. They were winning major battles and were nearly the victors of the war. In fact, according to the (National Park Service), for every 3,200 firearms the North produced, the South only produced 100. The North also produced 17 times more cotton than the South, 30 times more leather goods, and more essentials to the war. All and all, the South was seriously out supplied by their counterparts, and still nearly pulled off the upset. This is the first reason why Robert E. Lee is the greatest general of the Civil War.
Reason 2: The Confederates had much less men than the Union and Lee nearly still won
Going into the war, the Union were the
…show more content…
Lee was the greatest general of the Civil War was his early success. According to (ThoughtCo), Lee took victories in both Bull Runs, the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Battle of Fredericksburg to name a few of his major wins. Lee won all of the important battles in the early stages of the war, and led his Confederates to many triumphant wins. Lee outwitted many of the Union generals, and his quick thinking baffled the military genius of the North. Lee often won battles using hills as obstacles for the North, trenches in the later stages of the war, and sometimes just a straight rush at the opposition. Overall, Lee won the key early battles, and that’s the fourth reason why he was the best general of the
Lee's first battle was on September 12, 1861, he and his army suffered defeat at the Battle of Cheat Mountain, by the Union forces commander Major Gen. George B. McClellan. After the defeat, Lee quickly regains his strength. He then regrouped and fought a series of battles some of the famous battles like the Seven Days Battles, the Second Battle of Bull Run (Second Manassas), Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, Battle of Gettysburg, and the Appomattox Campaign, which was the place where Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant. Among those battles both the Confederate army and the Union were both impressed by the brilliant, and unique way of thinking and military strategy by Lee. According to the research of those battles, Lee, and his army were mostly outnumbered.
Lee finally realized to win he needed a victory against the Union. He started the invasion in September 1862 he set his attacks for Maryland and thought that this would drive the war's focus away from Virginia. But when the secret plan was soon discovered by the Union commander George McClellan there was no surprise and once they got there they knew so the two armies faced each other at the battle of Antietam. Even though his plans were out he gave an amazing and smart battle to McClellan, but after a long and terrifying war Lee and his army dropped out of the battle. Soon after that they had an amazing win against the Union at Chancellorsville.
All his training in school, along with his natural intelligence helped him to become very good at what he did. He was a military genius. According to David C. King, the author of “The Civil War And Reconstruction,” Robert E. Lee was, above all, the greatest general of the Civil War. Robert E. Lee was a very confident leader and was not easily intimidated. His opponents were the ones that were intimidated by him.
One reason Lee was blamed for them losing was because he didn’t do what was best for what men he did have or to save them. A huge mistake was also stated by Fan, “General Longstreet urges a move around the Union Army flank on the right taking them from behind, however, General Lee orders famous Confederate General John Bell Hood to take his entire division in a frontal assault up a steep, rocky hill, known as
One of the primary reasons why the North gained victory during the Civil War was mainly due to the presence of many industries as well as factories. These industries provided not only funds but also the weapons which include guns. However, unlike the Northern states, the Confederates lacked industries for they primarily dealt with cotton growing, as a result, during the war they lacked advanced ammunition supplies. According to statistics, the Northern states enjoyed approximately 81% of America’s industrial capacity as well as 80% of the capital and bank. Presence of both capital and bank aided in providing the required finances for funding the war; hence, the Northern states were sufficiently well-off to engage in the war and also maintain its troops, war weapons, and food.
The clash of Cold Harbor occurred from May 31 to June 12, 1864 in Virginia between the union and confederate strengths and it resulted in a victory for the confederacy. The charging officers were Robert E. Lee for the confederacy and for the Union their leaders were General Ulysses S. Gift and George G. Meade. It is recognized as one of the bloodiest yet most key and trim sided battles of the American Civil War. The Battle of Cold Harbor was additionally one of the last clashes of the union drove by General Grant and as a major aspect of his 1864 overland campaign.
Victories were only won by Lee’s aggressiveness on and off of the battlefield. Lee endured the bloodiest days of the war and still kept urging his army on even until the very end. Even after the Battle Robert at Gettysburg, which almost completely destroyed his army, he pushed forward. After fighting a battle he made this remark to General James Longstreet, “It is well war is so terrible-we would grow too fond of it” (Robert E. Lee www.history.com). By 1865 the fate of the war was clear.
The North had many advantages. They beat the South in population they could draw soldiers from. The North had 22 million citizens where the South only had 5.5 million citizens. The North could transport supplies and people faster because of their roads, canals, and railroads. However the South disconnected from itself with barely any railroads and hard to move soldiers and goods from place to place.
The Battle of Cold Harbor took place from May 31st to June 12th, 1864, with the most important fighting occurring on June 3rd. It was one of the last battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign during the Civil War, and is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most disgusting battles. Thousands of Union soldiers were killed or wounded in a hopeless frontal assault against the fortified positions of Confederate Robert E. Lee's army. On May 31, as Grant's army once again swung around on the right flank of Lee's army, Union cavalry controlled the crossroads of Old Cold Harbor, about 10 miles northeast of the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia holding it against attacks from the Confederacy until the Union
The Battle of Gettysburg goes down in history as one of the bloodiest battle to take place during the Civil War. Even though he amassed a huge casualty rate, General Robert E. Lee is still considered one of the greatest military leaders to command during the War. From the day he took command of the Army of Virginia, Lee had sweeping victories over the Union army in the North. Among these being, the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Seven Days Battle, and his overwhelming triumph at Chancellorsville.
Chapter 21 Questions 1. The North won the Civil War because they were much better off than the South. They had a lot of great resources; they had more money and more people. The South did not have any of these resources. The one thing that they had to rely on was their cotton.
Confederate forces were led by General Robert E. Lee, and Union forces were led by General Joseph Hooker. Lee defeated the much larger Union army and many historians consider Chancellorsville to be Lee’s greatest victory. Lee had faced an army almost double his size, and still came out on top, however this wouldn’t
Lee led the once known Army of Potomac to great success and wasn’t fond of losing. As soon as president Davis instated General Robert E. Lee, the army’s name became the Army of Northern Virginia, so it would no longer get confused with the Union army. Not only did he change the name, he changed the face of the army and how it maneuvered. Lee was brilliant when it came to fighting battles and his tactics were not easy to stop. In addition to that, his soldiers adored him and would do everything they could to win for him.
General Robert E. Lee was the commander of the Northern Virginian Army during the Civil War. Lee was brilliant at strategies and tactics of war. This brilliance, however, was not isolated. In order for these strategies and tactics of Lee’s to work, Lee had to have great influence and power over his men. Robert E. Lee was one of the greatest and most successful leaders this world will ever know.
The North had an excellent Navy that had the ability to blockade things that were headed to the Southern states. The South desperately needed food, weapons, and ammunition but weren’t able to get their supplies because the North had blockades that stopped the supplies they needed. The North also had gun factories, shipyards, and coal readily available at anytime which puts them at a huge advantage over the South. They had more money and were just more advanced in their industry, which helped them win the civil war.