Ladies Gunboat Fair
Such an event recalls the glib asides of the late 80s when soccer moms asked what if the Pentagon had to have bake sales to purchase a new bomber. Such was evidently protocol in that honorable south. Great waves of text have rushed by, foaming on the edges with character and data. Grant makes seven failed attempts to encroach upon Vicksburg without bearing the brunt of its defenses. Sherman delivers quips from most of these remote endeavors and maintains his composure throughout. These efforts, directed by Grant to avoid idleness as much as anything are the source of outrage by journalists and politicians. One such newspaper editor wrote to Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury:
Grant, entrusted with the our greatest army, is a jackass in the original package. He is a poor drunken imbecile. He is a poor stick sober, and he is most of the time more than half drunk, and much of the time idiotically drunk. . .Grant will fail miserably, hopelessly, eternally. . .
I think Grant is becoming my personal hero in this Narrative: Human, all too Human. Attrition is meanwhile becoming capital for the Confederacy and Lee recognizes the peril of his ranks. He then unleashes a brilliant series of fortifications and entrenchments which maximize the effectiveness of his depleted ranks.
Hooker has recently been promoted by Lincoln and mounts a vast globe of hubris, the gravity of which leads him to Chancellorsville.
Grant, entrusted with the our greatest army, is a jackass in the original package. He is a poor drunken imbecile. He is a poor stick sober, and he is most of the time more than half drunk, and much of the time idiotically drunk. . .Grant will fail miserably, hopelessly, eternally. . .
I think Grant is becoming my personal hero in this Narrative: Human, all too Human. Attrition is meanwhile becoming capital for the Confederacy and Lee recognizes the peril of his ranks. He then unleashes a brilliant series of fortifications and entrenchments which maximize the effectiveness of his depleted ranks.
Hooker has recently been promoted by Lincoln and mounts a vast globe of hubris, the gravity of which leads him to Chancellorsville.
posted by jon faith at
10:42 AM
2 Comments:
The Grant vs. Lee story as traditionally styled contains an element of truth, but little else. Both Grant and Lee grasped the fundamental issues, which Grant chose to exploit by relentless attrition and Lee by martial valor & the pursuant aim at weakening Northern morale.
There is a story in the Army of the Potomac series by Bruce Catton. Grant had taken over the eastern armies and marched south, meeting Lee at Wilderness and Spotsylvania. The result of the engagements was stalemate and very heavy casualties.
The northerners disengaged at night and began marching; most men assumed a retreat was in progress, until the veterans who knew the roads realized that the army was heading east and south.
Understanding this meant likely death or injury, but that finally there was a leader who didn't retreat at the first opportunity, the troops heartily cheered when passing Grant's shabby observation position.
He hurriedly issued orders to remain quiet so as to retain the initiative.
Almost constant linkage followed until Petersburg, and Lee's army steadily faded.
For the intoxicating Grant, the whole Vicksburg venue must have been a nightmare for him that he surely took to his grave. That said, his perseverance in battle strategy and willingness to be a winner covered up much of the Union la Grande Armie's copious loss of life.
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