. Battles and leaders of the Civil War : being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers . he weak- ness of the forces op-posed to him and thebad generalship of theircommanders than to anygreat ability on his he was bold and aggressive, we all knew, but we believed that it wasthe boldness and aggressiveness that arise from the consciousness of strength,as he had generally managed to fight his battles with the advantage oflargely superior numbers. That this policy of force would be pursued whenhe took command in Virginia, we had no doubt; but we were not prepar
. Battles and leaders of the Civil War : being for the most part contributions by Union and Confederate officers . he weak- ness of the forces op-posed to him and thebad generalship of theircommanders than to anygreat ability on his he was bold and aggressive, we all knew, but we believed that it wasthe boldness and aggressiveness that arise from the consciousness of strength,as he had generally managed to fight his battles with the advantage oflargely superior numbers. That this policy of force would be pursued whenhe took command in Virginia, we had no doubt; but we were not prepared forthe unparalleled stubbornness and tenacity with which he persisted in hisattacks under the fearful losses which his army sustained at the Wildernessand at Spotsylvania. General Grants method of conducting the campaignwas frequently discussed among the Confederates, and the universal verdictwas that he was no strategist and that he relied almost entirely upon thebrute force of numbers for success. Such a policy is not characteristicof a high order of generalship, and seldom wins unless the odds are over-. EXTREME RIGHT OF THE CONFEDERATE LINE, A WAR-TIME PHOTOGRAPH. FROM THE WILDERNESS TO COLD 143 whelmingly on the side of the assailant. It failed in this instance, as shownby the result at Cold Harbor, which necessitated an entire change in the planof campaign. What a part at least of his own men thought about GeneralGrants methods was shown by the fact that many of the prisoners takenduring the campaign complained bitterly of the useless butchery to whichthey were subjected, some going so far as to prophesy the destruction of theirarmy. He fights! was the pithy reply of President Lincoln to a deputationof influential politicians who urged his removal from the command of thearmy. These two words embody perfectly the Confederate idea of GeneralGrant at that time. If, as the mediaeval chroniclers tell us, Charles Martel(the Hammer) gained that titl
Size: 1970px × 1268px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1887
