Berkut
Posts: 757
Joined: 5/16/2002 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: heroldje Berkut, at least preface such comments with the acknowledgement that you're expressing an opinion. Many with much more knowledge on the subject than you or I consider Jackson as one of the premier generals in the civil war. That doesn't mean he was or wasn't, but it does mean throwing around such opinions with teh weight of fact is silly. In my personal opinion, lumping Grant in the 4/4 category is the bigger sin. His greatest quality was determination, not stunning strategy or tactics. He just pounded away and fought a war of attrition. Nothing he did during that time was brilliant. (depending where you stand on the vicksburg debate on whos plan that actually was.) but then, thats how it goes with all such debates. Its extremely subjective, and it can be very tempting to tie results, which can be effected by a multitude of things, to capabilities. Had manasas been the last battle of the war, we would all have thought Beauragaurd a genius. quote:
ORIGINAL: heroldje Berkut, at least preface such comments with the acknowledgement that you're expressing an opinion. Many with much more knowledge on the subject than you or I consider Jackson as one of the premier generals in the civil war. That doesn't mean he was or wasn't, but it does mean throwing around such opinions with teh weight of fact is silly. In my personal opinion, lumping Grant in the 4/4 category is the bigger sin. His greatest quality was determination, not stunning strategy or tactics. He just pounded away and fought a war of attrition. Nothing he did during that time was brilliant. (depending where you stand on the vicksburg debate on whos plan that actually was.) but then, thats how it goes with all such debates. Its extremely subjective, and it can be very tempting to tie results, which can be effected by a multitude of things, to capabilities. Had manasas been the last battle of the war, we would all have thought Beauragaurd a genius. Pretty much everything anyone says on such a subjective matter, including those with "much more knowledge" is opinion - I feel no need to preface everything I say with that. And there are those with plenty of knowledge who do not think he was the greatest general ever, just very good. That is why the appeal to authority on such matters is largely fruitless - there is always some other authority with a different opinion. And Grant won. What else is there? He fought a war of attrition because he knew that was the best way to win, and he did so - isn't that the mark of a great commander, to identify what it takes to win and then go and do it? What did he do that was "brilliant"? He did the one think Lee was terrified a Union general would do from the start - he marched south, and he didn't much care what Lee did in response. Contrast with Lee, who everyone thinks is so brilliant, but had no idea how to win the war - his great defeat was a defeat before the first shot was fired, since even a win at Gettysburg meant....nothing. IMO, most of the Southern leadership was drinking from the same kool-aid that got the South into an unwinnable war to begin with, and their "incredible leadership" is grossly over-stated by most amateur historians. This is well beyond the bounds of the game at this point, of course. It is an interesting topic for conversation though.
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