Nationwide Removal of Confederate Statues

[DCSaints_fan]

23 hours ago, Corcaigh said:

Weren't Stonewall Jackson and Lee heros for the Union cause? Their wasteful loss of troops and military resources helped ensure a Union victory. Someone who had a basic understanding of military strategy would understand that it was a war of attrition and the Union had more to waste.

 

Maybe if we portrayed history more accurately the losers would be less inclined to put Jackson and Lee's names on all the buildings.

 

Nah, Lee / Jackson / Longstreet definitely prolonged the war.   Look at what happened in the West.  The willingness of Lee to go on the operational offensive means the Union always keeping a sizable garrison around Washington.  Which meant less troops available for the Union field army.   Until Grant gambled slightly in 1864 in his march to Richmond.  But by then the Confederacy of so depleted of resources mounting any legit offensive operations was next to impossible, Jubal Early's offensive didn't amount to much more than a raid before he had to turn back.

 

Longstreet *might* have been a bit better, he knew that forcing the Union to attack was almost always the better course of action.  He was opposed to Pickett's charge at Gettysburg, knowing it was hopeless situation.  

 

With a less competent Confederate generals, and more competent Union ones, its conceivable that Richmond could have been captured in 1862.    Or at least surrounded, and then maybe captured in 1863.   The Peninsular campaign in early 1862 caught the Confederacy off guard, but McClellan was too timid to take advantage.  Given with what was happening out West, with their capital captured, I'm not sure how long the CSA would last.

 

As an interesting aside, if the CSA does capitulate before the Emancipation Proclamation (as a condition of surrender), the Copperhead faction gains popular support, and Lincoln facing pressure to end the war with the condition southern states be allowed to keep their slaves (which he actually stated he would do prior to the outbreak of war) I wonder how long slavery persists in the US...

Edited May 11 by DCSaints_fan