Monday, April 19, 2010
Lee takes Command
I have been surprised to hear that many in the South were not excited to see Robert E. Lee taking over command of the Army of Northern Virginia for the injured Joe Johnston. I didn't know about the troubles that he had in West Virgina. I guess I have always heard about how well respected Lee was as a commander and how Gettysburg was the first (or one of the first) Civil War battles that Lee had lost. I never really thought about the challenges that Lee faced, instead I had seen only his success.
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I have been trying to teach myself more of the back story of the commanders. I learned Lee didn't really want the appointment. That surprised me. I also watched a History Channel documentary about the West Pointers. I was intrigued to learn that many of these men were good life bonded friends fighting against each other. Sometimes even as they lay dying, they would tell the men to give the opposing general their regards.
ReplyDeleteThe bond between the West Point Generals was very strong. I watched a special on the History Channel that talked about this and how some Civil War Generals would become visibly distraught when one of their friends, fighting on the other side, would be wounded or killed in battle.
ReplyDeleteI thought about how difficult that must be knowing that you had issued the order to attack that led to the death of one of your closest friends.
I thought that Lee made some huge mistakes by not listening to Longstreets suggestions. If Lee had won this battle as well, the war could have taken much longer for the north to win, maybe it was a good thing that Lee turned desperate during this battle.
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