Killer Angels 3

On page 202, Gen. Lee says, “Soldiering has one great trap.” He then continues, “To be a good soldier you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. That is . . . a very hard thing to do. No other profession requires it. That is one reason why there are so very few good officers. Although there are many good men.” I have often pondered on the ability of generals—particularly U.S. Grant—to send their men to their deaths in such great masses. In the case of Grant, I am thinking of Shiloh, Cold Harbor, and many others, where Grant orders attacks and counter-attacks with the certain knowledge that massive numbers of casualties will be the result. How does one keep the overall objective in mind when the loss of life is mounting in incredulous ways? What happens when the public turns against the cause? In my opinion, we are seeing similar issues today in Afghanistan and Iraq. Certainly, this was an issue during Vietnam!