Friday, June 25, 2010
Killer Angels Post 2
I couldn't help but wonder why Longstreet did not fight Lee more actively over his battle strategy. I can't help but think that the battle would have gone differently if Longstreet had his way. Shaara portrayed Longstreet's character (in my opinion) as very practical and level headed, but we know that Lee was a military genius... I guess that it is true what they say hindsight is 20/20 so of course we know that Lee should have listened more to Longstreet.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Longstreet quite literally could not oppose Lee's plans. That would be insubordination and grounds for disciplinary action. Additionally, questioning or doubting Lee publicly would only have rippled down through the ranks and would likely have been more disastrous than Lee's insistence on attacking at Gettysburg. Longstreet was stuck and did the best he could with the impossible hand that he had been dealt. Longstreet was a class act in my humble opinion. I don't criticize him in the slightest for not putting up a stronger fight against Lee.
ReplyDelete