So I just finished a great book called " Killer angels" which was a great introduction to the US Civil War, I don't really know a ton about the civil war but I have the bug now and have another book on the way. I did finished " Killer angels" with a couple of questions and I was hoping someone on here might be able to
tackle them for me.
1. Why was ( and still is) Lee considered a great General? From what I read his tactics cost the confederates that battle and Pickett's charge was a calamity.
2. If Lee had listen to Longstreet do you think the confederates could have won that battle?
3. If the confederates had won do you think that would have ended the war? If yes do you think the Union would have accepted the two state scenario or would they have eventually looked to retake the South?
1) He's considered a great general mostly because he managed to keep the Confederacy alive and kicking for so long. He had the benefit of superior subordinate generals and good luck for the first half of the war or so, but after that it was all downhill from there. Even so, a lesser general would have been crushed in 1862 or 1863.
The thing you have to remember about Pickett's Charge is that by Gettysburg Lee had fallen into the trap of believing his own hype. He genuinely believed that no Yankees could defeat his troops, period. He also had a bit of a thing for placing his trust on fellow Virginian officers and George Pickett did command one of the larger units in the Army of Northern Virginia if I remember correctly. So when push came to shove he hurled them at the Union line, realized far too late it was a mistake, and wound up with a more or less shattered army.
Additionally, I think a big part of why Lee is remembered more or less fondly is the way he handled himself in the last days of the war. Rather than running off to Mexico, or turning to guerilla warfare like some of his officers wanted, he handled it with a degree of dignity and class which won the respect of many Union officers. Of course, the fact that a lot of them knew each other probably didn't hurt either.
2) Possibly, but a big part of that is more wishful thinking than anything else. Longstreet was the scapegoat for the common Southerner after the war--- even though his points were extremely valid, by more or less dragging his heels at certain points in the battle he certainly didn't help matters.
Honestly even if the Confederacy had somehow pulled out a miraculous win at Gettysburg, I rather doubt anything would have changed in the end. The war would have dragged on a bit longer, but even if Lincoln lost the election to McClellan what people tend to forget is that he didn't want to end the war
either. His whole thing was "I would do a much better job at running the war than Lincoln" and no matter what the Copperheads desperately hoped I doubt he would have allowed himself to be pushed into "peace at any costs".
3) As I said, no I don't think it would have ended the war. Even if it did I don't see the continent staying peaceful for long. The Confederacy was an extremely expansionist society--- after all, slavery needed to keep growing to new lands in order to survive--- and retaking the south would be the number one priority for the north for decades to come. Likely you would see a Confederate involvement in Mexico, possibly a Confederate-Spain war over Cuba, and after that who knows.
