South's feeling of Defeat

richard · #1 10-18-2007, 10:36 PM

Just the other day I read that Gen. Forrest surmised some 18 months before the fall of the Confederacy, that the war was lost. If Forrest could see the specter of defeat that far back to the winter of 1863 , what did some of the other Generals see?

The other question that comes to mind is if they did see defeat looming over then for more than a year, why did they insist on fighting instead of finding a better ending?

Was it their "honor" at stake or did they just kept doing what they were trained to do and let the "leaders" do their work.

Dred · #2 10-18-2007, 11:06 PM

same reason they can't admit defeat after 150 years

cash · #3 10-18-2007, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard

Just the other day I read that Gen. Forrest surmised some 18 months before the fall of the Confederacy, that the war was lost.

I wouldn't put much credence in that assertion. Seems to me it's an attempt to burnish Forrest's "genius" credentials.

Regards,
Cash

ole · #4 10-19-2007, 02:59 AM

And I will cheerfully jump in on your side, Richard. Ya see, Forrest was not your typical Confederate. He saw the writing as it appeared on the wall. He was just there. Fighting. And he clearly saw that he was playing a dead hand. He played it out, but he knew that he was a bit player in a large, losing game. he couldn't just fold, he wasn't that kind. So he finished his part of the game as might be expected of what he considered himself to be: a gentleman. With honor. Unfortunately, he cast his considerable lot with the losing side. An Ace high doesn't beat a pair.

He was good. Very, very good. But I'll bet he lmew when the game was over. If Lee had as much sense, the war would have been over a bit sooner than it was.

ole

larry_cockerham · #5 10-19-2007, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cash

I wouldn't put much credence in that assertion. Seems to me it's an attempt to burnish Forrest's "genius" credentials.

Regards,
Cash

Nope, ole Bedford made that statement more than once. As to why he continued to fight? The fight wasn't over.

larry_cockerham · #6 10-19-2007, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ole

And I will cheerfully jump in on your side, Richard. Ya see, Forrest was not your typical Confederate. He saw the writing as it appeared on the wall. He was just there. Fighting. And he clearly saw that he was playing a dead hand. He played it out, but he knew that he was a bit player in a large, losing game. he couldn't just fold, he wasn't that kind. So he finished his part of the game as might be expected of what he considered himself to be: a gentleman. With honor. Unfortunately, he cast his considerable lot with the losing side. An Ace high doesn't beat a pair.

He was good. Very, very good. But I'll bet he lmew when the game was over. If Lee had as much sense, the war would have been over a bit sooner than it was.

ole

For a man with your track record of pot shots at ol Bedford, that was extremely well stated. Actually it was well stated, period. Thanks.

ole · #7 10-20-2007, 01:48 AM

Larry, from your sorry donkey point of view, I will take that as as about as good a compliment as I can expect. And I did mean every word of it.

Goosh dang it all. I wish I could say ****cutter just once.

ole

FSPowers · #8 10-21-2007, 02:48 PM

As part of this, you all might want to check out the November/December edition of Civil War Times, they feature an article called Against All Odds, about how people in the CSA was confident of victory even as the Union vise was closing in.