- Joined
- Feb 27, 2017
- Location
- Ohio
Alexander wrote (Fighting for the Confederacy, pp. 145-146) that Lee's decision to make a stand at Sharpsburg "will be pronounced by military critics to be the greatest blunder that Gen. Lee ever made.…Lee’s inferiority of force was too great to hope to do more than to fight a sort of drawn battle. Hard & incessant marching, & camp diseases aggravated by irregular diet, had greatly reduced his ranks, & I don’t think he mustered much if any over 40,000 men [while] McClellan had over 87,000, with more & better guns & ammunition.” He added that “Common Sense was just shouting" to McClellan, "Your adversary is back against a river, with no bridge & only one ford, & that the worst one on the whole river. If you whip him now, you destroy him utterly, root & branch & bag & baggage. Not twice in a life does such a chance come to any general. Lee for once has made a mistake, & given you a chance to ruin him if you can break his lines, & such game is worth great risks."
I am curious as to anyone's opinion of Alexander's assessment? Was it in fact Lee's greatest blunder?
I am curious as to anyone's opinion of Alexander's assessment? Was it in fact Lee's greatest blunder?