- Joined
- Jan 16, 2015
Before:
I really believe our troops generally are more anxious to fight now than they ever were. All soldiers seem to confide strongest in their generals and all the army impose the utmost confidence in our hero [Robert E. Lee]. (June 11 letter of Captain T. J. Blackwell, Company I, 8th Georgia, “My Dear Wife from Your Devoted Husband,” Letters from a Rebel Soldier to His Wife, by H. Candler Thaxton, Warrington, FL, 1968)
Our army is strong and in fine spirits, and has the most implicit confidence in Gen’l Lee. (June 26 letter of 1st Corporal Taliaferro N. Simpson, Company A, 3rd South Carolina, to his sister Mary Simpson, The Wartime Letters of Dick and Tally Simpson, Third South Carolina Volunteers, ed. by Guy R. Everson and Edward H. Simpson, Jr., NY: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 249)
We hear nothing of Hooker’s army at all, but General Lee knows what he is about. This is certainly a grand move of his, and if any man can carry it out successfully he can, for he is cautious as well as bold. (June 28 letter of Surgeon Spencer Glasgow Welch, 13th South Carolina, to his wife)
After:
It seemed like madness in Lee to have attempted to storm such a position. He came very close near losing his whole army by it. (July 9 letter of Private Rufus K. Felder, Company E, 5th Texas, Brake Collection, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, Pa.)
But in an unfortunate hour and under disadvantageous circumstances, he [Lee] attacked the enemy, and [though] he gained the advantage and held possession of the battlefield and even destroyed more of the foe than he lost himself, still the Army of the Potomac [he refers to an old name for the Army of Northern Virginia] lost heavily and is now in a poor condition for offensive operations. (July 18 letter of 1st Corporal Taliaferro N. Simpson, Company A, 3rd South Carolina to Virginia Miller, The Wartime Letters of Dick and Tally Simpson, Third South Carolina Volunteers, ed. by Guy R. Everson and Edward H. Simpson, Jr., NY: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 257)
It will learn Gen. Lee a lesson, he had too much confidence in his army. He thought there was no place but he could take it, but the mountains of Gettysburg was rather too much for him. (August 7 letter of Sergeant James B. Suddath, Company E, 7th South Carolina, to his brother, South Carolina Historical Magazine, April 1962, vol. 63, no. 2, Charleston: The South Carolina Historical Society)
I think Gen. Lee did not sustain his high reputation which he had acquired on previous occasions. (Letters of Surgeon Abram S. Miller, 25th Virginia, The Handley Library, Winchester, Virginia)
General Lee was too confident in his men, expecting them to overcome difficulties too great. … My opinion is that if General Lee had taken a position and allowed himself to be attacked, he would have been victorious. (July 12 letter of Surgeon Caspar C. Henkel, 37th Virginia, to his cousin, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 16 (1908), p. 407)
I really believe our troops generally are more anxious to fight now than they ever were. All soldiers seem to confide strongest in their generals and all the army impose the utmost confidence in our hero [Robert E. Lee]. (June 11 letter of Captain T. J. Blackwell, Company I, 8th Georgia, “My Dear Wife from Your Devoted Husband,” Letters from a Rebel Soldier to His Wife, by H. Candler Thaxton, Warrington, FL, 1968)
Our army is strong and in fine spirits, and has the most implicit confidence in Gen’l Lee. (June 26 letter of 1st Corporal Taliaferro N. Simpson, Company A, 3rd South Carolina, to his sister Mary Simpson, The Wartime Letters of Dick and Tally Simpson, Third South Carolina Volunteers, ed. by Guy R. Everson and Edward H. Simpson, Jr., NY: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 249)
We hear nothing of Hooker’s army at all, but General Lee knows what he is about. This is certainly a grand move of his, and if any man can carry it out successfully he can, for he is cautious as well as bold. (June 28 letter of Surgeon Spencer Glasgow Welch, 13th South Carolina, to his wife)
After:
It seemed like madness in Lee to have attempted to storm such a position. He came very close near losing his whole army by it. (July 9 letter of Private Rufus K. Felder, Company E, 5th Texas, Brake Collection, U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, Pa.)
But in an unfortunate hour and under disadvantageous circumstances, he [Lee] attacked the enemy, and [though] he gained the advantage and held possession of the battlefield and even destroyed more of the foe than he lost himself, still the Army of the Potomac [he refers to an old name for the Army of Northern Virginia] lost heavily and is now in a poor condition for offensive operations. (July 18 letter of 1st Corporal Taliaferro N. Simpson, Company A, 3rd South Carolina to Virginia Miller, The Wartime Letters of Dick and Tally Simpson, Third South Carolina Volunteers, ed. by Guy R. Everson and Edward H. Simpson, Jr., NY: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 257)
It will learn Gen. Lee a lesson, he had too much confidence in his army. He thought there was no place but he could take it, but the mountains of Gettysburg was rather too much for him. (August 7 letter of Sergeant James B. Suddath, Company E, 7th South Carolina, to his brother, South Carolina Historical Magazine, April 1962, vol. 63, no. 2, Charleston: The South Carolina Historical Society)
I think Gen. Lee did not sustain his high reputation which he had acquired on previous occasions. (Letters of Surgeon Abram S. Miller, 25th Virginia, The Handley Library, Winchester, Virginia)
General Lee was too confident in his men, expecting them to overcome difficulties too great. … My opinion is that if General Lee had taken a position and allowed himself to be attacked, he would have been victorious. (July 12 letter of Surgeon Caspar C. Henkel, 37th Virginia, to his cousin, Confederate Veteran magazine, vol. 16 (1908), p. 407)