Lee Lee's Greatest Battlefield Achievement?

Lee's Greatest Battlefield Achievement?

  • Seven Days

    Votes: 5 7.9%
  • Second Manassas

    Votes: 27 42.9%
  • Sharpsburg

    Votes: 3 4.8%
  • Fredericksburg

    Votes: 2 3.2%
  • Chancellorsville

    Votes: 25 39.7%
  • Wilderness

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Spotsylvania

    Votes: 1 1.6%
  • Cold Harbor

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    63

JeffBrooks

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Location
Hutto, TX
What, in your opinion, was Robert E. Lee's greatest battlefield achievement?

1. Seven Days
2. Second Manassas
3. Sharpsburg
4. Fredericksburg
5. Chancellorsville
6. Wilderness
7. Spotsylvania
8. Cold Harbor
 
Close call between 2nd manassas and Chancellorsville.

I would be interested in the 1 person that voted for 7 days to explain that a little bit more.
 
2nd Manassas by a nose.
Funny thing... Every single option you listed could be considered some sort of grand achievement in their own regard.
 
My Chancellorsville vote was because of the long odds (outnumbered more than 2 to 1) and the fact that I believe Hooker was a step above Pope in capability. IMO Lee's biggest achievement was that on June 1, 1864, two years after he assumed command the numerically superior and better supplied Union Armies were at almost the exact same spot they had been on June 1, 1862.
 
My Chancellorsville vote was because of the long odds (outnumbered more than 2 to 1) and the fact that I believe Hooker was a step above Pope in capability. IMO Lee's biggest achievement was that on June 1, 1864, two years after he assumed command the numerically superior and better supplied Union Armies were at almost the exact same spot they had been on June 1, 1862.
My favorite achievement of his came in the Overland Campaign. Lee stifled Grant at every turn, despite the fact that his corps commanders were dropping like flies. Seriously, watching the division and corps commander's roles get changed that often must have look like a game of "Musical Generals". (Every time the gunfire dies down, they all change job titles.)
Lee seemed to predict Grant's every move with startling accuracy. It must have been the worst string of battles for Grant in his whole career as far as frustration goes. Lucky for the Union, Grant was the most dogged and bull headed general ever to wear a blue uniform, and he refused to be beaten.

Grant never faced the long odds that Lee encountered in every campaign and battle, and Lee never had the advantages Grant had in men, material, etc.

I would hate to see the bloody outcome of a campaign scenario of Grant VS Lee with terrain new to both of them and armies matching in size, equipment, and supplies. You'd probably end up with something close to the Western Front of WW1.
 
This is a tough one. However, I choose Chancellorsville if only by a whisker over 2nd Manassas because of the long odds against him.
 
I picked Second Manassas. At Chancellorsville both the danger and opportunity were presented by the Union, however brilliantly Lee and company responded.

If by Second Manassas we mean the entire campaign, I give Lee credit for trying to finish off Pope's army at Chantilly, once again dividing his inferior force. A lot of generals would have been content with a battlefield victory, but Lee recognized the opportunity and was willing to take the risk to make it truly decisive.
 
I voted for the Seven Days. Its the only one to achieve the results Lee wanted, namely to push the Federals away from Richmond.
 
Interestingly, Lee thought that Sharpsburg was his finest battle.

An in-depth and impartial study of his command decisions on September 17 1862, and how he handled every aspect of his army on that field will, I believe, lead most open-minded students of the war to agree with what the Confederate commanding general himself held to be true.

Sharpsburg was fought very much under Lee's personal command. He was everywhere on the field and, in a departure from his usual practice, asserted tactical control of the fight. No doubt that was the origin of his comment. The stalemate there against very long odds was a tribute to Lee's prowess as a tactician and leader.
 
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