Costly attacks against fortified positions form the basis of a sharp critique of Robert E. Lee's reputation as an outstanding general. A second assessment separates that wartime judgment from why he had looked attractive to commanders before the Civil War. Lee fitted the officer ideal that the prewar US military had tried to produce, which helps explain the command offers he received. The war exposed differences between that institutional ideal and effective wartime leadership. George Henry Thomas is offered as a contrasting example of the gap between expectations and performance.
Notable Point · 2:50:38-2:52:12
Robert E. Lee and the gap between officer ideals and wartime performance
A hostile assessment of Lee's battlefield leadership leads to a distinction between the prewar Army's ideal officer and the commanders who proved effective in war.