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Grant & Lee: A Study in Personality & Generalship
Grant Lee A Study in Personality Generalship Author:J. F. C. Fuller Major General John Frederick Charles Fuller was no armchair military historian. One of the 20th century's most significant and original thinkers, he fought in the Boer War, organized the British tank corps in World War I, and developed tactics for tank warfare that, ironically, were rejected by the British, but used by the Germans during Wor... more »ld War II. This enormous wealth of knowledge and experience informs every page of Grant & Lee, his groundbreaking analysis of the Civil War's most famous generals, and his insights continue to influence public opinion today.
Drawing on firsthand account -- letters, diaries, memoirs, and more -- by staff officers, foreign witnesses, and others who were "personally acquainted with Grant and Lee," Fuller reveals that Lee's generalship was riddled with mistakes. Though a brilliantly intuitive tactican, he had no grand strategy. He concentrated on protecting Virginia and the war's Eastern theater, and ignored the more important Western one. He often choose to attack despite knowing he was outnumbered and, as at Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg, didn't take advantage of familiar terrain, wilderness, or high ground.
Grant, on the other hand, did have a coherent overall strategy and coordinated multiple operations. By continuing to confront Lee's troops, he made it impossible for them to attack General Sherman's army, enabling its devastating progress through the South. Fuller concludes that despite Lee's mant impressive qualities, it is Grant who must be judged one of history's greatest generals.« less