Who became the leader of the Confederate Army, and what skills did he bring to the job?
1 Answer
Gen. Robert E. Lee
Explanation:
When South Carolina seceded from the Union, President Lincoln approached his best general, Robert E. Lee, to lead his armies. That was in February 1861 and before Virginia seceded. Lee, a West Point grad, suffered greatly in trying to make his decision. His loyalty to the United States was unquestionable but he suspected that Virginia would soon secede and he decided his loyalties to his home state counted more.
Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, the eventual leader of the Army of the Potomac, both graduated from West Point, Lee in the class, 1829 and Grant in the class of 1841. Lee graduated at the top of his class while Grant graduated towards the bottom.
Lee was, at least at the beginning of the war, the superior leader, a man who men would follow to hell is so ordered, while Grant had to be brought back into the army having left it in 1854. Lee has superior tactical knowledge which helped the south to win practically every engagement until 1863.
