General Discussion

If he'd been a wonderful general he wouldn't have fought as he did.

Unlike many here, I do think Lee was a very good general -- but he was a good tactical general. Give him some ground and he could generally find the best way to position his troops and figure out way to be successful. Grant knew this, so he used Lee's strategy against him and just bled him to death. Grant was a great strategic general (and a great tactical general).

Lee needed to be more like Washington to win the war. Washington was a great strategic general but an average tactical one (he lost more battles than he won). He realized the most important thing in an insurgency is not to be defeated - not to win. Lee didn't come to that conclusion until much too late (he sort of realized it by the time the war got to Petersburg, but by then he was bottled up in a siege)..