January 2022 Meeting

At our Round Table dinner meeting on January 19th, Dr. Harry S. Laver, with the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth KS, gave a program titled: "Grant vs. Lee." He gave a biographical summary of each general and then gave a detailed discussion of General Grant's Overland Campaign, which began in May of 1864 and ultimately led to Lee's surrender at Appomattox in April of 1865. Dr. Laver covered the battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, the North Anna River, and Cold Harbor, and the siege at Petersburg. Some key points made during Dr. Laver's presentation and the Q&A session are as follows:

Grant and Lee are the two "rock stars" of the Civil War. If the Civil War was like the playoffs in sports. Lee would be the #1 seed and Grant would be a #35 or #36 seed. Everyone has a thought about which one was the best general.
General Grant's army and General Lee's army first met at the Battle of the Wilderness. Grant was 42 years old and had recently been promoted to Lieutenant General. Lee was 57 years old and had been in command of the Confederate army since June of 1862.
The Overland Campaign was essentially Grant saying to Lee: "If you are the general that you think you are. come out and fight me" and Lee saying to Grant: "If you are the general that you think you are. compel me to come out and fight."
Lee's army was seemingly trapped at Richmond but could still cause damage to Grant. Lee defended a city that Grant did not want or need. Strategically, it was not a good idea for Grant to try and capture Richmond. Grant knew he had more resources, but he did not enough resources to assault Richmond. Grant decided on a siege at Petersburg. Lee had no additional resources.
This was war between the Civil War's best generals. Neither man made a mistake. The exhaustion of Confederate resources led to Grant defeating Lee. Grant had greater resources and Grant was willing to use those resources to bring Lee to battle.
Mrs. Lincoln said Grant was also willing to be a butcher. However, several times Grant chose to maneuver around Lee's right flank rather than assault the Confederates. Grant said he regretted assaulting Lee's well-defended position at Cold Harbor. Overall. Grant's casualty rates were better than Lee's.
Grant had overwhelming resources. The South was counting on the 1864 presidential election in the North to change the direction of the war. Grant and Lincoln knew this. Lee recognized that he didn't have the resources to win militarily. He can't win a decisive battle. The goal is to exhaust the will of the North to fight the war. similar to what Washington did during the American Revolution. There was a peace movement in the North. Even with the politics of war. Grant still had a strategic advantage over Lee. Grant had more time on his side.
At the beginning of the war. Lincoln told his cabinet to tell England and France to stay out of the war. Lincoln also told his cabinet to get the war finances under way. The United States government had been functioning for 80-90 years. However, the Confederacy was brand new. The challenges facing Jefferson Davis were enormous.
The South also had slavery. That was a public relations issue. The South did not want the war to be about slavery. Lincoln didn't either when the war began. There were still a number of slave states in the Union. It all changed when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1. 1863.
Grant couldn't completely encircle Lee's army because he did not have unlimited resources. There were a total of five campaigns going on simultaneously. Grant can't commit it all. Lincoln never studied strategy, but realized that the North had more resources. The South had shorter interior lines. The advantage to the North was to attack in all locations at the same time. Lee couldn't reinforce Joseph E. Johnston's army against William T. Sherman's army.