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"Truth Is Mighty & Will Eventually Prevail" Political Correctness, Neo-Confederates, And Robert E. Lee, Peter S. Carmichael
"Truth Is Mighty & Will Eventually Prevail" Political Correctness, Neo-Confederates, And Robert E. Lee, Peter S. Carmichael
Civil War Institute Faculty Publications
Jefferson Davis sent Robert E. Lee an unusual note after the battle of Gettysburg. The dispatch did not contain any presidential recommendations or requests, only a clipped article from the Charleston Mercury criticizing Lee and his subordinates for failure in Pennsylvania. Why Davis sent this article is impossible to say, and Lee apparently was not interested in the president’s motivations. The General dismissed newspaper criticism of himself as “harmless,” but the Mercury’s condemnation of the army disturbed him. He considered the charges harmful to the cause, for his officers and soldiers were beyond reproach. Defeat, Lee insisted, was his responsibility …
The High Water Mark Of Social History In Civil War Studies, Peter S. Carmichael
The High Water Mark Of Social History In Civil War Studies, Peter S. Carmichael
Civil War Institute Faculty Publications
Just hours before the Army of Northern Virginia raised the white flag at Appomattox Court House, Confederate Colonel Edward Porter Alexander approached his commanding officer, Robert E. Lee, with what he hoped was a game-saving plan. Rather than suffer the mortification of surrendering, Alexander begged Lee to scatter his men across the countryside like “rabbits & partridges” where they could continue waging war, not as regular Confederate soldiers, but as elusive guerrilla fighters. Lee listened patiently to his subordinate’s reasoning for irregular warfare. Before Alexander finished, he reminded Lee that the men were utterly devoted to their commanding general, and …