Battle of Antietam

With three-dimensional maps – almost like a board game – Robert E. Lee sat down with his lower officers and made sure they understood exactly what he wanted to accomplish. “First, as noted by Viscount Wolseley, Lee ‘knew what he wanted.’ Second, he had a thorough knowledge of his business – he ‘knew what an army should be.’ Third, it was Lee’s particular talent, especially in this time of crisis, that he was ‘quick in decision, yet methodical in all he did.’” Robert E. Lee provides countless examples of a better

The President of the Union at this time, Abraham Lincoln, had instructed Major General Pope to defend Washington incase of a Confederate attack. He was also told to take his army to Gordonsville to distract the Confederates away from McClellan's army. On the Confederate side, General Lee was confident enough to take

This battle is the 2nd major battle during the Overrule Campaign. It had some of the bloodiest fighting during the American Civil War. The battle was about two weeks long also it had about 20 hours of continuous hand-to-hand combat on May 12th to the 13th. About 18,000 Union and 11,000 Confederate soldiers died.

Despite his preferential treatment of his Generals, McClellan cared deeply for his Soldiers, so much so, that he often found himself overanalyzing the situation and delaying his attacks worried that he may be putting his men at risk. When McClellan took charge of the Army of the Potomac, many of the Soldiers rejoiced that “Little Mac” was back in charge because his supreme respect for the livelihood of his enlisted Soldiers was evident in both how he interacted with his men and how he maneuvered his formations on the battlefield. Unfortunately, his deep feelings for his Soldiers led to worrisome and slow planning that eventually resulted in too little action too late to achieve a decisive victory.

The focus of this investigation will be, “To what extent was Robert E. Lee an effective leader of the Confederate Army?” The investigation will analyze Lee’s strengths and weaknesses that contributed to his effectiveness and the overall loss of the Confederacy in the Civil War. The overall character of Lee throughout his lifetime is too broad, therefore, this investigation will focus solely on the testimony of his military background, and the personality traits that led to Lee’s decisions during the Civil War. As a result, Lee the American by Gamaliel Bradford Jr. and Robert E. Lee: The Soldier by Sir F. Maurice are important sources to this investigation, due to the background they give on Lee’s military training, personality, and victories in the battles leading up to Gettysburg.

McClellan’s caution in waging war is evidenced clearly in the Army of the Potomac’s Peninsula Campaign. McClellan was charged with leading the assault on Richmond, delivering what could have been a fatal blow against the Confederacy. During the Army of the Potomac’s movements towards Richmond, McClellan repeatedly delayed, believing he had inferior numbers to his initial adversary, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston. Johnston knew the caution McClellan was prone to, and slowly drew McClellan closer to Confederate forces defending Richmond. At the Battle of Seven Pines, Johnston reinforced the idea in McClellan’s mind that caution was necessary. (McPherson, 1988, p. 461) The surprise attach by Johnston’s forces, though ultimately defeated by the Army of the Potomac, delayed McClellan’s advance as he called for more reinforcements from Washington. Johnston was wounded in the battle, and replaced by General Robert E. Lee. Lee, whose prowess as a tactician bordered on legendary, led a series of surprise attacks against McClellan’s Army of the Potomac in the Seven Days’ Battle. McClellan’s forces were pushed back, and he was relieved of duty as commander of the Army of the Potomac, until later in 1862. (McPherson, 1988, pp. 462-470)

The Commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was General Robert E. Lee. General Lee graduated second in his class from West Point in 1829 and served throughout the country, but is best known for his leadership during the Mexican-American War. General Lee believed in unity but when the state of Virginia decided to secede from the Union in April 1861, Lee decided to stay with Virginia. Confederate president Jefferson Davis asked Lee to serve as his senior military adviser and General Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia on June 1, 1862.

The battle of Antietam was about 12 hours long. The battle of Antietam lasted about 12 hours.The battle of Antietam was also named the battle of Sharpsburg. The location of the battle was Sharpsburg, Washington County in Maryland. The battle of Antietam happened on September 17,1862. The union general was George B. McClellan and the confederate general was Robert E. Lee. Lee had about 16,000 horses. The union army of the Potomac was 75,300. The Confederate army had 52,000. The

The Battle of Gettysburg was fought for three days from July 1 to 3. The Army of the Potomac, led by General George Meade, repelled the attack of the Confederate’s Army, led by General Robert E. Lee. The purpose of this paper is to examine General Lee’s effectiveness by analyzing his utilization of the mission command, and its principles.

As is noted from the quote above, questions were raised about Gen McClellan’s inability to lead an Army during a time of war. Only because of uncertainty of the Union Army after GEN Pope’s defeat on September 1 at Second Bull Run did McClellan live to Command during Antietam.

The Battle of Gettysburg was amongst one the most important turning points during the Civil War. It was a three-day bloody battle between the Union and Confederate forces which would ultimately lead up to the victory of the Union. In The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara shows a depiction of the battle through the eyes of the officers and tries to give the reader a first-hand look into the daily struggles that they had to deal with when it came to distinguishing between what’s best for their men and chances of success in the battle. In the book, we are introduced with two important officers: Colonel Chamberlain of the Union force, and General Lee of the Confederate force. Throughout the book, we witness different leadership strategies and philosophies between both officers which ultimately serve as their road to success or failure in the battle. Focusing on General Lee’s philosophy on leadership, “To be a good soldier, you must love the army. But to be a good officer you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love.”, it reinforces the idea that in order to fully succeed at battle, you must set aside and sacrifice your sense of sympathy towards your soldiers as a way to avoid making emotional decisions.

This complicated war full of bloodshed and death started merely by an assault of a Confederate left flank. Deemed the single most deadly day in American military history, the Union (who had more men) swept many attacks towards the Confederate army. Even though the South had more spirit and useful tactics the sheer numbers of the Union made this battle one to remember. They fought for many hours in Miller's cornfield to then make a last stand at Antietam Creek. With the only sign of cover being trees and the stone bridge which was worn by bullets and bodies you could tell this fight was going to be bad. The Union captured the bridge and with a final push and counter attack from another Union division the Union were victorious and were another

“What a cruel thing is war; to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbours, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world! I pray that, on this day when only peace and good-will are preached to mankind, better thoughts may fill the hearts of our enemies and turn them to peace. … My heart bleeds at the death of every one of our gallant men.”(General Robert E. Lee. 1862) General Robert E. Lee, as renowned as he is for his tactfulness in wartime, resents war in its entire capacity. That didn’t put a strain on his attempt to lead the Confederates’ invasion of the Northern States. His objective was to

General Robert E. Lee’s impact on his leadership style have provide his men hope and loyalty, even on the day he surrendered at the Battle of Appomattox Court House in 1865, which is one also one of the last battles of the American Civil War. His men would be willing to fight, under his command, even to the very end. One of his men stated that they will go in and fight some more, if he order them to do so. General Lee’s leadership impacted even the most exhausted, dirty and hungry men, who were willing to fight and to give their ultimate sacrifice, simply because they believe in him. (Gipson, 2003)

An interesting turn of events would soon favor the Federal Army as General J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry were north and east of Gettysburg causing a lot of fear in the North but consequently were not performing adequate reconnaissance, the result was that General Lee did not know where General Meade and the Army of the Potomac were or what their strength was (Freeman, 147). When Confederate General Henry Heth moved into