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LittlePowell wrote:

I think Lee knew very well that it wasn't a territorial war. Win a major battle, crush the Union morale, and gain foreign recognition.

You raise a very interesting 'what-if'. Suppose Europe did decide to recognize the confederacy, then what? They could run the blockade with their ships and dare the US to sink them. If the US obliged, would they declare war and send troops? Sending troop ships while ironclads were patrolling the waters would invite disaster. Although, I suppose they could attack via Canada. Are there many eastern Canadian seaports? Or Lincoln could just avoid all of that by making the capture of southern ports his number 1 priority. With Savannah, Charleston and Mobile in northern hands, the south would be essentially a landlocked country.

An interesting what if indeed. Great Brittan always had a very powerful Navy. What if they sent over a couple hundred ships to guard the coastlines for the Confederacy. They could then trade freely with Brittan as well as other foreign nations... That takes care of the financial and resource issues...

Hey. . . where's my boy George McClellan?

If Lincoln had left him alone he'd have taken Richmond, eventually.

But Lincoln wanted more blood than George was willing to give him.

Yes. . . that's right. . . I'm a McClellan apologist.

:woohoo:

LittlePowell wrote:

What if they sent over a couple hundred ships to guard the coastlines for the Confederacy. They could then trade freely with Brittan as well as other foreign nations... That takes care of the financial and resource issues

But if the ports are occupied by Union troops, where do the ships unload? How does the cotton get loaded? The north had a number of options and the initiative and resources to carry out almost anything it wanted. I think the European card was more of a pipe dream than anything else. The south needed that dream to hang onto. After Lincoln proclaimed emancipation and Europe was no longer an option, the south then pinned their hopes on the possibility that Lincoln would lose reelection and that his successor would be more favorable towards the south. Another pipe dream. Sherman's 1860 letter was spot on.

LittlePowell wrote:

What if they sent over a couple hundred ships to guard the coastlines for the Confederacy. They could then trade freely with Brittan as well as other foreign nations... That takes care of the financial and resource issues

But if the ports are occupied by Union troops, where do the ships unload? How does the cotton get loaded? The north had a number of options and the initiative and resources to carry out almost anything it wanted. I think the European card was more of a pipe dream than anything else. The south needed that dream to hang onto. After Lincoln proclaimed emancipation and Europe was no longer an option, the south then pinned their hopes on the possibility that Lincoln would lose reelection and that his successor would be more favorable towards the south. Another pipe dream. Sherman's 1860 letter was spot on.

Well you also can't discount the fact that foreign support would also mean more troops/manpower to guard those ports, just as the North had. Think about a Confederate British Brigade, or a Confederate French Brigade etc...

"But if the ports are occupied by Union troops, where do the ships unload?"

But if the British controlled the sea, how would the occupiers get supplies?

No problems there Queen Victoria would have called for 75000 Volunteers to put the Union Down


Braxton Bragg :laugh:

I'm honestly surprised that Longstreet isn't on that list. I would argue as a Corps Commander he was just as effective as Jackson was, if not more so at times, though admittedly his one independent command he did pretty poorly. Still many others on that list never got an opportunity at independent command and He was certainly if not the best Confederate Corps Commander the second best, IMHO.

Wow, good point, can't believe I didn't notice there was no Pete on the list. He was definitely one of the best.

But I think the votes are pretty accurate right now.. Although one may argue against some of his tactics and decisions, Robert E. Lee was the greatest general of the Civil War, and one of the greatest out of any war.

Hey. . . where's my boy George McClellan?

If Lincoln had left him alone he'd have taken Richmond, eventually.

Almost certainly true, but no one wanted to wait until 1882! (Which was the time he would have needed for all his troops to raise sons that he could draft and get his army up to the proportions that Pinkerton McClellan thought he would need to be able to cross the railroad tracks successfully.) :whistle: