Here we go again…
At his MAGA rally in Ohio tonight, President Donald Trump called Robert E. Lee “incredible” and a “great general,” which the media will no doubt quote endlessly over the next few hours:
WATCH: President Trump says "Robert E. Lee was a great general" during Ohio rally, calling the Confederate leader "incredible." pic.twitter.com/HhsLI1Mk05
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 13, 2018
Sigh. And now for what President Trump was really talking about, via NRA TV’s Cam Edwards:
If you listen to the clip, he’s clearly telling a story and building to the point of Lincoln appointing Grant as Lt. General and head of Army of the Potomac, where he proceeded to take Lee on and win where other Union generals had failed. Y’all are such hacks. https://t.co/SfOC9G196d
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
And, surprise! Trump was right:
Trump speaks of the Union generals that came before Grant; great generals, head of their class at West Point, but they didn’t know how to win. And Trump is right. McClellan was a disaster, and would have preferred to keep his army in camp instead of fighting. 2/
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
More Civil War history:
Ambrose Burnside replaced McClellan after Antietam in November of 1862. Lincoln wanted a fighter, and Burnside presented a plan to take Richmond. He never got there, suffering a massive defeat at Fredericksburg, VA in December of ‘62. 3/
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
Joseph Hooker took over command of the Army of the Potomac in January of 1863. He was gone before the 4th of July, resigning after a conflict with Lincoln not long after his disastrous defeat at Chancellorsville. 4/
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
George Meade replaced Hooker, just in time for the Battle of Gettysburg. While Lee was defeated, Lincoln was aghast at the fact that Lee and his army escaped the field of battle and made their way to Virginia. 5/
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
So yes, Lincoln felt like none of the generals to go up against Lee had been as aggressive as he wanted. Meanwhile Grant’s having massive successes out west, including Shiloh and Vicksburg. After his victory in the Chattanooga campaign, Lincoln made his move. 6/
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
He named Grant Lt. General, the first man since George Washington to hold that rank. And he set Grant loose on Lee. What followed was the brutal Overland campaign, where Grant used superior numbers of personnel to grind out victories and push Lee and his army south. 7/
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
The number of Union casualties was staggering; nearly 55,000 dead and wounded. Lee’s army lost a little more than 30,000 men. But Grant could afford to lose more men than Lee, and he knew that’s what it would take to win. 8/
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
And to wrap all of this up, “they’re hacks”:
That was Trump’s point; that Grant had the will to fight and to press the point rather than withdrawing, and that in turn allowed him victory over Lee. @NBCNews wants you believe that Trump went to Ohio to praise Robert E. Lee instead of Ohioan U.S. Grant.
They’re hacks. 9/9
— Cam Edwards (@CamEdwards) October 13, 2018
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