We are up to the middle of 1863 and the Confederacy are winning
I think I am going to have to stop watching it here as it is about to get quite sad.....
There is much to suggest that had Stonewall Jackson not been killed in a freak accident the month before then the South would have stood a far better chance at Gettysburg. THe hill they were five minutes too slow in taking because Lee's orders were misunderstood; had they taken the hill then the fateful charge the following day wouldn't have happened.
I stopped at the part where Shelby Foote says that every Southern boy is able to put himself in that field at 1pm, just before the charge and drink in the last moment where victory was still possible.....I had to turn it off and weep like a baby..
That said, the situation at Vicksburg was dire and even victory at Gettysburg wasnt enough. He needed to draw Grant and his resources northwards to ensure that Vicksburg held and Gettysburg came too late- Vicksburg surrendered the following day.
Yes. Friendly fire wasn't it for old Stonewall? Mind you, he struck one as less than amusing company, so no great loss.
I do love Shelby Foote's voice. Someone should have got him to do audiobooks of William Faulkner novels. He'd have been perfect.
To be honest, I don't think the south could ever have actually won militarily. However many battles they'd won, the sheer weight of industry, resources and men would have told eventually.
Stonewall was shot in the arm by his own troops while inspecting the battlefield after the battle. Ridiculous accident....
They could never have won the war completely on the battlefield and I think Lee knew this. His hope was to wage an aggressive war against the Union troops in the East and drive as far Northward as possible. If he could have destroyed that army then the picture would have changed drastically.
The greater issue of the Southern Cause was a loser from the start. The 'way of life' was doomed in the long term, as all backward, static social and economic systems are.
They didn't have to win militarily. They just had to cause the north to get bogged down indefinitely, persuading the northerners of the folly of pursuing their ends. Kind of a Vietnam-type deal, Tet Offensive.
I personally like William Tecumseh Sherman. Scorched earth, faggits.