Originally Posted by Strike For The South
I won't get into the Lee vs. Caesar debate, but I've never seen the quality of the CSA's troops questioned before. A "terrible scrappy army"? Confederate cavalry consistently outfought their Union counterparts until the later stages of the war, their infantry also regularly outclassed the bluecoats for much of the war (leading one general [Phil Sheridan?] to state that with Confederate infantry and Union artillery, he'd be unbeatable), and their officer corps was second to none. And let's not forget that even under the command of Joe Johnston, the Confederates won at First Manassas and stopped McClellan at Seven Pines (admittedly it was left to Lee drive McClellan back). If the CSA had lacked a quality army until Lee "turned it into a fighting machine", the war would have been too short for such to happen - or for Lee to have made a name for himself.Originally Posted by Gelatinous Cube
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