Early on in the Civil War, George McClellan was extremely successful. Originally, he started out as the leader of a volunteer Ohio army and did a phenomenal job of training the volunteer soldiers, which resulted in his promotion to major general of the main Union army. As a major general, he won a string of small battles in the western part of Virginia. However, as the Civil War progressed, McClellan was unable to make the right decisions in crucial moments. He was simply too cautious and believed that the Confederates had more firepower than they did in reality. At one point in the war, McClellan and his troops were in great position to attack the Confederates outside of Richmond, but McClellan was overly cautious and indecisive. As a result,
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Yet another failure of McClellan’s was his cautiousness at the Battle of Antietam, which resulted in a tie between the Confederates and the Union. McClellan and his troops broke through the Confederate lines and easily should have won the battle, but he didn’t act quickly and was cautious by refraining from using one-third of his troops. As a result, Robert E. Lee and some Confederate soldiers were able to flee into Virginia safely, so the battle could have been a significant victory for the Union but instead turned out to be a disappointing draw. After this failure, Lincoln could no longer stand McClellan’s overly cautious approach and fired him from his position near the end of 1862 because he was certainly not producing the necessary results and wasn’t able to prove himself tactically as a leader (“George McClellan”). Towards the beginning of the Civil War, Sherman fought in the First Battle of Bull Run, which didn’t go well whatsoever for the Union. After this battle, Sherman struggled for a period with regaining his self-confidence. Lincoln promoted …show more content…
Lee’s death in 1870 until 2018, his legacy has changed significantly without a doubt. Originally after his death, Lee was glorified and beloved by southerners as an iconic figure of the Confederacy. In the late 1800s, statues of Lee were notably created in New Orleans and Dallas (“Robert E. Lee”). Because of Lee’s determination to fight the Union and preserve the Confederacy during the Civil War, southerners decided to show appreciation for him as a leader in the late 1860s. Shortly after his death, southerners created a narrative called “The Lost Cause” surrounding the Civil War. In the narrative, Lee was the main character and was focused on as if he were a hero because of his determination to battle the Union even at points when there was a slim chance of victory. In addition, during 1924, Lee was remembered for his service with a statue of him in Charlottesville, Virginia (Contreras). Recently, there has been a significant amount of controversy surrounding society’s view on whether to maintain or remove statues of Robert E. Lee in southern states. For example, in 2015, the city council in New Orleans voted to remove a statue of Lee in the city, and a high school in Houston removed Lee’s name from their school name. Additionally, the most recent incident involving the commemoration of Lee occurred at the beginning of 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a statue of Robert E. Lee was removed, thus infuriating Neo-Nazis and white supremacists in the
Yet another failure of McClellan’s was his cautiousness at the Battle of Antietam, which resulted in a tie between the Confederates and the Union. McClellan and his troops broke through the Confederate lines and easily should have won the battle, but he didn’t act quickly and was cautious by refraining from using one-third of his troops. As a result, Robert E. Lee and some Confederate soldiers were able to flee into Virginia safely, so the battle could have been a significant victory for the Union but instead turned out to be a disappointing draw. After this failure, Lincoln could no longer stand McClellan’s overly cautious approach and fired him from his position near the end of 1862 because he was certainly not producing the necessary results and wasn’t able to prove himself tactically as a leader (“George McClellan”). Towards the beginning of the Civil War, Sherman fought in the First Battle of Bull Run, which didn’t go well whatsoever for the Union. After this battle, Sherman struggled for a period with regaining his self-confidence. Lincoln promoted …show more content…
Lee’s death in 1870 until 2018, his legacy has changed significantly without a doubt. Originally after his death, Lee was glorified and beloved by southerners as an iconic figure of the Confederacy. In the late 1800s, statues of Lee were notably created in New Orleans and Dallas (“Robert E. Lee”). Because of Lee’s determination to fight the Union and preserve the Confederacy during the Civil War, southerners decided to show appreciation for him as a leader in the late 1860s. Shortly after his death, southerners created a narrative called “The Lost Cause” surrounding the Civil War. In the narrative, Lee was the main character and was focused on as if he were a hero because of his determination to battle the Union even at points when there was a slim chance of victory. In addition, during 1924, Lee was remembered for his service with a statue of him in Charlottesville, Virginia (Contreras). Recently, there has been a significant amount of controversy surrounding society’s view on whether to maintain or remove statues of Robert E. Lee in southern states. For example, in 2015, the city council in New Orleans voted to remove a statue of Lee in the city, and a high school in Houston removed Lee’s name from their school name. Additionally, the most recent incident involving the commemoration of Lee occurred at the beginning of 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a statue of Robert E. Lee was removed, thus infuriating Neo-Nazis and white supremacists in the