finally, i would suggest that lee should have abandoned his spotsylvania line. he should have retreated across central love it -- central, virginia which was barren and he could consolidate his forces around richmond and petersburg, something we can discuss during the question and answers. there is a perception that once lee's army fell back from petersburg and richmond, it was simply a matter of time. left the spotsylvania line after may 10, eight probably would have saved himself, according to my estimates, about 20,000 men. of course, grant would have been obliged to attack them. -- to attack him. the victory should not have been an online -- a victory of the mileage and, it should have been a stalemate. atlanta was not threatened. was grinding down sherman's army. lee could have done the same. in price for these campaigns 1864 is defeated abraham lincoln. in fact, it is the defeat of abraham lincoln that is the confederacy's last best hope for southern independence. before we dive into the details, we need to do a littleo historygraphy. the word does not set

duringrd to imagine lee the overland campaign -- should i counterattack after spotsylvania? lee's like if you want me to do that. [laughter] please like if you want me to do that. had all theat lee political clout in the world. he could have done one every wanted -- what ever he wanted. everybody knew him well enough and trusted him enough that he could have retreated back to richmond and raised a few eyebrows, but that's about it. my critique of his generalship -- is this another example of historians who sit on the pedestal of hindsight, making it clear that they are so much smarter than people in the past? scenarios -- they are really troubling. they are troubling because they theure, if not obliterate political and racial realities of a world where slavery and secession would have prevailed. concerns -- what could be gained from this inquiry? in what nation of war appears to be a never-ending conflict against terrorism. we need to ask ourselves two , but ignored questions. what are the west political goals -- u.s. political goals? are they in harmony with the political s

if you had to fight that battle, you might as well fight that in spotsylvania. it sigel does his job and butler the army of, northern virginia will be swallowed up. its supplies.m the confederate capital will fall. as we all know, that is not what happened. newmarket, siegel encountered defeat, while benjamin butler decided to enjoy the beautiful vacation vistas at bermuda hundreds, rather than drawing more aggressively. in other words, grant's plan breaks within the first two weeks. we talk about how no plan of combat survives initial contact with the enemy. this is one of those cases. if grant, it is not that his plan failed, what what does he do with his plan fails? because we know too many generals, when the plan fails, they went back home. cried themselves to sleep. and then prepare to write a memoir and say, it is not my fault, boss. thetimes writing to president of the united states and the secretary of war, the fault is not with me. it is with somebody else in washington. been onid something had his mind from the beginning as an option, which is continui

the bloody battles of the wilderness, spotsylvania humanouse had pushed daring and suffering to the extreme, but the soldiers valiantly fought on. soon after the fight, u.s. assistant secretary of war hoped to transfer the lingering soldiers' optimism to the now war-weary -- homefront. to boost morale back home and garner political support to continue the war effort, dana proudly proclaims, "the rebels have lost all confidence and are already morally defeated. this army has learned to believe that it is sure of victory. even our officers have ceased to regard lee as an invincible military genius. on the part of the rebels, this edange is it against -- evinc by the unanimous statement of visitors taken from them. rely upon it -- the end is near as well. similarly, in late may, the washington republican and the philadelphia bulletin also aported, "lee has commenced hasty retreat, pursued with real vigor by grant. lee. is embarrassing we show here next of a grand conflict for the city of richmond before or in the works of that capital. advice to say that davis and his --inet to and some days a

say, if you look this in terms of individual battles, lee had the upper hand in the wilderness, spotsylvania courthouse, and here at cold harbor. each place, he was able to deflect grants. if you look at this as a unified campaign, i have to say grant was the winner of the campaign. was to lock lee out of northern virginia. and he was able to do that. lee was locked into those enrichments. series of battles, lee was driven back to richmond. he, too, realized he failed in his goal. the casualties were her rent this, something like 33,000 --federates during this casualties were horrendous, something like 33,000 confederates airing this campaign killed, captured, or wanted. 88,000 americans all told in something like 42, 43 days of fighting and maneuvers. if you want to ask, well, who lost the most? forces loste union more men, but they were generally on the offensive. they were launching the attacks. if you were to ask, which army lost the highest percentage of men, then the conclusion would be reversed. slightly more than 50% of the menu started with. grant, of course starting with 120,000 st

bridges paid in is some of the most brutal and most her figured battle of 1964, places like -- like spotsylvania. you will see a viciousness and brutality, and there is a willingness from some of these soldiers to repeatedly expose themselves, and that is something to pull apart. what are the things that would get a regular 20-something american man to join the army in the early days of the war? let's start. >> you have recruiting posters that make it sound excitable. so you will have one poster that says "come join me army and see the beautiful south." >> all right, let's focus on the documents appeared we have sources that might give us a window into the mentality of young men who are joining the military at this point. certainly, a sense of adventure is a big part of it. in 1961, it is not uncommon to born, married, work, die, and buried within 50 miles of the same spot. the idea for a young 20-something man of going on some grand adventure was what many recruiting posters try to play up here it was something appealing. the only chance to get away from home and see a little bit more of the wo